Seeking a personal encounter with God

TruthSeek3r · Mar 26, 2020

Update: Day 75.

Still in the process of seeking. Feeling positive despite the days past. Looking forward with hope to the near future. I've watched and read tons of testimonies of personal encounters with God, both within and outside the Bible, so I have a high degree of confidence that this is possible. Eager to know what awaits me in the coming months. Let's see, let's see ... only time will tell ...

As always, I've been watching more testimonies, reading books, watching more sermons. I want to share with you a very MIND-BLOWING testimony I came across yesterday. Check it out:

MY TESTIMONY: JESUS SAVED ME FROM DEMONS, ATHEISM, SEVERE DEPRESSION & MORE!!

(summary: a lady who used to be atheist, lesbian, addicted to inappropriate content, addicted to stealing, depressive, suicidal, filled with anger, filled with hatred, and on top of that who used to suffer from sleep paralysis and demonic oppression at night (which began to escalate the days prior to her conversion), had a born-again experience and was completely set free from ALL OF THAT, i.e., free from all her addictions and mental health issues and everything like they were nothing, after crying out to Jesus. And after that she converted of course and was filled with love, peace, joy … phew … this testimony is just mind-blowing. I totally recommend watching it)

TruthSeek3r · Mar 27, 2020

Update: another powerful testimony. A man's unbelievable supernatural deliverance from demon possession. The man was lifted in the air and slammed against the floor several times ... in front of a whole church with about 50 eye witnesses. Incredible stuff.

My Demonic Deliverance Testimony

TruthSeek3r · Apr 1, 2020

I'm speechless:

HOW I WENT FROM BEING AN ATHEIST TO A CHRISTIAN

"In this video, I share a testimony of the night that changed my life. Because people prayed over me in the name of Jesus Christ, I experienced supernatural healing, had a devil cast out of me, and got baptized in the Holy Spirit."

TruthSeek3r · Apr 4, 2020

Another incredible testimony. Watch the first 8 minutes from 17:38. A man tells how entities he encountered while astral projecting turned on him and his whole family, to the point that even an atheist roommate witnessed some of the intense paranormal activity that was happening to them.

An Interview With Josh Peck: Astral Projecting, Sleep Paralysis, Demons and How Jesus Saved him

Gottservant · Apr 6, 2020

Ok. Sure...

When you get your spiritual experience, give it to your brothers and sisters in Christ as well?

Then we can compare, what sense it made?

mtatertayte · Apr 6, 2020

Carl Emerson said:
Have you been born again?? This is 'square one'.

Are you in Christian fellowship?

Sounds like you are on the right track but you may need some support.

Have you been born again?

Jok · Apr 6, 2020

TruthSeek3r said:
Hi. New to this forum. I just want to share with others my desire to have a personal encounter with God. To very briefly introduce the context and motivation of my search, I think it basically reduces to a combination of 1) me having several episodes of existential crisis (being agnostic, not knowing the purpose of life, not being able to successfully build an "artificial purpose" to motivate myself either), 2) watching tons of testimonies about the existence of a spiritual world (testimonies from the new age, witchcraft, occultism, psychic powers, reiki, psychedelics, ayahuasca, DMT, astral projection, remote viewing, spirit guides, paranormal activities, also testimonies about the Holy Spirit, God, Jesus, etc.), and particularly 3) watching testimonies of people who were once involved in occultist practices and due to different life circumstances ended up finding Jesus and becoming Christians, having supernatural experiences both before and after their conversions. Here are some example testimonies of point 3 available on YouTube (some of them uploaded very recently actually):

New Age to Christianity // My Supernatural Experience with God

My Testimony: Jesus Saved My Life From the Occult and the New Age Movement

Yoga, insanity, suicide, murder- Jesus testimony part 1

Set free in Jesus name from demonic oppression/The New Age Movement

New Age Spirituality to Christianity (Jesus!) TESTIMONY

From occult yoga to Jesus Christ- My strong testimony!

So basically I've watched many testimonies as the ones linked above and more, and I got to the point that I just needed to make up my mind and start seriously seeking God by myself in order to have my own personal encounter with him. Because, no matter how impressive others' testimonies are and no matter the potentially overwhelming amount of testimonies I could watch, at the end of the day all testimonies are just anecdotal information that I'm storing in my brain, but if I don't experience or live anything by myself, all this information will be useless.

So, long story short, about a week ago I began to seek God everyday in prayer, asking Him to concede me a personal encounter with Him that would change my life forever. My "seeking plan" comprises the following points:

Living in holiness as much as I can (not giving in to sinful urges, avoiding worldly things, purifying my thoughts and actions the best I can, etc.)

Listening to Christian music.

Praying, specially at night when there is more privacy.

In particular, when praying one of the main points I stubbornly stress almost all the time is that I want to have a personal encounter with God.

Continuing watching testimonies, sermons and other materials to keep me engaged and motivated to keep seeking.

So far, the main "highlight" of my seeking process so far is that a couple of times I've been able to experience what I would call as "moments of intense fervor in prayer", I mean, moments in which I became very emotional during prayer, even to the point of crying, feeling deep inside a very deep desire from the bottom of my heart to find God (for instance, a few nights ago I remember praying in my mind something along the lines of "Oh God, how beautiful it would be if I just could find you and live the rest of my life in deep communion with you ..." while experiencing intense fervor and having tears in my eyes at the same time). I'm not always able to achieve such level of fervor while praying, as I said it has only happened a couple of times, only lasting for relatively short time spans each time, but I try to take these experiences as little glimpses of what may eventually lay ahead if I keep seeking God everyday non-stop.

I'm afraid though that days may go by and I could lose motivation and quit seeking God prematurely. To prevent this from happening, I try to motivate myself to keep going by watching testimonies of people who testify having had personal encounters with God. One of the testimonies that motivates me the most is Paul Washer's, in which he says he prayed every night for months without success, until eventually God visited him. Check it out:

Seek God Violently In Prayer by Paul Washer

So basically that's it. Based on tons of testimonies from all around the world I've come to a point in which I have a very strong suspicion that the spiritual realm does exist, and in particular I've felt moved by very strong conversion testimonies to seek God myself. Right now I'm in the middle of this seeking, with the hope that God will eventually reveal himself to me and my life will change forever.

I would love to receive feedback from others.
I hope to post updates here from time to time.

Thank you very much.

--------------------------

Update: you can find all testimonies I've watched in this link (work in progress). The testimonies are ranked from most impressive to less impressive. The top 10 testimonies are just unbelievably astonishing.

Question, these “moments of intense fervor in prayer" that you experienced a few times, did you have to sort of psych yourself up to them, like get yourself pumped up and build yourself up to reach those intense moments? Or did any of those moments of intense fervor ever sort of hit you out of nowhere, like actually shock you because they came upon you suddenly, and you weren’t really trying that hard at the exact moment that it happened?

TruthSeek3r · Apr 6, 2020

Gottservant said:
Ok. Sure...

When you get your spiritual experience, give it to your brothers and sisters in Christ as well?

Then we can compare, what sense it made?

Haven't had it yet, but when it happens, I'll make sure to post the update here.

TruthSeek3r · Apr 6, 2020

Jok said:
Question, these “moments of intense fervor in prayer" that you experienced a few times, did you have to sort of psych yourself up to them, like get yourself pumped up and build yourself up to reach those intense moments? Or did any of those moments of intense fervor ever sort of hit you out of nowhere, like actually shock you because they came upon you suddenly, and you weren’t really trying that hard at the exact moment that it happened?

I think they are climactic moments in prayer that have happened a few times after being praying for, say, more than 1 hour, and I sort of begin to feel desperate to know the truth and get emotional, and so the prayer moves from being purely rational to being infused with emotion. But as I said that has only happened a few times, and the emotion usually is sadness, I think out of a sense of desperation that nothing is happening, and also a sense of hunger for knowing the truth and wanting God to reveal himself to me. However, most of the time my prayers are rather rational and emotionally neutral. And of course by no means I claim these climactic moments to be supernatural (although I don't rule out that something spiritual might be going on behind the scenes).

Jok · Apr 6, 2020

TruthSeek3r said:
I think they are climactic moments in prayer that have happened a few times after being praying for, say, more than 1 hour, and I sort of begin to feel desperate to know the truth and get emotional, and so the prayer moves from being purely rational to being infused with emotion. But as I said that has only happened a few times, and the emotion usually is sadness, I think out of a sense of desperation that nothing is happening, and also a sense of hunger for knowing the truth and wanting God to reveal himself to me. However, most of the time my prayers are rather rational and emotionally neutral. And of course by no means I claim these climatic moments to be supernatural (although I don't rule out that something spiritual might be going on behind the scenes).

Ok thanks that definitely answers my question, I was curious which one it was because it seemed like the wording could have meant either one. Wasn’t sure if you were describing the experiences that I have had or not.

TruthSeek3r · Apr 6, 2020

Jok said:
Ok thanks that definitely answers my question, I was curious which one it was because it seemed like the wording could have meant either one. Wasn’t sure if you were describing the experiences that I have had or not.

What experiences have you had?

JesseBassett · Apr 6, 2020

I am praying for your request. God bless.

TruthSeek3r · Apr 6, 2020

Update: Day 86.

Just finished reading My Beloved Holy Spirit by Andres Bisonni. The book was full of supernatural testimonies (baptism of the holy spirit, miraculous healings, demonic deliverance, conversion testimonies, evangelistic crusades, etc.). Mind blowing book.

Now I'm beginning to read Holy Spirit, I Hunger For You by Claudio Freidzon, and I haven't even read 5% of the book yet and it is already fascinating me with its supernatural accounts. As an illustration, let me share with you part of the Preface:

Preface
From the diary of the superintendent of the union of the Assemblies of God in Argentina:

April 1992
I just had lunch with Pastor Claudio Freidzon and his wife. They told me about a new moving of the Holy Spirit in their church-new to them and at the same time a marvelous experience. They said that when the brethren are touched by God, some fall to the ground, and others start laughing. These and other manifestations take place within a setting of deep worship. After lunch we agreed to meet again.

July 1992
It's been four months since I last talked with Claudio Freidzon. Today-Thursday-my wife, Isabel, and I are going to visit his church to see and evaluate what's happening; so many stories have reached my office concerning the King of Kings Church that I've decided to evaluate the situation personally. We left our car at a parking lot located a hundred meters from the church. As we started walking toward the church building we noticed that our legs were trembling. We thought it was just suggestion because of the comments we'd heard. As we entered we noticed the place was crowded, and people were outside hoping to get in. There was no more room for anyone else. An usher recognized us and took us to the front row on the right wing of the auditorium. People were standing, singing, jumping... and hugging each other in a spirit of unity. Claudio Freidzon asked, "Do you want to receive more?" A loud yes like the sound of rushing waters broke out from the people. Immediately he shouted, "Receive it," and half the congregation fell to the floor laughing, some of them with an expression of drunkenness. He then called to the platform some fifty children who were in the meeting with their parents and asked them, "Do you want to receive from God?" They answered with a very loud yes. When the pastor prayed with raised hands, all these children fell on the platform, looking as if they were asleep but with a smile on their faces. I couldn't find a logical explanation for what was happening and prayed to God, "Lord, if this is from You, please tell me so." It was then that Claudio Freidzon began to walk among the people, praying for them. I opened my eyes and saw my wife falling to the floor as he laid his hand on her head.
Then he came up to me, embraced me, and prayed, "Father, bless this servant of Yours." Right then something covered me from head to foot. I had a pleasant feeling of dizziness. I had a feeling of great joy. When I opened my eyes I was lying on the floor. I attempted to get up but couldn't, and I think I didn't want to move lest I should lose that joy. When my wife and I left the meeting we felt such joy that night we could hardly sleep. Lying in my bed I prayed in tongues till dawn.

September 1992
The second session with the general presbytery was held, Claudio Freidzon being one of the presbyters. During this session he told us that some pastors from the interior of the country had had similar experiences in their churches after having participated in his meetings. That evening most of the presbyters stayed to attend the evening service at Pastor Freidzon's church. The following day, when we resumed the presbyterial meeting, the only subject of conversation was each one's experiences the night before: experiences of joy, laughter, anointing, and dizziness. They recounted the experiences they'd had together with two hundred other pastors who'd also been present.

December 1992
At the National Conference of the Union of the Assemblies of God in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina, there were so many testimonies from pastors who'd been ministered to by Claudio Freidzon that it would be impossible to recount them all. I shall limit the number to a very few, omitting names for the sake of privacy:
• Pastors who were suffering from deep depression were completely delivered.
• Others, who were exhausted and had been advised by their doctors to discontinue their ministries, were renewed by the Holy Spirit and expressed a desire to continue, feeling as if they were starting life all over again.
• Discouraged ministers whose congregations had for years numbered sixty or seventy members now have up to four or five hundred members and have experienced the flow of the gifts of the Spirit in their lives.
An extraordinary enthusiasm urges them on. Stadiums, auditoriums, and other places have been filled with souls thirsting after God. Claudio held a meeting in the large Luna Park Arena in Buenos Aires, and it was packed twice in succession. The people who were waiting outside the arena outnumbered those who were already inside. Our estimation is that fifty thousand people gathered to have an encounter with the Holy Spirit on this occasion.
My own ministry has been enriched by this anointing of the Holy Spirit flowing through the ministry of Claudio Freidzon. My church, whose membership was four hundred at the time, shot up to eight hundred fifty in a matter of six months. My own children were changed in a remarkable manner. Two of my daughters, seventeen and fifteen years old, were baptized by the Holy Spirit and called to the ministry. The older one has enrolled in seminary and the younger one, who is finishing her secondary school studies, is also planning to go to seminary to prepare for service. This change began one night when Claudio Freidzon prayed for them. My son, eight years old, who is very fond of soccer, has quit his soccer practice to spend time in church. He prays and seeks God like never before. I thank God for this wonderful ministry which changes lives, ministers, and churches; I feel sure it will affect the whole country.

Jok · Apr 6, 2020

TruthSeek3r said:
What experiences have you had?

Mine were the total opposite. A few moments for me where pretty routine and mundane prayer to Jesus were met out of nowhere with a powerful tsunami of euphoria. I don’t know anything at all about meditation, or how people even go about reaching such states of euphoria, and like I said it was also happened during states of relatively low emotional & mundane prayer most times, so the timing of the reactions combined with the intensity of the reactions convinced me that whatever was responsible for these reactions were some force outside of myself. Because mind over matter definitely doesn’t make sense as an explanation, I wasn’t even making an attempt for anything, I was just saying a typical prayer. The euphoria is very hard to explain, that’s why when you said “moments of intense fervor in prayer" I wanted to ask if your situation was the same. The suddenness of my experiences were also the opposite of your reply. There was by no means a gradual climb at all, one moment everything was pretty normal, and then the next moment I was fully engulfed in it.

As for witnessing any supernatural occurrences, like objects moving, or like people magically escaping tragedy in a way that cheats physics, no I have zero experience with any of that.

TruthSeek3r · Apr 8, 2020

More astonishing anecdotes from Holy Spirit, I Hunger For You by Claudio Freidzon, Chapter 4: Deeper into the River:

CHANGES IN THE CHURCH

ONE NIGHT WHILE traveling in connection with my ministry, I walked into the hotel room where I was staying and felt as though someone had entered the room with me. I knelt to pray, and there He wasthe presence of the Holy Spirit was a tangible reality. It was glorious! A fresh and intimate fellowship was born within my soul. No man could grant me this gift; it was a visitation of the Holy Spirit.

From then on, for whole nights I did not sleep so that I could have fellowship with Him. I discovered powerful prayer with deep meaning and spiritual weight. I could worship Christ, hear His voice, be silent before His majesty, and lie prostrate in the presence of His love.

The presence of God manifested itself with power in our church in a surprising way. I remember the first worship service after those fresh experiences in prayer with God. I gave an altar call for people who were attending our church for the first time. As they came, they were broken and weeping. I asked myself, What moved them so much? I had done nothing extraordinary; yet the visitors, convicted by the Holy Spirit, cried, "Lord, forgive my sins," as they wept and confessed their sins before God. I turned my head to look at one of my assistants, and a group of people sitting in that section fell to the ground and began to pray. I looked in another direction, and the same thing happened! An atmosphere of power enveloped the church. It had new life. I was astonished.

One day I received a word for my life straight from the Lord. God told me that He was setting me up as a door for Argentina. What did that mean? I could not grasp its full meaning. Less than two months later, multitudes of people from all over the country crowded into my church. Hundreds of pastors visited us each week. I received invitations from the pastoral councils of many cities all over the country to hold crusades in large stadiums. Without having publicized my ministry at all, some people even came from other countries to invite me. I praised God for His greatness.

I understood that the Lord, in His sovereignty and mercy, had chosen me as a door to bring renewal to His people so that many would return to their first love. Times of glory followed!

TruthSeek3r · Apr 12, 2020

I'm in awe after watching this testimony.

"HOW I MET JESUS" (One of the most AMAZING personal experiences with Jesus Christ you'll ever hear!)

NBB · Apr 12, 2020

The spiritual world does exists, i have experienced God and the devil too sadly in undeniable ways.

This world is dangerous to live by without Jesus, you need God and is the best you can get to become a son of God.

TruthSeek3r · Apr 13, 2020

NBB said:
The spiritual world does exists, i have experienced God and the devil too sadly in undeniable ways.

Thanks @NBB for posting in the thread. I would love to know more about your experiences.

TruthSeek3r · Apr 19, 2020

To date, the best compilation of testimonies of the supernatural that I've come across:

Listen to Me, Satan! by Carlos Annacondia

TruthSeek3r · Apr 20, 2020

An extract from Chapter 3: Authority through Faith:

The days prior to the crusade were difficult ones. The team was discouraged. We decided to declare spiritual warfare, and we rebuked the devil, saying, "Satan, move back. We bind you in
the name of Jesus. Let go of the means of communication. Go away, strong man; you are defeated."

We prayed for several days. When the meetings began we could feel strong support coming from God. During one of our times of intercession for the crusade, the Holy Spirit gave visions to different brothers of the strongman falling from his throne together with demonic structures.

One morning, God told me, "You have to transmit this crusade simultaneously by radio and television." I knew that God was giving radio and television time to us; the strong man was defeated. I spoke with our team coordinator, Brother Tito Meda, and told him to buy the radio and television air time that was needed.

There the surprise began. The media executives accepted our proposal to pay only 30 percent of the value they had proposed at the beginning. The FM radio station broadcast the crusade at no cost. On Saturday, more than ten different radio and television stations broadcast the service.

But there was more. One evening, five minutes after the beginning of the broadcast, the television channels we had not contracted had a technical problem and had to discontinue their regular programs. The only thing the entire city could watch that night was our crusade. Our Lord is wonderful!

We saw many people run to the platform to meet with God that night. Four young men arrived at the place by car. They were in such a state of desperation that before they had heard the preaching on the radio, they had decided to commit suicide in the car. Thousands more came. There were hundreds of incredible miracles happening. One of them was really awesome. A mother put her little Down's syndrome child in front of the television screen. As I was praying, she saw her son being healed and his facial features changing right before her eyes. Hundreds of teeth were filled with gold and platinum fillings, and several cancer patients got healed.

After that first broadcast, the crusade took off. Nobody could understand how we got so much air time with so little money. But we knew why. Through faith, we had taken hold of God's authority. As a result, the entire city was shaken under Jesus' power. We preached for thirty-eight days in that place, and more than thirty thousand people accepted Jesus for the glory and honor of our Lord.

Seeking a personal encounter with God

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