Divine Appointment: Mis-dialed Phone Number

One of the 7 basic habits of personal evangelism can help you identify that a divine appointment is about to happen.

I have learned to recognize spiritual thirst in how people talk, what they talk about, and how they often initiate discussion with me.

Remember when Philip encountered the Ethiopian Eunuch?

When God “underlined” the eunuch for Philip, (with “Go stand next to THAT chariot”), Phillip obeyed and found a spiritually thirsty person. Philip then began a conversation that leads to the eunuch coming to faith.

Our model is to encourage the same.

Notice the person who God underlines,
Listen for spiritual thirst
Engage in a conversation
Suggest a next step of spiritual growth.

Divine Appointment in a phone call

At a two-part evangelism seminar in a local church, I gave the group a practical exercise to look for divine appointments.

Pray for God to bring you spiritual thirsty people.

Pray for thirsty people, those who are spiritually dry like the sun-caked clay in an exposed river bed. — Pray the Lord Brings You the Spiritually Thirsty

The testimonies that came the following week and were shared in small groups were amazing.

People found evangelism was easy and comfortable when when they put themselves “next to” a spiritually thirst person that God underlined, and began a conversation.

The following divine appointment is an example of answered prayer as told by one of the seminar participants.

The phone rang on morning at a participant’s house.

Caller: “Congratulations, and Happy Birthday.”

Participant: “Well, I am very happy, but today is not my birthday. I supposed you’ve got the wrong number”

Caller: “Oh I’m sorry to have mis-dialed.”

A vintage telephone, for a phone call that lead to a divine appointment — Image Credit: Macinate / Flickr

Participant: (feeling prompted by the Holy Spirit) “Even though today is not my birthday, I’m happy all the time because I know that today is another day that God has given me.”

Caller: “You are a Christian lady?”

Participant: “Yes.”

Caller: “I quit going to church many years ago, but recently been thinking about the mess my life has become .. . . .” — the stranger confesses and reveals his spiritual thirst.

At that point, the conversation continues in a natural flow.

The next step in leading a person towards Jesus - the caller suggested it.

At some point in the conversation, my seminar participant felt the Holy Spirit prompt her that it was the right moment suggest the next step to this this caller.

It was a step to rededicate his life to the Lord.

In response to the prompting, she took the next step of faith and asked.

The caller prayed to with my student participant to rededicate his life to the Lord and return to church.

It was a divine appointment via a mis-dialed phone number.

You can experience divine appointments

This participant simply felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to make such a statement that opened the conversation.

That prompting felt like a curiosity. She wondered if the caller had mis-dialed due to a sovereignty of God and in response to her prayer for the Lord to send her spiritually thirsty people.

She felt like the Lord gave her a phrase to point out that next step.

With that phrase in mind, she spoke out that phrase to see where the conversation might go.

She took a risk with a stranger who crossed paths with her.

This is how simple evangelism can be — noticing who crosses your path in God’s sovereignty, where God gives you those nudges, where you listen for spiritual thirst, and engaging in a conversation.