knowing god - really - you can know god

Here is one young man's description of his experience of actually, truly, knowing God, as a person and as a friend, in a very real way. He discloses his fasting, prayer and meditation practices:

"I decided to go on a twenty-day fast. During that time, I began praying in the Spirit for hours every day! I would push myself to pray a little bit more each day. As I would ask God for the fire to come, the fire of the Holy Spirit would start to fall on me. Each day, the fire would be even stronger. As I would meditate on Scriptures, such as Acts 2:2 where it says that the Holy Spirit entered the upper room like a mighty rushing wind. It was my desire to encounter the Holy Spirit the way the apostles did in the upper room! I wanted that very same fire! Each day, I would pray as long as I could, which took a lot of discipline at first. Then I began to notice that I was praying with ease. Instead of prayer seeming like a chore, I couldn’t wait until I could get away from everyone and everything and spend time with the Lord.

As the days went by, the Holy Spirit’s presence became so real and tangible. There were even times when I felt electricity flowing into my body as the Holy Spirit was brooding over me. As the presence of the Holy Spirit would come upon me, all I could do was bask in His presence as He would fill me over and over again! The Holy Spirit began to wash over me so strongly that all I could do was weep in His presence uncontrollably. This would happen to me for several hours a day, where I would be in the presence of the Holy Spirit... There was a fire in my heart and in my spirit that I had never known before. Day after day, the Holy Spirit was visiting me. It felt like it was just the beginning of what was available to me in God. I knew there was so much more that the Lord wanted me to experience, so much more He wanted to reveal to me. There was such a mystery in the sense that every day seemed so fresh and new. I purposed in my heart that I was not going to be satisfied with a season of knowing the Lord, nor be satisfied with merely an encounter. I felt as if I had barely tasted of what was available. I knew that if I continued to press in and continued to be hungry, that God was going to reveal Himself to me according to my hunger and sheer desire to know Him.

It was such a divine season in my life that it is difficult to express through words. I began to truly know and bond with the Holy Spirit. He became so real to me, not just as a feeling or an atmosphere, but as real as a person or companion. I understand why Kathryn Kuhlman often referred to the Holy Spirit as her best friend. She relied upon the Holy Spirit to move upon the people in her meetings, to perform healings and miracles!
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I’ve tried desperately to make this season of my life of the secret place into a lifestyle. I’ve returned continually to this place of being filled and refilled by the Holy Spirit. We must make it a priority to return to that place of spiritual hunger, forever returning to that foundation of discovering Him over and over again. Daily I remind myself that it’s all about knowing and experiencing Him!"