“A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.

And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together.

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:3-5)

When I first came back to the Lord I did not feel worthy to preach the gospel, but the desire birthed within me as God spoke deeply to my spirit.

I remember that in the early days I would have many visions and dreams of myself preaching the gospel to great crowds.  I remember standing on the balcony of a farm house in winter as I preached to the open fields.  There was a not a soul to be seen for miles around, but in my spirit I could see row upon row of people present listening to the words that God put in my breath.

In fact, every time I preach I see thousands and thousands of souls. Even when the rooms are only partially filled, I see this way.  I always preach like I am preaching to the masses, and indeed as a result I have preached to tens of thousands of people worldwide.

You have to see it before you live it.  You have to believe it and it does come to pass.  I am constantly seeing the harvest, the next soul, the next salvation.

I cry out to God to show me ways to reach the masses.  I don’t care if there are ten thousand preachers preaching the same gospel I intend to preach.  I don’t care if people cannot accept the package that I am.  I preach because I am called and the fire burns in my heart.  I preach because God told me to.

If you have been called to preach it is pretty hard to run from it.  Just ask Jonah how hard it is to run away from a call.  Just as you tuck yourself down in the dark galley to sleep, believing in your heart that God has forgotten you, the ship begins to toss and turn.  Before you know it you are in the seas clinging to life and calling out to God for the honor and the privilege to preach if only He will spare you.

Oh my Lord, this call you cannot escape.  Jeremiah cried out: “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary from holding it back, and I could not.” (Jeremiah 20:9)

And that is the way it is.  You think you lack boldness. Then Holy Spirit comes and anoints you. Now you are in the middle of a prophetic word over the nations that many would like to stone you for speaking, but you can’t stop speaking it because the word burned in your heart.

Oh, there have been many times after I have preached with boldness, when the anointing has lifted and I am lying on my bed trying to sleep, terror overcomes me as I think about the words I spoke.  It was way too bold for me.  My flesh suffers in these moments as torrents of fear overcome me.  I say “I won’t preach that way again,” but before you know it I am doing the same thing again but this time I am bolder than the time before.

It is my prayer that you too will declare the word of the Lord with the boldness that comes from the Holy Spirit.