My Testimony: The Holy Spirit
Two experiences in my lifetime solidified the reality of God in my life. The first you've read about, the second began out of times of prayer. Once I was baptized with the Holy Spirit. My life truly changed. The Bible became the vitality I needed to survive. The words became real to me and I had no trouble believing anything that I read in it, even if I didn't fully understand it - I chose to believe that the Bible was true no matter what my natural senses were telling me.
During this time I spent lots of time, the time I used to spend reading fantasy books, was replaced with reading the Bible and worshiping God in my room behind a locked door. It was in these times that I first felt the power of God. There would come a point in prayer that I would stop, but then I would push myself to continue and before long a flood of tears and weeping would come over me, most of the time I would feel a slight feeling like an electricity heat on my hands, lips, and head.
One year the youth group I attended travelled to a music festival called Fishnet. We were going to spend a few days enjoying Christian rock music. As was my habit, I went to the tent designated for prayer for anyone who wanted to. There were a few workers there and no one else, it was mid-day. I sat in the metal folding chairs that lined the tent and began praying. I don’t know how long I had been there when I opened my eyes and looked toward the right side entrance of the tent and noticed an older woman in her forties or so walk around the side of tent and pier in as if she were looking for someone. She locked her gaze on me and she stood there. I closed my eyes and went back to praying. Before long, I opened my eyes again and the lady was still standing there looking at me. I thought, what in the world is she looking at me for. In the back of my head I heard in Norvel Hayes’ voice, “Oh Brother..” So I went back to praying, I hadn’t but just closed my eyes when I felt a tap on my shoulder and the lady was asking me if she could lay her hands on me and pray. She said she had been driving down the interstate and said God told her to pull off and pay to go into the festival and to come to this tent. She said she has never done anything like this. So a bit unbelieving I said sure.
She gently laid her hands on me and began to pray for me. Not as soon as she began to speak, I felt like my hair was on fire and my head grew heavy. My body no longer had strength in it and since I was leaned forward in my chair, I rolled forward on my head and flipped into the grass. I had no idea what was happening to me, but I knew God was doing something. The fire feeling spread over my entire body and was heavily concentrated, burning heat on my ears, mouth, hands and the top of my head. It was almost as if I were floating in a river of electrical fire, for to describe the feeling was as if I were being shocked and burnt all at the same time.
Aside from the external feeling, I was weeping beyond control. Snot and tears all over my face I could do nothing but cry and pray in the Spirit. I’m not sure how long I was lying there like this. The weeping would shift from a heart wrenching cry to God to a laughter just like someone flipped a switch. It was like I was being tickled I laughed so hard and then I would go back to weeping. This happened in a cycle 3-4 times. It seemed like I was there for hours and hours. I really don’t know because I had lost track of time. The workers in the tent started getting worried and came over and said they needed to get me into a chair and asked if I was ok. They thought I needed an ambulance or something. I assured them I was fine.
Something amazing had just happened to me. I still don’t understand it but there is absolutely nothing in this world that would talk me out of my relationship and reality of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Nothing.
I wasn’t smart enough to get the ladies name, but she sat in the chairs waiting and looking a little startled herself. I asked her who she was and what she did. She said she was so and so, and she’d never seen or done anything like this before. I asked her what she did or how God uses her or what her calling was? She said she was a psalmist.
That’s really all I can remember of this time.
I do remember no one in the youth group believing me though. My brother even had his doubts. One night a girl from the youth group who was with us asked me to pray with her about something. So I did. I began to pray for her request and laid my hand on the top of her shoulder to pray. When I touched her shoulder I felt something under her skin move and it shifted from her right shoulder around the front of her body to the left side of her shoulder. I was a little freaked out, but I knew about devils and knew how to deal with them. I continued to pray and I heard, “STD”. I stopped praying and said, ” This may sound strange, but the Lord just revealed to me something. I saw it when I put my hands on your shoulder. I asked her if she was sick. She responded with shock. ” What do you mean?”, I asked her,“Are you sick with some sort of sexual disease? God wants to heal you if you are. He just told me STD. Is this true?” She was amazed and began to cry. I began to pray for her and I’m more than positive she was set free that night.
I became part of the intercessory prayer for the church I was attending. Almost every time we met. After an hour or so of prayer, the same electrical fire, loss of strength, weeping, and laughing would come on me.
