And so, we see that all the biblical accounts reveal the same truth to us, i.e. that when our natural human bodies encounter the power of God, because of their weakness, the natural physical reaction is to fall to the ground. I need to make a comment on this point however. All the accounts we have looked at, show the individual falling to the ground because of the tremendous degree of power that they were exposed to. That does not mean that every time we are exposed to the power of the Holy Spirit, we should expect to fall to the floor. For many times the degree of power that we encounter, although tangible, is not overwhelming, and so it is quite possible for the saint to continue to stand in the presence of the Lord as the Holy Spirit ministers to them. A further observation that we can make from these accounts, is that all the saints that fell under the power of God lay there in a trance like state as the Lord dealt with them. They did not roll about or thrash about on the ground, which is a practice that we see taking place in some churches today. There is no scriptural evidence for such behaviour, except when people are thrown to the ground by a demonic power (Mark 9:20).
Michael E.B. Maher
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