Experiencing God

I’ve been in several conversations lately talking about whether or not we can truly “experience” God through worship or teaching or community.

It’s quite common (I know I’ve done this plenty of times), when praying for an upcoming church gathering, to pray with hope that the people who come will be able to experience God.

What I’ve yet to be able to fully distinguish is whether this is a right way to talk about or think about God.

Can we really experience Him or is there a better way to refer to a person’s connection with God?

(There really isn’t a wrong answer here, just looking for some more feedback on this.)