by Jack Hyles
Now I think basically that when a person goes to win souls, he should spend his time winning souls. I had a secretary once who came to work about nine o’clock every morning, then she wanted to spend the first two hours praying. I think prayer is wonderful, but from nine to eleven in the morning is not the time for a secretary with a job to pray. From six to eight might be all right, or from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m., or from seven to nine at night. But she wanted to pray from nine to eleven in the morning. She thought I was unspiritual because I wanted her to type letters and get the work done. I said, “I don’t mind you praying, but I’m not going to pay you for praying. Don’t you pray on company time; you pray on your own time.”
Now, soul-winning time should be time set aside for soul winning. We ought to set aside times for seasons of prayer, but not to borrow it from scheduled soul-winning time. When you go, say a simple prayer. I always pray basically this prayer, “Dear Lord, I claim in faith the fullness of the Holy Spirit before I go. I pray that You will help me to be a blessing to somebody and help me to win somebody today.” Claim the Spirit’s fullness—a simple prayer of faith asking God to help and give power. I make it brief. Suppose you are going soul winning at one o’clock on Friday afternoon and you are going to pray for thirty minutes; pray from 12:30 to 1:00, not from 1:00 to 1:30. Do not steal soul-winning time. If you plan to go soul winning at one o’clock and you want to pray for four hours, start praying at nine o’clock in the morning and go soul winning at one. Stay on schedule about your soul winning and claim the Spirit’s fullness before you go.
by Jack Hyles