That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us.                                                                           –Acts 17:27

PRAISE YOU GOD! HALLELUJAH! JESUUUUS! If you are charismatic, its likely you’ve heard “that guy” shouting his head off during the Sunday worship service or a prayer meeting. I’m “that guy”; and I’d like to explain why I do this sometimes. I’ve found that when God’s presence is stirring in a charismatic meeting, there are waves of feeling God’s presence that begin to act on your soul during the prayer, praise, and worship. Psalm 22:3: “Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” The Holy Spirit is in the air; He’s actually always in the air, its just that, through carnality and prayerlessness, we often become desensitized to it, and we can’t sense it. Paul said, “If haply we might feel after Him,” then we can touch God’s Spirit.

What is it like when you do, “feel after Him, and FIND Him”? Well, I don’t mean to be New Age in my terminology: but you’re touching ENERGY; please, don’t get me wrong; its not a New Age thing. Its what the Bible calls “the POWER of the Lord” (Luke 5:17)–power, energy, electricity, the stuff dunamis is made of:–a substance of God’s presence that imparts LIFE and POWER and ENERGY, for lack of better words. Now, when the charismatic worshiper feels this energy, its because the eyes of his soul are “fixed on Jesus,” and the Holy Spirit is “perfecting his faith” (Hebrews 12:2). All carnal-mindedness flees; the natural man is deadened, and the soul is awakened to feel the eternal presence of the manifested Jesus in your midst: in, on, and around your body (Matthew 18:20). When this POWER, or ENERGY of the Spirit of God comes on you, weird stuff can happen–not because the Holy Spirit is weird, per se, but because its a human response to the presence of pure unadulterated Spirit. Shouting, shaking, Spirit-led kneeling, prostrating, speaking in tongues, dancing, raising, rolling (holy roller), waving the arms, and other energetic things can occur, when the Spirit-filled heart, and the Spirit-led imagination is thus guided by the presence of God in prayer.

God’s not dead, He’s alive
God’s not dead, He’s alive
God’s not dead, He’s alive
I feel Him in my head
I feel Him in my feet
I feel Him all over me

I have been blessed in several of these ways before in charismatic meetings, and I wouldn’t exchange this “peace of God, which surpasses understanding” for anything (Philippians 4:7). But one thing I have noticed is that the “spirit of Michal” seems to be present with others at the meeting, just as when David was fanatically praising the Lord with dancing (2 Samuel 6:12-23). Its embarrassing to others who aren’t feeling the Spirit or feel like acting or worshiping in these “disgraceful” ways; but there is a level of humbling or humiliation that comes with it. And “those that humble themselves will be exalted” in the Spirit (Luke 14:11). Michal says its just attention-getting, vain, worthless behavior; Michal says its false fire or “strange fire” (referring to Leviticus 10:1); false emotionalism, exhibitionism, showing off, theatricality, and other such things. But this is only looking on the outside; “man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7); all of this is very subjective; charismatic worship expressions are the verbal and physical expressions of internally felt Holy Spirit baptisms and fillings; so, if others are going hog wild in the meeting, don’t stifle or quench the Spirit! (1 Thess. 5:19). Jesus baptizes His people with the HOLY SPIRIT and FIRE! (Matthew 3:11). You don’t know what they’re experiencing! Judge not! (Matt. 7:1). Just because you’re not feeling God’s presence, it doesn’t mean they aren’t! I’ve found that some people can feel God’s presence in a meeting, while others don’t:–and it usually boils down to the level of practical daily holiness and the private prayer life that Spirit-feelers have. Its a sensitivity issue.