There are many ways to go about snatching the souls of men from the pit of hell; but for this ministry, we have found that the message of grace combined with the demonstration of Holy Ghost power in love, is the most effective way to entice a sinner to examine himself and then seek the Redeemer for deliverance from sin. It is a personal divine encounter with the True and Living God that ultimately draws men and women to repentance. Without the conviction of sin, there is no need to turn away from the mindsets of the world and without a turning away, there is no repentance.
Unfortunately, people hear messages of doom and gloom from the pulpit and even well-meaning members in the body of Christ; and therefore, the lost don’t see the value in serving God. Instead, they hear that they are sinful, unworthy and never able to measure up to the goodness of God because they are filthy wretches. They reject that messaging from the heart and the interest in knowing God and serving God is quenched. Conversion is not a head matter, it’s a heart matter.
At What You Will™, we have learned that people are more apt to have a real conversion when they have a real encounter with the Living God. It is next to impossible to deny the experience of a divine powerful encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. This writer met the power of God at the age of 19 when an intercessor who stood in the office of a prophet laid hands on me in prayer and began to ‘loose’ the power of God to touch me and boy did it ever. The power of God was so strong upon me I was shaking. I did my best to control my physical body as the power of God moved to my knees. I could barley manage to stand under the force of power overcoming my body; but because I was so self-conscious and didn’t understand at the time what was really taking place during that encounter, I did what I could to stay on my feet and not collapse to the floor. I had an encounter that night and the woman who had prayed for me never pointed out my sin; instead, she let the manifest power of God do the talking for her.
Very few Christian’s pray for the lost to have a divine encounter with God. Religion teaches most to pray for others to be convicted of their sin when that’s really not what draws people to repentance. The Word says it is the good things of (or the goodness of God) that leads people to repentance (Romans 2:4). As for the issue of conviction as it pertains to one knowing right from wrong (feeling conviction), the Bible says that He has already placed within man the knowledge of good versus evil (I am giving out revelation here; think the Book of Genesis) and that men do indeed know the difference between the two. God has also stated in His Word that His goodness is clearly manifested in the way He formed and cared for the earth at the creation; and even now, His goodness is still expressed in all He provides to us with the former and the latter rain, seed time and harvest, and the rising of the sun every day, as examples. The Bible also states that God rains on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). There are many other things we can point to and praise Him for of course; but the point is, the evidence of God is clearly seen in creation; therefore, men are without excuse if they do not repent (Romans 1:20) and conviction is a given after a divine encounter.
That leads me back to the prayer for conviction verses the prayer for encounter. We win more souls by demonstrating the goodness of God (with actual manifestations of Holy Ghost power that provide an opportunity for encounter) over preaching the traditional doctrine of repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. One message points to man’s failures; which is a message of condemnation. The other message points to the goodness of God; which is the foundation of grace. And it is by GRACE through faith that men and women are saved (Ephesians 2:8-9).
No one can just say a simple prayer and be saved because faith without works…turning away from Death unto Life…is dead (James 2:26). Without a real conversion manifested from a powerful encounter with the True and Living God, there is no salvation; only empty words from a prayer repeated by a sinner as lead by a preacher, a teacher, a pastor or a layman in the Body of Christ. A repetitive prayer spoken under the duress of condemnation holds very little if any weight. It is only after a divine encounter with God that real repentance takes place; and with that, real conviction. Then there will be a turning away from the wickedness of the world that gripped the sinner before He knew he had access to grace, and the Redeemer Who provides it.
Dear children, demonstrate encounter.