Help brining a non-believer closer to God when they are willing.

[janedoe7]

TL;DR: How can I help bring my sister closer to God, she is a nonbeliever at the moment but last night she told me she wants to believe and that’s all God needs to begin working! 

Hello, for a little background: I am a 22 year old Christian, I believer in the Lord as a child and lost my faith as a teenager while struggling with mental health and depression and then around 17 I started believing again and was baptized at 18 and have been devoted ever since. Now my sister who is 17 hasn’t been a believer since she was a child also. We were never true believers we only knew who God was and sometimes attended church. My parents didn’t really educate us about the Bible or faith or anything much. My sister and I have become very close over the past couple years and she knows that I was far from being a follower of Christ as a teenager but am now. Similarly to me as a teen, she struggles with the idea of God because she is uneducated on it and due to her depression as well. Last night she told me she wants to believe in God but it’s difficult for her. Which was a huge thing because up until now she seemed very closed to the idea of believing and it even pushed her farther away sometime when I tried talking to her about Jesus (I was the same way as a teen) When we are spending time together I do my best to tell her little bits of information and guidance about the Bible and the Lord without pushing her away. But now she is open to hearing about it. I have prayed for this for so long and I am overjoyed that she is willing to hear me out and guide her to God. I have told her my testimony and told her somethings to try to spark a desire to know more. Anyhow, moral of the story, I am looking for advice, verses, anything I can say. What verses or bible stories or anything would you say to someone who is on the brink of a believing? Right now all I have to work with is that she wants to believe, so I know the door of her heart is open just a sliver but that is absolutely enough, that’s how my true faith began. I don’t want to say the wrong things at the wrong time, so I want to know what I can do or say to open that door more and try to help build her desire to know more about Jesus. Any help at all is greatly appreciated. Thank you & God bless!

[Willa]

One of my favorite verses:  Mark 9:24. Lord I believe, help my unbelief.

Tell her she should tell God, if there is a God, that she wants to believe but can't,  and then ask for God's help to believe and trust that the Bible is true and that Jesus is God the Son

Only God can draw her closer.  Pray for her salvation constantly, that God would open her ears and eyes, and soften her heart to believe.  God will tell you intuitively when the time is right.  He will open the door after she realizes she needs forgiveness. (the blood of the Lamb).  Until then keep doing as you have been doing--tell her about answers to prayer and how much certain verses mean to you or comfort you and give you hope.(the word of your testimony)  Keep it at little bits because anything will seem like you are preaching even when you are not.  Also pray that God will send others to her from whom she can hear His message.

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.Rev 12:11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

 

 

[missmuffet]

1 hour ago, janedoe7 said:

TL;DR: How can I help bring my sister closer to God, she is a nonbeliever at the moment but last night she told me she wants to believe and that’s all God needs to begin working! 

Hello, for a little background: I am a 22 year old Christian, I believer in the Lord as a child and lost my faith as a teenager while struggling with mental health and depression and then around 17 I started believing again and was baptized at 18 and have been devoted ever since. Now my sister who is 17 hasn’t been a believer since she was a child also. We were never true believers we only knew who God was and sometimes attended church. My parents didn’t really educate us about the Bible or faith or anything much. My sister and I have become very close over the past couple years and she knows that I was far from being a follower of Christ as a teenager but am now. Similarly to me as a teen, she struggles with the idea of God because she is uneducated on it and due to her depression as well. Last night she told me she wants to believe in God but it’s difficult for her. Which was a huge thing because up until now she seemed very closed to the idea of believing and it even pushed her farther away sometime when I tried talking to her about Jesus (I was the same way as a teen) When we are spending time together I do my best to tell her little bits of information and guidance about the Bible and the Lord without pushing her away. But now she is open to hearing about it. I have prayed for this for so long and I am overjoyed that she is willing to hear me out and guide her to God. I have told her my testimony and told her somethings to try to spark a desire to know more. Anyhow, moral of the story, I am looking for advice, verses, anything I can say. What verses or bible stories or anything would you say to someone who is on the brink of a believing? Right now all I have to work with is that she wants to believe, so I know the door of her heart is open just a sliver but that is absolutely enough, that’s how my true faith began. I don’t want to say the wrong things at the wrong time, so I want to know what I can do or say to open that door more and try to help build her desire to know more about Jesus. Any help at all is greatly appreciated. Thank you & God bless!

Be gentle and have respect that she is a beginner. Give her only the basics for now. Pray for her. Only God can change the heart. Then leave it up to her if she wants to bring up the subject of Christianity. If you go at her too strong you may scare her off. 

[LearningToLetGo]

1 hour ago, janedoe7 said:

What verses or bible stories or anything would you say to someone who is on the brink of a believing?

Matthew 7:7-11

English Standard Version

Ask, and It Will Be Given

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

[Kelly2363]

13 hours ago, janedoe7 said:

TL;DR: How can I help bring my sister closer to God, she is a nonbeliever at the moment but last night she told me she wants to believe and that’s all God needs to begin working! 

Hello, for a little background: I am a 22 year old Christian, I believer in the Lord as a child and lost my faith as a teenager while struggling with mental health and depression and then around 17 I started believing again and was baptized at 18 and have been devoted ever since. Now my sister who is 17 hasn’t been a believer since she was a child also. We were never true believers we only knew who God was and sometimes attended church. My parents didn’t really educate us about the Bible or faith or anything much. My sister and I have become very close over the past couple years and she knows that I was far from being a follower of Christ as a teenager but am now. Similarly to me as a teen, she struggles with the idea of God because she is uneducated on it and due to her depression as well. Last night she told me she wants to believe in God but it’s difficult for her. Which was a huge thing because up until now she seemed very closed to the idea of believing and it even pushed her farther away sometime when I tried talking to her about Jesus (I was the same way as a teen) When we are spending time together I do my best to tell her little bits of information and guidance about the Bible and the Lord without pushing her away. But now she is open to hearing about it. I have prayed for this for so long and I am overjoyed that she is willing to hear me out and guide her to God. I have told her my testimony and told her somethings to try to spark a desire to know more. Anyhow, moral of the story, I am looking for advice, verses, anything I can say. What verses or bible stories or anything would you say to someone who is on the brink of a believing? Right now all I have to work with is that she wants to believe, so I know the door of her heart is open just a sliver but that is absolutely enough, that’s how my true faith began. I don’t want to say the wrong things at the wrong time, so I want to know what I can do or say to open that door more and try to help build her desire to know more about Jesus. Any help at all is greatly appreciated. Thank you & God bless!

Well dear Sister your post is lucid and full of compassion and so I am confident that what I am about to share will be tested and then with the grace of God - applied to your thinking as the Spirit gives you direction and utterance.

The power of God that - is unto Salvation - is the Gospel of Christ. 

How simple a matter is that in truth? - And yet we could easily miss the spiritual reality that is implied in these words and begin to pursued people to accept Christ. That persuasion may not be at all sinful but it is always the flesh - and to be clear - in modern parlance it almost always means psychological persuasion.

That term psychological persuasion has another way of being expressed - And that is empathetic intelligence. 

Empathetic intelligence simply means an ability to identify with the other persons position when speaking with them - And so the term empathetic intelligence gets translated as compassion - whereas compassion is a fruit of the Spirit for a believer and not a natural fact of the mind. Almost anyone can be empathetic - whereas only the born again believer can be truly compassionate when compassion means to love as Christ loves. 

You are in reality sensing that already because that is implied in your post. But it has to be remembered - and the reason why it needs to be remembered is because:

The power of God that - is unto Salvation - is the Gospel of Christ crucified for sin - all else follows on.

It is never you - not even your experiences (empathetic intelligence) - but rather it is the power of God that comes when He sovereignly chooses to save a person. We can only bear witness of Christ and we need to remember - that must mean Christ crucified for sin - And that must include your sister coming to the certain knowledge that her sin is included in why Christ died. Not only a justified sin that happened because someone did a bad thing and we stumbled - but sin as a heart condition - even when we try to be the best we can be. How you go about bearing witness must of course be compassionate - but it must be the plain Gospel and nothing less than the plain Gospel if you want your sister to have deep soil to grow in when she gives her heart to God. 

May the Lord grant your sister the conviction of sin and renew in her heart the memory of that childish hope that once satisfied but now is not sufficient. Amen

 

Edited September 24, 2021 by Kelly2363
Spelling

[BK1110]

Be kind at all times. Talk with her; ask her what she believes, if anything, about God now, and then share with her the basics of saving faith.

Ask her if there are any things that holds her back from believing. Any objections; maybe they are scientific, philosophical moral, etc. Once you know where she's struggling, you can find the resources that will address her concerns.

Regardless of where she is now and what she does or does not believe, Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis could be very beneficial. You can find a complete audio version of it on Youtube if you look for it.

[Billiards Ball]

16 hours ago, janedoe7 said:

TL;DR: How can I help bring my sister closer to God, she is a nonbeliever at the moment but last night she told me she wants to believe and that’s all God needs to begin working! 

Hello, for a little background: I am a 22 year old Christian, I believer in the Lord as a child and lost my faith as a teenager while struggling with mental health and depression and then around 17 I started believing again and was baptized at 18 and have been devoted ever since. Now my sister who is 17 hasn’t been a believer since she was a child also. We were never true believers we only knew who God was and sometimes attended church. My parents didn’t really educate us about the Bible or faith or anything much. My sister and I have become very close over the past couple years and she knows that I was far from being a follower of Christ as a teenager but am now. Similarly to me as a teen, she struggles with the idea of God because she is uneducated on it and due to her depression as well. Last night she told me she wants to believe in God but it’s difficult for her. Which was a huge thing because up until now she seemed very closed to the idea of believing and it even pushed her farther away sometime when I tried talking to her about Jesus (I was the same way as a teen) When we are spending time together I do my best to tell her little bits of information and guidance about the Bible and the Lord without pushing her away. But now she is open to hearing about it. I have prayed for this for so long and I am overjoyed that she is willing to hear me out and guide her to God. I have told her my testimony and told her somethings to try to spark a desire to know more. Anyhow, moral of the story, I am looking for advice, verses, anything I can say. What verses or bible stories or anything would you say to someone who is on the brink of a believing? Right now all I have to work with is that she wants to believe, so I know the door of her heart is open just a sliver but that is absolutely enough, that’s how my true faith began. I don’t want to say the wrong things at the wrong time, so I want to know what I can do or say to open that door more and try to help build her desire to know more about Jesus. Any help at all is greatly appreciated. Thank you & God bless!

Ask her what percentage she trusts Jesus. If she says "not sure, 10%" ask to pray on that 10%, pray with her.

[Who me]

On 9/23/2021 at 9:32 PM, janedoe7 said:

all I have to work with is that she wants to believe, so I know the door of her heart is open just a sliver but that is absolutely enough, that’s how my true faith began. I don’t want to say the wrong things at the wrong time, 

 

May I suggest that you read Lee Stobels 'The Case for Christ' and ask her what does she believe? What evidence is there for her belief?

You can then talk to her about the factual evidence for Jesus, his death, burial and resurrection.

 

If she is interested take her to church with you, or find a church doing the Christianity explorded course and take her to that.