Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare
the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— Colossians 4:2-3.
When our grandkids were here for Christmas, I would sing “Jesus loves me” to my granddaughter. She looked at me strangely and obviously did not know the song, which is fine. I made a little comment that she was running from grandpa, to which my daughter jumped in, “that is because she knows you have an agenda.”
Christians do have an agenda. It was the same agenda Christ had – to seek and save that which is lost. If we are going to be a great neighbor, you have to have a divine purpose, agenda, or reason for interacting with them. I know we fight the idea that people become a project, and rightfully so. We have to care more about people than just getting them to make a decision for Jesus, but one of the reasons so many Christians have never shared their faith, is because they don’t have an agenda. If we do not have a desire, purpose, or plan to get to know people for the purpose of offering them the hope of the gospel, we simply won’t do anything.
As an introvert it is far too easy to find excuses to not connect with others. Insecurity, and other personal issues will always be our default switch that kicks in, preventing us from connecting and communicating with others.
Extroverts can talk with anyone but face the problem of placing friendship over the need to share the gospel. They build friendships that they value and then do not want to risk losing that friendship, so they keep quiet about the gospel.
That is why Paul stated in Colossians, if we want to be a great neighbor we need to pray. Why would we expect God to give us opportunity if we are not even going to bother to ask for His help? One of the reasons for prayer is to ask God to open doors with people. But we need to be watchful and pray with thanksgiving that God will respond.
Only God can truly open the door of someone’s heart to be receptive to the message of the gospel. But prayer is the most critical means we have to keep our perspective alert and do it with thanksgiving. Prayer is the priority to see changes in our own lives and as we connect with lost people.
I have a number of people who will mention they have been asking God to give them an opportunity to connect with neighbors. God often orchestrates unforeseen moments that often slide by our peripheral vision and go unnoticed. But the purpose of prayer is not as much focused on the unbeliever but on believers. We need to realize that it takes more prayer to get us to see, step into, and slide our lives alongside those who do not know Jesus, than for what God needs to do in an unbeliever’s heart.
If you want to be a great neighbor, start praying for God to change first your own heart. It is necessary to see that God wants to use you and that His love is the compelling motivation to move in that direction. If a person is not motivated by God’s love, they simply will have no interest in getting to know someone new.
In His grace, Pastor Brad
