Answers with Mark Ryan

You ask Elim experts the questions. This month, it’s Mark Ryan, who is National Lead for church growth among the Elim churches.

What is a divine appointment?
A divine appointment happens when God orchestrates a meeting between us and a person or group of people that he wants to contact according to his will. Usually this is something that is unexpected, but they are moments in which we might become strangely aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit and are thus at peace in following the unusual turn of events.

One of the best biblical examples of this is the encounter that the evangelist Philip had with the Ethiopian member of the royal household. Acts 8:26-39 describes the very personal encounter that Philip had to bring this person to faith. One of the clear principles we see is that Philip was specifically directed to go the Gaza Road (v26).

This was not just a hunch but a clear leading; a divine appointment is not a random set of events but one which is clearly led. Philip also heard the Spirit telling him to go near the chariot (v29), and the divine appointment also becomes an exercise in obedience and openness to the Spirit.

We must stay open to the Spirit in our daily routine, ready to be directed but not to force things arbitrarily into trying to make things happen. Divine appointments are begun by the will of the Spirit and, as we are open to the leading of the Lord, we are carried along with them. We do not have to manufacture them or overly force connections, but we must be prepared to speak up and share what God places upon our heart.

How can I overcome my fear of witnessing?
There are three key things we can do to overcome our reticence to share our faith. Firstly, we should bathe all our efforts to witness and share in prayer. Consistent prayer builds both courage and faith. We could have a list of people we are praying for and see how the Lord opens doors for us to connect and have more meaningful conversations with them.

The second key is that we live a life of kindness and care. The Lord uses this to build significant connections with people. It is from a platform of kindness that doors open for us to gently share the reasons why we believe.

Lastly, one of the best ways to overcome the fear of witnessing is to know our personal testimony and the presentation of the gospel very well. As we have a clear way of sharing how we came to faith, and if we know how to present the gospel clearly, we are then speaking from strength and not nerves. Clarity and preparation banish our nerves.

Should we always say “In the name of Jesus” at the end of a prayer?
Most prayer is to be conversational and not formulaic. Our prayer life should be a means by which we build intimacy with Father God. A good practice is to keep our prayers reverent but informal, making sure we can say what is on our heart.

However, in times of intense seeking and asking ‒ petitionary prayer ‒ it is not wrong to follow Jesus’ encouragement to invoke his name in prayer. When we want to ask, declare or proclaim something in prayer it is not wrong to strongly use his name because by doing so we are coming to God not on our own merit but in the authority of Jesus.

In Jesus’ name we are aligning ourselves with his character and mission and reinforcing that it is Jesus who is the true mediator between us and God. We can also clearly see that the New Testament encourages us to pray under the covering of the grace that is represented by the name of Jesus. See Colossians 3:17, Ephesians 5:20 and Acts 4:12.

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.