Category Archives: Spiritual warfare
No More Nightmares!
Many people who are sensitive to the unseen realm suffer from nightmares. These are not the normal kind of nightmares you might expect. They are usually a form of spiritual attack.
For years I suffered from nightmares and would wake up terrified. I often sensed a dark presence in my room when I woke up – that was even scarier. It was like the fear in my dream materialized into a being in my room. How do you wake up from that?!
I lived alone in the country – no one would hear me scream if I needed help. So it was especially terrifying!
I had to learn how to defend myself from these creepy crawly night creatures – the ones in my dreams and the ones who were in my room when I woke up. I never actually saw them – shudder! I never wanted to. But I could definitely feel them!
I learned some very specific things about nightmare spiritual attacks and how to stop them.
Open Doors
If you open a door to bad influences, you are more likely to have nightmares. I used to think it was just horror movies that created nightmares. If you watch one, then you have every right to have a nightmare – you scared yourself on purpose. But I began to notice than any type of TV show, movie, video or book that had violence or magic in it also opened the door to nightmares. Who knew?
You can also open that door by going to certain places where there’s a lot of darkness – certain clubs or bars, certain stores or events that focus on spiritual things, etc. In my city, there are botanicas – places where people buy what they need to do rituals to get a form of spiritual power. There are spirits at these places that will follow you home – I could feel one tracking me after I visited one of these stores to learn what they were. Creepy, right?
Cursed Objects
Spirits can be attached to items – any kind of items. You might receive one from someone and not realize that the item has been empowered with a spirit that has permission to torment you at home, especially at night. If you or your children suddenly start having a lot of nightmares after bringing something new into your house, ask the Lord if there’s a connection. He will show you.
Backlash
If you are a person who prays for others, you can be targeted for nightmares as a form of backlash. Witchcraft often targets Christians who pray. Remember we are in a spiritual war – an attack can come at any time even if you haven’t been doing anything specific to draw attention to yourself.
So what can you do?
Over the years I developed a prayer that I pray every night before I go to sleep. This has been a HUGE help to me and has definitely prevented nightmares! 🙂
Nightly Prayer:
Lord, please wash me off of anything I picked up today, wash me off and wash this room with Your presence. I close every open door to the enemy’s realm and I seal them shut with the blood of Jesus. I command every spirit not sent here by Jesus Christ to leave now. I cancel all backlash coming against me or anything associated with me. I cancel all witchcraft and any words spoken against me or anything associated with me, in Jesus’ name. I cover myself and my household with the blood of Jesus and I release the fear of the Lord into the camp of my enemies! Thank you, Lord, for your covering and protection.
I still occasionally have bad dreams but when I wake up, there is no evil presence in my room. Whew! And often the dream reveals something to me that I needed to know. They are much milder and I’m not afraid when I wake up. I’ve also learned how to wake myself up from them when the dream becomes a spiritual attack.
What have you learned about nightmares that has helped you? Please share your experience – that’s how we learn from one another. I also have some articles on this blog that can help you deal with cursed objects, open doors and backlash as well as a technique for getting back to sleep quickly after a nightmare. They are listed below.
Related posts:
Cloud of Protection – how to fall back asleep quickly after a bad nightmare
Breaking Curses – Lee’s Story: A woman who couldn’t sleep in her new apartment and what finally gave her a great night’s sleep
Cursed Objects – Do You Have Any?
Open Doors – a more detailed explanation of how we open and close doors in the spirit realm
Backlash and Bloodshed – Freaky! A story of backlash I experienced as a result of praying for someone
Sleep Paralysis: How to Break Out
You wake up and you are terrified! It is the middle of the night. You feel a terrible sense of something evil in your room. And you can’t move!
You start to panic. You can’t open your eyes, you can’t call for help and it feels like your life is in danger. The longer this goes on, the more terrified you feel. What can you do?
This experience is called Sleep Paralysis. Some say it is purely physical, but if you’ve ever experienced it, you know it doesn’t FEEL that way. It feels like something evil is about to get you and you can’t defend yourself.
I have experienced this many, many times. So I started to study my experience so I could figure out how to make it stop happening or at the very least, find a quicker way to break out of it.
Because eventually you always break out of sleep paralysis. No one falls asleep and then stays paralyzed. We all wake up and life goes on, right?
I discovered in my personal research that although I could not move, speak or break out of sleep paralysis on my own, I could control my breathing. So when I was paralyzed, I would start breathing really loudly and intensely – like huffing and puffing. That would wake up my husband. I told him when he heard that noise to wake me up. Bingo! It worked! I broke out of sleep paralysis! (Later I found another way to do this on my own.)
But it still happened and I didn’t know why. So I continued my research, looking for more answers. I learned two key things that helped me and brought great clarity to the experience.
- Fear is a spirit and if the Spirit of Fear is not there, you don’t feel afraid. The Lord taught me this as I was trying to overcome my fear of the unseen realm. So if you wake up terrified, it is just the Spirit of Fear harassing you.
- You aren’t actually in any danger – it’s just an illusion. I know it FEELS very real, but that’s part of why it happens. Because you keep playing by the rules of their game. Like a bully, these spirits pick on you because they get a reaction.
I changed my reaction to the experience. When I would wake up paralyzed in the middle of the night, I knew I wasn’t in danger. I would calm my emotions down and talk to Jesus. “Holy Spirit, please help me. I come out of agreement with fear. I command Fear to leave now, in the name of Jesus. I am safe. Jesus is here.” I knew I had angels watching over me to protect me from the enemy.
Then I had a very unique experience when I was in Hawaii. I came into my dorm room and I was exhausted so I laid down to take a quick nap before dinner. I woke up and heard a noise. It sounded like when someone is putting on a pair of jeans – like the sound of thick fabric rubbing against itself. At first I was annoyed, thinking it was my husband and he had woken me up. Then I realized I was paralyzed.
But I could open my eyes! I saw the side of the room I was facing – the windows glowed with sunlight. I could see the desk and the chair and everything had a golden glow – like an outline around it. I continued to hear that strange noise and it occurred to me that maybe someone was stealing my books – that sound could be books slipping into my backpack! (Textbooks are very expensive.) As I listened more closely, I could hear someone mumbling. I didn’t understand the words, but the tone was definitely negative.
I wasn’t afraid but I was alarmed. I closed my eyes and said, Jesus, please break me out of this. Then I opened my eyes and I could move! The room looked the same as before except now there was no golden outline around anything. It was just normal light in the room. I looked around and there was no one there. My husband wasn’t even home yet.
As I pondered the experience, the insight I got totally changed my perspective about sleep paralysis. I realized that what had occurred was that my inner man had been awakened by the noise I heard in the unseen realm, but my body was still asleep. That’s why I couldn’t move. Science tells us that when we fall asleep, our brain registers this and tells our body not to move so we can rest. That’s why when you dream that you are running, you don’t move your feet as though you are running. Your brain knows to de-activate your muscles’ response.
My inner man (soul or spirit or both) became aware of an intruder in my dorm room. That’s what woke me up. I heard that strange noise and the mumbled words. I think it was a dark angel and perhaps that sound was wings moving against each other. It definitely didn’t like me – I picked that up in its tone. I had recently arrived at this school so it probably came to check me out. And maybe harass me.
Because I wasn’t terrified, I was able to study the experience while it was happening. I didn’t feel threatened – I knew I wasn’t in danger.
Once I realized that sleep paralysis was simply my inner man waking up before my body did, I tried a new strategy. The next time I woke up and couldn’t move, I simply said to myself, “Wake up! Wake up!” and it worked! I was able to open my eyes, sit up and look around. No more sleep paralysis!!
And guess what? It doesn’t happen to me anymore! I no longer have fear, I no longer feel threatened and I no longer wake up paralyzed in sleep paralysis. The enemy realized I was no longer going to fall for his bullying behavior so the Spirit of Fear no longer comes to harass me in this way. Whew!
What about you? Have you ever had this experience of sleep paralysis? What helped you break out of it? If you don’t have a strategy yet, try telling yourself to wake up and see what happens. Comment below and share your experience – that’s how we learn from one another.
I am so thankful this no longer happens to me. Overcoming my fears has helped me TREMENDOUSLY when it comes to dealing with the unseen realm. When you are no longer afraid, you can learn and grow much faster in the gift of discernment. As you learn to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading, you also gain clarity. Clarity gives you confidence and the courage to act!
Spirit of the Antichrist
Recently the Lord has been bringing to my attention the Spirit of the Antichrist. I was not very familiar with this spirit so I did a study of the Scriptures that mention it.
Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. I John 2:18-22 NKJV
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. I John 4:1-6 NKJV
For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 2 John 1:7 NKJV
A few key points about the Spirit of the Antichrist stand out to me from these Scriptures:
- It denies that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh
- It denies the Father and the Son
- It is a deceiver
As I pondered these Scriptures with the Lord, this is what came to my heart that I wanted to share with you.
Any spirit or influence on your mind that tries to deny that Jesus Christ is IN you, that’s the spirit of the Antichrist. Anything you hear or read that denies that you have a good heavenly Father, that’s the spirit of the Antichrist. Anything that keeps you from enjoying fellowship with Jesus Christ as a real person, that’s the spirit of the Antichrist.
Jesus Christ came in the flesh and He is currently on the earth – in YOUR flesh and blood. He’s IN YOU. Anything that denies that Jesus is IN you, currently residing in your heart, in oneness with you – that’s the spirit of the Antichrist. You can reject that spirit – it’s the opposite of Christ.
When you feel like an orphan or a victim of circumstances, that’s the spirit of the Antichrist, encouraging you to deny the Father and deny that you are His son or daughter. It is deceiving you to believe you are not loved and taken care of by a good, loving Father. You can reject that.
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 NKJV
The Antichrist is often referred to as the lawless one. It is interesting that the Lord will destroy it with the breath of His mouth and the brightness of His coming.
You are the light of the world – you destroy the power of this spirit by BEING that light, by showing who Jesus is in you.
The Holy Spirit is the breath of His mouth. And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20:22 NKJV
You have the Holy Spirit. As you walk in the Spirit and speak the truth, you have the power to destroy the spirit of the Antichrist. Isn’t that powerful?
It’s Christ IN YOU, the hope of Glory! (Colossians 1:27)
We know that this spirit is already at work in the world and unfortunately it is also in religious circles. John mentions that in the first Scripture above – They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.
Be careful when someone talks about Jesus or mentions Him in a general way, but He is not real to them. They don’t actually talk TO Him, just about Him. If He is not present in the conversation, begin to ask yourself why. Many people get deceived by what they think are Christian teachers but in reality, they don’t acknowledge Jesus as being real, in the flesh, today.
Here’s the truth you can proclaim and walk in today:
Jesus Christ is IN me and I am God’s beloved child.
The light you shine as you walk in that truth will destroy the power of the enemy every where you go.
Go be dangerous! 😁
Points to Ponder:
Where have you seen Jesus talked about, but not acknowledged as actually being HERE right now?
Could the second coming of Christ have already started by Christ abiding in us, destroying this spirit of the Antichrist by the brightness of His light in us and the breath of His Spirit being released through our mouths?
What is the Lord showing you about the spirit of the Antichrist?
Did you realize you were so powerful?
Please share your thoughts in the comments – that’s how we learn from each other. God bless you today! Thank you for reading this post. ❤️
What Is A Seer?
This came to my attention recently – what exactly IS a Seer? The Bible refers to Seers, but doesn’t define or describe them. Often people use this term interchangeably with the word prophet, but there seems to be a difference. What do you think?
Here is an article from Bob Jones, a famous Seer who is now with Jesus. I like what he says about Seers.
What is a Seer?
by Bob Jones
What is a seer? A seer is everything. Prophets are the eyes, but seers are the entire head: eyes, ears, nose, mouth and feelings. That is what Isaiah 29:10 says: He has shut your eyes, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, the seers.
As a seer, you can move in all five realms, and because of that, you are more discerning. The enemy is never able to fully shut you down. The prophet can be momentarily blinded, but if the enemy blinds you, you will still be able to hear, smell, taste and feel. If the enemy comes against your feelings, you’ll still be able to see, hear, smell and taste. A seer prophecies by all five senses, and so the seers move in stronger discernment.
God communicates with you through your senses. It takes longer to become a mature seer than to become a mature prophet, because all five senses are involved. You have to learn how to discern your feelings, because there will be times when feelings come to you in ministry and they’re not your feelings. And if you take them personally, you won’t be active.
The one thing the Church has been taught against is feelings. But that’s where you, as a seer, are the most accurate. You can take on how other people are feeling and know exactly how to minister to them. You can move right into their “living room” (their minds) and see what the problem is. You can feel what the person is feeling: depression, self-rejection, joy, anger, happiness. You can feel where they’re coming from and know exactly what to go for as you pray for them. So the seer is really strong in deliverance ministry.
The prophet can speak the future, but the seer can see what the people need to let go of in the past, tell them what the Lord is saying to them today, and declare what the Lord is offering them tomorrow. You can go right into their minds and see where the pain is coming from and what is still affecting and controlling their lives. Seers can help people forgive – usually themselves, help clean their minds out, and invite the Lord there.
A seer can feel the strongholds of a town. If you enter a town and feel lust, lust owns that town. If you feel depression, it’s a depressed place. As you come in there, you’ll take on the feelings of that town, country, or person, whether they are good or bad. You’ll know where there is self-rejection, because of what you feel. If you’re ministering to somebody who has self-rejection, you’ll feel it coming at yourself, and you must never take any of these things personally. So you need to have all these senses sanctified and be able to tell, This is not me. I am not in self-rejection. I love myself.
Seers are kicked out of a lot of churches, because you are the least understood of all the gifts. You are one who feels like you don’t fit any place except with other seers. Because of your revelation and dreams and the way God communicates with you, people think you’re loony. But when churches reject you, they’re bidding good-bye to their own mercy. As a seer, you are there for mercy. You are there to help bring healing to the people and show them what God is doing.
It’s time for the seer to come forth. The Church needs you.
Book Review: The Girl Who Sees Angels
I just found this new series of books that I have fallen in love with! If you’re a seer or you want to be a seer, these books will really encourage you. It’s a fictionalized story of a girl who has the gift of seeing, but doesn’t understand what she sees. The Girl Who Sees Angels by Jeffrey McClain Jones is the first book in the Sophie Ramos series.
Her mother takes her to doctors, psychiatrists and even a priest, trying to figure out how she can see things that nobody else can see. They think she’s very troubled, but instead she’s very gifted.
During the course of the first book, she meets some Pentecostal Christians that help to validate her gift. That’s really cool! If you’ve ever questioned your sanity because of the things that you see or hear or feel – this book will definitely encourage you! 😊
One of the things I really appreciated about these books was that the author writes from a place of authenticity. Some supernatural fiction that I’ve read (actually most) make gifts of the Spirit so unbelievable and they exaggerate things to such a degree that it detracts from the story. This author doesn’t do that.
Many of the things he writes about, I’ve experienced. The reaction of charismatic Christians to her gifts, I have seen. They encouraged her. They nurtured her. They taught her and helped her to understand what she was seeing. During the first book, she has an experience that shows her how she can help people with her gift. That amazes her and inspires her to learn how to use the gift with greater clarity in order to help others. She’s excited to unpack it and learn more – we get to follow her on that journey.
I’ve only read the first 2 books so far, but I was enjoying them so much that I didn’t want to wait until I finished them all to share them with you. There’s 4 books in the series. I encourage you to check them out. They are a lot of fun. I would call them “deliverance fiction”, a category I’ve never heard of but I wish existed. 😁 We get to see how her ability to see the unseen realm impacts her job, her relationships and every day life. If you are a seer, you will definitely relate!
This author has a lot of books and many of them have piqued my interest. You can check them out here. I’m especially curious about his series, Seeing Jesus. I’m hoping to read some of those next! (Update: I did a review of Seeing Jesus here.)
I love reading supernatural fiction that draws my heart closer to experiencing God in the here and now. Have you read any books that are like that? Please share the titles with us in the comments.
I love finding new authors and books that draw me closer to Jesus, don’t you? 🙂
Thanks for reading. I really appreciate it. God bless you richly today. 💗
Spirits of Chaos & Control – Can You Recognize Them?
Chaos cannot control you unless you let it.
This week, a cloud of the Spirit of Control came over my region. I sensed it – it felt like witchcraft, a means of controlling people’s choices by manipulating their thoughts.
The next day I felt the Spirit of Chaos in the atmosphere. It also affects your mind and tries to keep you distracted from what you need to do.
Chaos is the feeling you get when you are trying to multi-task and you keep being interrupted by others so that you cannot finish anything you are trying to do. It’s kind of like having extreme ADD come over you.
You can’t focus on what you are doing and you feel frustrated. Your thinking may feel foggy. It might also interfere with your sleep, which can also affect your ability to think clearly.
Chaos tries to overwhelm your thinking because then you become vulnerable to being manipulated. I hate that!
I started to feel overwhelmed so I stopped what I was doing and began focusing on the Holy Spirit within me. As I did, peace and clarity came back almost immediately. It was awesome!
That’s when the gift of discernment kicked in. Holy Spirit showed me it was the Spirit of Chaos that was operating in the atmosphere and that’s why I couldn’t think and was feeling overwhelmed.
Thank you, Father, for sending us the Holy Spirit! What a wonderful, desperately needed gift!!
Where would we be without the Holy Spirit? 🙂
Holy Spirit reminded me that the Spirits of Chaos and Control often work together. Chaos creates fear because of the uncertainty of what is going on. Then Control comes in reaction to the fear, trying to restore certainty and security.
For instance, when the pandemic came, fear was most people’s response to the chaos and uncertainty brought by this unknown virus and its consequences. Then that was immediately followed by a strong desire to control everything in order to restore a sense of security. We saw this both on a personal level as well as on a social and even national level. First there was Chaos, fear was the reaction and then Control sought to stop the chaos.
I’m not sure whether these spirits work together as a team or whether they are fighting with each other for authority over the affairs of men. If you have any insight on this, please feel free to share your thoughts so we can learn from each other.
I discovered that there was a cloud of dust traveling from Africa and it was over my region in the United States. It arrived the same time I began experiencing the Spirits of Chaos and Control. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
What do you think? When weird things start happening to you, do you immediately turn to the Holy Spirit to help you figure out what is going on? What helps you deal with regional spirits of darkness?
Thank you for reading. I really appreciate it. God bless you! 💗
P.S. I’ve also seen Spirits of Chaos and Confusion work together but only on a personal level. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Chaos and Confusion work together on a regional or societal level. Have you?
Personal Attack – How to Overcome!
What do you do when you are under attack from a person in your life? Can you discern the true battle? How do you overcome?
A reader of this blog asked this question:
I served under another ministry and I was on good terms with the leader – I felt that I served them well, to the best of my ability. After the Lord led me to start the ministry where I am now, the other leader began to attack me and the ministry. I had a vision where I saw him summon all his members and he pointed at me and told them not to have anything to do with me – this was after he called me in front of his church and commended me about how I supported him when his ministry first started with just a small group. They have since grown and expanded and have built a larger facility. Why is he attacking me and what can I do about it?
We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12
What does it mean that we don’t wrestle with flesh and blood? Who are we really wrestling with?
I have seen a strategic pattern that I want to share with you that will help you get the breakthrough to overcome any attack that is coming against you personally.
The enemy knows your weaknesses – oftentimes better than you know them yourself. The Lord allows him to reveal them to you and this can be a great gift if you take advantage of the situation. Think of him as a personal trainer – his attacks will make you stronger so you can overcome any situation that comes your way!
Proverbs 26:2 says “the curse causeless shall not come”. This means that if someone is cursing you, attacking you, saying bad things about you – their words have no power to hurt you if there is no cause for them.
What is the Cause, Holy Spirit?
So the very first thing you do is ask Holy Spirit to reveal to you, What is the cause? Did you do something you need to repent of? Even if it was unintentional, repent of anything you realize you did that could have given this curse a cause, a legal right. Did you judge the other person? Did you speak anything negative concerning this person? Did you spread a rumor about them? Anything at all – even if it was only in your heart and you didn’t say it to another person. Immediately repent and ask the Lord to wash you.
It’s never about the man or woman – the person who is fighting against you. It is always about the spirit behind it. Defeat that spirit and the person will stop bothering you. The spirit attacking you is revealing a weakness – allow the Lord to heal that weakness and suddenly the attack will disappear! I’ve seen this happen many, many times.
If the attack continues after you have repented – or if you truly cannot find anything that you did to repent of, then it’s time to look deeper. There is agreement in you that gives this attack a right to continue. We call this “legal ground”. The devil knows his legal rights and wherever there is deception or agreement with darkness, he has a right to attack or harass us.
How do you defeat that spirit? Remove the legal ground!
- Identify how the attack makes you feel. Do you feel intimidated? Does it make you have doubts about your own ministry (insecurity) or are you becoming discouraged? What exactly is it trying to do to you? This will help you identify which spirit is attacking you through this person.
- Ask God why you feel that way. This attack reveals a weakness in you – perhaps it is self-doubt, or perhaps it is fear of man or doubt in God’s ability to protect you. I have an exercise that can help you identify what lie you believe about God or about yourself that gives this spirit a legal right to harass you. It is below.
- Break your agreement with the lie you believe. It may be very deep – take time to really examine it. Then let it go!
- Forgive the person who is attacking you. Release blessing upon them.
- Continue to thank God for His protection and care for you.
The Lie Detector exercise helps people identify the legal ground that the enemy has. There are two versions of it. You can do them both or just do one, based on what you sense from Holy Spirit. One helps you identify lies you believe about yourself. The other one helps you identify lies you believe about God.
Lie Detector: Self Concept
Go to a place where you will not be interrupted. Take a few deep breaths, letting them out slowly to help you relax and to quiet your mind. Say these statements/questions out loud and then wait for an answer. An answer may come as a feeling, a thought, a picture in your mind, a word, a memory or just an inner knowing. If no answer comes to the first question, this may not be the right time for this step.
“Spirit of Truth, is there a lie I believe about myself?” (pause and wait for an answer)
“Who taught me that lie?” (pause and wait for an answer)
“I forgive (name) for teaching me this lie. I forgive myself for receiving this lie and allowing it to influence my thoughts. I release myself from this lie. I give it up and let it go.”
“What truth do I need to hear?” (pause and wait for an answer)
“I receive the truth that (the truth).”
Lie Detector: God Concept
Go to a place where you will not be interrupted. Turn off any devices that might distract you. Take a few deep breaths, letting them out slowly to help you relax and to quiet your mind. Say these statements/questions out loud and then wait for an answer. An answer may come as a feeling, a thought, a picture in your mind, a word, a memory or just an inner knowing. If no answer comes to the first question, this may not be the right time for this step.
“Spirit of Truth, is there a lie I believe about God?” (pause and wait for an answer)
“Who taught me that lie?” (pause and wait for an answer)
“I forgive (name) for teaching me this lie. I forgive myself for receiving this lie and allowing it to influence my thoughts. I release myself from this lie. I give it up and let it go.”
“What truth do I need to hear?” (pause and wait for an answer)
“I receive the truth that (the truth).
I encourage you to write down the answer you get to the last question, “What truth do I need to hear?” Put it on a post-it note where you can look at it each day. Meditate on it. Say it out loud to yourself. Really let it soak in – it might take awhile for it to become your new default way of perceiving God or yourself (especially if that lie was in there a long time).
Once you overcome and break through whatever agreement you had with darkness or deception, that attack will simply disappear! Where there is no legal ground, the enemy cannot take advantage of you. He cannot harm you. The curse causeless cannot come!
Forgive the person who was attacking you. Release blessing upon them. They were simply being used by the enemy – don’t take it personally. Let it go!
There have been so many stories of curses that were placed on Christians, but when there was no cause, the curse was powerless to harm them. I’m thinking of a specific story right now from the mission field. A Christian missionary family moved into a village where there was no church or any other Christians. They began to witness about Jesus and people in the village became interested to know more about Him. The local witch doctor became jealous of the influence the Christian missionaries were having in his village. People used to come to him and now they were going to the missionaries for help with their problems. He announced to the village leaders that he was going to curse them with his witchcraft power and that they would die in 3 days. This witch doctor was very powerful and they believed he could do it. Everyone was tense and waiting to see what would happen. Blissfully, the missionaries were unaware of this curse. They just continued loving people and praying for them. When they didn’t die after 3 days, the witch doctor came to ask them who this Jesus was! They delightfully explained how God has much more power than the devil and how Jesus defeated Satan on the cross by laying down His life for us all. As a result, the witch doctor renounced his witchcraft power and became a follower of Jesus, receiving forgiveness for his sins. The entire village rejoiced and a church was planted among them so they could learn to follow Jesus.
You have the power to overcome all the power of the enemy with the Truth that is in Jesus! You are not a victim of his attacks – you are more than a conqueror! Unleash the Light that is in you to dispel the darkness. Do not be afraid – greater is HE that is IN you, than he that is in the world.
Do you have an example of seeing an attack against you disappear when you overcame the deception within you? If so, please share below! That’s how we learn from each other.
By the way, the example I used above was about someone being attacked in ministry. But these kinds of attacks can come from anywhere – your neighbor, your family, someone at work or at church, etc.
Thank you for reading this blog and sharing it with others who might need this information – you are a blessing to me! 😊
Discerning of Spirits, Gift of Discernment
I came across your blog while seeking answers concerning the gift of discernment. I would like to get help in understanding the gift because there’s a lot I am going through and sometimes it becomes so overwhelming.
Overwhelming? Oh, yes! I can relate. Having the gift of discernment can definitely feel overwhelming at times.
The gift of discernment (aka discerning of spirits) is a very challenging gift to have. Many people have no idea what to do with it and they often feel alone. What they experience seems so weird or odd that they are afraid to tell anyone. If they do mention it to someone close to them, often that person has no idea what they are talking about – which teaches them to not talk about it anymore for fear of being rejected or judged for being abnormal.
Let’s talk about this gift and try to normalize it for those who are uninformed.
Discernment is a gift of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12:10). No instruction manual is provided with this gift so you learn about it through life experience. This forces you to draw close to God and ask HIM to teach you about this gift.
This gift gives you the ability to discern good from evil (or truth from deception) and especially the spirit behind something. Sometimes it is similar to intuition but it usually comes with more information. Discerning the spirit behind something can come in many ways – it might be something you see, or something you hear or something you feel. Or a combination of seeing, hearing or feeling. It can also just be an inner knowing.
Have you ever met someone and immediately you got a bad feeling about the person? They looked like a nice person, but everything inside of you was saying, Watch out! Be very careful – this person is not trustworthy. That was discernment giving you information to protect you. Chances are this was confirmed later by their behavior or attitude toward you, right? Or you saw them hurt someone else and you realized your discernment was accurate.
The number one danger that those with the gift of discernment have is to talk themselves out of their discernment. They assume they are wrong or that they are being judgmental of someone they just met. So they ignore or dismiss their misgivings and then they suffer the consequences.
If this is you, please stop right now and say, “Holy Spirit, I am sorry for ignoring the warnings you have given me. I have not honored this gift you gave me. I apologize. Please help me to pay attention to the things you are showing me. I didn’t realize that it was YOU telling me to be careful.”
Some of us have a stronger gift of discernment and we can perceive angels, demons, etc. in the unseen realm. Some see these beings as shadows or lights. Some feel them as energy or a presence. Some hear them in various ways – words being spoken, sounds of movement or wings, etc. Many with this gift can also discern things about people – they can perceive someone’s gifting or calling, or they can perceive areas of unhealed wounds in their soul. And they can also tell if someone has a demon attached to them.
As you can imagine, discerning things that are invisible, that no one else seems to notice, can make you question your sanity. Am I going crazy? I know too much. How come no one seems to have this gift? How do I know if I can trust what I am perceiving? Is it accurate?
First of all, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! I started this blog to help people like you and me – to help us know we are not alone in this gifting. There are many of us and in fact, the Lord is increasing this gift because we need it more now.
The biggest question I get is – What do I do with the information I receive? Is it accurate? Should I take action on it or tell other people what I perceive?
The only answer I have is this – ASK GOD. Become very familiar with the Holy Spirit inside of you. Talk to the Spirit every day. Holy Spirit was sent to us to help us and teach us (John 14:26). This gift forces you to rely on Holy Spirit to show you what to do with what you are receiving from this gift. And that’s a good thing! 😊
So whenever I perceive something, I say in my heart/mind, Holy Spirit, what is this? Do I need to do anything with this? And I wait. It can be hard to do this in a busy, noisy place, but I do my best. And if it is a very strong impression then I try to get away by myself for a minute so that I can discern what, if anything, I am sensing I should do.
Many times I do not sense that I need to DO anything. For a long time this bothered me. Why am I receiving information if I’m not meant to ACT on it? I would ask. But then God showed me that this is just part of the gift. Some people can perceive a lot more detail when they hear music because they are musicians – they hear things that I don’t. Some people perceive a lot more detail when they look at paintings because they are artists – they see things I don’t. It’s the same way with this gift – I perceive things that other people don’t. I don’t usually share what I sense – unless I am talking to someone who also has discernment.
I have discussed this gift with many people who DO have discernment – that’s how I know I am not crazy and I am not alone! That’s actually the best advice I can give you – ask the Lord to bring you 1 or 2 people who have this gift so that you can share your experiences and learn from each other. That helped me learn a lot when I was first exploring this gift – I wrote about my experience in the Introduction on this blog. When you share what you sense with someone who has the gift, it’s such a good experience. You don’t feel weird anymore. 😊
The second thing that really helps is to pursue inner healing for yourself. Often we can get overwhelmed by what we sense because of our own wounding. If I have a lot of unhealed fear or anxiety in my soul and I encounter another person who is struggling with fear or anxiety – WHAM! Suddenly I am drowning in fear or anxiety! And I don’t even realize why. My senses are so overloaded that I can’t think clearly. This could happen with any strong emotion – fear, hate, anger, lust, depression, grief, rejection, etc.
The more you become healed on the inside by receiving God’s love for you and what He says about you, the easier it is to discern what is your stuff and what is someone else’s stuff. Then it doesn’t feel so overwhelming because you are no longer triggered so easily by other people. After you have been healed, you can then use this gift to help others heal – that’s a very powerful and redemptive experience. When you see how your past suffering helps someone else find freedom from the same things that used to plague you, it helps give purpose to your pain.
I hope this article has helped bring some clarity to this topic. Keep in mind that people use the word “discernment” differently. Some use it to mean having wisdom to make a good decision. Some use it in the Catholic community when they are talking about someone discovering their calling in life or ministry. Because of the different uses of this word, it can be hard to find books or articles on this topic.
Here are a few I can recommend:
Seeing the Supernatural: How to Sense, Discern and Battle in the Spiritual Realm by Jennifer Eivaz
The Veil by Blake Healy
Discernment: The Essential Guide to Hearing the Voice of God by Jane Hamon
The Discerner: Hearing, Confirming, and Acting On Prophetic Revelation (A Guide to Receiving Gifts of Discernment and Testing the Spirits) by James Goll
Sometimes this gift is considered part of the prophetic giftings. Some say it is part of being a Seer. This gift can be used to help people with inner healing and deliverance. It is very helpful when dealing with spiritual warfare too. There’s so much this gift can do to assist the body of Christ.
Don’t be afraid. Ask Holy Spirit to teach you and pay attention to what you sense. There are many articles on this blog that describe experiences I have had that might encourage you. You can use the search feature at the top or side to search by a specific word or phrase. You can also look at the Directory for a list of all the articles by name.
Feel free to post your question or comment below – that way we can all learn from each other! I look forward to reading your thoughts and responding to your questions.
Related posts:
- Feeling in the Spirit – What Do I Do With It?
- Spiritual Senses – Which one is your strongest?
- How to See the Unseen Realm
- God’s Voice vs Other Voices: How Can You Tell the Difference?
- How to Remove Blocks to Hearing God
- Spiritual Protection from Dark Forces & Evil Spirits
- Spiritual Cleansing: Taking a Spiritual Shower Each Day
Spiritual Authority – True or False? Part 2
This is the continuation of our discussion on spiritual authority. You can find Part 1 here.
What is spiritual authority? Who gets to decide who has it and who does not have it? Who determines the rules or boundaries of spiritual authority? Can you identify false spiritual authority?
When I was younger, I was taught that I needed to be under someone’s authority in order to be covered spiritually – like the pastor of a church. Is that true? Does spiritual authority protect you?
What other questions come to mind? Write them in the comments below and we will do our best to answer them!
In my decades of following Jesus, I have seen true and false spiritual authority. The false is much more common than the true, unfortunately. You know it in your gut, but as a young person you often don’t have the words to articulate what you are seeing. I’d like to share what I have learned – you may have a different opinion and that’s okay. This is a conversation – feel free to share your perspective in the comments. 🙂
False Authority
Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28
This is SO counter-intuitive to our natural thinking!!
Mighty men and women of power and authority often lord it over others, making sure that no one else has influence over what happens except them! They make sure that others feel small, weak or powerless around them. They expect deference in their presence – yes, sir! They are always right and they know better than you, so you better do what they want or suffer the consequences of their disfavor.
Unfortunately many leaders in the church follow this example of false authority. It’s the opposite of what Jesus taught about having authority. Why do you think that is?
When you have authority in the natural realm, it can easily go to your head and fill you with pride. That’s dangerous and foolish. Pride always leads to a fall because you are NOT all powerful. God resists the proud – He gives grace to the humble.
Jesus was trying to teach his disciples that humility and lowering yourself as a slave is the way to power in God’s Kingdom. Jesus described Himself as meek and lowly of heart (Matthew 11:29). It’s in your weakness that the power of Christ rests upon you (2 Corinthians 12:9).
One of the characteristics of true spiritual authority is humility. You can hear it in someone’s voice and see it in their actions. People with true spiritual authority inspire you to trust and follow them. You don’t feel intimidated or manipulated by them – they respect you and encourage you to make your own decisions. You feel free in their presence.
If a leader demands that you submit to them and respect their authority, chances are they are operating in false authority. Jesus never spoke that way to people and He warned His disciples from using their power and influence to lord it over others. Keep that in mind – it’s important.
When you feel weak, you look for power to protect you, to empower you to “feel strong”. People can experience a false sense of power that comes from the soul if they manipulate or intimidate people to do what they want them to do.
The authority that Jesus gives provides true power or influence and you can see it in the fruit you experience – love, joy, peace, righteousness, etc. Anything else is false authority, false power. Soulish authority may look very powerful but it is limited. When you have God’s power, your source is unlimited.
One way to protect yourself from developing false authority in your own life is to embrace your weaknesses. Become like a little child, completely dependent on your heavenly Father. Be fully aware that it’s not your power or influence that does anything. Give up any illusion you have of being in control of what God is doing in you or around you. God is in control – NOT YOU.
You are not required to submit to a spiritual leader who is using false authority to control or manipulate you to do what they want. You can treat them with respect, but you do not have to submit to their authority. You submit to Jesus and do what He shows you to do.
If they are trying to convince you to do something and you do not sense the Lord leading you to respond, say nothing. This frustrates most leaders because they know that words can bind you in agreements (that you will regret later). It is better to be silent and attentive to the Holy Spirit, rather than try and talk your way out of the situation. Being silent also means that you can’t be bullied – you are giving them nothing they can use against you, especially if you are feeling weak or overwhelmed in their presence. Jesus was silent in the face of His accusers and it was a very powerful way to respond. He did not argue with them. He simply allowed them to speak and He didn’t say anything unless the Father told Him to speak. It can be very hard to do this, but it is a very powerful strategy.
Who gets to decide who has spiritual authority over you? You do! Toxic leaders will tell you things to make you afraid to leave their church – that God will not bless you if you leave. Or that the devil will get you if you are not under someone’s spiritual covering. Whenever someone tries to motivate you by using fear, run away fast. That’s not God! God’s love casts out all fear (I John 4:18). Manipulation and Intimidation use fear to control your behavior – that’s false authority. Get away from them fast!
Spiritual Covering
One last topic I’d like to cover is the idea of spiritual covering. I have heard it taught that you must be under a local church pastor in order to be covered spiritually. There’s some merit to it, but it has been used to confuse people and cause them to be afraid of leaving bad churches. I want to help bring clarity.
When you are covered spiritually, it means that someone is looking after your spiritual growth and development. They pray for you and with you, helping you to discern God’s direction for your life. They mentor you and help you to avoid making unwise decisions or getting involved with the wrong people.
Many local pastors oversee large groups of people and they cannot possibly provide this level of covering for you. They preach sermons at church and probably pray for you in a general way. This does help protect you from the enemy if you follow what they teach you from the Bible. Their prayers can help you, in a general way.
Will the enemy still attack you? Absolutely! For some reason people feel like there’s some kind of magic about having a pastor’s covering. There is no magic. There is still spiritual warfare and you are in it whether you want to be or not.
It is better to develop a close relationship with a small group leader or spiritual mentor that can meet with you, get to know you personally and pray with you about the concerns in your life. As they get to know you, the Lord will give them insight to help you avoid making unwise decisions or getting involved in bad situations with the wrong people. You need the personal interaction. This is how Jesus interacted with his 12 disciples. He did life with them. Most pastors simply cannot do life with everybody in their congregation, it’s not humanly possible.
I encourage you to ask the Lord to bring two or three mature Christians into your life. They may not be leaders, but they know how to walk with the Lord and how to love others. Remember to look for humility. That’s key. And then just do life together. Spend time with each other. Share about what’s going on in your life and ask them to pray for you. Listen when they have things to tell you about God or the direction in your life. The Lord will bring the right people into your life. You can ask Him to do that.
To learn more about spiritual authority, check out some good books like
Authority in Prayer by Dutch Sheets
A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards
What other questions come to mind regarding spiritual authority? Write them in the comments below and we will do our best to answer them!
Spiritual Authority – True or False? Part 1
I was reading an article in the news recently where it talked about restrictions that some religious organizations and churches place on their members. It made me start thinking about the topic of authority, specifically spiritual authority.
Where does spiritual authority come from? Who gets to decide who has it and who does not have it? Who determines the rules or boundaries of spiritual authority?
What does it mean if someone has spiritual authority? Who do they have authority over? What power does it give them?
What happens if there’s a distorted view of spiritual authority? How does that affect people?
When I was younger, I was taught that I needed to be under someone’s authority in order to be covered spiritually – like the pastor of a church. Is that true? Does spiritual authority protect you?
What other questions come to mind? Write them in the comments below and we will do our best to answer them!
In my decades of following Jesus, I have seen true and false spiritual authority. The false is much more common than the true, unfortunately. You know it in your gut, but as a young person you often don’t have the words to articulate what you are seeing. I’d like to share what I have learned – you may have a different opinion and that’s okay. This is a conversation – feel free to share your perspective in the comments. 🙂
I hope this article helps bring some clarity as you ponder this subject.
What is spiritual authority? Who has it? Where does it come from?
Spiritual authority is an ability to exert power or influence in the unseen realm. Spiritual authority can be given or earned (or both). True spiritual authority gives you power to stop the darkness and release the light of God’s love and goodness.
Jesus gave true spiritual authority to his disciples.
Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. Luke 9:1
He said, “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Luke 10:19
Authority can also be earned as Jesus illustrated in the parable about being a faithful servant.
And he said to him, “Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.” Luke 19:17
Unfortunately the devil can also bestow authority to people.
Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” Luke 4:5-7
Jesus had an authority that was astonishing – people were amazed by it. They’d never seen anything like it!
And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority. They were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” Luke 4:32, 36
Jesus was very clear where His power came from.
“For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.” John 12:49
[The Father] has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. John 5:27
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Matthew 28:18
Pretty impressive, huh?
So how does this work in the real world – the earthly realm we live in?
How do you know what spiritual authority you have? Believe it or not, it’s pretty simple. The extent of your authority in the spiritual realm is equivalent to your authority in the natural realm. Consider what is under your direct authority and control. If you have children, they are under your authority. If you own a home, it is under your authority. If you own a business, it is under your authority. If you are in management at your job, you have a certain degree of authority. If you are a teacher, you have a certain degree of authority over the children in the classroom while they are under your care.
Authority can also be delegated to us by Jesus for specific assignments. There are intercessors who are given authority to pray over specific realms in the spirit over which they have no natural man-given authority. God will make this very clear to you if He gives you this kind of authority.
Authority can also come from great love or compassion. God can give you a deep compassion for a person or a group of people and as a result, He can give you authority in order to help them.
What do I do with this spiritual authority?
You ask God what kingdom business needs to be performed in your realm of authority. You are His representative in your little corner of the earth. Read His Word. What is under your authority that is not going the way He would like it to go? Ask Him for what needs to change. Ask for His Wisdom and Revelation to guide you. Ask Him what words to speak – just like Jesus did.
Then speak with His authority, the things that need to be changed. You must be convinced of who you are in God’s kingdom and then speak. God said, Let there be light and there was light. He gives us a similar type of authority in the spirit to speak those things that should be in existence. He also gives us the authority to bind up things that should not be operating around us.
Examples:
Your home – if your children are constantly bickering with each other, bind up pride and division and release peace, harmony, humility, unity, etc.
Your job – if communication is getting confused and projects never seem to get done. Bind miscommunication, confusion, apathy and loose clear communication, teamwork and diligence.
Your relationships – if there’s someone who tries to control you, bind fear and control, loose trust and freedom.
The key is to bind up what is bad and loose what you’d like to see. All the while, asking the Father what would be best. He will show you. You don’t have to have great discernment or know the names of specific spirits for this to work. Bind up bad fruit, loose good fruit.
At times, you will see immediate change in your surroundings. Other times, it may take some time. When you are in a place you have no authority, you can always loose good things around you like peace, light, truth, blessings, etc. You should not bind what has a right to be there, but you can loose God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done everywhere you go!
Warning: Do not take spiritual authority where it is not yours to take. Be very careful. Make sure you are certain you have been given authority. You can experience serious consequences if you overstep your boundaries. John Paul Jackson outlines this in his book, Needless Casualties of War.
There’s so much more we could talk about – I’ll continue this discussion in Part 2.
Discernment of the Supernatural Realm 