Spiritual Conversation Starters for Evangelism

Have you ever wanted to talk about your faith, but weren’t sure how to bring it up? Spiritual conversation starters can help!

Many Christians long to share the hope they have in Jesus, yet they struggle to find natural ways to do it. These discussions don’t have to be forced or awkward.

In fact, spiritual conversations can flow naturally in everyday life and lead to meaningful conversations.

In our last article, Shema Statements, you learned that we can start spiritual conversations by openly sharing that we are followers of God. In this article, you will learn more about how to use spiritual conversation starters that lead to sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.

What Are Spiritual Conversations?

Spiritual conversations are everyday discussions that can naturally lead to deeper exchanges about faith, God, and the Gospel.

These aren’t apologetics, debates, or scripted presentations, but organic moments where faith, worldview, and religion become part of normal conversation.

While not every spiritual conversation will include sharing the Gospel, they plant seeds. 

Many Christians hesitate to start spiritual conversations, fearing rejection or awkwardness.

But Jesus calls us to share freely. The Parable of the Sower, recorded in Mark 4, teaches us that our role is to scatter seeds of truth generously, not to determine who will or won’t respond.

The more we engage in spiritual conversations, the more opportunities we give for the Gospel to take root.

How to Start Spiritual Conversations

Here’s what you need before trying to use spiritual conversation starters.

Ask the Holy Spirit to Empower You

Before engaging in spiritual conversations, ask the Holy Spirit to guide your words.

Pray that He will open doors for conversation and prepare people’s hearts to receive the truth. 

Trust that He will provide the right opportunities and give you the courage to speak. God calls every Christian to be an evangelist and He wants to empower us to obey. 

Stop Filtering Out Your Spirituality

We often filter our faith out of everyday conversations, adjusting our language based on our audience.

But if we have a version of a story for our Christian friends and another version for non Christians, we are missing opportunities.

Instead, we can freely share how God is working in our lives, giving Him credit and naturally mentioning our faith in conversations.

For example, instead of saying, “I was lucky,” say, “I saw God’s hand in that situation.”

Stop Prejudging People’s Spiritual Receptivity

Missionary and author Kevin King warns against a common mistake in evangelism:

“Here’s what I think other evangelism models get wrong. They say that:

“Step 1: Develop a special ‘sonar’ that can detect spiritually receptive people.

“Step 2: Engage those people with spiritual things.

“This approach has some problems. First, we usually aren’t very good at gauging spiritual receptivity. Instead, we jump to conclusions about people. One misconception is: If someone adheres to a different religion, we assume they won’t be interested in the Gospel. But we really can’t trust our ability to gauge spiritual receptivity because we tend to look at the wrong things.”

King goes on to emphasize, “It really isn’t our job to walk around determining who will and won’t be receptive. In fact, it’s incredibly arrogant to think we could take on that role. I’ve known many Christians who didn’t give off ‘spiritually receptive’ vibes before they became believers. Every conversion is an act of God. Spiritual receptivity isn’t something we can detect from far away. Besides, when we try to use receptivity as the basis of our interactions with people, we’ve gotten the order all wrong. Spiritual receptivity is something we discover as we engage with people, not before we engage with them.

“The better way to interact with others like this:

“Step 1: Engage people with spiritual things.

“Step 2: Through engaging, find those who are spiritually receptive.

“Spiritual receptivity is not something we detect before engagement but something we discover as we interact with people. This shift in perspective frees us to share openly without fear of misjudgment.

For example, share that you went to church last weekend and see how someone respond (instead of editing that out of your weekend without knowing how they’ll react.) 

Stop Memorizing Scripts

Some evangelism training focuses on memorizing Gospel presentations, but these only work under perfect conditions. In reality, most people don’t naturally find themselves in scripted conversations about faith.

Instead of waiting for the perfect moment, we should cultivate a lifestyle of mentioning God in everyday conversations.

For instance, when someone shares a struggle, you can respond, “I’ll be praying for you.”

These natural comments can open doors for meaningful conversations about someone’s spiritual journey. You may find some common ground with your conversation partner that launches you into being able to share the Gospel. 

Sowing for Spiritual Conversations

We need an evangelism approach that doesn’t rely on our ability to differentiate spiritually open and spiritually closed people.

Jesus’ parable of the sower in Mark 4 illustrates this principle. The farmer scatters seed everywhere, not just on what appears to be good soil. Some seed falls on rocky or thorny ground and doesn’t grow, but other seed takes root and produces a great harvest.

This parable teaches us that we should spread the Gospel abundantly and without discrimination:

• The more seeds we scatter, the greater the chance they will land on good soil.
• Evangelism isn’t about finding “the right people” to share with—it’s about faithfully sharing with everyone.
• The more we live out our faith in everyday conversations, the more opportunities we’ll have to engage with people who are spiritually searching.

Spiritual Conversation Starters

One of the easiest ways to begin is through Shema Statements —simple expressions of our faith that naturally invite curiosity and dialogue. The term “Shema” comes from Deuteronomy 6:4-9, where God instructs His people to talk about Him in daily life.

Examples:

• God has been teaching me about …
• I’ve been praying about that, and I’ve seen God answer in unexpected ways.
• I went to church this past weekend.
• One of my favorite Bible verses reminds me that God …

Simply share about your spiritual experiences.

These statements aren’t aggressive or preachy. They simply acknowledge God’s presence in your life, and invite people into further discussion.

So what happens after you start a spiritual conversation?

Ask Questions and Listen

Let their responses guide where you take things. Genuine conversations involve listening as much as speaking. Ask others kinds of questions about their spiritual backgrounds and experiences.

These can open doors to meaningful discussions and demonstrate a genuine interest in others’ perspectives. Be sure to follow up with curiosity and kindness.

Asking great questions shows that you truly care about their spiritual life and where they are in their spiritual matters.

From there, you may be able to gather a small group to do a Discovery Bible Study.

Grow in Confidence with Living Out Loud

If you want to grow in having natural, Gospel centered conversations, Living Out Loud: Letting Your Love for God Flow into Your Everyday Language by Kevin King and Christine Daniels offers practical guidance. 

Learn how to confidently integrate faith sharing into daily discussions and share the Good News of Jesus Christ with those around you. It’s a great discipleship tool! 

You can get chapters 1-3 at no cost when you sign up below!