Christians tend to want special revelation from God before they witness. They look to the case of Phillip, one of the early disciples and great personal evangelists of the Bible. They anticipate Phillip's experience will be repeated for them. So they refuse any kind of assertive witnessing, because the Spirit has not prompted them.

Instead of accepting the Word of God, which commissions every believer to make disciples of all people, we hold out for God's special prompting. But God's great commission (Matthew 28:19-20) includes all His followers. So we should consider ourselves already prompted by the Spirit.

Let's return to Phillip, the early Christian witness. Phillip had been leading people to the Lord prior to the time when the Holy Spirit prompted him to go down to Gaza and meet the Ethiopian. In fact, Phillip had fled from Jerusalem where Christians were being persecuted. The reason: to be safe, yes. But also so he could share his faith with other people. The result: a revival broke out in Samaria . When Peter and John came down to oversee the continuing revival, the Holy Spirit knew Phillip was free for another assignment. Then the Spirit prompted Phillip to witness.

Witnessing, more than non-witnessing, people feel and sense the prompting of the Spirit. So witness, and God will prompt you more. Wait for Him to prompt you and experience shows – He remains silent.