Restaurant prayers - an evangelistic opportunity

For some time now I have made a habit of asking our servers (waiter and waitresses) what they would like prayer for. When they bring the food and ask if they can get anything else I simply say, "we like to pray for our waiters / waitresses, is there anything you'd like prayer for?" It's not that hard to do, you should give it a try and see the responses and opportunities. Only once have I had someone say "no, I'm good" and there would have been a great witnessing opportunity there had I taken the bait. Only once did the person say "let me think about it" and then come back with an answer. With that simply comment of "is there anything you'd like prayer for" I have had people immediately respond with...

• my teen needs help getting through school
• this is my first day back at work since having my baby and I'm really missing her and struggling with working
• I need prayer because I just got this job and myself and my 4 kids are homeless
• my 4 month old daughter is sick
• "everything"
• pray for my husband and I because we are trying to reconcile

the other night when I asked our waitress my question she said, without skipping a beat, "my friend just lost her 3 year old girl (to death) and needs help getting through it"

Here is what I know to be true...
1. When asked for prayer virtually everyone has something they needed prayer for and they weren't upset I asked.
2. There is a hurting world out there, how desperate must you feel to immediately tell a complete stranger "I'm homeless" or "my marriage needs help"
3. I always leave a tract of some kind with a gospel message tract, and usually write a short handwritten note on the receipt. I must believe it is received different when they know I prayed for them. (one time in fact I asked a young man for prayer need - he came back later and said people usually left tracts warning him of hell without ever talking to him, he said was already saved - he appreciated me talking with him before the "hell / heaven talk".
4. Every response given can be an open door if I am bold enough to take it a step past prayer and verbally go farther to ask them about their faith.
5. I need prayer that I might be 100 times more bold to move past praying for someone hurting, to starting the conversation about eternity. I believe God can use a tract, but there is something about a verbal witness.

Maybe I will try the "what's something I can pray for you about" approach if I am in a mall, there would be a much better chance to have a long conversation than with a waitress waiting on lots of busy tables.

PS. I was in uniform the last time I asked the waitress who mentioned her friends 3 year old (I do it whether in uniform or not). When a different waitress brought the bill I found our waitress outside on a smoking break when we left and I gave her a tract and my business card and told her if we could help comfort her or her friend, talk about the things of eternity, or pray with them more about anything at all to call or email, and said "that's what we're here for".

I am now recording my restaurant prayers in my ipod so if I go back to the same restaurant I can recall anything we talked about and hopefully pick up the conversation.

I know the devil always jumps me right after every encounter and says, "you could have done more, or done it different", but I will trust the results of seed planting to God and will pray for greater boldness at future encounters.

Give the prayer request method to start a conversation about spiritual things with someone and let me know how it goes.

Live holy, preach Jesus!