Slain in the Spirit: Is it Real?

Posted by nathan on 24 Sep 2007 | Tagged as: thoughts on god.

Have you ever heard of being slain in the spirit?

As wikipedia puts it, slain in the spirit is “a religious phenomenon in which a person enters a state with loss of all motor control over their body and falls to the floor during an event perceived as a personal encounter with God’s glory and power, usually associated with occasions of public prayer ministry when the laying on of hands is practiced.”

When I was a junior or senior in high school, I went to youth group in Fort Wayne with my best friend. There were about 300 teens there. After service, there was a prayer line, and people were getting slain in the spirit right down the line. I was so excited to experience more of what God had for me. I wanted all God had for me–not just part of it.
As the guy praying–I’ll call him Billy–came to me, he place his hand on my forehead. He prayed for me, and I stood there, ready for an awesome encounter with God. When I didn’t go down, he lightly pushed on my forehead. I realized he was pushing on me, and I didn’t go down, because I wanted God to knock me out, not Billy to push me over. So Billy pushed a little harder. At this point, I was like, ‘What the heck is going on?’ He then stopped pushing and kept praying for me, before he moved on to the next person.
Talk about disappointment!

Notice the wikipedia description said, ‘public prayer ministry’ and ‘laying on of hands’.
my thoughts: 1. why wouldn’t such an intimate experience happen during one-on-one time? 2. why when ‘laying on of hands?’

So then I went to the Bible. I wanted to find evidence of being slain in the spirit. There is pretty much nothing. When there is, it is face-down, not face-up, or it’s a conscious choice to lay down–no references to an uncontrollable loss of motor function when someone touches you in a public setting.
Please take a moment and look at these verses: (note: this is NOT an exhaustive listing) Genesis 17:3, Joshua 5:14, Judges 13:20, 1 Kings 8:10, 11, Ezekiel 1:28, Matthew 17:6, Matthew 28:4, Mark 3:11, Mark 9:20, John 18:6, Acts 9:4-8, Revelation 1:17

I would note that at the time of my experience of not being slain in the spirit, I truly believed it was of God and was biblical. I’m honestly not sure why I believed this, as I’m quite certain my dad (my pastor) never taught me it was, so I’m not sure what gave me the impression it was Godly and biblical.

That’s not to say God couldn’t knock me out if he wanted to, because I am very, very confident God could slay me (or you) in the spirit (or physically) any time He wanted. I just haven’t been able to scripturally support our modern ’slain in the spirit’ ritual.

Thoughts on this?
Do you have any similar experiences to what I experienced in high school?
Have a missed a key scripture indicating a scriptural precedent for being slain in the spirit?

Tags: Holy Spirit, spirit

10 Comments »

10 Responses to “Slain in the Spirit: Is it Real?”

on 24 Sep 2007 at 2:46 pm 1.Marvin said …

I’d experienced this one time. But I am the one who let my self go down… I was also curious, so indulged myself to the drama and made myself my own ’slain in the spirit’. but after that, I asked God’s forgiveness.
As of now, never sought to experience that… but for those who experience it, I hope they are really encoutering God (real one is really great).
Soli Deo Gloria!
on 24 Sep 2007 at 6:13 pm 2.Todd Helmkamp said …

Good post.
on 24 Sep 2007 at 7:42 pm 3.Tara Lilly said …

I appreciate you bringing this topic up, I will look up the scripture references. I’m with you, this is only something that I’ve heard as part of “Christian culture” not something I have been taught with a biblical basis. We aren’t immersed in this belief system much at our church, but my friend Sarah is part of an African-American church, very large, in the South Bend area. She says this happens EVERY Sunday at her church, a great deal of the people of the congregation falling on the floor all throughout the service. She also says that black people don’t think they have done church until they have had a physical holy spirit encounter. FYI, they start church at 10:30 am and usually wrap up around 3pm. I’m trying to work it into my schedule to visit this church (I have only been to one large pentacostal black church before and witnessed the events described above). I desperately want to know if this is a real move of God or a part of “doing church” that is brought on by spiritual exhaustion or emotional ecstacy? If it happens all the time how does it remain miraculous and holy in a person’s eyes? If it’s real why haven’t I experienced it? This ties in with tongues, I have gone to the altar for public prayer and also privately met with pastors and I still have not received a prayer language. These questions perplex me and leave me wondering if I am receiving all I can from God, and if not, why? Do any of you experience these thoughts? (By the way Nathan when I get to that church, called River of Life, Sarah Bubp goes there, I will let you know what I see. I think I would be better off going with someone I know than to just walk into a random church in Fort Wayne.
on 24 Sep 2007 at 10:59 pm 4.joe said …

@Nathan, I’m with you here. Growing up, my dad never really encouraged anything like this. He certainly didn’t deny the possibility that God was powerful enough to do it if He so chose, but He doesn’t need my help in doing it! I really don’t think that the majority of what I’ve seen or experienced in this area is from God, I truly think it’s from people.

@Tara, I also have been prayed for many times to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, evidenced by speaking in tongues. It just doesn’t seem to be happening! For the longest time, that was frustrating. It was demoralizing.

Then, one day, I stumbled across 1 Corinthians 13:1–”If I speak in human or angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” I thought that was interesting and started to look into it more. I then realized that Paul tells the Galatians, in the fifth chapter of his letter to them, that if they walk by the Spirit they will bear fruit, and that fruit looks like this: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

I suddenly realized that my strong desire to encounter God in an emotional way, i.e. being slain or speaking in tongues, was totally focused on me. It was self gratifying, it didn’t contain any of the fruit that walking by the Spirit manifested. So, I stopped seeking those outward things, and started seeking the fruit. Let me tell you, I have a LONG way to go! If, someday, the Spirit sees fit to give me such a gift (1 Corinthians 12:11 and Hebrews 2:4), I will gladly take it! But until then, I will happily let the Spirit develop His fruit in my life.

(Please note: I don’t, in any way, mean that I’m complacent in my life as a follower of Christ, merely that I’m happy to be where I am, and at the same time eager to keep moving forward.)
on 25 Sep 2007 at 2:56 pm 5.Marvin said …

I’ve been reading the verses given by nathan on the post… for me (my opinion), it seems like (referring to the situations in the given verses) that everytime someone comes to the presence of the Lord, that person will be knock down, BUT ( a big BUT ), God will lay down His hand to this person and make that person stand…..
it’s only my opinion for now, have to look more deeply into it…

Soli Deo Gloria…
on 26 Sep 2007 at 12:02 am 6.Tia Lynn said …

I have always been skeptical of being slain in the spirit, not because I doubt God’s power or presence, but because one of the fruits of the spirit is self-control. If one of God’s gifts to us is self-control, I find it difficult to accept that the out of control falling, flopping, and convulsing is a movement of God. Also, whenever there is a church or gathering that has a slain in the spirit “routine,” I am especially wary. Whenever the mircaulous becomes mundane, it’s a pretty safe bet that man is orchestrating and not God. God’s power is not a rabbit you can yank from a hat at will to wow everyone and then put it away when the praise team winds down. God is not tame, nor can His power be manipulated or planned. Those are my thoughts on the subject. There is a really thorough documentary on this topic made my Christians in the UK called: “The Signs and Wonders Movement Exposed.” I highly recommend it.

By the way, I found you via blogrush. I really dig your blog. Feel free to stop by mine…www.tialynnlecorchick.blogspot.com

Peace <
on 26 Sep 2007 at 10:14 pm 7.yap ploy said …

Slain in the spirit is real and it can only happen to the person whose mind is neutral-no opinion and yielded to God to have his ways meaning to deliver or caste out the oppression by the demonic forces or healings of the sickness and diseases that is cause by the devil.

Many important things you must observe is to make sure the person who is going to pray for you. Is he walking right with God, the Holy Spirit? See the fruit if his hands, if he lives a failure life stay away from him. Because if you are of God he will provides and make you behave like his Creator. Any Tom, Dick and Harry who want to volunter and they are ever ready just for a kick, to lay hand on your head is like you ‘putting your head on the chopping board.’ The end result is terrible and miserable lives you will go through. In actuality he is imparting demonic forces into you! I’m not frightening you but you will find your circumstances and situation at home office your health and even friendship relatiions will decline.

A true vessel called of God don’t even need to lay hand but speak a word of command and the demonic forces will fled just like Jesus Christ ministry. By the Jesus is not God but Jesus Christ -CHRIST means the anointed one is the Father dwelled in Jesus ‘ body to works through him to destroy the evil workd of Satan.
Because the power and might of God is working through him and just by the stared of the vessel’s eyes or wave of his hand over the people the power of will be released and God works is done. Remember God is God and only God can do his work no man can or is allowed without his grace. if at all man can do, is by the Grace of God who choose,prepare and send him, and not otherwise. There are many many and many lawless preachers and teachers in churches and they sin terriblely, the consequences is great leading man to hell with his dark teaching of his own opinion, views, couple with his emotions and sentiments concorded his doctrine and claim it is the truth.
That explained why today there are so many church denominations each claiming their doctrine is the truth and causes strife among themselves.
There should be one God, one church and one truth.
Thank you for your time
regards
on 27 Sep 2007 at 5:20 pm 8.Adam said …

It’s never happened to me, but I’ll never forget the time I was praying for a woman in the Dominican republic who had never seen this sort of thing before, and I felt the Spirit speak to me to lift my hands off of her. The moment I did that, she fell to the ground.

I didn’t push her (I thought I killed her at first).
She didn’t fall down herself.
So it must have been God.

Not everything the Holy spirit does is going to make sense.
on 28 Sep 2007 at 8:00 am 9.nathan said …

yap ploy,
you made some doctrinal statements in your comment. Unless you have scriptures to back them up, your beliefs obviously aren’t Biblical.

‘Jesus is not God’
please clarify what scriptures you use to get to that, please.
Scriptures, not your thoughts, please.
on 12 Feb 2008 at 12:22 pm 10.Sarah Hendrix said …

After reading this entire blog I just wanted to clear a couple of things up. I do go to a church where people are slain in the Spirit and I do believe in it (as it has happened to me). However, I feel that my tendency towards dramtacism may have caused some confusion. People in my church are slain in the Spirit on any given Sunday. However, that does not necessarily mean EVERY Sunday and they aren’t just throwing their bodies all around the place for show. There is a freedom at my church…people dance, run, jump, twirl, and yes, some are slain in the Spirit. I consider them all beautiful outward expressions of their Spirit man. Do they have to do this? No. Are they pressured to do so? No. Some choose to sit and not do anything. There are people to both exrememes. As much freedom as there is in my church, it is also one that holds tight to the scriptures that everything is to be done decently and in order. One can’t just get up and run around in the middle of service, for example. This would obviously be considered rude. Some, however, choose to chime in with the occassional “Amen” or “Hallelujah”. By no means am I claiming that we have it all right. Our goal is to simply be as close to God as possible. He is a God of BOTH order and freedom. He works in ways we can’t even begin to imagine. Scripture is our guide but it is by no means a limitation to what God can do. As with everything else in my Christian walk, I find that this is a subjective topic. One must pray and seek the Lord about what is right for them. Our walks with God our so individualized that sometimes it amazes me. What I am convincted of is so different than others so that sometimes I think one of us may be crazy. Ultimately, I think there are things of God they we are not meant to understand. We simply need to pray about it. If God gives us peace than okay…if not…stay away from it.