In Part 1 of this series, I shared how God challenged me to become more intentional about sharing my faith. I realized that although I had spent my life in church, I had never learned how to have meaningful spiritual conversations. Preparation became the first step. Before we can confidently step out, we have to sit with our own story. We must know why we follow Jesus, understand the grand narrative of God’s grace, and be able to articulate how Christ met us in our own lives. And, of course, the entire process must be deeply rooted in prayer.

Now we turn to the how.

What do we do when the opportunity finally comes? How do we actually share our faith?

To navigate this, I rely on Jamie Winship’s simple 4 “L” method: Look, Listen, Learn, and Lead.

Look: Build Relationships Before You Build Conversations

If we want to love our neighbors, we must first actually know them.

Think about the ministry of Jesus. He was famously called a “friend of sinners” because He chose proximity. He ate with tax collectors, spoke with outsiders, and built relationships with people long before their lives were transformed. He loved them first. Then he worked to influence them towards His Kingdom, not to win an argument, but because He loved them.

Like Jesus, we are called to build authentic relationships grounded in mutual trust and respect, and then point to His love and truth. That means being open about who we are, honest about our love for people, and clear that our hope, born of that love, is to lead them toward His Kingdom.

We should want everyone to come into the Kingdom, and we should be ready to help take them there, not closed off in our own small world. The Holy Spirit can turn any conversation or chance encounter into an opportunity to share the Good News.

For a long time, I caught myself saying, “All of my friends are in the church.” But after some self-examining, I realized that wasn’t entirely true. They weren’t all in church; I simply never talked about spiritual matters with anyone outside of it. I had bought into the lie that I wasn’t qualified, or that I would automatically offend them if I brought up my faith.

The truth is this: Sharing the Good News is not about the skills you possess, degrees, or specialized trainings. None of these things are required to make disciples where God has placed you. Remember, God has a history of using entirely ordinary people to reveal His extraordinary glory.

Introvert or extrovert, lifelong believer or brand-new convert, the call is exactly the same: look around your daily life, build genuine relationships, and watch for where the Holy Spirit is already at work.

We have been appointed by Jesus to go and tell others about the Kingdom. Part of the great commission is to go into all the world. We are meant to live a life on mission. It takes time, but nothing is more rewarding than faithfully following where Jesus leads.

You will never feel fully ready or qualified – neither did the apostles – so simply do your best to be prepared. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit will tell us what to say, and I have experienced this again and again. I’ll be praying with someone, and my heart – through the Holy Spirit – begins doing the talking. I don’t consciously plan the words; they simply come. It is a beautiful thing to realize that the Holy Spirit can use me, and you, to do His work.

But you have to get into the game. If Jesus truly matters to you, He will come up naturally in your conversations. Jesus is with us, so you will not fail in presenting Him. Remember it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to do the convicting.

No one has a more powerful witness than a person willing to take time for a spiritual conversation. Bearing witness is part of our calling.

I’ve heard it put this way: if someone discovered a cure for cancer and kept it to themselves, what good would that do? We would shout a cure like that from the rooftops, wouldn’t we? Well, it should be no different with the cure for sin. We aren’t meant to live a quiet Christian life kept to ourselves; we are called to let others know of this Good News.

So think about where you need to be sharing the Kingdom of God – the office, school, coffee shop, gym, home. Pray about it. Our world doesn’t simply need more people who know facts about God; it needs people who are falling deeper in love with who God is.

Listen: Listening as an Act of Love

Once we are in proximity with others, our first instinct is often to start talking. Most of us are quick to offer answers. Jesus often began by asking questions. The second step is simple: Shhhh. Listen.

Purposefully enter into conversations with the goal of listening deeply. Hear what is happening in their lives. Find out where they are struggling, what is causing them anxiety, and where they are placing their hope. This takes time and patience. It requires us to lay down our urge to immediately “fix” everything. When we listen without an agenda, we communicate a profound truth: we value them as a person, not just as a spiritual project. Eventually you learn that listening is loving. When people know they have been heard, they are far more willing to hear what we have to say.

Learn: Discover Where Someone Is Spiritually

To point someone toward Christ, you first have to understand where they are on their journey. What is their story? Don’t condemn them or try to change them. Let your genuine curiosity and care draw them closer to you, and let your relationship with God, in turn, draw them closer to Him. Never argue. Arguing does not change human hearts; it only builds walls.

Consider their spiritual identity. Are they unfamiliar with the Gospel? Do they know about Jesus, but have never experienced a personal relationship with Him? Have they walked away from faith?

Many believers try to share a deep, discipleship-level message before they even know if the person they are speaking with believes in God. Before you can help someone take their next step toward Christ, you have to find out where they currently stand.

The church’s calling is to bring people into maturity, some call it discipleship or sanctification. Our job, one person at a time,  is to help move someone one step further toward believing in Christ.

Lead: Stepping Into Spiritual Discussions

When the Holy Spirit nudges you and the time feels right, you can gently lead the conversation toward more direct spiritual questions about their personal beliefs or their relationship with God. The best way to do this with respect is simply to ask for permission. It shows that you value their comfort and honor their boundaries. 

If you struggle to make this transition, here are some questions that can open the door to a spiritual discussion:

“I’ve really valued hearing your perspective. Would it be okay if we had a brief spiritual discussion about that?” (If they say no, respect the boundary completely.)

“Do you have any spiritual beliefs?”

“Do you believe in God?”

“Did you grow up with any kind of faith tradition?”

“Who is Jesus to you?” The big guy in the sky versus my Savior tells you a great deal about their relationship with Him.

‘Do you believe in heaven or hell? If you died today, do you know where you would go?”

“If you found out that what you currently believe wasn’t entirely true, would you want to know?”

“Could I share a little bit about what I’ve come to believe and how it changed my life?”

If they say yes, speak only of what you know firsthand. Don’t try to change the person in the image of your own understanding, your culture, or your view of a Christian’s duties. Instead, love them and tell them what Christ wants them to know: “Jesus loves you, and He wants a relationship with you.”

Never argue. It isn’t what we do, even though for some of us it’s the hardest thing to resist. Arguing doesn’t come from the Spirit, only truth from Scripture and the story of what you know to be true.

Become a servant. When you enter a place, ask God: “What do you want me to do here?” 

Use your faith to help someone walk into belief and into the Kingdom. Explain why you are a Christian. Use your story, God’s story, and your own experiences, knowing you don’t have every answer, but that you have found something to be true.

Be real and authentic. Canned lines and too many examples can sound like you’re forcing something on someone. Be confident that God has something planned for you to do. Walk in the confidence of our King, trusting that He has put you in contact with exactly the right person He wants you to share your faith with. Know that God has sent you into this time and this place. You can feel it.

You should be able to walk into a room and have people sense that you belong to the Kingdom, and that you can lead them into it. Love them. Bring healing where life has not worked for them. You lead people by sharing the healing you yourself have received and by telling them the Kingdom of God is near. The good news of the Kingdom can lift what distresses them, reveal where they’ve been hurt, and redeem the parts of their life that aren’t working. Show them, through your own story, how God healed your distress.

5 Keys to Natural Spiritual Conversations

To keep your conversations organic and meaningful, keep these five principles in mind:

1. Take Initiative: Too often we wait, lose the opportunity and think to ourselves “I wish I had said something”. The non-spiritual person will rarely bring up faith first. We must be willing to initiate the discussion.

2. Keep it One-on-One: Deep, vulnerable spiritual conversations happen best in private, quiet settings, not in a crowd.

3. Engage in Dialog, Not Monolog: Talk with them, not at them. Ask questions and let them respond.

4. Offer Truth in Doses: Ask God for sensitivity – when to speak and when to back off and wait.

5. Watch for Split-Second Opportunities: Often, a transition point appears in a fleeting moment.

When you sense the Holy Spirit’s prompting, be intentional about steering the conversation from an everyday topic to a deeper spiritual conversation. A few ways to get there:

– Bridging: Use the current topic as a bridge to a related spiritual one – just as Jesus used physical water to talk about living water with the woman at the well.

– Questioning: Similar to bridging, but instead of a statement, you invite a response by asking a question. “Physical fitness is important to me as well but so is spiritual fitness. Do you ever think about the spiritual side of life?”

– Inviting: Invite them into your community, whether that’s a small group, a church event, or a casual service project you think might resonate with them.

– Ending: Pivot to what comes next. For example: “I believe God is reaching out to you right now. It’s no coincidence that we’ve met and are talking about this. He’s using me to let you know that He loves you and wants a relationship with you.”

Living a Life of Purpose

When we do what God made us to do, it is deeply freeing. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom – and that is where our confidence comes from. No matter what happens, nothing can take away the peace and joy we experience while doing what God created us to do. Nothing is as freeing as that.

How great is our God! Let’s go forth, Church, and be what we were made to be.

A note from the author: I have had the privilege of sharing these and other how-tos about sharing our faith with others. If you would like to learn more feel free to get in touch with me at the contact in my bio. We can continue discussing how to approach certain folks when you don’t know where they stand in their faith journey. I can also share a few tools that you might find helpful in walking people through Scripture.

In 2014, I walked out of a Sunday service deeply challenged by my pastor’s sermon on sharing our faith. As I reflected on what he said, I realized I believed in sharing my faith, but at 57 years old, I had never actually done it.

I had been raised in the church and lived in it my whole life. I had raised my own kids in the pews. I taught Sunday School classes and led weeknight Bible studies. And yet, despite a lifetime of religious activity, I had never sat down one-on-one with someone and talked about God’s great love. 

The truth was simple: I believed in evangelism, but I did not feel prepared for it. I was living a life that loved Christ, but I wasn’t actively leading anyone into His kingdom.

So where should I start? What should I say? How could I share my faith well and effectively?

That Sunday, everything changed. I started reading, studying, and learning how to share the love of Christ with my family and friends, and I began to intentionally make space for spiritual conversations in my daily life.

Why Preparation Matters in Personal Evangelism

As Christ followers, our responsibility is simply to be ready when opportunities arise. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to change hearts and convict. And that is freeing … it’s not up to us!

Peter puts it this way:

“In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” 1 Peter 3:15

While there are countless ways to witness to those around us, I have come to believe that effective evangelism begins by answering three essential questions.

Three Questions to Answer Before Sharing Your Faith

To move past the initial intimidation, we must first get clear on our own experience of grace.

1. Why are you still a Christian?

This isn’t just the history of how you first came to believe, but a declaration of why you continue to follow Christ today. Here is my own answer:

“Because Jesus answers the ultimate question of my life. I know why I am here. I know that God loves me. More than that, I get to live in His love, peace, joy and purpose, both in this earthly life and in the eternal life that has already begun for me.”

Your answer will be different, and it should be. Authenticity matters.

2. What is God’s story?

Have you ever tried to explain God to someone else? Explaining the grand narrative of Scripture can be quite intimidating. I found that I had to write my words down so I could remember them when the moment to share arrived. Try it. Here is how I would summarize God’s story:

“God created all things in heaven and on earth. Human beings were a special creation, and from the very beginning He sought a close relationship with us. He created us with the ability to choose right from wrong (free will), but we don’t always choose well. We consistently fall short of His standard (perfect holiness) in the ways we treat Him and each other. That is called sin. Because of sin, our relationship with God was broken. Because God is entirely holy, sin separates us from Him for as long as it remains in our lives. Trying to be good, or doing good things, will not erase sin. But God loved us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to live the perfect life we couldn’t, taking the penalty for our brokenness upon Himself. He lived a physical life on Earth 2,000 years ago, teaching and living among the Jewish people. The religious leaders of His day rejected him. And yet, He performed many miracles with love and compassion. He was brutally executed, but His greatest miracle was that He said He would raise Himself from the dead 3 days after His execution. And He did, as hundreds of His followers witnessed. The Good News is that Jesus has done all the work to make up for our sins and restore our relationship with God. All we must do is believe and obey him, and then we can live forever in the close relationship God desired from the start.”

You do not need to memorize someone else’s words. What matters is understanding the gospel well enough to explain it clearly in your own voice.

3. What is your personal story?

No one can tell your story better than you can. People may debate theology. They may question Scripture. But they cannot deny your experience of God’s grace in your life.

As you think about your testimony, ask yourself: What do you know of God? What has He done for you that no one can take away and no one can argue with? Think of miracles you have witnessed, times when God worked in or through you, and moments when His word spoke directly to you.

A good personal story moves through the three stages of your faith journey:

What were you like before you found your savior? How did you come to know Him? What is your life like now?

Answer each of these questions in your own words. Borrow someone else’s and it will sound canned instead of authentic. Being real matters more than ever in today’s culture.

Once you have sat with your answers, you will find confidence growing within you. Look for opportunities to weave what you know to be true as a natural part of an ordinary conversation.

Of course, sharing our faith involves more than words. Our lives should reflect the character of Jesus. Loving our neighbor is an absolute necessity. Otherwise, we create confusion, or worse, we model the gap between word and action, and our message is swallowed up by hypocrisy. However, we cannot rely on our behavior alone. I used to think that if I simply lived differently, people would naturally ask me why. They never did. We must be ready to speak the word, not just silently model it. Faithful witness involves both living the message and sharing it.

Start With Prayer: Let the Holy Spirit Do the Work

In all things, begin with prayer. Let it be the starting point of your journey into evangelism. Each time you enter a room, ask God for His direction. Ask whether there is someone He wants you to reach.

And here is the freeing part again: you are never operating in your own strength, the work of conviction belongs to the Holy Spirit. A changed heart is not up to you. You are simply called to be a faithful witness and be ready to tell the Good News, the Holy Spirit will do the rest.

Note from the Editor: Most Christians are not unwilling to share their faith; they simply do not feel equipped to do so. Start by answering these three questions for yourself. Write down your responses. Pray over them. Ask God to open a door for a spiritual conversation.