Saturday Night Prayer Unusual Experiences

By David Hobbs

Once I found my groove praying alone at the church from 2-5 a.m. Sunday morning, it opened up a whole new vista of prayer. The time was long enough that I could go through different seasons of prayer in one session: for instance, a time of singing and worship, a time of basking in His presence, a time of petitions, and a time of declaration and warfare could all flow together in one 3 hour session.
With no one listening in, I practiced being uninhibited in prayer—yelling declarations, shouting praises, reading the Word as loud as I could—and discovered the power of the voice; it truly is the “Sword of the Spirit.”
Other times the Spirit would fall on me as I was singing a song of worship and I would break down with weeping, unable to continue, overcome with the mercy of God to my undeserving soul. There were times I was so overcome by His presence that I would fall on my knees before Him for what seemed like hours, unable to speak. It quickly became my richest time in His presence of the whole week, greater even than the church worship service Sat. night. That didn’t mean it wasn’t still a challenge getting out of bed at 1:30 Sunday morning, getting dressed and driving the 15 minutes to the church. But once there and launched into praise or singing, inviting the Holy Spirit to come, and once His presence filled the sanctuary—it was all worth it and then some!
But like anything else in the realm of the Spirit, it was not always easy. There were times of spiritual opposition and oppression, sometimes intense. I remember one time in particular . . . .
It was one morning about 3 a.m. I had prayed for an hour without getting anywhere. There was no life to my prayers, no response of the Spirit. It was one of those times that makes you question what you’re doing and why you’re doing it! “Why am I even here? Why aren’t I at home sleeping?”
I had been walking round and around the sanctuary in my usual circuit. But this time, as I came past the wall by the old nursery, suddenly I heard a knock from the opposite side of the room. It was up high, near the ledge where the indirect lighting sits. It was a single click, or rap, and sounded like wood striking wood. Immediately my mind was filled with a flood of negative thoughts bringing fear, trouble, and panic…. “You shouldn’t be here all alone! Look out! You’re going to be attacked! Danger! There’s someone in the building! He’s got a gun! Run before it’s too late! You can’t escape!” It was as if the floodgates of hell had been opened up and dumped into me, with the residue swirling around me.
In an instant my mind was spinning “What’s going on? Where did all this come from?” I was struggling to come to grips with what was happening to me when all of a sudden, unbidden, the Holy Spirit rose up in me in power and I started praising the Lord as loud as I could shout! My pace quickened around the sanctuary and I began attacking the devil and every work of hell I could think of, binding principalities and powers, clapping my hands, casting down the forces of evil, shouting out in tongues: all at the top of my voice with the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon me.
I had no more trouble from hell after that! The victory ushered me into a wonderful time of prayer and sweet communion with the Lord for the rest of the night.