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Living for one thing
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| Close Encounters | | Hi,
(I was formerly IHOP IHOP) I was curious to know if anyone has encountered the Lord in a real intense way they would like to share? I have heard people say they see a cloud or angels in the prayer room before. Has anyone had something this dramatic happen to them? I sometimes think people can be so flaky about things but that can cloud my judgement sometimes for those who really have experienced the Lord in ways I can learn from. I don't want to assume what I experience is the only way to experience God and have always wondered how others experience His reality. Thanks for your responses in advance I appreciate it!
|  Peter Gabriel 11/12/2007, 12:41 PM | |
| | melissa sanderson | 11/15/2007, 9:44 PM | | hey! well the closest encounter i had with god was at a night of worship at ihop. it was honestly amazing, i had no idea that this could even happen. i had never worshiped god that intimatly. i felt as tho everything stopped, i had a woman praying over me for healing. she had her hand touching my back and i couldnt even feel her hand! or when i was touching my face i couldnt feel that either! i was so sure time stopped and i just felt an amazing presence from the lord that made everything disappear. and i was crying uncontrolably, just amazed at the love of god.
but ever since then i compare every worship service to it... that i concentrate to hard on trying to get to that point again. and it just doesnt happen. because my mind isnt fully on the lord.
anyways id love to hear how ur experiences!
| | | Peter Gabriel | 11/16/2007, 9:37 AM | | Melissa thanks for sharing that! Worship to me is the best doorway to encountering the Lord. We are so focused on Him our guards melt away and He can reveal Himself. I struggle with the habit of when the Lord does something I want the exact same thing again but He often moves on to new things. Also I have been guilty of trying to "recreate" the atmosphere thinking that would draw Him and it doesn't. He's not a formula. I would play the same song or say similar words and there is no repsonse! He listens and watches me I'm sure with a smile. My most intimate encounter happened this year after the Lord had taken me through some refinement to say the least. I was just laying in bed worshipping (I went through about a 3 month season of praying in bed which I could never do before or allowed myself to do because I would fall asleep.) completely alert and then I said something I can't even recall now (I am amazed though when He draws near when I say something that I would categorize as "stupid") but it was like His presense hovered over me and I was overwhlemed with the sense of how giving of Himself He is. I was speechless to say the least for about 5-10 minutes? I was struggling to let my guard down in prayer that day and there was a point where He completely broke through that (I asked Him to please remove this withdrawal attitude in my heart towards Him) and I was not afraid of the intimacy. It was wonderful! I'd like to magnify the next encounter by 1 billion but hey...He is so addictive. I am in the waiting mode now...how painful it is...He is worth it...
| | | Andrew Y | 11/27/2007, 3:33 AM | | Man, That's great!
I don't really ever recall encountering the Lord supernaturally like that.
I've had several encounters with demon possessed people and even a woman possessed by satan. Its weird i've encounter more evil things than God. (I'm just talking about in-your-face encounters, not like a encounter God in a bible reading)
I want to experience or encounter God in new ways. I've been to Bethel church in Redding, CA where they're pretty big on encounters and living in the supernatural but it all just seems like hype to me at times. Sometimes I feel like ppl hype it up just to be distinct or feel special. Kinda super spiritual. But I also feel bad when I think like that cuz I don't wanna minimize their experience in the lord and be critical. Anyways, I've yet to have a dramatic encounter.
| | | Peter Gabriel | 11/27/2007, 3:00 PM | | Andrew,
Thanks for responding to my post :0). To be honest the encounters I crave with God are few and far between. In the interim is a lot of waiting, waiting...and yes more waiting and did I mention painful pruning? This year I have learned for the first time that the waiting period is extremely important and is not meaningless or should be rushed. But the waiting is so important so don't give up seeking to encounter the Lord because loving Him in the waiting period is so precious to Him. His Presence causes different reactions in others including the demon possessed. I wish I could see the upfront real demon possessed being delivered but I don't. It's strange because I know there are demons in people today for sure. I don't think there is a lot of manifest Presence of God though to be honest. At least not in the USA or at least not to the point I long for. I know that will change but i'm still waiting :0) I have been around a few super spiritual types and it's bothersome but that spirit of pride manifests in so many ways. A real person who knows the experience don't define will also be open to "boast" on their weaknesses. I question sometimes if they encountered Him intimately because that should bring the opposite response. Fear of the Lord, brokeness, decreasing of self promotion, awareness of our own need for His covering comes to mind. The Lord wants to be sought after and He promises if we seek with all of our heart, mind, and strength we will find Him. Don't fall into the temptation (which I'm not saying you do) of comparing your experiences of God to another believer but just seek Him and He will come to you eventually. He knows how to reveal Himself to you. When I first got saved it took like 1-2 yrs of praying and seeking before the Lord revealed Himself to me as even Someone that can be felt. I really didn't know what manifestations to expect or that they even existed. I didn't know what that would look like. I was not raised in church, I was muslim in my early years till about 15 yrs old. It was what I called amercanized version of Islam if that makes sense?. I know by reading the Word an experience alone is not a marker of maturity or that the Lord is with you and to me if it's not an experience with God but is falsely claimed or attirbuted to being one it's dung, what's the point? Many in the Word saw signs Jesus did and saw Jesus with their own eyes and hear the word from His own mouth and still hated Him. The scripture Matthew 7: 21 comes to mind.
It's kind of a mystery to me that experiences don't equal faith or maturity. I use to think it was that simple. All people need is to physcially see God or hear Him audibly and they would believe but reading the Gospels and Revelation tore that mindset down...Anyway hope something in my mess of my words helped you..I would like to hear of your witness of someone being freed from a demon in a way that it manifested...I'm curious...blessings!
| | | melissa sanderson | 12/4/2007, 3:50 PM | | wow i love hearing about this and being able to talk about it.. when i try to some ppl they look at me like im crazy. To me when i first encountered.. i was so scared.. no one ever told me god was supernatural.. like it never clicked in my mind. so the last time i wrote i was all hung up on one thing conference.. but 2 weekends ago i went to this kingdom come conference.. now that was diff.. i truly believe god is slowly guiding me into experiencing him supernaturally because if i was to go to this kingdom come conference maybe a month earlier i would of been so out of there.
so the speakers were laying hands on people at the conference.. ppl were going into full out uncontrolable laughter that seemed like it lasted forever.. some fell to the ground (most did..) then some were speaking in tounges, some seemed like they were "drunk on the holyspirit" i dont noe if u've heard that being said before but thats almost what it seems like. now with my experience when they layed hands on me i had an instant filling.. like every cell in my body was shaking from what seemed to be a rush of ... i dont even noe how to explain it. i fell to the ground and i was uncontrolably twitching. and just the presence of God in there was so heavy!!
oh and about the demon posessed.. well some ppl when they had hands layed on them were screaming and almost seemed like they were being delivered. im not sure if thats what was going on but to me thats what it looked like.
anyways this is all so new to me.. so my fear of it has been pretty big. im constantly doubting.. what if these arent from god? what if im getting into something i shouldnt be. but at the same time i think if God didnt want me to get into these things he'd make it known.
| | | Aaron Robert | 12/5/2007, 12:16 AM | | When i first became a christian, wel when I turned back to God, about three months after I put drugs down, I was watching Benny Hinn and prayed with him on the show. I had electricity start at the tip of my fingers and go all through my body in a really intense way. I felt like I was so charged after it and you know that feeling when you teeth are chittering together. i think i was filled with the Holy Spirit then.
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