The third event I want to share happened within two months of my salvation experience and after my out-of-body experience.
Durng a Sunday morning sermon, Pastor Cronquist bragged, “After three hours of prayer, I’m just getting started.” I wanted to find out what he was talking about so when I got home I went straight to my room, got down on my knees and began to pray. I had already received the baptism of the Holy Spirit so I prayed in tongues. When I wanted to quit or began to become distracted I just prayed all the harder. I kept an eye on the time with my wristwatch.
Three hours into the prayer I received a message: I heard, “You have not because you ask not. Ask and you will receive.” It made complete sense at the time and inspired me to stand up and ask, “Take me where you dwell.” I don’t quite know how to describe what happened next. Waves of energy rose through my head. It happened quickly and the waves were strong. It felt like I was rising through levels, and there were six or seven of them.
I was elated. I prayed, “Is this it? Give me a scripture or a vision, something!” Then I went into the living room, sat on the sofa, closed my eyes, and went into a trance. For a few moments it was pitch black, darker than night. Then I saw a green radiance highlighted with gold. It began to form a letter, I read it out loud, “E.” Then other letters formed as I read aloud, “Ephesians. . . Ephesians 2:6.” Everything went dark again.
Two people appeared in the vision and I watched and listened to their conversation. They were friendly and respectful. They departed and one of them met up with another person and began to bad mouth the man he was nice to a moment before, I thought, He just stabbed his friend in the back! Then it was clear to me, Oh, I do that. I was busted but there was no condemnation, no judgment–just awareness. Two more scenarios played out in my vision where people were relating wrong and both times I realized that I was guilty of the same.
Before anything more happened, Mike McGinley knocked on the front door and basically ended my trance. I was upset for a minute but I was too eager to find out what Ephesians 2:6 said to stay mad. I was afraid it would be unrelated but I had to find out. It reads, “and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
My Comments
- I got my scripture and my vision. And I got schooled on relationship patterns that I needed to break.
- I think it is important to note that I was caught up to heaven but I also didn’t go anywhere. I was still in my body, in my bedroom. I think my awareness was lifted up and my consciousness was in a sacred place within me. God dwells within us. I asked to be taken where He dwells.
- I think God had mercy on me that afternoon, I was a new Christian, childlike and hopeful. If nothing happened after 3 hours I would have been devastated. I never tried to repeat the experience. It was a lot of effort and I didn’t have it in me to do it again.
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