In the Spirit?

I am very nervous writing this entry. My church background does not prepare one to write about being in the Spirit. In fact, most people from my church background aren't even sure what the Spirit is. That ignorance is what prompted this entry. I don't have any answers, just more questions.

John describes himself as being "in the Spirit" when he received the visions that are recorded in Revelation. I have never known what that meant. Aren't believers filled with the Spirit all the time? The Old Testament describes the Spirit of the Lord descending on people such as David to show the Lord's favor and also records the Spirit being removed from Saul when he sinned against the Lord. Jesus promised that the Spirit would come when he left.

Beyond knowing that I was supposed to receive the Holy Spirit when I was baptized, I've never been sure what else the Spirit did. I know that we have a list of fruit the Spirit bears when it lives in us, but how does that really work? I know that Hebrews describes the Spirit interceding for us in prayer before the Father.

What I suppose it really comes down to is that I have head knowledge about the Spirit but I don't feel that knowledge. I haven't experienced it.

In just this past month, I have had two different encounters with other believers that left me asking questions about my own life. Both revolved around this idea of being "in the Spirit". One said that she begins every prayer time by confessing sin and reviewing encounters with people from the past days making sure that there is nothing she needs to apologize or repent of. She said that if she didn't do that, her prayers would not be heard. The other talked about living every day in the supernatural power of the Spirit. She said that the reason most of us get so tired is that we live on our energy and not God's. She talked about living in truth because the negative feelings that come from guilt and conflict use a lot of energy and block the Spirit from being in control.

I don't know how to respond to these ideas. I want to know this kind of energy and power. I want my prayers to be heard. But this felt a little "other worldly" in a way that I wasn't comfortable with. So my real question to myself is, "Am I uncomfortable because it's new to me or because it's wrong?"

I'm not sure yet for myself. What do you think?