A man spent four hours praying with various techniques—singing, scripture, rebuking demons—but felt nothing. When he finally gave up and admitted he didn't know how to pray, he felt electric sensations, heat, and overwhelming peace move through his body. He says real spiritual power comes from surrender, not effort.
I said, God, I'm not leaving this room until I have an encounter with you. For 4 hours I prayed. I tried everything I had learned about prayer— singing songs, reciting scripture, intercession, rebuking demons. I tried to experience God's presence through my own effort. I even cried out to God with tears, trying to guilt him into a response. But after 4 hours of hype and emotion, nothing happened. Then I gave up. I just lifted my hands and cried, I don't know how to pray. I don't know how to find Jesus. Please help me find Jesus. And then after I had come to the end of myself, I felt a presence enter my room. Pulses of electric-like sensations moved up and down my body. I was enveloped by a heat. I felt overwhelming rushes of peace and love. The joy was euphoric. The plain, ordinary settings of my room had become heaven on earth. And I knew the very presence of Jesus was there, and it changed me forever. It's not by power or by might. You see, it wasn't that God suddenly showed up just because I prayed for 4 hours. It was that after 4 hours, I finally stopped trying to do it in my own strength. Only when we come to the end of self can we begin to experience the true fullness of the Holy Spirit's power. To learn more about the Holy Spirit, get Holy Spirit: God Within You at EncounterTheSpirit.com.
