correct prayer. I couldn’t say,
“Heavenly Father, who dwells in the
heavenlies of heavenlies, between
the cherubim.” All I could say was,
”Jesus, OK,” but what I meant was “I
repent, I surrender, I love You, I need
You, I’m calling on You, Lord Jesus.”
Suddenly, the power of God
went through my whole being. It
started at the top of my head and
burned down through my torso
and extremities.
In the deepest
part of my being
that fire burned.
It wasn’t painful,
but it was hot. It
reminds me of the
Old Testament
account, when
Moses saw the
bush that was
burning brightly
with fire, but
wasn’t consumed. It was a healing
fire. And I could feel the Lord heal
me, body, soul and spirit. I was
transformed and I got up off the
ground and began to weep. I raised
up my fist and proclaimed, “I’m free,
I’m free!” Then I told Satan, “You’ve
lost your slave! Tommy O’Dell will
never be your slave again!”
From that point on, I began to
really seek God; I was filled with
the spirit just a couple of days later.
When I was filled with the Holy Ghost,
it was so powerful that I thought I
42 Solutions
would go up to heaven if I didn’t
hold onto something. I spoke in
tongues for about a week and was
hardly able to speak in English. I read
the Scriptures; I saturated my spirit
with the New Testament. I read all
of my grandfather’s books, and he
became such a powerful inspiration
and encouragement to me. All of
those things that I had learned as a
boy, all the sermons I’d heard, all the
scriptures I had read,
and all the promises
of God that were
taught to me, came
alive. Everything
made sense, and
nothing condemned
me. Nothing made
me afraid or weak;
it only encouraged
me. Like the Bible
says, “You shall
receive power after
the Holy Ghost comes upon you,
and you will be my witnesses to the
uttermost parts of the Earth.”
So that’s what we’ve done. By
“we,” I mean my wife and I. I met
Elisabeth in Holland. I had wanted
to go to Africa; I had such a fire in
my heart for that continent, but I
couldn’t afford to go. Then I was
invited to be a part of a missions trip
to Holland, so I went there instead.
Holland was certainly closer to
Africa than Oklahoma was. My first
day in Holland, I met the woman