Setting Soul Goals

Once in a while I get criticized for sharing praise reports on the number of people I lead to Christ during evangelism outings. Some Christians think that’s being prideful. My intent is not to brag about myself but what the Lord did through me. As 2 Corinthians 10:17 (NIV) says, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

One evangelist I know often points out God is into numbers. The book of Acts specifically mention groups of 3,000 and 5,000 people that gave their lives to the Lord as well as individuals and an entire household in Acts 16:34. There’s even a book in the Bible called “Numbers.”

Before I go out street witnessing, I pray and ask the Lord to direct my steps and for His angels to set up divine appointments for me. God often gives me a number of salvations to aim for.

One day as I was about to evangelize at a college in Ashland, Virginia, the Lord told me to aim for 20 salvations. At first I thought this number was too high since I hadn’t prayed with large amounts of people in Ashland before. But as I neared the center of the college, I noticed there was an abundance of students outside that I could talk to. Within a couple of hours, 23 people got born again. God is able to do above and beyond what we can ask or think (Ephesians 3:20).

Another time in Mobile, Alabama, I drove to a project area in the northwestern part of the city. There I felt led to ask the Lord for 30 souls. Counting three other people I prayed with hours earlier, I saw 31 people get born again that day. Psalm 2:8 in the King James Version reads, “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance…”

God wants us to set goals in every area of our lives. That includes winning souls.

“Then the LORD answered me and said: 'Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.'” - Habakkuk 2:2

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