Experiencing the supernatural should be a normal aspect of every believers’ life. In fact, it already is, but our senses have not become tuned to what the Lord is already doing in the spiritual, supernatural and natural realms. So by learning to wait on Him, hear His voice and cultivate quietness, we have provided an environment for the Lord to reveal to us what is already happening all around us now.

Because supernatural experiences are already occurring, we want to learn to be both observant and confident that the Lord provides the training and protection we need as we venture into new experiences. Just as if we were to move to a new country, we would have to learn the laws, language, cultural traditions, challenges and dangers that reside in that land. As overcomers, know that who you truly are, a spirit-being, has already accepted the challenge and adventure of exploring your inheritance (authority over this realm) and enjoy learning to know the Lord by expanding your need to depend on Him.

Attitudes toward Supernatural Experiences

Our attitude toward supernatural experiences determines our perception, acceptance and interpretation of them.

Positive

Supernatural Experiences are part of the Believers’ daily experience and should be cultivated, valued, enjoyed and appreciated. The Holy Spirit can be trusted to train, protect and provide whatever is necessary to promote His agenda, keeping us focused on His goals and plan. Because we’re depending on the Lord to BE Lord, we can rest, enjoy and prevail through whatever kind of experiences He has planned for us.

Negative

Those who have a negative attitude toward supernatural experiences usually do so because of misinformation, based on someone else’s experience or opinion, or the fear of being out of control and the possibility of making a mistake or being hurt. One of the reasons the Lord wants us to want supernatural experiences is to expose those areas in our belief system that are based on a lack of confidence in God (dependence on self-strength) and abdication of the authority we have been given in Christ. We have nothing to fear from trying new things and asking for supernatural experiences. Period.

Neutral

This stance toward the supernatural is characterized in word or deed by the thought that, “If God wanted me to have supernatural experiences, I’d be having them.” This nullifies our personal relationship with God, in that He wants us to want Him, and want everything He wants us to have. We will have to learn to deal with the supernatural sometime, so it is wise to take advantage of every opportunity now. There is no ambivalence with God—we are either walking according to spirit or according to flesh.

Ignorant

Ignorance of the supernatural, or our involvement, is no excuse, and even makes us vulnerable to our enemies the world, the flesh and the devil. The supernatural realm is the main battleground for our life here on earth; not doing our homework and failing to fully engage in life now merely puts off till later what God has arranged, at great expense, to accomplish now. There is no guarantee (in fact I believe it is highly unlikely) that remaining in ignorance regarding the supernatural will in any way benefit us in regard to whatever is coming in the next age.

So What Exactly are Supernatural Experiences?

Supernatural Experiences can be broadly defined as the reality of the spiritual and natural realms breaking through and/or being revealed to our soul, which exists in the supernatural realm. This is why learning to wait on the Lord and being able to hear His voice is so important—it is only by having our senses tuned to Him, to His reality (the spirit realm), that we will be able to see from His vantage point in our soul. He cleans out our ears, lifts the veil from our eyes, sensitizes us to His movement and utilizes all of our senses to become aware of the slightest activity in the supernatural realm.

A great illustration of this is in 2 Kings 6:17: And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. If our senses are not tuned to what is going on in the supernatural, we will not recognize it. It will still be going on, we will just not be able to engage in battle, worship, rest, victory, etc.

Keys to Experiencing the Supernatural

* Ask the Lord to create in you a hunger and a thirst. Supernatural experiences can be desired and asked for. God wants us to want what He wants for us!

* Ask the Lord to help you to overcome any apprehensions and answer any questions you may have. This is about your relationship with the Lord, and will expand your confidence in Him as you learn the extent of your authority and responsibility.

* Ask the Lord to bring others into your life with whom you can share experiences. The Lord wants us to be able to learn from others’ learning from Him, as well as teaching us how to share with others what He has shared with us. Our confidence in His faithfulness grows as we see that He treats each of us with respect and gentleness. Likewise, as we see what the Lord is doing in like-minded believers, we are challenged to want to know Him more and more.

* Ask the Lord to reveal Himself objectively. What is truly from the Lord will stand up to scrutiny “by the light of day.” Hearing from, knowing God and having supernatural experiences is not something that we strain for or experience in our imagination. The Lord sharpens our discernment for this very reason—just as we trust what we see, taste and touch with our physical senses, we can have that same confidence in what we experience with our supernatural senses.

Examples of Supernatural Experiences

This is by no means an exhaustive study of what is going on even now in the supernatural realm. Our goal is to begin to objectively look at some of the categories that the Lord’s supernatural expressions commonly fall into. One experience is not more valuable than another; it is up to the Lord Himself to make those determinations for each of us, depending on our unique relationship with Him and His plans for us. We can expect, however, that we will probably not experience exactly what someone else has, in order to keep us from relating more to the experience or another person than to the Lord Himself.

Adapted from Knowing God by Dianne Thomas