Local accountant Andrew Stennett feels called to two things: numbers, and sharing his faith.

He was one of the group who prayer-walked with a cross into Sheffield City centre during Arise at Easter, sharing his faith both visually and verbally along the way. This Summer, he challenged members of his community to try to listen more closely to God’s promptings in their hearts, and to respond to them more frequently. He called it the Summer Prophetic Challenge, and it’s been motivating people across the city to step out in faith. We interviewed him to find out more.

What kickstarted the Summer Prophetic Challenge?

The main reason is that it’s what I felt God asking me to do. I also think lockdown has made a lot of people very introspective: they’ve started reflecting and asking questions. The Bible and the events of Jesus’ life have certainly been sticking out a lot more to me recently. It says in John:

Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.’

John 5:19

When reading that, I thought, “If Jesus needed that, then we as Christians need to be able to hear God, and be able to step out of our comfort zones.”

Hence, the Summer Prophetic Challenge was born; a group of us practising listening to those nudges of God in day-to-day life and stepping out on them.

What are your highlights from the Challenge?

It’s been quite exciting for me. Another thing that Jesus says is,

‘I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.’

John 10:10

I don’t think everything’s going to be sunshine and rainbows, but I do think there’s a sense of fulfilment that can only be found by pursuing Jesus. There were nights where I couldn’t get to sleep because I was so excited about what had happened, and I haven’t felt that much excitement since I was a child. Culture tells us to settle down when you grow up, but I think the fullness Jesus offers is an antidote to that.

I saw someone being healed in a shop only last week. There was a man who had quite bad pain in his foot. We prayed twice, the first time some of the pain went down, and the second time, the pain disappeared completely. And I hadn’t seen an immediate healing like that in a few years, since the last time I was regularly stepping out of my comfort zone.

I’ve also had a few words of knowledge, where God’s shown me something about someone that I wouldn’t have known otherwise. For example, I was praying with a friend and their mum for one of their family members who wasn’t there, and I got a sense of gardening and being outside (I’d never met this person before). So I put myself out there and shared the sense I’d received,, and the mum said ‘Oh yeah, he did our garden.’, which was kind of wild. I don’t know what will come from that, but it was great to know that God was with us at that moment.

Has it helped you become more bold in your faith?

Definitely. There’s that story about the stranger who is lost and asks another person for directions, and the other person responds ‘If I was trying to get there, I wouldn’t start from here.’ And I think sometimes, life can feel like that, especially if you’re trying to emulate the life of Jesus.

You can see the destination, but the road to it is winding and intimidating.

So being more confident in speaking to others has been a real journey this month. It’s all about that relationship with God, and like any relationship, you slowly build trust and keep walking that path as you go along. As Christians, it’s up to us to show by our lives that there’s a living, loving God, and that’s what taking these steps has been for me.

One of the members in our group was having his second Covid vaccination during the Challenge, and it was taking place in a church. He was ushered through to the sanctuary for the obligatory ten minutes after his jab, and felt a prompting to speak to the 15 or so others waiting there. Because he was a part of the Challenge he responded to the nudge, and went to the front of the church and shared his faith.

What advice would you give to others who want to share their faith?

It starts off with your relationship with God. If you learn to listen to God in your own life, even on the trivial day-to-day things like what to read, or what you should write in a birthday card for someone, it helps you learn to trust Him when you’re out there in the world speaking to others.

It all comes back to building that relationship with Him, even if you aren’t necessarily speaking to someone about God in that moment. Relationships take time and effort, and you’ll learn how to share your faith with others through that relationship.

What has been bringing you closer to Jesus recently?

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish his work.” That’s really stuck with me this month. We often like to think if we were in a better place right now, we’d be more ready to share our faith with others, but there is something about stepping out and seeing God at work that nourishes us in and of itself.

Do you have any plans to continue the Challenge?

We’re currently working out what’s next for the Challenge. I think the secret is that it’s not so much a challenge, but God’s original invitation for all believers to bring Him into everything we do: it’s simply the Christian life.

Summer Prophetic Challenge