Soul winning is one of the most fulfilling parts of being a Christian.  It is because we are carrying out the assignment that God has given to every born-again believer.  In John 3:16, it says “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life”.  It is God’s desire that every man have eternal life.  When we are led by the Spirit and win souls for Christ, it’s pleasing to the Father.  In the book of Romans 8:14 it says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”  Your emotions, thoughts and feelings should not be in control.  These things must line up with the Holy Spirit to carry out the will of the Father.  However, there are times when it can be challenging to go out and win someone to Christ.  The challenge isn’t always the person that you’re witnessing to.  The challenge can be within us.  Most mental attitudes that defeat Christians in soul winning are based on feelings, emotions and negative thinking.  The following are just a few of those mental attitudes that can defeat us in winning souls.  

• The attitude of feeling incompetent (2 Corinthians 3:5-6; Philippians 4:13).
• The attitude of not feeling led to go (Mark 16:15).
• The attitude that winning souls is not so important (John 15:16).
• The attitude that a sinner must have a mountain shaking experience in order to be saved (Romans 10:9-10).
• The attitude that a sinner must “Pray Through” in order to be saved (Ephesians 2:8-9).
• The attitude that you should only deal with “Prepared Hearts” (1 Corinthians 3:6).

These attitudes, feelings and thoughts must all be brought into the obedience of Christ. 

In 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 it states, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ”.  The key to overcoming negative thoughts and feelings is to rely on the Word of God.  On the battlefield we must not allow ourselves to become confident in anything other than Jesus.

What is Confidence?

Confidence is defined as to have an inward certainty, to be convinced, a trust.  An assurance that stands firm upon a foundation that has substance and or boldness.

Proverbs 3:26 “For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught and 1John 5:14 “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will he hears us”.

It’s through confidence in our Helper, the Holy Spirit that when we walk into a home, He will give us the words we need to speak, “Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist” (Luke 21:14-15). In Psalms 118:8 it says, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man”, man includes the fleshly part of you.  This is how we overcome the fear of failure by, “trusting in the Lord with all thy heart and leaning not unto thy own understanding, but in all thy ways acknowledging him and he will direct thy paths”

(Proverbs 3:5-6).

Let’s look at the following example:

You may find yourself witnessing to a person and there may be lot of things going on in your mind like:

1. I don’t know what to say.
2. I can’t do this.
3. What if the person does not receive what I say?

We must remember that the Holy Spirit is on the inside of us He is our helper. Call upon him to help you say the right things; he already knows what you are thinking.  Remember, the person may not receive salvation the moment you share the Word with them, have a farmer’s mentality; Paul did.  He said in the book of 1 Corinthians 3:6, “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase”.  So confidence in Jesus and the Word must always outweigh what we feel.  You may feel like you didn’t get through to that individual, but God has a plan and our confidence must be in God’s plan concerning that person’s life.

How do we walk in Confidence?

Walking in confidence starts with knowing who you are.  A good example is David.  While visiting his brothers and the Israelite soldiers on the battlefield, David listened as Goliath, the Philistine giant demanded an opponent for battle.  It was then that David asked an important question in 1 Samuel 17:26, he asked, “for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God”?  Basically, David was saying, look we are the promised people of the living God.  How can this guy think he could defeat the people who are in covenant with the almighty God?  So walking in confidence means you must know what God says about you.  Know the promises of God and trust in them.  Later David asked permission of King Saul to challenge Goliath.  The king himself doubted that David could defeat the giant.  But David explained in 1 Samuel 17:36-37 “that the Lord had delivered him out of the paw of the lion and the bear and that God would deliver him out of the hand of this Philistine”.  This shows the inward certainty that David had in God.  Confidence to overcome feelings, emotions and bad thoughts can be defeated by remembering other trials and tribulations God has brought you through.  He is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore.

God is the one in control, all we must do is yield to His leading and He will direct our steps.  For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.  (Acts 17:28, Galatians 1:16).