As God as my witness, the experience I am about to share is 100 percent true with absolutely no embellishment. Your mind may question my testimony but I cannot emphasis enough that what I speak is true, is real, and it changed how I viewed God, the Spirit and life, forever.
I suddenly had the desire to share an experience that changed me on a profound level. There are many things spoken of in the scriptures that can be hard to wrap our minds around. I feel one of these would be the topic of speaking in tongues.
I will be the first to admit, I did not believe in this act of a divine display of worship. I am skeptical by nature and though I have faith in what the word tells me, I just couldn’t accept that this was lagit. My skepticism was to the point that I would actually mock my friends who had told me that they had or do speak in the divine language.
Nothing on this earth would change my mind, I did not believe……
Then one day, It was February of 2012, I attended a bi annual revival put on by Teen Challenge called Spiritual Emphasis. An entire weekend filled with worship, the word, fellowship, love and most importantly the Spirit.
It was the second day of the festival and I was enjoying the crap out of myself. God’s presence was so thick you could almost reach out and touch Him. The Spirit was flowing and I found myself underwater in worship, praising Him…… then something began to happen.
It began in my feet, a cold tingling sensation that I noticed but disregarded, assuming my feet were just falling asleep. As I fell deeper into worship I realized that the feeling in my feet began to rise. It was almost like their was a hole in the top of my head and someone was pouring water into me, filling me from the bottom up. It was so cold, yet so exhilarating.
I fell deeper and deeper into the Father’s presence, all the while this cold, shaky sensation continued to rise up from my toes, up through my calves and continued to rise. I had absolutely no idea what I was feeling or what was happening. All I knew is that whatever it was, had such power, and I had no ability to stop it.
This sensation continued to rise within me, not in the sense of strengthening me, but literally, I felt like a glass of water being filled.
By the time this coldness reached my knees I began to shake. I was having a hard time keeping my balance, yet this filling of my body continued to rise. Two of my friends noticed that I was starting to wobble, so each one put his arm around me for support, so I wouldn’t collapse.
I continued to worship, and the filling continued.
It rose all the way to the top of my throat and then stopped. It was like the “liquid” hit a barrier and could go no further. No matter how hard I tried, the feeling was trapped right in my throat. I could barely breath, but I was not afraid.
I was so confused yet filled with a feeling…. Such a feeling that I cannot put into words.
Then I heard it, “Now Speak!”
I didn’t think, I opened my mouth and my throat suddenly released and I began so speak in a language that I did not know….. I couldn’t squelch the words that where pouring out of me.
Like an avalanche of syllables, they began to flow. With tears streaming down my face and my friends supporting my entire body weight, I was in a haze of divine ecstasy that I can only describe as a non sexual orgasm.
Then I collapsed.
Face down, overcome by the Spirit’s power. I felt someone lightly touch my shoulder. He said to me so softly, in a tone that gave me a sense of comfort I have never known.
He said “Thank You Father for filling this man with Your living water. I ask that You never allow him to forget. Never stop the flowing of Your precious water, Your power and Your presence.”
I arose seconds after hearing the voice, tears streaming down my face, and I see my friend sitting there, waiting for me. Everyone else was gone, apparently I was on the ground much longer than I had thought.
My first words to him was an apology for mocking his experience. All I could mutter after that was “I had no idea….. “I had no idea……”
I asked him, who was praying over me a second ago? He cocked his head in confusion and asked “When?”.
I said, “While I was face down drowning in His presence, who was praying?”
He searched my face, assuming I was making one of my stupid jokes, and then he said with a stone faced serious response, “Justin, nobody was praying over you. When you collapsed you were alone up there.”
I experienced something that changed my life. God, in His mercy and grace decided to demonstrate His incredible gift to someone who didn’t even believe it possible.
This night was the night I lost all doubt about our faith, about our God and about His power.
Many are either skeptical of my testimony or think I am lying. To those people I am forced to ask, “What do I have to gain by lying?”
The Spirit is at work today as much as it was back in the days of the Apostles. I share this with you in the hopes that you will recognize that just because you don’t know, don’t believe, or dont understand does not make it any less true.
My story is for real, and my prayer is that you will open your heart fully to the power of God, and watch Him work in ways you never thought possible.
There is a power far beyond our understanding, and I welcome you, to stop trying to understand God by our finite perspective and simply experience Him.
My experience does not make me special, because I didn’t do anything….. I simply let go and let myself drown in His presence.
Whether you doubt me or not doesn’t matter. It is true, and my prayer is that each and everyone of us, if even only for a second could experience the unexplainable ways of God like I was so blessed to experience. You will be changed, forever.
“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” 1 Cor 2:4-5
Written by: Justin Ludwig
Photo from: Google Images
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