On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”(When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory). (John 7:37-39)

Last night, Sulojana and I were at Catch the Fire Toronto, celebrating the 20^th anniversary of the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit known as the Toronto Blessing. Randy Clark, the humble vessel God used to initiate this move spoke about his life prior to his date with destiny on Jan. 20, 1994.

It all began with an insatiable thirst to see the Book of Acts become reality in the Baptist Church that he shepherded at the time, after hearing the testimony of a colleague who shared how he had seen Holy Spirit move powerfully in healing at another venue.

His thirst made him take the bold step of hosting a team sent by John Wimber, founder of the Vineyard Movement. But he did not stop there. He kept on going to Conferences and meetings where Holy Spirit was moving, because he wanted more!

Randy also shared candidly about how this initial burst of excitement started to fade with time. He had started his own church in the meantime. Although the numbers were increasing, the fire was not there anymore. He was getting stressed out about pastoring and came very close to packing it in.

Around that time, a pastor friend suggested he attend meetings conducted by a South African man by the name of Rodney Howard-Browne. Randy quickly realized that the reason for his frustration in ministry was very simple. He had lost the thirst that he had a few years before.

So he flew all the way from St. Louis to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he did indeed get touched powerfully by Holy Spirit through Rodney Howard-Browne. On top of everything he received at those meetings through prayer and the laying on of hands, God restored his thirst for more of His Presence and Power.

Everything changed dramatically when he got back to his church the following Sunday. Healing of bodies and minds, uncontrollable joy, and passion for the Lord were now the hallmarks of this congregation.

It was while he was in this state of seeking God with a thirsty heart that he received an invitation from John & Carol Arnott to come and minister at the Toronto Airport Vineyard. The rest, as they say, is history.

Randy’s message was another reminder that when we stay thirsty for more of God, He is happy to quench our thirst. As John reminds us in the aforementioned verses from chapter 7, Jesus causes rivers of living waters to bubble up inside of us. In other words, Holy Spirit dwells inside of us and flows from us into the lives of others.

Our part is to come to Jesus thirsty. He takes care of the rest.

Dear DWOD friend, never lose your thirst for God. Sulojana and I can personally testify that when we started to get thirsty for more of Him, Jesus started to fill us up with more of Holy Spirit. All of the healing and prophetic flows of ministry continue to happen because we continue to stay thirsty.

We pray that like Randy Clark, you too will discover that your decision to stay thirsty will lead you to your date with destiny.