10 Ways to Pray for Inviting Visitors to Church

Charles Arn has surveyed thousands of people: (Source: 3 Questions for Charles Arn)

In your research, have you found that there’s one specific reason that visitors come to church?

The friendship factor.

We’ve asked more than 50,000 people over the last 10 years why they came to church, and between 75 and 90 percent of respondents say, “I began attending because someone invited me.”

In an earlier study, people came to church through the following forms of contact:

• 2% by Advertisement
• 6% by the Pastoral Invitation
• 6% by organized evangelism campaign
• 86% by friends or relatives (Source:The Inviting Church)

In Other Studies:

• One study found 37% of Christians linked their conversion to being invited to church (Johnson, p. 91, citing a 2003 study)
• Martha Grace Reese’s work showed 40% who joined first came because a friend invited.

But only 2% of church people invite an unchurched person to church? (Thom Ranier, 2003).

Can we change that, particularly as Easter approaches?

Praying to Invite Visitors.

Recently, I listened to Church Talk Radio and they had a brief 5 minute segment on praying your work in inviting people to church.  I added the last four.

1. Pray for your potential Guests (see How to Make a Prayer List of Friends)
2. Pray for the opportunity to arise to invite them to Church
3. Pray for awareness of their need (See What is Spiritual Thirst?)
4. Pray for awareness of the opportunity
5. Pray for the courage to invite them to church.
6. Pray for favor that they would accept the invitation.
7. Pray they would follow through and come.
8. Pray that your church would welcome them.
9. Pray that the message and worship would be awe-inspiring (See 2 Things Grow a Church)
10. Pray that they would hear the message and grow one step closer to God.

How to use this Prayer list for Easter.

I hope many of you are preparing your Easter events, or a new sermon series to kick off after Easter.

• Use this time to re-encourage your congregation to be involved in inviting people to church and to pray for those invites to happen.
• Pastor, as you prepare your sermons these last few weeks, how can you lift up the value of invitations and practice that yourself?  Who are you inviting to church?
• Do you need to give them a tool to give away, like a business card that church members can give away?

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Source Photo: I’m down on my knees, I wanna take you there (Explored), (license)