He hadn’t prayed in 25 years. Then at 3:00 AM, a voice woke him up: “Get up. Find your Bible.”

What followed was a four-hour encounter with Jesus that Brad Richter had no framework for — a flood of memories of every failure he’d ever committed, followed by an answer he never expected: not condemnation, but “I chose you.” Brad describes being embraced in his own filth, before any cleanup, before any effort to make himself presentable.

🔗 Watch more encounters with God like Brad’s here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLr3TlK5Y_OV4jmZi57UX9skvdVb68Hl3-

Brad grew up a missionary kid in New Guinea, where the cost of the gospel — death, tragedy, and unanswered questions — hardened his heart by age 13. For the next 25 years he was disconnected from God: not hostile, just numb. He wasn’t praying. He wasn’t searching.

In this conversation, Brad walks through:
• The night God broke into his life with no warning and no spiritual buildup
• Asking Jesus one question — “How much do you love me?” — and what happened next
• How obedience in small, ordinary moments (fixing a stranger’s roof, giving a ride to a woman searching for God, feeding a homeless brother in Christ) became the doorway to experiencing God personally
• A vision of spiritual warfare — pinned in the mud with Satan’s foot on his neck, refusing to tap out — and what he found in his hands when he didn’t
• What it means to invite God into your burdens instead of asking Him to remove them
• Why God’s delight in us is often harder to receive than His forgiveness

This is a story about what happens when God interrupts a life that wasn’t looking for Him — and what it costs, and gives, to say yes.
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CHAPTERS:
00:00 – The 3:00 AM Encounter That Changed Everything
02:50 – From Missionary Kid to Running From God
11:58 – Living in the Numbness: 30 Years of Distance
15:47 – Get Up: Hearing the Audible Voice of God
19:42 – The Question: How Much Do You Love Me?
24:12 – The Cost of Grace: This Will Cost Me My Life
30:11 – The Turning Point: Go to Mexico
42:25 – The Original Code: How God Speaks Beyond the Viruses
01:02:15 – The First Assignment: A Widow, a Roof, and a New Heart
01:30:12 – The Miracle at the Coffee Shop: A Marriage Restored
01:42:30 – A Holy Spirit Moment: Witnessing to a Stranger
02:11:32 – A New Season: Deep Cleaning for the Next Assignment
02:27:00 – Finding Diamonds in the Mud of Defeat
02:40:05 – Final Message: Dont Wait to Be Ready, Just Obey
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Small Group Questions From This Episode:
⇨ What impact did witnessing trauma on the mission field have on Brad’s view of God?
⇨ How did Brad respond when he heard the command, “Get up,” in the middle of the night?
⇨ How does Brad describe the moment when he realized Jesus knew his name?
⇨ What did Brad mean when he said receiving God’s love would “cost him his life”?

Bible References for Further Study:
⇨ Acts 6–7
⇨ John 10:3-4
⇨ Luke 15
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