Chapter One

Being Led by the Holy Spirit

We must take the message of Christ to our streets and allow the Holy Spirit to have hands, feet, and a voice in this world. The Holy Spirit wants to use you to share the Good News. As we study how to witness, we can learn together. I am still learning how to witness from the Holy Spirit every time I go to the streets and by sharing with others that have witnessed alongside me in the streets. As you learn more about evangelism, allow the Holy Spirit to be more real to you than your best friend. Allow your witness to become a way of life. Many will witness with a team in the streets and never witness any other time. Remember the Lord wants us to take every opportunity to witness. Let's listen to the Holy Spirit and allow His life to flow into ours and He will lead us in our witness. We should be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and hear the urgency that He is speaking to all of us. He is saying the time is short and the laborers are few. Will we begin to prepare today to witness in the streets and go door to door in the cities where we live?

Romans 13
11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.

This verse is often called the Dawning of a New Day. I wonder if the time in that heavenly clock right now is two minutes until midnight. I truly believe we are down to minutes in this world as we know it. The Lord would ask us to be aware that this day may soon come to a close. It is so important that we realize that many will not see the next sunrise for our life is but a vapor, and there will be some that will face death even tomorrow. My own call to take the gospel message to the streets began with a realization that those who have not received Jesus as Lord are burning in hell. Although Jesus Christ died on the Cross for all, there are many that have never heard the gospel of salvation and others that have not taken the opportunity to pray to receive Christ. We must be willing to share the gospel with this lost world and be willing to do so soon. Are you prepared to go to the streets and door to door today? Are you ready to answer the questions of the lost?

1 Peter 3
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

The Lord will make a way for everyone to have an opportunity to receive Christ. It is the Word that will change someone's heart as it is planted as a seed into their life. So often I have watched a life change as the Word of God is sown into a person's heart.

2 Peter 1
11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Psalms 119
130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

How many of you want to launch out deeper and learn how to be bold and share the word with someone? I challenge those that are led to prepare for a street ministry and learn how to witness where you are. We must learn how to be led by the Holy Spirit. Our witness will be more effective if we are led by Him. Only the Lord knows the heart of man. The Lord will arrange that perfect opportunity to share with that one lost person. Allow the Lord to lead you. Every time I take a team of witnesses to the streets or door to door evangelism, I share with them that we will go out for that one lost person that the Lord would lead us to. Oftentimes, there are many souls saved, but we must be content to share with the one. Being led by the Holy Spirit brings wonderful joy. I am always excited every time someone gives their life to Christ.

Below are some examples of the Lord leading me to that one lost soul. These experiences have been so beautiful to experience. Words are so limited to describe what I really saw as these individuals came to Christ. I hope these stories will motivate you to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. We offer the stories as a testimony to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and as an encouragement for all to witness. We realize that in ourselves we can do nothing without the Lord. It seems that much of witnessing is not about our ability but our availability. We hope that you see through these stories that God is moving across our land and in the hearts of many. These stories describe only a few of the many things that we have seen in the streets.

Call to the Park
One evening when I was studying, the Lord seemed to call me to go to the park in my community. I did not respond to the first call and continued studying in my den. The Lord spoke to me a second time and I was sure that I must go. I drove into the city park and noticed that there was only one vehicle in the parking lot. It was about 9:30 at night and the park was very quiet. I walked over to the pavilion and sat down at one of the tables. As I was walking over to the pavilion I saw a man and woman hugging each other. I sat and turned so that I could not see them and began to pray for their souls. In a few minutes they were walking by the pavilion. I said something to them and the man stopped to speak to me. I walked over to him and introduced myself. I told him that the Lord had just spoken to me to come to the park. He knew that he and his friend were the only two people in the park and seemed touched to know that the Lord and someone else cared and took time to respond. I prayed with him and was so glad to see his sincerity. I asked him about speaking to the lady and he walked with me to speak to her. She knew Christ but had nearly become insensitive to the gospel. I prayed with her and gave her a Bible and WWJD bracelets for her children. The man and woman each had their own families, however they had intended to commit adultery that night. It seemed that God had intervened in their lives through an act of His Grace. I encouraged both of them to follow Christ at all cost and do what is right.

I walked back over to the pavilion and sat down at the table. The man was about to drive away and got back out of his truck and said, "I want to thank you so much for coming here tonight, man. It meant so much to me. Thank You."

Ironically, I was working on my book called, The Spiritual Timing of God when God called me to the park that night. It was so beautiful to experience His timing and see lives touched by God.

Isaiah 12
3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Led to an Alley Over 30 Miles Away
One enjoyable weekend that I will never forget is a Saturday afternoon that the Holy Spirit led me to an alley in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, nearly thirty miles from where I live. As I went into the alley, a young man was walking toward me. I told him, "The Lord heard your prayer this morning and I am here to speak to you." The convicting power of the Holy Spirit began to touch him as he heard the Word of God and was saved in the alley where the Lord had led me. Yes, it is so rewarding to follow the leading of the Lord. Many search for miracles and revival and miss the most powerful acts of the Holy Spirit in the very streets where they live. Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and allow yourself to be a servant for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Truck Driver Led to My Home Town
One evening we were traveling in our van back from visiting an injured friend who lived south of Fort Smith, Arkansas. My family and I had taken a lady evangelist to our friend's home for prayer and fellowship. We were returning home and we saw a man in a truck with a load strapped on the back of it. As we saw him beside us at a red light, we felt led to pray for him. We all agreed in prayer for his soul to be saved and asked the Holy Spirit to send someone to him to lead him to the Lord. We continued in prayer for a few moments and we saw the truck go on down the road.

We stopped at a hotel, dropped off the evangelist, and talked to her for a few minutes. We left the hotel and continued on our way home. To our amazement, we were beside the same truck as we were going over the Arkansas River bridge. Once again, we prayed for his soul. We noticed as we continued to our home that his journey was paralleling with ours. I said to my family, "If he turns and heads north I want to follow and see if he stops at the truck stop. I will stop and witness to him." We discussed the possibility that the Lord had paralleled our journeys. We all agreed that something was happening. The truck continued past the intersection and headed toward our home. Then the truck pulled into a grocery store parking lot and stopped only a few blocks from my home.

I took my family home and came back quickly. He was still on the parking lot sitting in his truck. I pulled my van into the parking lot and walked up to the driver-side door. It seemed that he was reluctant to roll down his window. I told him I wanted to speak to him. Finally, he rolled down his window. I introduced myself to him and asked if the Lord was dealing with him. He said that He was and wanted to know how I knew. I said, "Do you remember seeing a green van parked beside you at the light when you came into Fort Smith?" He said, "Yes, I do remember the van, and I noticed you guys looking at me and I thought that my engine noise was bothering you." I told him that we had been praying for him and that he had ended up in a parking lot nearly thirty miles away. The time was two minutes before midnight and we were in my hometown. I asked him if he thought that God may have arranged all of this. He said that he believed God was doing something. However, he said he was an ex-convict and had been in prison for five years and had just been released. He said that he did not feel worthy of what the Lord was wanting to do for him. I assured him that God loved him and that I cared. I told him that if I did not care I would not be there standing in the middle of the cold night to speak to him. I issued an invitation for Him to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and explained the scriptures to him. He gave his heart to the Lord and told me about his beautiful family back home. He said, "I was lost and now I am found." I prayed for his safety in his travel and gave him directions to his destination.

I was so excited about what the Lord did. Although I witnessed all of this, I could hardly believe what had just taken place. I can not understand how all this happened. I knew that I had seen the hand of the Lord that night and how much He loved that man. Everything I had ever done for the Lord was worth it to see that man come to know Him.

As I thought about the man, I wondered how many people had been sent by the Lord to witness to him on his 490 mile journey from Houston, Texas to Fort Smith, Arkansas. He had left Houston early that morning to make a delivery in Missouri.

How many people on his journey were asked by the Lord to witness to him? Was there no one who would respond whenever he stopped for fuel or food? Only God knows.

Led to a Park
I was about to begin a Street University Class at a church across from a park in Fort Smith, Arkansas, the Holy Spirit seemed to be speaking to me. It was a few minutes before the class was to begin and I was led to go to the park across the street from the church. I prayed as I walked the length of the park and went to a young man and his son on the basketball court.

I spoke to this young man and quickly discovered that he was lost. He was a good person but had never received Jesus Christ as his Lord. He said that he had thought for a long time that he must make a decision for Christ. This was to be the day he would pray to receive Jesus Christ. This was what the Lord was wanting to do. He wanted to prepare the park and prepare the hearts of people for His purpose. I was so thankful for others praying for a harvest in this area. Oftentimes an effective witness is an answer to hours and hours of someone's prayers. The presence of the convicting power was so strong. I knew it would be a good day to witness as I walked back to the church to teach others in evangelism.

Let's act on what the Lord wants us to do and be His hands and feet in this world. Time is short and the laborers are few.

Street University Lesson One

Group Discussion

1. Discuss different ways that you have been led to share the gospel with someone.
2. Discuss opportunities that you had to share with someone that you did not have confidence or boldness to lead them.
3. Describe how the Holy Spirit speaks to you. Share the different ways that He speaks to people.

Bible Study

1. Search the scriptures and find references in the New Testament that describe the leading of the Holy Spirit in someone's life.
   Acts 21:4, Acts 8:29, Acts 16:6, Acts 10:19-20
2. Study the witnessing life of Jesus through His conversations in the Gospels.
   Matthew 16:13-15, John 14:1-12, Matthew 5:1-12, Matthew 23:37-39, John 6:28-65, Luke 7:39-50, Matthew 13:1-52

Assignment

1. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to share His heart with you for the lost and allow Him to speak to your heart.
2. Spend much time in prayer for the lost in your community.