Practical Suggestion in Witnessing or Counseling
Practical Suggestions
1. Cultivate God's love and compassion in your own heart for those who are suffering or in need.
2. Keep your heart in an attitude of prayer that the Holy Spirit may speak through you, and give you the words to say.
3. As you listen to a person talk, seek to understand the reason behind his or her problem.
4. Often people tend to hide the real problem and cover it up. Ask questions so that you can understand his or her problem and be able to counsel them better.
5. Help the person to understand and clarify their problem. As he or she begins to understand their problem, they may also begin to see the solution.
6. Use the Bible as you are able. Memorize scriptures, and have a notebook handy with scriptures applicable to different situations or subjects.
7. Keep your advice to a minimum. Instead, learn to listen. The person really needs to find their own solution - you need to help him or her receive proper insight to their problem and guide them toward finding the right solution.
8. Avoid being confrontational or argumentative. This often results in creating tension, or making the person defensive.
9. The person needs to feel that you are genuinely concerned, and that you desire to share their burden. Cultivate a feeling of trust between the person and you, and that the matter will be kept confidential.
10. In addition to advice or counsel, offer genuine emotional help and support with an attitude of understanding, love, and sympathy. It can often be more valuable than any answers you may give.
11. Let the person know that he or she is not alone, and that many people have faced the same problems or trials and have overcome them.
12. If the problem is complex and you do not know the answer, do not be afraid to say so. Tell he or she that you will be pray and be available for emotional support. Also, if you know a person who has been through a similar trial, recommend that they talk with each other.
13. Pray with the person. Help them to open a line of communication with their Heavenly Father. God ultimately has the answer, and has their best interest at heart.
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