4 reasons for "falling out under the power"
“And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.”
Genesis 2:21
“Falling out under the power”, “getting slain in the Spirit”, “going out” and the like have been phrases used to describe when people get overwhelmed by the power of God and end up on the floor. Some people have a hard time with it and others can’t get enough of it! I believe it’s one of the ways God works powerful things in our lives and the fruit is there to prove it. After all, “...our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases” (Ps. 115:3).
You may have heard of Heidi Baker’s story of being a burnt out missionary who came to Toronto in the 90’s and received such a powerful encounter with the Spirit of God that she was basically incapacitated for 7 days. The fruit of that encounter has led to thousands of churches being planted, the miraculous power of God being regularly encountered, orphans finding homes, and the list could go on.
God does something in us while we’re on the ground!
I know, I know, there are some who just give “courtesy falls”, but the reality is, when you truly get touched by the power of God, your life is changed!
Right there in the book of Genesis, God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. I believe it’s a picture of what the Lord does when people get hit with His power and end up laid out. Since Genesis is the book of beginnings, there’s a key here to understand what God does when people have these types of encounters.
For Adam, the Lord was doing “surgery” and from that one encounter, he got the most amazing gift - his wife!
In other words, simply put, God is working something amazing in you when you get knocked out!
Consider when Saul (later turned Paul) fell to the ground in Acts 9:4. God radically turned his life around - from hater to herald!
The mob that tried to arrest Jesus also got a taste of His Lordship and unmatchable power when He said, “I am”, and they all fell to the ground. (John 18:6)
John the Apostle had such a radical encounter with the Resurrected Christ that so enhanced His relationship with Him (not to mention we get in on it too!) that he ended up on the ground! (Rev. 1:17).
I’ve had my share of crazy encounters with the power of God and I look forward to more.
Argentinian revivalist Claudio Freidzon prayed for the fire of God to touch the people in a service I was in and I got thrown back twice by the power of God and was teetering on the tops of chairs.
In the same conference, Che Ahn prayed a prayer of impartation and in the spirit I saw an angel throw a bolt of lightning at me and I got hit by the power of God. (If you’re wondering about that, there’s actually lightning that flashes around the throne of God. Lightning is power. See Rev. 4:5).
That season was such a powerful time in accessing new levels of power and seeing it demonstrated in my life.
Here’s 4 reasons for “falling out under the power”:
1. Upgrade in power (impartation)
That’s what happened to me! I literally saw an increase of the supernatural power flowing in my life when I received impartation from those generals.
We need the power of God to be flowing through us in order to be effective witnesses! (Acts 1:8).
2. Rest
One time I was preaching about the glory and as I closed the service in prayer I asked God to release His glory on us in a weighty measure.
Well...He answered my prayer and I got hit with the power of God and ended up on the floor!
The only weird part was I was the preacher! It was like how the priests got incapacitated in 2 Chron. 5:14.
Then it was like the Lord told me, “How’s that for “He makes me lie down”?” (Ps. 23:2)
He then began to take me into a season where He taught me about what it was to rest in Him; that basically to carry a greater level of glory on my life I would need to have a higher level of rest in my life.
Laying on the ground was apparently a good place to start for that and He was intent on “making me lie down.”
I needed to do away with striving for approval and performing for acceptance - and rest in His approval and acceptance of me.
Then I’d be able to work from a secure place in Him.
Much more fruit comes from that place and burnout is avoided.
3. Leadership
A few months after that I was leading worship on a Sunday service and He got me again! Lol.
I was in the middle of singing a phrase when bam! I fell back and was under the power of God. Again, I was the worship leader! Maybe a bit awkward for everyone else, but for me it was life changing.
As I was on the ground I saw the Lord standing over me. I believe He had a sword drawn in His hand.
That morning before church I read a devotional on Joshua 5:13-15 and the need for leadership. It’s the passage where Joshua had an encounter with the Commander of the Lord’s Armies. It was like that passage of scripture was coming alive to me.
The Lord was showing me my need to be utterly dependent on Him - especially in areas of ministry.
Simply put, I have a plan - but so does He. He’s in charge. He’s the Lord. I’ll choose to submit to Him. There’s WAY more fruit when He’s leading.
I guess He could’ve just told that to me...but apparently being incapacitated on the ground is a better way to impact my heart with the truth that He’s the Lord. (Remember the mob who thought they were in charge when arresting Jesus? Yea...Jesus was in charge).
4. Healing and freedom
I was listening to Rodney Howard-Browne share a testimony of a woman who got touched in one of his meetings. I’m sharing this off memory so forgive me if the details aren’t exact.
In her life before following Jesus, she had an abortion - and it was twins. I’m sure the enemy had used that to torment her with guilt and shame.
In the meeting, she gets hit with the power of God and at some point starts laughing hysterically. To the outsider she just looked like a crazy woman, but God was doing something!
She had gotten taken up to heaven. She sees two little kids run up to her. They give her a big hug and say “Mommy! We forgive you!”
The joy of the Lord hits her and she begins laughing hysterically. God healed her heart and dealt with the guilt and shame in one power encounter.
Praise God!
There’s so much more than the 4 that I listed here…
It’s the manifold wisdom and grace of God. He’s multi-faceted and so are His works.
And wow! He is so good!
Question:
What has God done in you through “falling out under the power” or an encounter with His power?
Testify below!
*For more reading, Randy Clark’s book “There Is More” is a great resource full of people’s stories encountering the power of God!