Laying on of Hands - Please Comment

[jazzypooh]

Hello Everyone,

I had an interesting phenomena occur today, and I would like some advice concerning this topic. Before I begin I want to say that I DO believe in the laying on of hands and the manifestations of the Holy Spirit as defined in Scripture. I also believe that there are spirits that try to counterfeit these manifestations. I don't believe that you have to fall every time someone lays hands on you, but I do believe people CAN fall under the presence/anointing of God. I know a lot of people have different beliefs concerning the topic, so I just want to make mines clear ahead of time before we exchange.

With that being said, I experienced something quite odd today at my church - something that I had only read or heard about up until today but never witnessed firsthand. Towards the end of service, there was an altar call for prayer. I went up for prayer and as I was being prayed for by one of my pastors she began to lay hands on me which was fine..... up until I felt her pushing me down to the floor.. Prior to this occurring, the service was going great. The worship was great. The Word that went forth was great. Everything was fine up until this moment that left me feeling extremely awkward and confused. I have had other pastors pray for me. There have been times where I may have fallen under the presence of God, but I have never had someone literally PUSH me down to the floor and tell me not to fight it... As if I was resisting God as opposed to simply not feeling His presence moving through them at that moment... It was the most awkward and uncomfortable thing I have ever experienced.

I'm not even sure how to go about addressing this issue. On one hand, I'm wondering if I should consider finding another church but I don't want to judge the situation prematurely and end up "church-hopping" or out of the will of God. Then on the other hand I would like to express my concerns to her about it but I don't want it to negatively effect the relationship we have been developing. I have been growing since being a part of this ministry. I also don't want to offend, but I would like to think that my leader doesn't walk in such pride.. However, considering what happened she may be walking in something I am unaware of... I know God uses us in spite of us, no one is perfect, and we all are capable of having our "flesh" moments, but I also know that not everyone is always able to own up to those moments especially those in leadership. So basically, I am unsure about how to approach this situation or if I even should approach the situation. Have any of you ever gone through something like this? Please feel free to share your thoughts and how you handled it.

Blessings

 

[Tigger45]

When God moves you know it there no second guessing. Also truth is truth. Life is real simple when you take it the way it is.

 

[jazzypooh]

When God moves you know it there no second guessing. Also truth is truth. Life is real simple when you take it the way it is.

Yes I'm confident this was not of God. God doesn't shove us to the floor.. I'm just not sure how to approach this situation with my pastors. They are husband and wife which only complicates the situation even more...

 

[Job8]

So basically, I am unsure about how to approach this situation or if I even should approach the situation. Have any of you ever gone through something like this? Please feel free to share your thoughts and how you handled it.

The very fact that you felt that this pushing you downwards was inappropriate is sufficient evidence that there was nothing of the Holy Spirit in that attempt. This whole business of being "slain in the Spirit" is totally unbiblical.

Indeed, you will not find a single incidence in Scripture where Christ or the apostles ever tried to push someone down during the laying on of hands. It was ALWAYS THE OPPOSITE. People were raised up by the power of God the Holy Spirit.

You can't ignore this, and at the same time you feel that something should be done. Well, request a meeting with the pastors and elders and bring this to their attention. Then ask them to show you from Scripture where such an action was mentioned or authorized. Since that won't be possible, they should then be asked to bring this before the church and admit that it was unscriptural, and cannot be repeated again in any service. Should they refuse to respond, you can certainly leave.

 

[Haasrecht]

It seems to me that you are not asking about slaying in the spirit but of this particular situation, yes? I will respond as such, regardless of my thoughts on slaying itself.

My first thought is, do you have mentor relationships with anyone else in the church that you can approach with the topic? I would not make any rash judgments about the situation. I have had the same experience, someone physically pushing me when they want a slaying to happen. With the person involved, I did not sense anything malicious or deceitful about it. I think they were just hoping a little too much that it would happen (I was last in a line of several dozen that all had gone down).

 

[Tigger45]

I hear ya. They put you in a difficult situation. I know manifestations of God are few and far between but the fake ones are useless. Also once I see certain behaviors from individuals its not long before they are repeated. I'm uncomfortable with these once I see this behavior so I usually start looking for another church just to get the process started and hopefully save me time in the long run. Expressing your thoughts to your pastors is a mature approach and then there won't be any misunderstandings.

 

[jazzypooh]

The very fact that you felt that this pushing you downwards was inappropriate is sufficient evidence that there was nothing of the Holy Spirit in that attempt. This whole business of being "slain in the Spirit" is totally unbiblical.

Indeed, you will not find a single incidence in Scripture where Christ or the apostles ever tried to push someone down during the laying on of hands. It was ALWAYS THE OPPOSITE. People were raised up by the power of God the Holy Spirit.

You can't ignore this, and at the same time you feel that something should be done. Well, request a meeting with the pastors and elders and bring this to their attention. Then ask them to show you from Scripture where such an action was mentioned or authorized. Since that won't be possible, they should then be asked to bring this before the church and admit that it was unscriptural, and cannot be repeated again in any service. Should they refuse to respond, you can certainly leave.

Hi Job,

Thank you for your insights. As I stated in the OP, I do believe that people can fall under the presence/anointing of God and that it is Scriptural. I don't know if I would call it "slain in the Spirit." I never really liked that term and I never found myself in any sleep-like state after an encounter with God. It was much the opposite. But I have fell down in His presence. It is this shoving down that is not of God. It's not something that is forced, and I believe this is why a lot of people oppose it altogether because there are so many trying to counterfeit the Holy Spirit instead of just letting God be God.

 

[jazzypooh]

It seems to me that you are not asking about slaying in the spirit but of this particular situation, yes? I will respond as such, regardless of my thoughts on slaying itself.

My first thought is, do you have mentor relationships with anyone else in the church that you can approach with the topic? I would not make any rash judgments about the situation. I have had the same experience, someone physically pushing me when they want a slaying to happen. With the person involved, I did not sense anything malicious or deceitful about it. I think they were just hoping a little too much that it would happen (I was last in a line of several dozen that all had gone down).

You are correct..

I'm fairly new to this ministry so I'm still in the process of building relationships. The person who I have the closest relationship with is actually the one who is responsible.. But I do get what you are saying. That's why I want to be careful in how I approach the situation, because she may not have had any malicious intent. Like you suggested, I think it's possible she may have gotten overzealous. Whether or not she will admit to that is another issue though.. My experience has been that leaders often have too much pride to admit any fault or wrongdoing. Not all leaders are the same, so I'm praying she is not one of those kinds of leaders.

 

[Haasrecht]

You are correct..

I'm fairly new to this ministry so I'm still in the process of building relationships. The person who I have the closest relationship with is actually the one who is responsible.. But I do get what you are saying. That's why I want to be careful in how I approach the situation, because she may not have had any malicious intent. Like you suggested, I think it's possible she may have gotten overzealous. Whether or not she will admit to that is another issue though.. My experience has been that leaders often have too much pride to admit any fault or wrongdoing. Not all leaders are the same, so I'm praying she is not one of those kinds of leaders.

If the person involved is the person you are closest to, I would say bringing the topic up to them in private and with humility is your best option. It may just nag at you if you do not bring it up.

Best of luck!

 

[jazzypooh]

I hear ya. They put you in a difficult situation. I know manifestations of God are few and far between but the fake ones are useless. Also once I see certain behaviors from individuals its not long before they are repeated. I'm uncomfortable with these once I see this behavior so I usually start looking for another church just to get the process started and hopefully save me time in the long run. Expressing your thoughts to your pastors is a mature approach and then there won't be any misunderstandings.

Yes, I am really going to be in prayer about this the next few days. I want to be led by God in whatever I do. I appreciate everyone's responses, and I definitely do not want a repeat. This has made me not want to respond to anymore altar calls.. smh

 

[Blade]

jazzypooh

Hey Jazzypooh.. when I was young this preacher came to our church. That night he asked if anyone wanted to experience the preance of God to come up there. I thought ..sure if He is real. So I go up.. not scared..nothing.. the mans back was to me.. all he did was turn and touch my head ever so lightly and.. a the next thing I new was I open my eyes to find myself on my back lol.. started to get up..something ..lightning.. power.. hit my feet shot into my chest.. WOW just WOW..tried to go up every time after just to get that again.. haha..

Same church.. the pastor was praying for me one time and put his hand on my head and ..yeah.. keep trying to force me down lol. Never said a word.. at the time never bothered me. Since you asked.. we should never just leave somewhere because of how we feel.. ONLY by HIS spirit as He moves.. stay unless He wants you to go. For me.. I wouldnt be asking that person to pray for me..or.. just say the word.. no hands this time? Hehe ..or yeah..just talk.. I mean.. just be honest..in love ..ask .. tell them about it..

 

[Razare]

I'm not even sure how to go about addressing this issue. On one hand, I'm wondering if I should consider finding another church but I don't want to judge the situation prematurely and end up "church-hopping" or out of the will of God.

Well, I get it. It's better to just fall over by the spirit and I've done it too. I think I've been pushed once or twice. Then sometimes, I just decide to drop on my own because I need it!

And it's been the same person every time. A couple times he didn't have to push me, and a couple times I was dropping on my own without his push.

Falling on the floor in a church meeting just does us good. For one, you get to exercise faith that when you fall, you will not be injured. So even if they fail to catch you, you get to exercise some faith.

Plus, when you're on the floor, you can receive from God pretty good down there. Like even when I fall on my own, I'm more in the spirit when I fall over like that with the intent of God ministering to me.

Now, if I don't have a church meeting, and I need something like this at home, I go to bed as soon as I get home and take a nap with the intent of hearing from God during it... my mind gets quiet and God can talk to me.

So anyway, why some people push is that they believe that you're going to receive more from God on the floor. It's psychological because to be in the spirit, you first got to get out of the flesh and shut down your mental thinking. Falling over helps this shutting down the mind and getting into the spirit.

You can certainly do it without falling over. But that's why they push like that. I agree, it's not needed.

But my church is small too. We don't push people to make it a big spectacle because it's not a spectacle, there's like 30 of us on Sunday morning, and we rarely do this on Sunday mornings.

If your church is doing it for show, go tell the pastor it's wrong. It's fine to push to help people, but if it's trying to be impressive, that's wrong.

 

[Teslafied]

I believe in "being slain in the spirit" as I've had this occur many times in my life, but being pushed is definitely not of God.

I went to a church about a year ago and I too felt like the pastor was trying to force me down and I didn't like it, so I just resisted.

If it's God you'll know it, the Holy Spirit is a gentleman He will never force Himself on anyone especially by physically pushing someone down that's ridiculous. A lot of these ministries do this sort of thing for show, all just to draw in fresh converts to rake them for money.

You have to be careful going to a lot of these new age charismatic type churches they remind me of Simon magus they try to falsify gifts to make money and it's all a sham.

The goal is to find a church truly seated in Christ, a church that accepts the gifts but does not abuse them.

 

[Staj2016]

That was not of God. That was just her doing that out of her own human spirit. If she truly had that kind of anointing she would not have had to push you like that. If that was my Pastor, I would leave that place. There are a lot of people who try to operate out of gifts and anointings they don't have.

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[LANGCHINTHANG NAULAK]

The very fact that you felt that this pushing you downwards was inappropriate is sufficient evidence that there was nothing of the Holy Spirit in that attempt. This whole business of being "slain in the Spirit" is totally unbiblical.

Indeed, you will not find a single incidence in Scripture where Christ or the apostles ever tried to push someone down during the laying on of hands. It was ALWAYS THE OPPOSITE. People were raised up by the power of God the Holy Spirit.

You can't ignore this, and at the same time you feel that something should be done. Well, request a meeting with the pastors and elders and bring this to their attention. Then ask them to show you from Scripture where such an action was mentioned or authorized. Since that won't be possible, they should then be asked to bring this before the church and admit that it was unscriptural, and cannot be repeated again in any service. Should they refuse to respond, you can certainly leave.

The chrisitan life is about faith and if your faith on the church and your belief is shaken, it can be a way that lead to apostacy. It is better to find the solution biblically.