Perhaps sometime today God’s Spirit brought someone to mind who would benefit from your encouragement to know and walk with Jesus. This can be intimidating. Where do you start in terms of helping your friend spiritually? Here are three practical starting points.
Starting Point 1: Read & Discuss the Bible
For friends who have not yet followed Jesus, read and discuss the Bible together. Often when people are exposed to powerful biblical truths, they are drawn into a relationship with Christ. For those who are more eager, a weekly time together in a passage from the Gospel of John or the Gospel of Matthew is a good place to start. For many this will be informal and periodic, something you naturally insert in your time together.
Starting Point 2: Cover the Basics of Faith
For people who have just accepted Christ, or are right at the door, cover the basics of faith. There is a little Navigator booklet called Beginning with Christ that lays out five “assurances”—salvation, answered prayer, victory over sin, forgiveness, and guidance. As we studied the assurance of salvation together, my friend Josh realized that he wanted to put his trust in Jesus. (As you develop a discipling relationship, consider the NavPress Bible study Growing in Christ.)
Starting Point 3: Teach Them Quiet Time with God
For people who want to grow in Christ, teach them how to spend time alone with God. Some people call this having a quiet time. A good resource is 7 Minutes with God: How to Plan a Daily Quiet Time by Robert Foster or the little booklet by Mike Jordahl called Getting to Know God Through a Daily Quiet Time. These booklets are easily talked through in one sitting, then you can meet together to have a quiet time, modeling the process.
Remember—the person you are beginning a spiritual conversation with may not be ready for any of these three options. No problem! I offered to begin reading the Bible with a friend who said, “No, not interested.” However, he wanted to get together periodically just to talk. I encourage him spiritually and share some scriptural principles that relate to our lives and he is obviously encouraged when we meet.
Jesus interacted with many different people and He tailored His interactions to their needs. No matter the starting point, Jesus is calling us to deeper relationship with Himself and we have the privilege of helping others on the journey.
I pray you will be encouraged to invest in someone God places in your life—He will guide you and it will bless both of you!
Right now I am swimming with a friend and helping her clean her house. We talk about forgiveness, disciplining children, health, pain, etc. she is not ready for more. I pray a lot for her walls to be broken and her heart to be open.
Thank you Dr. Nuenke for these Three Ways to Begin Helping Someone Spiritually. For years I have turned to the Growing in Christ book with great alacrity, as I have had numerous opportunities to teach/lead Bible Studies as well as disciple folks one-on-one. I find the book to be concise, easy to use, and easy to learn from as well. I particularly relish the verse-memory cards in the appendix that provide a great bridge from lesson-to-lesson. This book (coupled with the Bible of course) is a top choice for me to use when I disciple new believers. God’s Word at work in hearts and minds is a beautiful thing to be part of. This last comment is long overdue >>> THANK YOU again for such an effective and handy resource!
I checked out your article for new deep insight, and was presented with the basics which helped me so much as a baby believer. Thank you!
Thank you all for your encouragement and thoughts. I agree, Tom, our starting point of bringing truth into everyday conversation lasts to eternity and often begins well before the more structured conversations I mention here!
We are of like heart in engaging with our world for the sake of Christ! Thanks for your input.
Thank you Doug, I plan on checking into these books,, and it will help me know a little more about the Navigators. Eva
Excellent.
Great message- how to invest in someone God places in our life and how to have a deeper relationship with Jesus.
Great!!!
Hi, President Doug Nuenke
Thank you for sharing. I like this particular point that you highlighted:
“I offered to begin reading the Bible with a friend who said, “No, not interested.” However, he wanted to get together periodically just to talk. I encourage him spiritually and share some scriptural principles that relate to our lives and he is obviously encouraged when we meet.”
I would have thought that would have been an excellent starting first point. Find people, friends or acquaintances that just want to chat. Sharing common interests and personal struggles in life would be excellent topics to chat and build a relationship that could endure in eternity.
Glad to have this opportunity to comment.
Blesdings,
Tom Lee
Ex-Nav and Member-care Consultant
Singapore