The Question:

I was raised in a church that didn’t know anything about speaking in tongues or being slain in the spirit. I really did not believe it. Then I attended a Pentecostal church. At the time, I had uncontrolled blood pressure and heart problems but no one at the church knew it.

On my third visit a woman who called herself a prophet called me out and said, “The devil is trying to take your life” and asked if she could pray for me. She led me to the front of the church and she was singing and praying in tongues and I started trembling and shaking and could not control my arms, head, legs or feet. She anointed my head with oil and I passed out. I don’t know how long I was out but when I woke up I was shaking and thanking God. I shook for hours.

I went back to another service and the same woman was there and she anointed me with oil again and I started babbling and don’t know what I was saying. Afterward I went back to my doctor and he took me off the meds that he had just prescribed a couple of weeks before. The swelling in my legs and feet was gone.

Can you tell me all the information you have on “slain in the spirit”? I asked the preacher’s wife what happened and she just said it was “confirmation.” I don’t want to seem stupid but I still don’t understand. My brother said he does not think this was from God and to stay away from the church. But in my heart I know it was from God. I just don’t understand the passing out.

– Deb From Rossville, Georgia

What is “slain in the Spirit”? (Part 1)

Yes, I would be glad to help you. First though, congratulations on your healing. I praise God for it! I love to hear the works of Jesus being done by his church today. Really, there should be much more of it. Jesus said, “’Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.’” (John 14:12)

Now to your question. Being “slain in the Spirit” is pretty simple. There is nothing strange or magical about it and nothing too unusual either. But the term is not found in the Bible so is it biblical? Yes. While commonly called being slain the Spirit, it’s nothing more than being overcome by the power and presence of God. Without being called that, there are cases of the phenomenon in scripture.

I’ll give you two samples, one corporate and one individual. After Solomon built the temple and the Ark of the Covenant was brought into it here’s what happened. “It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.” (1 Kings 8:10-11) Basically the priests fell down, overcome with God’s glory.

Then here is what happened to Daniel. “So I was left alone and saw this great vision; yet no strength was left in me, for my natural color turned to a deathly pallor, and I retained no strength. But I heard the sound of his words; and as soon as I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.” (Daniel 10: 8-9) Daniel also could not continue standing in the power and presence of God. Any of us would be the same.

It would be normal for God’s manifest presence to overwhelm our mortal body in any number of ways. It makes sense, doesn’t it? God is omnipresent and since Jesus came the Holy Spirit actually dwells within us. But we are usually not keenly aware of it and don’t particularly feel any different. Yet if that door into the supernatural realm is opened a peek, one of the possibilities is that we fall under the power of the Holy Spirit.

That’s what happened to you. I also don’t understand what the preacher’s wife meant by saying it was confirmation. Unless she meant that the manifest presence of God that you experienced came to you as confirmation of your physical healing. It’s not uncommon for the two things to go hand in hand. Rejoice! Not so much that you were slain in the Spirit but that God touched you with his healing power and the devil’s evil plan was thwarted.

The next time God’s presence overpowers you, don’t be confused. Simply ENJOY!