Oprah Winfrey has interviewed many spiritual thought leaders in her career, but there is one in particular who had a profound impact on the media mogul long before she ever had any kind of platform or public persona.

That man is Wintley Phipps, a gospel singer and pastor that Oprah met back when she was a young reporter. Since the two first crossed paths decades ago, they have become longtime friends. Phipps recently joined Oprah for an interview on “SuperSoul Sunday,” and they reminisced about their fateful meeting so many years ago — and hearing them retell it, it’s no wonder that was a moment Oprah has never forgotten.

At the time of their first meeting, Phipps had just finished a gospel performance at the Baltimore Civic Center, which Oprah had attended. She quietly approached Phipps as soon as he stepped off the stage.

“I remember coming down off the platform, and there was a tap on my shoulder,” Phipps says to Oprah. “You said, ‘Excuse me, sir. I just heard you sing and I feel like I can talk to you. Do you have time to talk to me?'”

Phipps agreed, and made arrangements for Oprah to visit the home he shared with his wife, Linda, for a spiritual conversation. They spoke and prayed together, and then, the pastor told Oprah that he had a divine message for her.

“I said, ‘Before you go, God has impressed me to tell you: He’s going to bless you and give you an opportunity to speak to millions of people,'” Phipps says. “And you said, ‘Do you really think God would do that for me?'”

Yet, even with this prediction, there was one aspect of Oprah’s success that Phipps says he didn’t see coming.

“You know, when God impressed me to tell you that you’ll be speaking to millions of people,” he says to Oprah, “I didn’t think it was going to be every day!”

Credit: HuffPostOWN