One day, when I was just seven years old, I called my granny.   "Granny, I believe that the Lord wants me to preach for you."

"What?"

"Yes ma'am, I've been praying and the Lord has laid it on my heart to preach in your church."

My granny said, "Darling, you can come preach for me Sunday morning."

I remember telling my other Grandmother who went to the Baptist church, "I'm preaching at my other granny’s church."

She said, "Darling, do you want me to help you get your message up?"

"Well, Granny, I don't know, but I think the Lord is supposed to give it to me."

When she left, I listened to her go down the hall and shut the door.   I heard those old knees hit the floor.   "Jesus, that boy in there doesn't belong to me or Jane.   He belongs to You.   He never has been a normal child.   He had You on his mind from the very start.   I can't help him preach.   His mama's not serving You, and she can't help him preach.   His other granny would help him if she could, but Lord, You're the only One who can give him a message for the people.   Now Lord, I never thought of anyone that young preaching, but if this is You, You'll take care of it."

I took out a little Bible, and God gave me a message.   I wrote it all down on index cards, even to the place where it said, "Let us bow our heads."   When I got to church that morning, I couldn't see over the pulpit, so they took an altar bench and placed the piano stool on top of it.   That was my first pulpit.   The church was packed to capacity.   I laid my Bible out.

My granny got up there and said, "Now I want to tell you something, folks.   This is my darling here, and I know that God has called him to preach.   He's never been a normal boy.   When all the boys are playing football and baseball, he's playing church.   He's got the most sanctified teddy bears in all the land.   They've been preached to all his little life.   I want to tell you something, he's got the Holy Ghost.   Anybody with the Holy Ghost ought to be able to do something for God.   I don't know how it will turn out.   If he only preaches five minutes, his granny will be right here to back him up."

Did she get a shock!   Even she didn't realize all that God had done in my life.   I grabbed that microphone.  I don't know how to tell you, but it felt like hot oil running from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet.  I tore those notes out of my Bible and ripped them up.   I was only seven years old, and I preached forty-five minutes under a heavy anointing.   When I gave an altar call, the altars were absolutely filled to capacity with sinners.   Miracles of healing took place.   After we prayed, my granny said, "We're going to the river today to baptize Steve, and then he's going to baptize these converts."   I baptized my first converts when I was seven years old.   That night, I could hardly wait to get back to preach.   I preached over an hour and a half.   When I got through, my granny said, "Darling, maybe that is a little too long."

Brother and Sister Dubose were the pastors of a little mission church in our city.   They were in the service that Sunday night and invited me to preach for them.   I did, and when I gave an altar call, nobody came.   I couldn't stand it.   I resigned.   I knelt down behind the pulpit and prayed, "Lord, I'll never preach again.   My ministry is not effective.   Last night the altars were full, yesterday morning that altar was full, and now nobody came.   I quit!   Lord, if you want me to preach, send somebody.   Lord, please save somebody."

About that time the door of that old mission opened up, and a man who was very obviously drunk staggered in and fell at the altar.   Nobody would pray with him because he was drunk, but I didn't know any better.   They didn't want to fool with him.   I just sat right down on top of him.   I threw my arms over his back and cried and prayed and cast devils off of him.   God reached down and sobered up that man.   He completely sobered him up, saved him and baptized him with the Holy Ghost.   You know, that man ended up being the assistant pastor at my home church for a while.

After that night, a revival broke out and lasted weeks and weeks.   From that revival, God opened doors, and I went all over the United States and foreign countries.   We'd have tent revivals, with sometimes as many as ten thousand under the gospel tent.

Miracles of healing and deliverance took place.   I've had parents tell me, "Don't take our children back to that.   Don't take our children back to that."   Brother, I want to tell you something, that's what your children need.