Jerry Dan Goldman
Now, let’s be clear, this was not in a dream, vision, or trance. In the early hours of the 3rd of May 2024, I had a strange experience twice. I woke up to a seemingly demonic attack twice, but a strange thing happened each of those times that I have never experienced, heard, or seen before. The Spirit of God spurred me to pray in the Spirit with the intensity and force that I have never seen or experienced before, and in those two times, I literally felt fire 🔥 come out of my eyes as I prayed in the Spirit to dispel the darkness and foil the attack. Those two times I could see that there were some formless demonic entities just right before me on the bed before the Spirit spurred me from within to pray in the Spirit. May the name of the Lord be praised in his sanctuary because it was an awesome experience indeed.
Now, this is a whole new realm for me, but there is a background to it which I will explain, but first let me give more insight into that scenario. Each of those times that I woke to feel that demonic presence, my praying in the Spirit was in an unknown tongue, but it was deeper than I have ever experienced before, and it came with fire bulging out of my eyes like you see in those superhero movies. But the experience each of the two times was very short, like in the space of like 30 seconds or less. That short period was enough to do the damage, I believe, but I am beginning to think that maybe my body will not be able to carry the spiritual high-voltage current that passed through it if the duration was longer than that.
THE ANTECEDENT OCCURENCES
The background to that experience or phenomenon is that, for me to enter into some deeper realms while praying is not new, but this one is just in an entirely new dimension and depth. From my university days, I have been entering realms while praying and worshipping God. In fact, sometimes some of the more spiritual brethren in my hall then (or those who came to visit) often slipped into my room quietly and just lay down to bask under that special atmosphere of the Spirit during some of my prayers that were sometimes just spontaneous. Once I began feeling the Spirit stirring and calling me into the place of prayer, I left whatever I was doing and just went to pray. Those moments were sweet for me because God just placed a burden in my spirit and then began to give me deep utterances in the Spirit. People around knew that these were not just ordinary prayers, not only because of the special and diverse kinds of tongues that emanated from the realm of the Spirit and through my mouth but also because of the special atmosphere of the Spirit that exuded from the prayers and all could sense. Suffice it to say that these have continued to date.
When you enter into such a realm, you cannot do silent prayers. Yes, of course, I do silent prayers all the time and every now and then, but when the Spirit comes upon me to enter into that strange realm of deep intercession and worship, I can’t just do it silently, even if I tried. I am not saying that I lose consciousness like it happens in spiritual Churches and sects where the spirit that controls them makes them say and do what they are not conscious of (of course, that is spiritism and it is not biblical). In the New Testament Church, the Spirit rather energizes you to pray to the degree you can’t attain naturally, hence you are in control and though you cannot switch it on at will, you can definitely switch it off if you want. But note that the Scriptures admonish us not to quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19). If a Spirit enters you and makes you say or do what you are not conscious of, it is called demon possession, not the infilling of the Holy Spirit as spoken of in the scriptures.
SCRIPTURAL EXAMPLES
We have tons of examples in the Scriptures about other people both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament who prayed, prophesied, and did things under the influence of the Holy Spirit. All the Prophets in the Old Testament, including but not limited to King David, prophesied and/or sang under the influence of the Spirit. And then Christ, ushering us into the New Testament, prayed so loudly that his prayers could be documented. The only times that it was recorded that Jesus simply said his prayers were some of the times he wanted to perform a miracle or whenever he was about to break bread with His disciples. His private prayer life was loud because of the intensity with which he prayed. This is the reason He always went up the mountain to pray (Luke 6:12). Hebrews 5:7 also says, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” Christ’s prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane before His arrest and death were so intense that it was recorded that, “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). For Christ to produce sweat that was as thick as droplets of blood, it demonstrates the intensity of the prayer session. Please note that Christ’s disciples could not pray with such intensity until they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and now that is the lot of every believer who has been baptized in the Holy Ghost. It says, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you..” (Act 1:8 NKJ).
On the day of Pentecost, as recorded in the book of Acts chapter 2, the disciples, led by the Apostles, prayed so loudly as the Spirit gave them utterance that they were heard by those who were around. A similar thing happened in the Prison while Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns to God because it says other prisoners heard them. If they were doing silent sluggish prayers, no one would have heard them, and then the earthquakes wouldn’t have been attributed to them. But what happened was that the Spirit of God came upon them as they worshipped and they were thus empowered to enter into some strange dimensions of the Spirit that brought about a literal physical earthquake so much so that the other prisoners and the Jailors were able to link the two occurrences together.
A CLARION CALL TO YOUNG PEOPLE
The Lord has given me a mandate to call the young folks of this age, especially teenagers to the place of purity and power. He says, “Gather to me my consecrated ones who have made covenant with me by sacrifice.”(Psalm 50:5). This is the reason the TING Project was created. He says to us in a meeting back in the days, “I am about to disgrace men sooner or later through what I will do through chicks”. By consequence, God is raising a unique generation of young folks that will preach the message of the kingdom with power devoid of the traditions of men. So, if you are a teenager and you love God and you desire that God will use you to touch this generation, join us on the TING Project platform, www.tingproject.com.ng and let’s explore God together.