04.05. When Shall We Go?

5. WHEN SHALL WE GO? The best time to do personal work, unless the leader has instructed otherwise, is to start immediately. Start as soon as the Invitation is given. At the close of a searching evangelistic message that has gripped the hearts of the people and when the spirit of conviction is on them, the tension is very great. It is difficult, at such a time, for a sinner to step out alone and go forward for prayer. When workers are moving around, it helps to break that tension and makes it easier for the unsaved to move out. As a rule there is more conviction immediately after the message than there is later on. Therefore, immediate action is more likely to pay off.

Don’t Wait

Never wait to start your personal work until the leader has said, "We will sing just one more stanza and close the invitation." If you start then, the stanza may be over before you reach the individual whom you wish to win. The preacher must keep faith with his audience, and if he promises to close after one stanza is finished he should do it. Yet the work that you might have accomplished if you had started sooner may be lost. Don’t wait.

Lose Yourself

If you are near the front of the church and you wish to speak to some individual, it is always best to lose yourself in the crowd before you approach him. People are prone to watch a worker to see to whom he is going. Sometimes this attracts attention and proves embarrassing. It is better to move down some other aisle and inconspicuously approach the one to whom you wish to speak.