It's Supernatural

Sid: Hi Sid Roth here with Larry Sparks and Larry has been studying revivals and there is a lot to be learned as far as anything they did we can do. And I believe that we’re so close to the return of Jesus we can even do it better. Tell me some of the things that you’ve learned about studying previous revivals.

Larry: Well first thing is I immediately I think of the Welsh revival there’s a man named Evan Roberts. This man was desperate for God. He was hungry to seek God he was hungry to see God move in his city and his nation in a powerful way.  And the thing that we learn from Evan Roberts is that there is a need for perseverance.  You know one thing that I read that he wrote is that “I said to myself I will have the Spirit,” and through all weathers and despite all difficulties I went to the meetings. He was constantly in atmosphere and environments where the Holy Spirit was moving he was constantly doing what he could to keep himself hungry. He said…and this is what gets me he said “For 10 or 11 years I have prayed for revival.  I could sit up all night to read or talk about revivals it was the Spirit who moved me to think about revival for 10 or 11 years. Now I’m not saying that that’s always the case where we have to pray for 10 or 11 years but Evan Roberts tells us that there is perseverance that is needed to experience the breakthrough. As a result I believe that the Welsh revival, this man carried he prayed for this for 11 years and he saw over 11,000 people come to know Jesus.

Sid: But what about someone like Katherine Kuhlman what did you learn from her?

Larry: I learned from Katherine Kuhlman that there’s always more and that’s interesting to think because Katherine Kuhlman was somebody I wish I had known because here’s this lady who walked in unusual miracle healing anointing. I mean her healings here I go on YouTube I go on the computer and I watch them and her demeanor and her kindness and compassion it just it’s just amazing. And the miracles would just breakout in the presence of God. But I’ll never forget I watched her talk to the Student Body at Oral Roberts University and the first thing she said this to me was the secret of her ministry.  The first thing she said as she opened in prayer is she said “God there’s no one here that’s hungrier for more than me.”  And I thought to myself Katherine wait a minute your hungry for more, you’re seeing things that we desire to see, you’re seeing things these amazing miracles just popping left and right in those services, in those meetings and yet here she was saying “God there’s no one hungrier for more than me.” So how does that translate, what does that mean?  It means that the God that lives inside of us is enormous He is huge, He is great!  And Katherine recognized this Katherine knew this that the Spirit of God who lived inside of her was capable was capable of accomplishing anything.  And she had stepped into a certain measure of anointing, of power, or miracles but she wasn’t satisfied she was wanting more. And Sid I believe there’s some listeners who are tuning and there’s a couple of categories and I think the Lord really wants to minister to just based on that word, just based on that word from Kathryn back in the 1970’s for those of you who feel like “You know what I’ve never experienced the filling of the Holy Spirit, I’ve never been filled with the Spirit, I believe in Jesus He’s my Savior but I’ve never encountered God.  I’ve never encountered God like you’re talking about I believe the Holy Spirit wants to fill you. And I believe that those that have been filled with the Holy Spirit and maybe you’ve spoken in tongues, maybe you operated in prophecy, or gifts of the Spirit and I believe that there’s more.  In the Book of Hebrews it talks about the elementary things of the faith has repentance and baptisms, baptism plural. And I believe that there are multiple baptisms we can experience in the Spirit. Yes we get certain gifts but I believe that there are so much more that we can walk in.

Sid: Larry tell me a contemporary someone now that is in the forefront of revival and what you learned from that person.

Larry: One person I actually gotten to spend a good amount of time with is Randy Clark and some of you may know Randy Clark as the evangelist God used to really help to ignite the Toronto Renewal Blessing. God’s used him in a powerful way in healing and teaching other people in activating them in healing ministry. What I’ve seen in Randy is 2 qualities 2 keys to sustaining a life of revival. We all want revival we all want the move of God we all want to experience God. And God wants to touch you but I also want to encourage you God wants to transform you and in Randy’s life I see these 2 keys that were humility and hunger. Now what does that look like? Humility recognizes that there’s so much more of God that I’m presently experiencing.  And Randy was a leader he was a pastor, he was somebody as leaders and pastors it’s easy for us to think “Well even though deep down I’m hungry for God I don’t want to show it in front of my people, I don’t want that to be a sign of weakness no that’s the greatest strength because when you lead a church or ministry or people or Bible study and you’re hungry you’re leading them into the same place that you’re going. And that’s what happened with Randy he got hungry he had these dramatic encounters with God starting in 1984 where everything for him and his church changed. He had an impartation of healing and then his church became a place where God would move for moving. He had in 1989 he had another encounter and then God used him in a greater measure with words of knowledge and healing.  And then finally I believe it was 1993 the Lord touched him in a very different way each encounter was unique and different but each encounter made him want more. And there was that humility that said “God I know that there’s more” and hunger which was that driving force that caused Randy to go to different places to interact with different people who were experiencing the move of God he was not to a point of arrogance to where he thought “I don’t need to go somewhere if God’s going to touch me He’s going to touch me wherever I am. Now sometimes we need to go somewhere because it demonstrates true desperation and hunger for God.

Sid: I’m feeling a presence of God and one of the things people say about when they read your book even though it’s brand new we’ve read the manuscript before it became a book that it stirs them up to such hunger for God. I can’t think of a more important thing. So would you pray for people right now that they’d be stirred up, that they’d be hungry for God?

Larry: Yes, yes. Father we thank You that there is more, thank You that every time that we go to the Bible and we look at Jesus we see that there’s more and we are just discontent living where we are. It’s not condemnation we don’t feel bad about where we are we get excited because we know wow God there’s so much more; so I pray for those that feel “You know Larry I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit right now.”  I pray in the name of Jesus the people that are listening who desire to be filled for the first time ever Holy Spirit touch them from the crown of their heads to the soles of their feet fill them to overflowing, give them just a mighty baptism in Your Spirit. And I pray that it’ll be a deep and profound encounter God that they will live out of that they will be able to live their life out of that. And that God that it’ll be such a memorable moment that they will always have it as a reference point in their life. And for those you that think to themselves “You know what I’ve been filled with the Spirit in the past I’ve had an experience, I’ve been baptized in the Spirit but there’s something inside me that wants more; I’m not just content to just having this one gift or doing this other thing; I’m not content to wear a spiritual merit badge saying well I was baptized in the Holy Spirit now what?” The now what Paul says “Be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And the Greek means to be ever filled, there’s no end the increase of His government no end of the increase of how much Spirit of God can fill you in the earth there’s no end. So right now I pray for those of you who either you’re hungry for another touch or you’re just on fire and your just saying “You know what I’ll take as much more as God wants to give me.” Holy spirit I just ask You to release that in peoples rooms, in peoples cars wherever they’re listing God give them a deep and profound encounter God and bring them to that place of more or more; God that it just wouldn’t be a moment it just wouldn’t be an encounter and experience I pray for sustained measurable results that they would actually see life change on a continuous everyday basis because of these encounters that we’re praying for right now in Jesus Name.

Sid: …After all of these years and having such a hunger for God how do you still have a hunger for God?

Larry: I do that by just doing some very practical things and I’ve mentioned them but I have seasons and times when I feel my faith is dry I remind myself of what He’s done I listen to testimonies I watch testimonies, I read revival books, I crave stories about what God has done and what God is doing. Maybe some of the most powerful ones is I actually remind myself of my own encounters that I’ve had with God and just remind myself. And I ask Him I ask the Lord to take me back to that moment like smell the smells and hear the sounds and bring me back to that moment of encounter and remind me how powerful it was. Remind me truly of what I have living inside of me.

Sid: Is this the generation that is going to see the greatest revival the world has ever seen?

Larry: I believe it is, I believe it is because this generation…so many people look at this generation and say “It’s a fearless generation, it’s a reckless generation.” It’s a generation that I believe is wired to crave the supernatural and the problem is that if we as the church don’t give them the Biblical foundation of walking in the supernatural they are going to look for it somewhere else and we cannot…that must be illegal on our watch they cannot go to the New Age, they cannot go to the occult, they can’t go to witchcraft or what Hollywood has and all of the different places because the supernatural should be natural to every single Christian.