Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them." The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad. Psalm 126:2,3..What a birthday gift!..
Last week I celebrated my 31st birthday with some dear friends. We had traveled to the International House of Prayer in Kansas City together to attend a leadership summit for those involved with house of prayer ministries. My friends went out of their way to celebrate my birthday... but it was by far God Himself who gave me the most unexpected and unforgettable gift!
..A little background..
For over two months now the 10 year old International House of Prayer community has been experiencing an unusual outpouring of the Holy Spirit marked by physical and emotional healings, breaking of addictions, nearly 1000 water baptisms, many salvations, the anointing of boldness for evangelism, and the Holy Spirit manifesting within individuals in dramatic ways. Click here to read more or view these awakening services.
..Diving in..
On my birthday, my pastor prayed over me in light of the season I am coming out of. It was a season that closed with some disappointments and unrealized hopes. He prayed: "Grace to open her heart again, not to be guarded, to give herself passionately and fully, not fearful of how her passion and desire might not be realized, but to dive in with You again, Jesus." With that prayer in the back of my mind the next day, at one of these IHOP awakening services, I decided to "go for it!" As soon as the invitation was made for people to come to the front to receive from the Lord I went forward, joining hundreds of others, and set my heart to dive in; to worship the Lord and celebrate His beauty. I asked the Holy Spirit to come and help me worship God with all that is within me... with every cell in my body.
..Overcome with JOY..
I take it that He couldn't resist my request. As I sang and thanked Jesus for His matchless love I began to literally feel joy welling up within me in a way I have never felt before. I was overcome with joy and gladness, my soul rejoicing in the love of God. Soon I could no longer contain the joy and it bubbled out in exuberant laughter, bringing me to my knees and then face to the ground. This uncontainable joy came in waves throughout the evening and then again even more dramatically the next day. Today, one week later, I still feel like there is a reservoir of the joy of the Lord within me that is more tangible than the joy I have had previously in 30 years of knowing Him. I feel empowered to hope again and pursue with passion the dreams God has put in my heart.
A NetBible article on joy has shed some light on the topic for me: "Paul speaks of joy as one of the fruits of the spirit (Gal 5:22) and of "joy in the Holy Spirit" as an essential mark of the kingdom of God (Rom 14:17). This joy is associated with faith (Phil 1:25), hope (Rom 5:2; 12:12), brotherly fellowship and sympathy (Rom 12:15; 2 Cor 7:13; Phil 2:1 f). To rejoice in the Lord is enjoined as a Christian duty (Phil 3:1; 4:4; compare 2:17 f; 1 Thess 5:16). In Christ, the Christian "rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Pet 1:8), in spite of his temporary afflictions (1 Pet 1:6). Christian joy is no mere gaiety that knows no gloom, but is the result of the triumph of faith over adverse and trying circumstances, which, instead of hindering, actually enhance it (Acts 5:41; Rom 5:3 f; Jas 1:2,12; 5:11; 1 Pet 4:13; compare Mt 5:11,12).
Joshua Hawkins, keyboard player at IHOP, has several great blog posts with Biblical background on manifestations of the Holy Spirit (in light of these awakening services). One in particular has challenged my thinking and resonated with my recent experience. Here's an excerpt: "Most of our understanding of the order and culture of a church service comes from our current experience. We read the book of Acts and are completely disconnected from the power dimensions that were seen in the early church as normative. The Old Testament accounts of God’s dealings with Israel and New Testament Christianity were never seen without the spiritual, heavenly realm interacting with the earthly, physical realm. This was the norm for them. Early Christianity was known for its spiritual power and its utter foolishness to the human intellect (1 Cor. 1:20-31). But today, we live in a world where Christianity has abased its concept of God and His dealings with men to things that are abstract and detached rather than concrete and experiential.
Our whole spirit, soul, and body were made to experience the presence of God. Christianity was never meant to be a religion of mental ascent and enlightenment, but rather an experience of power and love connected with the truths of God’s person."
..Continuing in joy..
My desire is that all that is within me would bless His holy name. I want to allow the Holy Spirit to come and move within me -- whatever that looks like. I'm "in" whether I respond calmly or like David before the ark of the Lord: "I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes." 2 Samuel 6:21,22
Jennifer, thank you for your testimony of God's great hand of mercy and love.
ReplyDeleteI too was encountered by God in a manor that was quite out of the box for me. The first part of March, I went down to the KC area to pick up an ATV that I had purchased on bay. I had been to the prayer room twice before the advent of the IHOPU student awaking and then had heard and caught the awakening on the internet. So, I decided to make a weekend of it.
The first night I purposefully attempted to stay out of the visual field of the camera. Some real fear of man issues. The second evening I went forward in response to an alter call for those coming from out of town and I was escorted to the front and center by a young IHOP staffer. O well, God has a sense of humor. As I made a decision to focus of Jesus in worship I was taken back by a sensation of pressure against my chest. It would come as a wave, almost imperceivable at first then growing in strength. At first it was kind of like, "what was that"? I noticed that the sensation was growing stronger and made me stumble backwards frequently. This was all associated with a strong message and experience of the love of God. Though I am leaving out a lot, multiple young men prayed and prophesied over me during the next 15 to 30 minutes.
Then opening my eyes for a moment, I saw either Cory or Wes point at me and say, "show him the Father's love". At that statement I was thrown backwards to the floor like someone out of the blue came unaware and forcefully pushed against my chest sending me backwards to the ground. Looking back at the experience, I know that no one pushed me as there was no one in front of me. The other amazing part of the experience is that I made no attempt to catch myself. When I awoke I was on the floor with a blanket covering me. I literally have no recall as to the length of time that I was on the floor other to say that I was surprised to find a blanket on top of me. It could have been one minute or twenty. I don't know. Upon finding myself on the floor I immediately got to my feet and to the front next to the stage again as I knew from my recent experience that the closer I was to the front, the more I experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit. I know this does not make a lot of logical sense, but this is exactly what I experienced.
The next week in particular and on was quite an experience, as I was driven to worship almost nonstop. My desire to be in His presence was overwhelming and wonderful to say the very least. I experience very little sleep the next three days especially (maybe 3 hours) and I also experience what I call the Holy Spirit shakes. Quite significant at times and always welcomed.
Looking back, I will also have to say that I think that I experienced a taste of what the scriptures call the pleasures at the right had of God. Unexplained sense of pleasure mixed with joy but predominantly pleasure that was sustained and extraordinary. I would wake up shaking in His presence and with a song or word of worship on my lips. I had to sleep in another bed as I would keep awakening my wife. It was a roller coaster ride that I still have not gotten over.
My life will never ever be the same. My desires and use of my time have changed dramatically. I am a 53 year old man in love with a Man. The Man Christ Jesus. To many this would be crazy talk, and I will have to admit that coming from a "Lutheran" most definitely it is. This is but a snapshot of what I experienced and what I am experiencing. There is a deeper walk, there is a deeper experience, this is satisfaction and life to be had in His presence. More Lord, more.
Dan
halvorsen1@gmail.com
Thanks for sharing your testimony of the kindness of Jesus, Dan! May He continue to share with you from His boundless goodness!
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