Reaching the Marketplace for Jesus

A Teenaged Attitude

I think one of the traps you can fall into when you do a lot of witnessing and see a lot of results is thinking that you can tell who is going to get saved or not when you are talking to people. I had a humbling experience concerning this at a fair in Ohio. A teen aged girl sat down in front of me to hear the message of the beads so she could get her walking stick. 

It was obvious to me as I talked to her about the fair that she was only there to get the stick and she was tolerating the message. I told her we were from the Christians (pointing to the sign at the back of the booth). I asked her if she attended church anywhere. She said, “Not really.” I asked her if she was 100% sure, if something should happen to her, that she would go to heaven. She mumbled something akin to “whatever” as she rolled her eyes and looked away to watch the people walking by. 

I went ahead with the gospel anyway. I quoted her the verses of the Romans’ Road but I really didn’t put my heart into it. I had several illustrations I had been using throughout the week and I left most of them out. At the end of the gospel presentation I asked her if I could pray for her. With a nod of her head, I bowed my head and asked God, aloud, that He touch her heart and show her that she needed to trust His Son as her Savior. Then I asked her if she would like to trust Jesus as her only way to heaven. 

She told me, “sure”. So I led her through the sinner’s prayer. Only she didn’t say it out loud. Usually people ask me if they have to say it out loud and I tell them they are talking to God and they can pray silently. But she never asked so I just assumed that she didn’t even pray. 

When I looked up after the prayer I realized why she couldn’t pray aloud. She had huge tears streaming down her face and she was crying uncontrollably. I held both her hands for about 5 minutes. When she was able to talk again she said, “God loves me.” 

It’s not about us. It’s about God’s holy word and God’s Holy Spirit. We just tell the gospel. God uses it to save and change lives. I pray that I never, ever, take God’s power and the power of His word for granted when it comes to talking to lost souls.