There is a cry rising in my spirit in this hour:
It’s time to wake up.
It’s time to rise up.
It’s time to encounter the living God again.
Not just for ourselves—but for the next generation.
Recently I heard Pastor Russell Johnson say, “We owe the next generation an encounter with the living God.” When I heard those words, something leaped inside of me. I found myself saying out loud, “Yes, Jesus. That’s what we need.”
Those words have not left me.
They have pushed a question deep into my heart that I can’t shake:
What am I doing—personally—to make room for an encounter with the living God so the next generation can encounter Him too?
That’s what this whole conversation is about.
We Owe Them More Than Stories
I grew up around the move of the Holy Spirit—Pentecostal roots, the gifts of the Spirit, praying in the Spirit, healings, the presence of God. None of that was strange to me.
As a teenager, when Jesus saved me at fourteen, I had a burning hunger for His presence. I used to read old books I found from my great-grandmother—testimonies of miracles, healing, evangelistic crusades where people were saved, delivered, filled with the Holy Spirit. Those stories stoked the fire in my heart.
But somewhere along the way, something shifted in the wider church.
We went from powerful moves of God—salvations, healings, mass repentance, deliverance—to… almost silence. Not because God stopped moving, but because many stopped pursuing what it takes to live in continual encounter.
A generation stopped tending the fire.
We stopped putting wood on the altar:
Sacrificial prayer
Costly obedience
Persistent hunger for God’s presence
And when you stop feeding the fire, the embers begin to die.
We cannot do that to the generation coming behind us.
They don’t just need our sermons, our nice church services, or our Christian culture.
They need a living example of what it looks like when a man or woman truly encounters God.
The Secret of Encounter: Travail and Obedience
John Hyde—known as “Praying Hyde”—once said:
“The secret of revival is travailing prayer.”
I believe that.
If we want a genuine encounter with God, it ultimately comes down to this simple question:
Am I willing to pour my guts out in prayer before God?
Not a token prayer.
Not “Now I lay me down to sleep” prayer.
But the kind of prayer that consumes you.
Prayer that lays your life on the altar as a living sacrifice—holy and acceptable to God. Prayer that refuses to be conformed to this world but is transformed by the renewing of the mind. Prayer that positions you to discern and live out the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.
And true prayer always leads somewhere:
To obedience
To surrender
To humility
To a pre-decided “Yes, Lord”
Not “Yes” after I hear the assignment.
“Yes” before I even know what it will cost.
That is where encounters are born.
Seek First the Kingdom—For Real
Jesus said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God…”
It sounds simple, but it cuts deep.
Seeking the Kingdom first means:
Asking, “Lord, what are You doing right now?”
Letting His priorities rearrange my priorities
Saying, “Use my life to speak to this generation. Let me be a voice, not just an observer.”
People are hungry for truth.
They are starving for the real thing.
The truth sets people free—but someone has to speak it.
So I have to ask myself—and I invite you to ask with me:
Am I seeking God first, or fitting Him in?
Am I seeking what He wants above what I want?
Am I willing to say, “Here is my yes. Use me however You want”?
Because Jesus also said:
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst… for they will be filled.”
Not might be.
Will be.
The real issue is not, “Will God fill me?”
The real issue is, “Am I actually hungry enough to pursue Him?”
Stop Comparing Your Walk—Start Obeying
One of the enemy’s favorite tactics is comparison.
“I don’t pray like them.”
“I can’t get up as early as them.”
“I’m not as bold, as smart, as deep, as spiritual…”
I’ve been there.
I’ve looked at men and women I respect—intercessors, revivalists, pastors—and thought, I could never do what they do. Social media amplifies this. We see highlight reels of other people’s devotion and feel disqualified in our own.
One day, God confronted that in my heart.
In prayer, I sensed Him say:
“I don’t want to have someone else’s relationship with you. I want to have My relationship with you.”
That changed me.
I can never be Lou Engle.
I can never be Lester Sumrall or Smith Wigglesworth.
And I’m not called to be.
But I can be fully mine—fully His.
I can be a man who walks in obedience with the exact measure God has placed on my plate.
Whatever God puts on your plate—that’s what He’s asking you to steward.
Don’t disqualify yourself because you don’t pray exactly like someone else, fast like someone else, or serve like someone else. Start where you are. Be obedient with what you can do right now.
God isn’t asking for perfection.
He’s asking for your yes.
What Is an Encounter, Really?
We make the word “encounter” sound mystical and complicated. But at its core, an encounter with God is simply:
Drawing near to Him—and letting Him draw near to you.
Scripture says:
“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.”
That is encounter.
Sometimes that looks like a deep, quiet awareness of His presence as you read His Word.
Sometimes it’s tears while you worship.
Sometimes it’s electricity in your body or overwhelming joy.
Sometimes it’s conviction and repentance.
We don’t get to script how God moves.
But we do get to choose this: Will I draw near?
Prayer is the ignition point. Not the length, not the method, not the perfect structure. Just this:
Go be with Him until you sense His release.
For me, I’m on a personal quest:
“How much prayer will it take to live in continual personal breakthrough and personal revival?”
That’s not about earning God’s presence.
It’s about aligning my hunger with His heart.
If that means getting up earlier, lingering longer, or praying with more intensity—I want to do it. Not to impress God, but to posture my life for encounter.
Everyone Is Needed in This Hour
This part has been burning in me:
Every age, every race, every tribe, every tongue is needed to build the Kingdom of God.
You are needed.
Where are the praying grandmothers and grandfathers?
Where are the praying moms and dads?
Where are the aunts and uncles who will stand in the gap?
We need you.
The Kingdom of God needs your voice, your intercession, your example. The next generation needs to see what it looks like when a 16-year-old burns for Jesus—and what it looks like when a 76-year-old is still contending in prayer.
I can look back at multiple moments—encounters with God that have marked my life. Those encounters have held me when I wanted to quit. They’ve reminded me, “If God did it before, He can do it again.” They’ve anchored me in seasons of shaking.
Your encounters will do the same—not just for you, but for those who watch your life.
When you encounter God, you are never the same—
and the people around you can’t stay the same either.
Jesus is coming. Sooner now than ever before. This is not the hour to sit back and coast. This is not the time to believe the lie, “They don’t need me. My voice doesn’t matter.”
If you don’t say what God puts on your heart—who will?
A Practical Challenge: Do Something With This
You can read all of this and say, “Amen, that’s good,” and still stay exactly the same.
But I believe the Holy Spirit is pressing us in this hour:
Wake up. Rise up. Do something.
So here’s a simple challenge:
This week, intentionally pursue an encounter with God.
Pick at least one of these and actually do it:
Set aside extra time for prayer.
Go beyond your normal. Ten more minutes. Thirty more. An hour. Whatever God leads—but stretch.Change your environment.
Get alone with God in a room, your car, a park—somewhere you can focus and be honest.Pray the Word.
Take a passage (Psalms, Ephesians, Romans 8) and turn it into prayer line by line.Turn on worship and fully engage.
Don’t just listen—sing, lift your hands, kneel, weep, rejoice.Pray in the Spirit.
If you have a prayer language, use it. Let the Holy Spirit pray through you and set your heart on fire again.
The point is not the method.
The point is movement.
If you will move a little toward God, He will move much toward you.
He is incredibly faithful to respond to hunger, obedience, and simple, childlike faith.
If You Don’t Know Jesus Yet
Maybe as you read this, something in your heart is burning, but you’ve never actually surrendered your life to Jesus.
An encounter with God starts here:
Believe that Jesus died for your sins.
Believe that He rose from the grave on the third day.
Confess Him as Lord with your mouth.
Turn from your old life and begin to follow Him.
You don’t have to have perfect words. Just a sincere heart.
Start where you are. Call on His name. Ask Him to forgive you, save you, and lead you. Then find a Bible-believing church that loves Jesus and begin building your life on Him.
If you have questions or need someone to stand with you, you can reach out to me at larry@strongfaith.co. I’d love to connect.
Final Word
We owe the next generation more than good church services and Christian clichés.
We owe them a living example of what it looks like to know God, walk with God, and encounter God.
So here’s my prayer—for you and for me:
Lord, let a raging fire from Your Holy Spirit burn in us.
Birth a hunger for Your presence that we cannot control.
Wake us up. Use us as living sacrifices that burn with Your love and glory.
Make our lives an encounter that points the next generation straight to You.
If this resonates with you, share it with someone who needs to be reminded: You are needed. Your prayers matter. Your yes matters.
If this episode has encouraged or inspired you, please help us reach other people with it!
This is our mission: To raise, build, and encourage Strong Faith in the Remnant and see them rise up with boldness and pursue the mission of God for their lives.
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