You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you for ever, (Psalm 30.11-12, NIV).
Jesus is with us in our pain and suffering
In 1972, when I was in prison for Bible smuggling, my heart was full of desperation and pain. One day, as I was praying, a miracle happened: it was as if Heaven had opened, the cell was filled with a brilliant light, all the angels of Heaven seemed to crowd into that cell, and I began to praise and worship the Lord. I got to my feet and began to run around that cell singing, “Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee, how great Thou art!” The glory of God filled my heart, changing me, the sadness and the pain were gone! I was locked in a prison cell, yet I was in the presence of God, experiencing the glory of God, something greater than I had ever known in a church – it was as if I was transported into Heaven!
the biggest lesson I learnt – the secret of Evangelism
Aged 13, I learned the biggest lesson of my life which would change everything and show me the secret of evangelism.
In simple terms, my father said that it is not just preaching which brings people to repentance. He said you’ve not yet received the Holy Spirit; he told me, the Bible says Jesus taught His disciples the first lesson in evangelism when He said, “When the Holy Spirit is come, He (not you, David), He, will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgement.” My father said, you need the Holy Spirit. So immediately, sitting on my bed, I asked him to lay his hands on me and pray. But nothing happened. Even though he had received the Holy Spirit himself in the early days, I did not receive this blessing from him.
I was now totally obsessed. I went everywhere asking people to pray with me. Nothing. I spent more than a year searching, asking people to pray, no one could help. I started fasting and praying, I KNEW what I wanted. In prayer I was asking the Lord – fill me. Even though I was an ambitious, competitive teenager with my life in front of me, I tried to empty myself of everything, so that when I received, I would be 99 percent Holy Spirit and only 1 percent me, 1 percent myself.
I desperately wanted to live like they did in the Acts of the Apostles – that’s what we’re supposed to do, isn’t it? I wanted the challenge and the adventure they had – and I understood even at that young age, there’s a price to pay. Growing up, my father gave me a copy of Fox’s Book of Martyrs. As I read it, I asked him, how they could stand the pain of being burned at the stake? His answer was that surely the Lord would dull their pain.
Eventually I became so desperate to receive the Holy Spirit – and it was coming up to Easter and I knew there would be three big Easter Conventions in London on the Easter Monday – that I suggested to my brother and a friend that we should go up to London and attend all three conventions. If I didn’t receive in the first convention, I determined I would go to the second, and then the third, but I told the others, and I also told the Lord Himself, I would NOT go home without receiving what I was searching for. Impatient? No, desperate, I really meant it.
The first meeting was with the Assemblies of God (AoG) in Westminster Central Hall. It was a typical convention, lots of preachers, talk, talk, talk, so when it came to lunch time, they simply said they wouldn’t pray for people until the afternoon session. I’m amazed when I look back, I can’t believe what I actually did. I went up to these rather overwhelming ‘old men’, the leaders and speakers at the Convention, and challenged them, “How can you talk about lunch? I came here to receive the Holy Spirit, and I won’t be here this afternoon.” Very reluctantly, responding to my desperate plea, they took the three of us into a back room, and all of them laid hands on us and prayed. But still nothing happened – and these were the leaders of the AoG. My despair and desperation touched one of the men; he let the others go to their lunch, then he gently opened the Scriptures, explained the Promise, laid hands on me and prayed.
Filled to overflowing
To describe what happened – I am sure that I exaggerate – but to me it was as if the roof blew off, the Heavens opened and I heard Heavenly music, it was as if something like tongues of fire were coming down, fire resting on me – I jumped up, shouting and praising God in a multitude of unknown tongues. Yes, just as I imagined happened 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem. Yes, just what I had so desperately sought after. The Power came down that day. I was filled and gloriously overflowing.