The Key to Winning People

You’ve been apprehended by God for a reason. Even without words you should impact those around you with His power and anointing.

Time and again we ask ourselves, “Why can’t I win my friends to the Lord? Why is it that my family members just don’t seem interested in God?”

The answer may shock you: The reason people who know you aren’t interested in God may be because you don’t have enough of His presence in your life.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be so saturated with God’s presence that when I walk into public places everyone near me will suddenly feel uncomfortable if he’s not right with God. I’m not wanting to condemn or to convict; I just want to carry the fragrance of my Father with me so that people will know that He is there.

THE PURPOSE OF HIS PRESENCE We understand “program evangelism”—knocking on doors, passing out tracts or participating in other outreaches of the church designed to reach the lost. And John Wimber helped us to understand “power evangelism,” which involves praying with someone on the street instead of just witnessing or giving out tracts.

But there is little understanding of what I call “presence evangelism.” This is what occurs when the residue of God on a person creates a divine radiation zone of His manifest presence that affects those around him (see Acts 4:13).

“Shadow healing” would fall into this category. That’s the kind of healing that took place when the shadow of the One with whom Peter walked created a healing zone around him (see Acts 5:15-16).

So would spontaneous deliverance—the kind that occurred when Jesus set foot on the Gardarene shore and a possessed man a half-mile away was suddenly freed from the grasp of demons (see Mark 4:35-5:20).

The demonized man ran to worship Jesus as soon as he saw Him. Up until that moment, he had had no control over his own actions. He responded to the demons’ commands, even when they told him to harm himself.

Today we need to hear the footfall of God as His foot touches the earth. When it does, we won’t have to worry about telling demons to run. We won’t even have to scream Scriptures against their princes or practice pulling down demonic strongholds—because the purpose of His manifest presence is to set the captive free (see Luke 4:18). This purpose will be fulfilled automatically when He shows up.

BRING BACK HIS GLORY If the Father of us all can allow His manifested presence to touch earth just once, then the flood of glory it will spawn will bring revival throughout the land as demons flee and sinners fall to their knees!

We have managed to turn what we erroneously call “church” into a big “bless me club.” I’m not so sure that we need to seek blessings anymore.