It took me half an hour before I finally plucked up the courage to pray for my non-Christian housemate who was complaining about the sharp pain in his wrist. Breaking into a cold sweat I mumbled the words ‘can I pray for you?’ After he agreed I managed to splutter out a prayer complete with awkward side-glances. Nothing happened, but he really appreciated what I had said and his mood visibly lifted. Looking back I kick myself for not taking more risks like this at Uni, often asking myself what would have happened if I had.

A prominent Christian leader once said “faith is spelled R-I-S-K”, meaning we grow in our relationship with Jesus when we step outside our comfort zone to share our faith.

Many Christians will probably recognise this, but like myself, struggle to put it into practice as the fear of a negative response stops us. “People won’t want to hear this”, I’ve told myself at times before bailing on a golden opportunity.

But God doesn’t see it this way. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together (Colossians 1:17), and it’s not the persuasiveness of our answers or the edginess of our church flyers that compels people, it’s his Holy Spirit at work. We just need to put ourselves out there in the first place so we can partner with God in what He’s doing.

This may mean we feel embarrassed or awkward; it may mean we do something uncomfortable; it may even mean we have to swallow our pride and embrace inconvenience. Sure, it doesn’t always work out. But if us taking a risk could change someone’s life forever, what’s our reason for not doing it?

I’ve been so encouraged by the risks that students at my church in Nottingham have been taking recently. During Freshers’ Week, using an evangelism tool called Jesus at the Door, several students walked about campus sharing the gospel and offering to pray for people, which led to one student giving their life to Jesus outside the main SU building. One of our student small groups went into the city centre using the same tool and 6 people ended up choosing to follow Jesus. Another student was in a lecture recently when she got chatting to the person next to her who expressed a desire for community, so she invited them along to church, which they agreed to! It would have been easier to let these opportunities pass by, but because they took a risk, several people are beginning a journey with faith.

Whether it’s going onto the streets to tell people about Jesus, offering to pray for the coursemate going through a tough time, inviting that friend to church, giving some of your maintenance loan to a person in need, or cooking a meal for your overly stressed housemate, whatever it may be, why not take a risk?

God might just surprise you.