Today’s post is part of a series entitled “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Evangelists” by Ministry Council member Rob Wolgemuth. You can read the introduction here.

Habit #1: Be fully surrendered to God:

A talk I heard recently on Whitefield stated that he was “always about his Master’s business.” Reading his biography it feels as though every waking hour of Whitefield’s life was consumed with Kingdom work. For example, it is estimated that Whitefield averaged 1,000 sermons/talks per year. Dallimore says of Whitefield (p. 83), “(at the height of his ministry) we see him preaching forty or more hours per week, with little or no time for preparation” oftentimes preaching to crowds that numbered in the 5,000-10,000 people (Dallimore p. 432) scattered for two miles. Whitefield would frequently travel great distances to speak, including more than a dozen times across the Atlantic Ocean between the UK and the USA (six round trips and a return trip to the USA where he died). His diaries and letters display single-mindedness: everything was narrowly focused on serving God and being his ambassador. Moody would do anything for the Lord also, anywhere that he felt called by the Lord to do it. R.A. Torrey recounts a word of encouragement Moody’s good friend Henry Varley gave Moody early in his ministry. Varley said to Moody, “It remains to be seen what God will do with a man who gives himself up wholly to Him.” And Moody said to himself in reply: “Well, I will be that man.” Torrey continues… “If you and I are to be used in our sphere as D. L. Moody was used in his, we must put all that we have and all that we are in the hands of God, for Him to use as He will, to send us where He will, for God to do with us what He will, and we, on our part, to do everything God bids us do.” Mr. Moody was “(a) wholly surrendered man, and if you and I are to be used, you and I must be wholly surrendered men and women.” (Quotes from Torrey’s book, Chapter 1). Join us tomorrow at God Centered Life to read the second habit, and over the coming week to find all seven. You can sign up here to receive email notifications when new posts are published. ]]>