Gospel opportunity: pray for your waiters and waitresses

This is a suggestion that I've both heard from my Evangelism professor, Dr. Timothy Beougher, and that I've seen lived out by my Dad last summer at Ruby Tuesday.

After kicking myself for forgetting to do this on a number of occasions, I've finally (by God's grace) begun implementing this simple practice.

At a 'sit-down' restaurant, your waiter or waitress will usually introduce himself or herself when he or she first takes your drink order. Most Christians reading this blog will pray over the meal before eating, so sometime before the meal arrives, we should:

1. simply speak to the waiter/waitress by name;
2. tell him/her that we will be praying, and;
3. ask him/her if there is anything we can pray about for him/her.

In doing this, we:

1. honor our waiter/waitress as a fellow eternal soul, made in the image of God, rather than simply viewing him/her as a nameless icon, present only to meet our needs/wants;
2. honor the teaching of Jesus, who instructs us to extend our love outside of our circle of friends and family (see Matthew 5:46-47);
3. provide an opportunity, either for ourselves if there is time, or for other Christians that God brings into the waiter's/waitress' life, to speak to him/her concerning the Good News of Jesus.