Our God is about to do great things!
Our God is about to do great things! Biblically, God’s power never diminishes – for those of us seeking Him, it’s as if His power actually increases, as we seek Him more and more. In a time of national calamity, Joel 2.21, 23 declares:
“Do not be afraid, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things... Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for He has given you the autumn rains because He is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.”
Having spent many years traveling in Israel, I understand the significance of these rains. The former rain comes when the seed is planted; the latter rain arrives just before the harvest and is greater than the first. That is why I believe we are living in a new Day of Pentecost – a time of harvest. The Church was born on the Day of Pentecost in fire, and before Jesus returns, I believe we will experience an even greater baptism of fire and power.
For more than 75 years, I have been driven by this vision. I grew up among the early Pentecostal believers, yet I felt something was missing. At the age of 13, I preached my first sermon, but nobody responded. My father – a great man of faith and one of the leaders of the Elim Pentecostal Church – taught me that it is the Holy Spirit who convicts people of sin, righteousness, and judgment to come.
Immediately, I knew I could not continue preaching without that power. I needed the Holy Spirit. For an entire year I searched for what I was seeking, yet no one seemed to possess what my heart longed for. I attended countless ‘waiting meetings,’ services where people gathered and waited to be filled with the Spirit. But I was desperate for more.
After a year, I resolved that I would wait no longer. I was determined to receive from God. In those days, both the Elim and Assemblies of God churches held large Easter gatherings in London. Living in Croydon at the time, I decided to attend the Assemblies of God meeting first; if I did not receive there, I would go on to the Elim conference.
At the morning meeting, just before lunch, a holy boldness came over me. I approached one of the preachers and asked him to pray for me. As he laid his hands upon me, the Holy Spirit came with such power that it felt as though the roof of the building had been blown away!
If you have received the Holy Spirit, there must be evidence. The Bible speaks of the Gifts of the Spirit, and from the beginning I knew I wanted the Gift of Faith. Without faith, none of the other gifts can operate effectively. Even today, I continue to ask God for that gift. I am never satisfied. The same determination that drove me at 13 still compels me at 94. I want more of God!
I have always believed the prophecies of Joel chapter 2. Joel speaks of the former rain and the latter rain. Many Pentecostals have understood the former rain as the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, and the latter rain as a greater outpouring in the days leading up to Christ's return.
When I was young, some of my friends believed that the latter rain had already come during my father's generation, at the birth of the modern Pentecostal movement. But I have always believed there is more. Much more.
Today, I am still praying and believing for the latter rain. I am asking God to pour out His Spirit as never before.
In 1961, I attended the first Pentecostal conference in Jerusalem, held on the Day of Pentecost itself. It took me two years to organise that journey. We were the first group to travel overland from the United Kingdom, through the Iron Curtain, all the way to Israel.
At the conference, I did not receive what I thought I was looking for – the latter rain. Yet decades later, I realised that God had profoundly touched my life through that experience. That journey became the beginning of my ministry to Eastern Europe. It led first to Bible smuggling and later, throughout the 1980s and beyond, to preaching in the underground church.
There, we witnessed remarkable revivals. In Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia, and across Eastern Europe, we saw God move in extraordinary ways. Looking back, I can see that the seeds planted during that journey produced a harvest far greater than I could ever have imagined.
And today, I believe the greatest harvest is still ahead of us.
I have experienced the power of God in my life! Not some emotional experience in a conference, but step by step walking closer to God – my teenage cry for fire, the cancer, the prison – and many other problems and miracles. What will it be next time, what will happen this year? I still don’t have enough power, still not satisfied that God has answered me fully, what will it be next? All I know is that it is step by step by step, and I have not reached the end of the road yet!