SOUL WINNING: 8 STEPS TO AN EFFECTIVE SOUL WINNING
Something funny happened to me last month , promise me you won’t laugh at me, or at least, you would laugh just a little. š.
So I went out for soul winning together with some kingdom friends one Saturday and as usual, I got the name and contact of this brother and promised to remind him of our church service via call on Sunday.
Sunday came, I didn’t want to call him very early, who knows, it might upset him and that will be the end.
Soul that I’m seriously anticipating to see in church.
Around 7:20am, on my way to church, I dialed his number, twice I called, he didn’t pick up.
Perhaps he had a busy Saturday and he is still in bed resting, I thought to myself so I decided to send him a text.
I was running and typing, as I was almost late for workersā meeting and I might not be able to send the text again once service starts.
āGood morning Mr Omotayo,……….God bless you as you attend our serviceāā. I clicked the send button.
All through the service, my neck was turnioniown, looking out for my new convert. I didn’t see anyone like him when the first timers were welcomed.
āMaybe he is attending the second serviceā, I thought again.
I wasn’t really happy for real.
After the service, I tried calling him again, he still didn’t pick my call.
I decided to check the delivery details of the text I sent to be sure he got it.
Lo and behold, what I saw in my sent messages folder was āGood morning Mr Potatoā. My goodness, auto correct has changed Mr Omotayo to Mr Potato.
Soul that I have been praying for since Saturday, I even spoke in tongues asking the Holy Spirit to order his steps to church, and auto correct just messed up my runz like that.
I tried to imagine how the brother would feel when saw the message, maybe he had even dressed up to come before the message got to him.
I am still in pains really.
Who else has suffered terribly in the hands of auto correct.
That’s just one of the many challenges we encounter in soul winning.
A lot of people really desire to be a soul winner, they want to do what will make heaven rejoice but don’t know how to really go about it. Whenever they see young people like them share the good news with confidence in public places, on transit or during a one on one evangelism, they are thrilled and secretly, they wish they could do so too.
If you are one of them, then read along because after reading what I am about to share, you will no longer be afraid to talk about Jesus anywhere you find yourself.
I am about to share all you need to know about evangelism and soul winning.
It is God’s will for us to win souls, as a matter of fact, it is His greatest delight. Jesus, commanded the disciples to go into the world and make disciples out of men.
He wants us to reach out to the unsaved. There is great jubilation in heaven when a soul is brought into the kingdom.
Majority are still wallowing in darkness and until you and I decide to take up this divine assignment, they may not know what we enjoy as children of light.
Your Christianity is not complete until you become a soul winner.
Every Christian must learn the art of telling others about Jesus, boldly, and confidently too.
In this post, I listed eight practical steps to a productive soul winning exercise.
1.You have to be compassionate.
To go after souls, you need to have a good level of compassion for them. The desire to see others saved must be burning in you. Without this, you will become discouraged in no time.
2. Be very prepared.
You’ve got to prepare yourself physically and spiritually.
Study the scriptures, have the word in you so you won’t be thrown off guard should you be asked any Bible related question.
Prepare spiritually in prayers, commit the souls you will meet unto God. Ours is to speak, it is God that draws men to Himself.
Pray fervently, pray in the Holy Ghost, ask for boldness and courage and bind the spirit of fear and shyness.
3. Map out an approach that you think will work best for you.
There is no official format or template for soul winning, but every new. conversation should be properly initiated. You may decide to start by introducing yourself- which is often time a very good way to start, you may choose to talk about an interesting or trending topic before you strike the main deal, depending on how much time you have, you can start with a personal testimony of your own salvation experience, another person might just want to go straight to the point.
It all depends on the mood and countenance of the person you are witnessing to. But in all, share the news with joy and enthusiasm and ensure you make the person relaxed and comfortable around you.
4. Look Good.
Your outlook is going to go a long way in determining whether people will give you audience or not.
Remember you are marketing Jesus, so look good, dress nicely, wear clean clothes, brush your teeth- nobody wants to stay around mouth odour.
You can even use a cologne or body spray but in all wear a smile, it is the greatest apparel you should wear.
The gospel of Jesus is good news not a message of doom.
Wearing a stern look may scare a potential convert away.
5. Be polite in your approach.
Everyone loves to be respected. Choose your words wisely and carefully. Don’t go and say words that are judgemental. You are not sent to condemn people, you are to introduce Jesus to them.
Imagine these two statements;
āSister, look at the way you are dressed, if you don’t repent you are going straight to hell and you will burn forever thereā
āWonderful Sister, how do you do ma. Jesus loves you dearly, He wants to be your friend, He knows all your struggles and heās willing to make you better than the best if you would give him a chance in your lifeā
Now if you are the sister, how would you react to both statements? Wisdom is always profitable to direct.
And this is not about sugarcoating the scriptures, not everyone should be like Apostle John in the Bible.
The world is hell already, people are going through stuff, they need a message of love.
A harsh message will only chase them farther away.
Let them come to Jesus in their naked apparels, the WORD will shape and remould them.
6.Be Bold and Confident
You need that a lot and that is the essence of praying.
Prayer empowers us through the Holy Spirit to do things we cannot do naturally.
Many Christians desire to also share the gospel in buses, public places, amongst their friends and colleagues but they lack the boldness and confidence to start speaking each time they have the urge in their spirit.
I have experienced that too severally, where I’ll be led to sing worship, pray or share the word on transit but fear and a lot of āwhat ifsā won’t let me speak.
Many times you think in your heart, āwhat if they start laughing at me, what will I even say, which scripture will I use, what if I get embarrassedā and silently, you kill the voice of the spirit leading you to speak.
You have to learn how to constantly ask the Holy Spirit for boldness. He is ever ready to endue you with it.
When next you have the leading to share the gospel anywhere, just say a silent prayer and start out in faith. The one who wants you to speak to his people will always give you utterance.
Once you open your mouth to speak, He’ll always fill it with words. You’ll be amazed at how incredible you will perform.
Be bold to talk about your heavenly father.
7. Ensure you lead your new converts to take the confession prayer.
It is very important not to miss this part. After you have spoken to your new convert about Jesus, lead him/her to say the prayer of faith and confess Jesus as their Lord and saviour.
They need to boldly declare their new stand in Christ.
You can check out the confession prayer HERE
Also pray for them and with them, it goes a long way in encouraging them. Many people really desire someone to pray for and with them.
8. Get their contact information if they are willing to give.
You can politely request for their phone number. This will enable you to properly follow up on them and pray with them from time to time.
You can also give the contact to the evangelism and follow up department of your church.
Never stop praying for your new converts, it doesn’t end at winning their souls.
After conversion, pray that they be established in the faith and that they grow and bear fruits like you.
I believe now, you can set out for a bountiful harvest of souls for the master.
Remember, He that wins souls is wise (Proverbs 11:30).
Feel free to comment, share with your friends and contact us for prayers and counseling on issues bothering you as regards evangelism.