Randy Clark: Beware of This Fleshly Temptation When Training Others in the Spirit

Prophetic evangelist Randy Clark is one of the most vibrant Christian leaders I know. He not only played a crucial role in the Toronto Outpouring in the 1990s, but he still travels extensively to minister and spread revival around the globe. And yet he still takes time to mentor, train and focus on the next generation.

I was able to catch up with him recently at Jesus ’18 in Orlando, Florida. We talked about how he is raising up young men to minister the way he does, even sharing them with other ministries as needs come up. He also shared some profound advice for those raising up young people—including one major temptation most mentors face. I found his experience with the next generation so fascinating that I recorded a podcast with him about it. You can click on the podcast at the end of this article to listen to our entire discussion.

As of now, Randy has mentored 40 people. When he travels to minister, he takes those he’s mentoring along. He prefers to focus on mentoring one person at a time. After all, when Randy mentors, he doesn’t just teach biblical truth; he shares his life and wisdom. According to 1 Thessalonians 2:8, that’s how the apostle Paul ministered too.

Randy recalls the first person he ever mentored, Will Hart, a young man with an incredibly strong anointing on his life. But the Lord put Randy to the test when Heidi Baker needed this young man to help her with Iris Global. Randy released his disciple with an open heart, and now Will is COO of Iris Global.

“I sowed him with a good heart,” Randy says. “As he’s leaving town, almost simultaneously—and for some, it was the same day—God is bringing some amazing young people that I will discover into our school, the Global School of Supernatural Ministry. And from them, I pick my interns, and from the interns, I bring people on staff as associate ministers or working in our ministry.”

But Randy knows he can’t provide everything his associate ministers need spiritually. For instance, one of the young men he was training, Paul Martini, had a strong healing anointing but didn’t have an impartation anointing. But one day during a meeting, Blaine Cook, a man who prayed for Randy years ago prayed for Paul.

“The power of God hit Paul and knocked him to the ground,” Randy says. “He’s sweating profusely. After that meeting, he carried an anointing like I carry. Well, he didn’t get it from me! He got it from the guy who prayed for me.”

Randy has story after story of young people God brought into his life in supernatural ways so he could mentor them and send them out. During our conversation, he shared with me some significant keys in raising up the next generation.

“A lot of young guys need to know not just about how to minister in the power of the Spirit and the gifts,” Randy says. “They need to know how to manage their lives, how to determine what’s healthy for their family—everybody’s different—how to keep from burning out, how to keep from losing your kids. … They need to know that you’re not just excited about their gift. You’re excited about their lives, their future, and as a father, you can bless them and not be threatened.”

Randy says one temptation many mentors face is feeling jealous of those under them who may be more anointed than they are. Then, consciously or subconsciously, they begin to push away the very people they’re trying to raise up.

Randy faced this same temptation with his first intern, who was almost 20 years old at the time. The first time this intern ministered with Randy, Randy gave several words of knowledge. He asked the intern if he had any words, and the young man went on to give twice as many words as Randy had. Immediately, Randy could feel insecurity rise up, and he began distancing himself.

He remembers clearly what the Lord told him: “And the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, ‘If that were your son’—who was exactly [the intern’s] age in years—’would you be distancing yourself now? Or would you be so grateful to Me that your son is getting more than you have?'”

The Lord went on to tell Randy that he can’t be a spiritual father until he feels for his spiritual sons as if they were his own flesh and blood. When raising up the next generation, there’s no room for feeling threatened by others’ anointing.

Whether you’re in ministry or in business, all of us can begin pouring into others what God has poured into us. I encourage you to take Randy’s wise advice to heart as you mentor others. Listen to the rest of Randy’s and my discussion below, and be sure to share this article with someone you think needs this message!