Spiritual Conversations

Today I came across a few posts by Gary Rohrmayer. You can check out his three posts about engaging in spiritual conversations here, here and here. But if you only have a few minutes here is a summary.

There are (at least) 4 ways to increase spiritual conversations in your life:
(1) Make it a priority. Essentially this means you need to plan for spiritual conversations. This may not mean that you need to write down an appointment in your Blackberry (or in some cases it may mean precisely that), but the intent is that you strategically plan your day with the intent of having spiritual conversations with people in your world. Rohrmayer suggests the 3X5 rule for church planters. If you are going to be serious about connecting with people you need to strive to make 5 new contacts a day (35 week) which will lead to 3 sit-down conversations weekly.

(2) Pray for opportunities. When is the last time you asked God to open new doors of opportunity to speak about Jesus?

(3) Get out into your community. A good thought (directed at church planters in the post but applicable to us all) is making an effort to tithe your time to community service and interaction. Coach a soccer team at the YMCA or Camp Jordan (not in a local church Upward league). Join the Rotary Club. Get involved at a local park. Do something that gives you opportunity to rub shoulders with people in your community.

(4) Establish routines and cultivate relationships. I know of one lady in our church who does this already. Grace Owens visits the same stores weekly. The employees know her name and she knows theirs. Get to know people in your community by visiting them routinely at places of business. Reggie McNeal loves to ask his servers when eating out, "I'm going to pray and thank God for my meal and I always pray for my server. Is there anything specific I can pray for you about?" I thought this was an excellent, tangible way to strike up spiritual dialogue.

I'm encouraged to be more deliberate in my conversations in the community, aren't you?