How do you experience the Holy Spirit?

HI soulrider, God's people do "experience," Him, of that there is no doubt. Obviously there is counterfiet and just soulish activity, but God's people genuinly encounter a supernatural God and it does not violate Scripture. It is very hard to put into words "the presence of God." Below is one of my attempts to describe what it means, what it feels like to be in HIs presence......

http://scottishwarriors.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/the-glory-of-god/

Dear Soulrider:

As Christian believers, we must be focused on the Word of God, the Bible. Also, we should focus on our prayer life, and time alone with Jesus Christ. Are we being conformed to His image? Are we being Sanctified by the Holy Spirit?

1st John was written to believers, so that believers would be able to test themselves, to see if they were truly in the faith, truly saved.

The Mormons rely on a "burning in the bosom", a physical experience, that is supposedly a special revelation by the Holy Spirit that Mormonism is true,the real deal. Once they feel this "burning in the bosom", they hardly ever leave Mormonism.

One of the foundations of Mormonism is its insistence that a person seek the truth by praying for a private, special revelation from the Holy Spirit [1]

"In answer to our prayers, the Holy Ghost will teach us through our feelings and thoughts... Heavenly Father will answer their prayers, typically through feelings of their hearts and thoughts in their minds." (Preach the Gospel, p. 39; this is the "2004 handbook utilized by the Mormon missionaries") [7]

What they receive is sometimes called a burning in the bosom as a confirmation of truth. Mormons frequently appeal to James 1:5 for this, especially given that their founder, Joseph Smith, claimed that this was the verse and method he used for finding the truth. This is often accompanied by the insistence that one suspend judgment of his or her religion (even in the face of its historical and theological problems) until he or she has read the Book of Mormon and received, by prayer, a special revelation from the Holy Spirit of its truthfulness.

Missionaries, for example, ask Temple Square visitors, "How do you feel when you are on Temple Square?" Missionaries are instructed to teach potential converts that certain feelings are from the Holy Spirit (any negative feelings about the religion are presupposed to be not of the Spirit). They are also discouraged from investigating Mormonism's history, doctrine, and the claims of its detractors. Supreme emphasis is put on the prayer and the subsequent "burning in the bosom". If one prays and does not receive the appropriate "testimony", one is encouraged to pray more sincerely. The absence of an emotional confirmation is seen not as a testimony against Mormonism, but rather against the sincerity of the one praying. Most missionaries of mainstream Mormonism usually will not discuss the more controversial or problematic doctrines of its organization until this "testimony" is acquired.

The bottom line- the Christian believer should be focused on the Word of God, and his Christian Walk. The feelings that you refer to have no support from the Holy Scriptures.

God bless,

Walter

soulrider wrote:
I know this a weird question, and scripture must always back up things we experience. I just thought I'd share a little of how I 'subjectively' sense God's inner working.

When I believed on Jesus, I literally 'felt' something come into me. It was strange, almost like 'goosebumps' but on the inside. From my head to my toes I just felt this immediately after doing the sinner's prayer with my Dad. At first it really scared me. I really didn't experience that again until 10 years later when I redidicated my life to God at the ripe old age of 17. I just prayed that if I felt that feeling again, then I'd follow God with my whole heart, I prayed through the sinners prayer again and for the 2nd time there it was, from head to toe from the inside of me was just God's presence. Now I was on FIRE for God and soaked up his word, and for years continued in that same way of sensing God inside of me. It's just very real, and I would never mistake it as anything else but him.

So after years of being in the word and still on occasion struggling with sin I still sense him in the same way, albeit it seems less often and less intense - however still inside me and often noticable.

I guess I'm wondering, am I the only one who feels this? Am I basing way too much on 'holy ghost goosebumps' (just a phrase I made up)

I also have many other experiences with him as well. Once with a friend all of a sudden the spirit just came on me so hard that I just started to speak, but it wasn't me - it was like I sounded possesed by God, I couldn't explain it and the words just kept coming out of my mouth over and over, it was a crazy night to say the least.

Other than that, a friend of mine a few years after being saved showed me about speaking in tongues and I prayed for God to give me that gift and he did, so I try to do that almost everyday.

Once too I was at times square church and I went up to Neil Rhodes on a Friday night service and when he held my hands to pray for me I felt this intense 'electricity' feeling go into my hands and up my arms. It also freaked me out.

One time at times square church when Pastor Dave was speaking 'Satan seaks to devour you' I felt the 'goosebumps' (for lack of a better word) the entire time he was speaking, and then at the end it eased off and went away, but it left me floored.

I really am just wondering, am I alone with this? Or does everyone else experience God this way and just calls it the 'annointing' and that's just being a christian.

I've never shared this with anyone before either, but I feel safe sharing it on this board.

Also, I just am reminded when I first got saved I felt the 'goosebumps' on my tongue one night when I kept praying over and over 'Make me a messenger' as a newbie believer.

Anyway - I don't want to replace experience with the truth of God's word at all, but was wondering how the spirit works in others.

Dear soulrider,

You were very brave to submit your leading post.

I have experienced what you describe, but not as continuously as you describe. However, it was very marked when I began to believe that Christ is in me. I came to the Lord by a tortuous route, with much idolatry in my background and thinking, and while I kept trying to make myself right for the purpose of coming into His presence, of course, I was keeping myself out of His presence by a deadly cocktail of legalism, sin, more sin, self-righeousness and other strands of carnal thinking - to say nothing of bondage! But God is gracious. As my heart has cried to Him and laid down its earthly reasoning, He has heen able to assure me of His presence, consciously, more often.

However, He has been 'Father', from the beginning, and for that - for Him - I am grateful, and, He has shown Himself through answered prayer, and many deliverances and healings over many years, which have convinced me that He [b]is[/b] with me.

Lastly, coming to know His written word better, and to love it, I have found great safety in trusting it fully for direction and comfort. But, He Himself directs also, and comforts, and ministers, through the Holy Spirit, during times of prayer, and worship, and yes, mundane daily living. I've had a few exceptional experiences of His presence and ministry, but those apposed times of extremity, and are not commonplace.

A friend of mine has a little rhyme to describe how the Holy Spirit moves us sometimes:

[i]When your heart begins to bump,
Your feet should jump.[/i]

Great reply Alive-to God. I can say amen to it. Just a comment on Waltern's reply. We must be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater because cults practise certain things or because of counterfiet or soulish activity. The Truth is the Truth and this warm heart is Scriptural and many people use the phrase that they are "on fire," for the Lord, that they have a burning passion. Consider this Scripture.....

Luk 24:32 And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

Its a beautiful thing, the genuine presence of God. To worship the Lord in Spirit AND in Truth is the way to live our Christian lives.......Frank

After reading your brave post, I thought for sure that you were going to get slaughtered, but everyone has answered relatively well. When we mention speaking in tongues on here, I can almost see people rolling their eyes. But, I am glad that you have experienced what you have experienced. For you, that is what God is doing with you, for others like myself, to "feel" God like you do is very rare. I used to look for that being brought up under the Pentecostal umbrella, but God never opened that door for me, He let me grope as it were in the dark to feel after Him by faith. Looking back it has been a faith walk and very little goosebumps, and I am glad of that lest I put my faith in what I feel instead of the One who created the feeling, and knowing my make up of wanting to be loved, I would have fallen into that trap most readily. When I do feel God, I want to live in that moment forever.

Thank you Brother or/Sister, God Bless you with more experiences of Himself, especially knowing Him in the power of His resurrection.