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Door of Heaven Opened 🌈
A few nights ago as I was getting ready to go to bed something unusual happened during my bedtime prayers.
I normally pray before I go to sleep, “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.”
At the end of that prayer, I suddenly felt impressed to say, “And I open the door of heaven over us.” I had never done that before. It had never even occurred to me to do that before.
Immediately I could sense all kinds of goodness ready to be poured out on us. How fun! 😊
I could sense a bright colorful opening above me – kind of like when you open the attic door in your house. There’s a sense of space above you and unidentifiable objects piled up in there. Most attics are dark but this was full of light.
I was reminded of something a close friend said to me one night when we were praying at my house. She saw over herself a portal to heaven and the Lord showed her that wherever she went, she had this portal. She laughed and said, “It’s like a porta-portal!”
The next day I woke up with sore throat. I was miserable all day and when I went to bed that night, I desperately needed to rest. I thought of the open door and I sensed that I could receive from it so I thought of what I needed on a practical level. I asked for my sinuses to clear so I could breathe freely and I asked to be able to fall asleep peacefully. And I did! When I’m sick that rarely happens – I usually really struggle to sleep when my body hurts. And yes, I prayed for healing but didn’t sense that was being released yet.
What the Lord showed me was that this portal required a different kind of attitude of heart – one of resting and receiving instead of standing and declaring. This is preparing us to receive God’s goodness in ways we cannot imagine. In the past we learned how to reach into heaven and pull down what was needed by standing on His word and declaring His promises. It was a type of spiritual warfare and required a lot of courage and determination.
It reminded me of when the Israelites came out of the wilderness into the promised land. They had spent years fighting and conquering in battle. But when they finally entered the promised land, everything was already done for them – vineyards were ripe with grapes, houses were already built and furnished, fields were ready for harvest (Deuteronomy 6:10-12). It required a mindset shift to simply relax and receive.
Over the next week whenever I prayed before bed I could sense that open door. I tried to look into it to see if I could perceive anything specific but it was more of a general impression of goodness. It felt as though it was bursting with resources and assistance, ready to come down from heaven to earth for me. I could see or sense smiles too.
Imagine a well lit child’s playroom with smiling stuffed animals, toys, games, etc. in bright, happy colors.
Or like a beautiful bookstore full of curious objects, big comfy chairs and a delectable cafe full of smiling servers ready to help you.
Some scriptures came to mind regarding this open door of heaven.
Therefore since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:28-29
I’m receiving God’s unshakable kingdom!
I will open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. Malachi 3:10
I saw light, fluffy pink blessings falling out of the open door onto me the night I asked for specific help with my cold symptoms. It reminded me of the tsunami dream I had awhile back – it looked like bad things were going to happen but instead blessings were released.
Have you ever opened a door of heaven over yourself and your family? If so, please share what happened. If not, why not do that now? (if you feel the Lord’s leading) We are in transition to a new season of God’s favor and blessing being poured out without measure. I can’t wait to see what happens next!
Listen! It Could Save Your Life!
In the days to come it will be life or death for us to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s impressions, especially in the great chaos of these times. – Rick Joyner, MorningStar Ministries
I was sitting at my desk at work, typing on the computer. I could see that the sky was getting dark and remembered hearing that there was a tornado warning in the area. Suddenly I heard in my spirit, RUN NOW! I grabbed my phone off the desk, ran into the hallway and straight toward the bathroom. Just as I opened the door of the bathroom, I glanced back and all the windows in my office exploded – exactly where I had been sitting! I stayed in the bathroom, praying and worshipping the Lord. I had no fear – just freaked out a little bit at how fast everything happened. I could hear the forceful winds of destruction all around me, but I had peace from the Holy Spirit that I was safe. I prayed for the building to stay intact and released peace into the storm.
Eventually everything calmed down and I peeked out into the hallway. I didn’t know if anyone else was in the building since it was after the time when most people went home. I called out and discovered the owner’s son was there, a young adult. Together we walked through the office, looking at all the damage. Then I grabbed my purse and keys to go home. The parking lot was a nightmare with cars on top of each other. It was shocking how much devastation the tornado caused in such a short period of time. I just kept saying, Thank you, Jesus! Thank you for your protection! I was in awe that I had been in the middle of the storm and was unhurt! And my car was okay – a little bit of damage, but I could drive home. So grateful to God for His Holy Spirit and the angels that kept me safe and at peace. 😊
When I read those words from Rick Joyner, a respected leader in the body of Christ, I was reminded of two stories where someone’s life was saved by listening to the Holy Spirit. This story is from a friend of mine who called me from the parking lot after the tornado passed. We both praised God for His protection of her that day!
Another time my friend was at the beach – just down the street from where this story with the tornado occurred. It was a beautiful day – she was listening to the peaceful sound of the waves lapping against the shore. A bird flew overhead. There was a nice breeze. What a great way to relax. She took a picture with her phone, trying to capture the essence of the experience. She thought of me and wanted to share the picture via text.
She was ready to leave when she heard the Holy Spirit say, Go over there and take some more pictures. So she got up from where she was sitting and walked a short distance away. From there, she took some more pictures of the waves and the beach. Just as she was turning around to walk back to her towel, she heard Pow! Pow! like gunshots. She saw everyone running for cover so she ran toward a short wall that was near the beach. She and another woman ducked behind the wall. The woman had a child with her.
My friend immediately started praying – releasing protection and peace. There was a lot of noise and commotion nearby. The woman was afraid and wanted to leave with her child, but my friend encouraged her to stay down and wait until it was clear. After a few minutes, things quieted down and after a short while, they could hear police sirens coming their way.
The woman’s husband came for her and the child and said it was safe to come out. My friend walked back to her towel to get her things. Police and paramedics were surrounding a woman who was laying on the ground – right where my friend would have been if she had left earlier. The woman had been shot. My friend was shocked and said a prayer for her.
She walked to her car, got in and locked the doors. Then she burst into tears. THANK YOU, JESUS!! was all she could keep saying. Again, her life was spared by listening to the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit.
WOW! You never know when violence and destruction might come your way. This should encourage us to pay attention to that still, small voice of the Holy Spirit – it could literally save your life some day!
Has something like this ever happened to you? Please share the story with us in the comments! If your story is longer than 2-3 paragraphs, I also accept guest posts for this blog, if you’d like to submit one. You can contact me here.
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
Touched by an Angel
When I was 21 years old, I went on a missions trip to Mexico. The Bible college I attended was sponsoring the trip and the chaperones were instructors from the school. When I signed up, I didn’t know who else was going to be on the team. There were several mission trips scheduled for that summer to different locations around the globe. I prayed about it and felt I was to sign up to go to Mexico.
After joining the team and finding myself in Mexico, I realized this was going to be tougher than I thought. It was a 4 week trip and I was with a bunch of strangers! The leader of the team was from the athletic department of the college. All the guys seemed very familiar with Coach, as they referred to him. I assume they played basketball on his team at school.
All of the girls on the team seemed to know each other. I only recognized one of them from a few classes we had had together. They spent a lot of time harmonizing together, practicing different worship songs, as we rode many hours in the school’s van to reach the border of Mexico.
I loved to worship, but I knew I had no singing talent. I didn’t know the first thing about harmonizing so that excluded me from their practice. I had tried to take a singing course at the college, but I guess I failed the audition because I was not permitted to sign up for the course.
We had a great time in Mexico, ministering to the very poor. It’s a beautiful country and we were traveling in the mountains. The scenery was full of luscious greens and beautiful flowers everywhere. But the longer the trip went, the more isolated I felt. No one was mean to me, I just didn’t “belong” with this group of people. I didn’t play basketball or any other sport and I didn’t sing. I didn’t realize how hard it would be to be away from everyone who knew me for so long.
One day, feeling particularly lonesome, I left the room where I was staying and went for a walk. We were at a large retreat facility that had many buildings and a courtyard. I went to a nearby building and climbed the outdoor stairway. I sat down on one of the steps. I put my head down and just cried. I felt like no one knew what it felt like to be me, all alone in a foreign land with no one to talk to about how I felt.
Very gently I felt someone put their arm around my shoulders. I assumed it was one of the girls from the team, but I couldn’t tell which one it was. I was a bit embarrassed and didn’t raise my head for a few minutes. I waited for the emotional storm to pass and then looked up to see who was with me.
There was no one there! 😲
I quickly stood up and looked around – thinking maybe they had just left and I hadn’t realized it. But there was no one on the stairs or in the courtyard below.
I sat back down and tried to remember if I had heard footsteps on the stairs. No, it had been silent the entire time.
That’s when it dawned on me – that must have been an angel! 😇
Suddenly I felt a lot better! I recalled the comfort I had felt, feeling someone’s arm around my shoulders. I had assumed it was human comfort, but realizing that it was heavenly comfort made me feel “seen” in the best way possible.
God knew where I was and He cared about my sorrow. He CARED and sent a tangible reminder of that. It blew me away. ❤️❤️❤️
That is a very precious memory for me from that trip – something I’ll never forget. The Lord brought it to my mind last night and I wanted to share it with you.
Have you ever felt the presence of an angel during a time of need? Can you describe what it was like? Please comment below – I’d love to hear your story!
Feeling in the Spirit – What Do I Do With It?
I saw this question posted recently in a group I am in:
“My fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, who God has blessed with the gift of discerning of spirits, do you feel things? I find it difficult to talk to people about it without me sounding crazy and at times I feel like I’m going crazy, like there’s something wrong with me. I struggle to work out what is my stuff or other people’s stuff or what I am meant to do with what I feel. Does anyone understand me or experience the same things?”
YES! You are not alone!! 💗
I decided to write out a response to this question because I see it frequently. The person asked if there was a book or something where they could learn how to use this gift of feeling things in the spirit. Unfortunately, I don’t know of a good book on this topic. That’s partly why I started this blog – to share what I’ve experienced to help normalize it for people. And to let them know, You are not crazy and you are not alone – I experience these things too.
So in this post, I’m going to go over this gift of discerning of spirits as it relates to “feeling”. Part of what makes this a bit confusing to discuss is that “feeling” can mean emotional feeling and it can mean tangible feeling – like sensing a presence in your room. Because the feeling gift works both ways, I’ll discuss each one.
Where to start? This is such a deep topic and no one has tackled it sufficiently yet. There are precious few books written on discerning of spirits.
What Do I Do With What I Feel?
Let’s start with what to do because that is usually the first question I hear from people: “I felt __, but I didn’t know what to do about it.” Here’s my 1 step plan: Ask the Lord. When you feel something (whether tangible or emotional), simply stop, pay attention to what you are experiencing and ask, Holy Spirit, what is this? Am I supposed to do something about this? Then wait for a minute or two and see what comes to your heart or mind. Don’t try to figure it out on your own – that’s leaning on your own understanding. If you need to know, God will tell you!
Sometimes clarity will come to you and you’ll know what to do. Sometimes you get nothing. In that case, simply continue on with your day and trust that if it’s important, God will show you more. I specifically ask Holy Spirit because the Spirit has been given to us to lead us into all truth, to teach us things.
When you feel things that no one else appears to feel, you may be tempted to question your sanity. This happens because your soul is trying to interpret what your spirit is perceiving. Don’t let your soul try to talk you out of what you are sensing. You are sensing it for a reason. Just stop and ask the Holy Spirit to show you what to do.
Sometimes you may feel things because it gives you more information about a person or a situation, but you may not need to do anything about it. It’s just information. For instance, today I went to a local farmer’s market. I saw a vendor that was selling pretty rocks, incense, stones with inspiring words carved on them, tea, jewelry and other items. I heard an older lady say, “We are a mind, body, spirit store.” I looked at a younger woman standing behind the table and I perceived her unrest. She was shifting from foot to foot and nervously moving one of her hands. But I felt it first. That’s what made me look up from the table and pay attention to her behavior. I asked the Lord silently inside my spirit whether I should say something to her. In fact, I thought it was ironic that they were selling things promising to give you peace when this woman clearly was not at peace. The Holy Spirit told me not to say anything so I moved along. Later it occured to me that maybe this woman’s unrest was because of demons she may have invited in and they were uncomfortable being near the light that I carry. People who dabble in the spiritual realm using these items often invite guidance from spirits that they think are harmless but later are revealed to be demons with a hurtful agenda.
In case you are wondering if it’s just you, let me assure you – I feel things every day. Everywhere I go I feel things. Do I know what it all means? No. I don’t have to. I’ve learned that in the kingdom of God, information is on a “need to know” basis. If you need to know, God will tell you. If not, just keep going.
So how did I know this was “her stuff” and not “my stuff”? I’ve learned to pay attention to what I am feeling. I was at peace as I was strolling through the farmer’s market. I make it a point to cultivate peace, to bring it wherever I go. So when I felt this unrest in the spiritual realm, I looked around to see where it was coming from. I knew it wasn’t my unrest – it came from outside of me. It wasn’t inside of me.
Feelings on the Inside versus the Outside
There have been times, many times in fact, where I am at home minding my own business and suddenly I feel a negative emotion. It comes out of the blue. I will feel it on the inside as though it is my own emotions. And yet, I was not thinking any thoughts related to that emotion. I wasn’t upset about anything – it just came to me.
What do you do when that happens?
I do the same thing – my 1 step plan. I stop, pay attention and identify what I’m feeling. Then I ask, Holy Spirit, what is this? Am I supposed to do something about this?
It could be an attack of anxiety from the demonic realm – just sent to harrass me. If so, I would pray, “I come out of agreement with anxiety and fear. I command you to leave right now. I cover myself and my household with the blood of Jesus.”
I might ask Holy Spirit if there’s an open door that allowed this attack to enter. If so, I say, “I close every open door to the enemy’s realm and seal them with the blood of Jesus.” If I was the one that opened that door, I would repent.
But maybe this feeling is not an attack. Maybe someone else is feeling anxious or upset. If I am near a friend or family member, I may feel prompted by the Spirit to turn to them and ask, Are you feeling anxious about anything? Maybe this is a word of knowledge as a feeling so that I can offer to pray for them and show compassion for their pain.
Sometimes I don’t get any clarity about who is the one with the feeling so I simply send peace. I might pray, Lord, I don’t know who is feeling anxious right now, but I give this feeling to You. I ask for Your peace to penetrate and saturate this anxiety. I receive Your peace.
This is the role of an intercessor – to bring to the Lord the unrest in the world and release His peace and love to heal the pain that is causing the unrest.
The main thing I try not to do is assume I know what is going on. That would be leaning on my own understanding. Instead, I turn to Him and ask for direction and then act.
If I was not at peace when the feeling suddenly came, it can be confusing to figure out – is this mine or someone else’s? Either way, I simply surrender it to the Lord. I stop and ask for direction. If it was mine to begin with then I certainly don’t want it! Or maybe I was feeling a little off already and this extra emotion was sent to sabotage my day. Still the 1 step plan is my choice of action. I am going to do my best to get back to the place of peace inside and out.
–> I will tell you a secret – the more you get healed on the inside, peace becomes your normal operating environment. Peace and Joy. So when other feelings suddenly come over you, you realize – This is not me! And it’s easier to deal with it. (So pursue inner healing – it’s wonderful!)
As an intercessor, sometimes you may carry an emotion for someone else for awhile. You might feel the heartache of divorce or grief. You might feel the loneliness of abandonment. You might carry a sense of anger over injustice. Keep in mind – you are not meant to carry it for a long time. Keep surrendering it to the Lord and ask Him to lead you in how to release what is needed from His kingdom into the earth – or on behalf of a specific person. He will show you. You will be directed. It might just come as an intuitive understanding of what to do. Just follow His leading.
Feeling Atmospheres
When there is unrest in a nation, you might feel it in the atmosphere. That can feel inescapable! This is very hard if you are a feeler. Sometimes the feeling is only regional. I’ve had times where I could feel so much pressure in the atmosphere around me and I just knew I needed to go for a drive. As I drove out of the area and passed a certain boundary in the spirit, immediately the pressure decreased. A big sigh of relief would come over me and I’d realize it was regional. Often when it is over a large area like that, there’s not much you can do about it other than just endure until it passes. Someday we as a corporate body will have authority to shift the atmosphere over a larger region, but right now, I certainly don’t have that on my own and I don’t know of a local body in my area that does.
Am I Going Crazy?
Last question: How do you know if you are going crazy? This is an excellent question because many of us may feel like we are crazy, especially when no one else seems to sense what we do. First of all, if you are questioning your sanity that’s actually a sign of good mental health. People who have truly lost touch with reality, don’t ask that question. Secondly, find others who have this gift that you can share your feelings with. It really helps to have someone who is sensitive to the Holy Spirit who can validate that what you are sensing is not crazy. The gifts are meant for the body of Christ and having others around you helps you fine tune your gift of discernment. Lastly, ask the Lord. He will confirm to you what is accurate and what is not. You can trust Him. It’s His job to take care of you, including your mental health. 🙂
The main thing is to simply learn to let go of anything you don’t understand. Ask Him about it. Wait for an answer and if nothing comes, just let it go. Don’t get wrapped up in your imagination.
This gift forces you to rely on the Holy Spirit more than anything else! It is vital. You can’t operate in the gifts of the Spirit without relying on the Giver of the gifts! Reading a book or this post might be a little helpful, but God is truly the only one who can teach you how to use the gift He gave you. So press in to intimacy with Him.
I hope this post has been helpful. I am sure there are more questions regarding Feeling in the Spirit. Please post any questions below and we can continue this discussion.
Just as a reminder – you are not crazy and you are not alone. I am a feeler too – there are many of us. We need to stick together. Thank you for letting God move through your feelings – it’s a gift! 🙂💗
P.S. I just remembered a story about this that might encourage you. One time I was in a small group Bible study at someone’s home and I began to feel uncomfortable. I didn’t know what to do about it, but the tension was increasing. I looked around the room and no one else seemed to notice. So I didn’t say anything. Finally, we took a break and had snacks. I went into the kitchen and someone whispered to me, “Did you feel uncomfortable tonight?” I looked at them in surprise! “You felt it too?!” I asked, kind of shocked. Just then someone else walked in and said, “Me too! Didn’t it feel weird?” Then another person joined the conversation and we discovered FOUR of us had felt something was off but since we all assumed we were the only one feeling it, we didn’t say anything. So keep in mind – you are probably NOT the only one feeling what you are feeling, but most of us have no idea how to communicate about the unseen realm with others and we fear sounding weird so we don’t say anything.
Learning to Hear God’s Voice
Whenever someone tells me they want to draw closer to God, one of my first questions is about whether they know how to discern God’s voice. Learning the language of the Spirit is like learning another language – it takes time and practice! You can pray all day and fast and read Scripture, but there has to be two way communication in order to build a RELATIONSHIP with God. It cannot be one sided!
In fact, I remember when I was a child and someone said from a pulpit that Jesus was our best friend and we should talk to him all day long. In my mind, my reply was, Well, He better talk to me too! No one talked about hearing from God so I didn’t say what I was thinking for fear of being labeled disrespectful. I guess most people just assumed it was a one way thing – you talk and God listens. I remember when I started to hear from God and I told my dad. He said, That’s preposterous! God only talks to holy men in the mountains. He was raised Greek Orthodox and there are special mountains where the priests go to hear from God.
Guess what? God still speaks! And you can know when God is speaking to you. Did you ever notice that almost every story in the Bible revolves around someone hearing from God? It’s important when God speaks to you and you should write down what He says! It also means He talks to a lot of people so why wouldn’t He talk to you too? 😊
If you want some step-by-step instructions, here is a course I can recommend to help you get started.
Developing a Close Relationship with God: A Simple Method – link to course
If you need encouragement and hope to develop a close relationship with God – that’s what this course provides. If you took the course, you’d learn how to focus so you can pay attention to God without distractions. You’d also learn to recognize His voice and become familiar with the different ways that God communicates. You’d practice recording what God has said to you each day. This would give you confidence to take action on what He tells you to do. That’s quite an adventure! Lastly, you’d have a new appreciation of what it means to really TRUST God.
It’s very short – like 15 minutes a week for 4 weeks. And it’s not expensive. You can listen to it while you drive or even when you exercise. It provides simple exercises to help you interact with God.
Recently a reader of this blog sent me this message about the course:
My husband and I just completed this course. It is concise and we feel so comforted and confirmed that our personal experiences with God are true! At our church, no one shares how they communicate personally with God. I learned by asking God to help me discern which voice is His, which voice is mine and which voice is the enemy (or accuser). This course gave us confirmation of our experience with Holy Spirit.
It is very important to learn how to tell the difference between God’s voice, your own voice and the enemy’s voice. If you need help with that, read this post: God’s Voice vs Other Voices: How Can You Tell the Difference?
If you have learned to hear God voice already, please comment on this post – that way we can all learn from each other!
Here are some related posts that might also help you:
How to Remove Blocks to Hearing God
Why Can’t I See or Hear in the Spirit?
How to See in the Spirit
Last night I was in a prayer meeting and one of the ladies (JC) asked how she could see in the spirit. Often when we would pray together as a group, someone would say what they saw. This was challenging for her. She did not see things in the spiritual realm and didn’t know how to develop this ability.
Before we started praying, I briefly shared some things with her. This morning I received a message from JC saying,
Thank you for your tips on how to connect my hearing sense with my seeing sense. It was so good for me – I experienced some breakthroughs (she gave examples). Thank you so much, I am blessed! Glory to the Father! Thank Him for letting me move forward little by little.
Here are the things I shared with her – in case they might help you too.
First, what is your strongest sense? Do you see, hear or feel? Most of us perceive the unseen realm of God’s kingdom by one of these senses. I’m primarily a feeler. JC said she is primarily a hearer.
I encouraged her to focus on what is already comfortable for her – hearing. Then when someone else describes what they see, imagine that scene in your mind and see if the Lord will let you hear something that relates to what the other person is seeing. Imagine what you are hearing. This helps to connect the two senses.
Don’t focus on what you can’t do – focus on what you CAN do. Then share it with the group. Even if it seems very small or insignificant. What you focus on will grow. It also validates it for your mind.
Our mind (natural man) often questions what our spirits perceive. Our mind is used to being in charge and interpreting the world around us based on our 5 natural senses, right? So when you start using your spiritual senses, the mind tries to jump in and take charge. It often questions what you are perceiving and tries to convince you that you are wrong or stupid or even crazy. It creates doubt (the opposite of faith).
When you express what you are sensing in the spirit, it feels like a big risk. You risk being seen as foolish or sounding crazy. But guess what? When you say out loud what you are sensing, it validates it in your mind. It makes it easier to accept, which builds your faith and opens you up to sensing even more! It is honoring the Lord by honoring what He is showing you.
As you do that, your senses get sharper and they begin to work together. As JC practiced last night, by focusing her listening skills, she suddenly got visual pictures! She told me that some of the things she saw seemed impossible. But she told herself to accept it. After she did that, someone else in the group would describe the same thing she was seeing – confirmation! She was ecstatic! That meant she wasn’t crazy or just making things up (which is what the natural mind wants you to think).
Saying out loud what you are sensing brings it from the unseen realm into the seen realm. It brings it from the kingdom realm into the natural realm. It connects the two realms in our natural reality which makes it feel or seem more real. It IS real, but our minds often discount it because it’s from the spirit. This teaches our natural mind how to receive and accept the things from the spirit.
Here’s another exercise you can do to practice seeing:
- Look around the room you are in. Then close your eyes and imagine the room. Look around it in your mind’s eye. How much detail can you see? Practice this a few times until you can clearly see as much detail as possible.
- Ask Holy Spirit to show you where to look in the room. Focus on that area with your eyes still closed. Ask Him to show you something from the unseen realm. Wait and see what He shows you. Then ask Him to explain what you are seeing and He will.
I did this exercise with a friend and she saw an angel in my living room. Sometimes people have told me they see other things with this exercise like a portal or an item like a sword or a tree.
“A spiritual kingdom lies all about us, enclosing us, embracing us, altogether within reach of our inner selves, waiting for us to recognize it. God Himself is here waiting our response to His Presence. This eternal world will come alive to us the moment we begin to reckon upon its reality.” – A. W Tozer, The Pursuit of God
Let me know what tips have helped you to develop your spiritual senses. Comment below so we can all learn from each other. When you do the exercise I described above, please share what you saw. If you see anything dark or scary, ask Jesus, “Where are You in this picture?” Then focus on Jesus and watch what He does. 🙂
More posts that can help you see more clearly in the spiritual realm of God’s kingdom:
How to See – Training & Live Discussions!
I am so excited to announce that Blake Healy is now offering training and live discussions on How to See in the Unseen Realm! Blake has written a very helpful and inspiring book on this topic called The Veil – you can read my review (with excerpts) here. People LOVE his book and how down to earth he is about a topic that can get kind of weird (right?). So I am thrilled that he is now taking his experience and sharing it with us live. In the past he has offered a few in-person workshops but now you can access his training from anywhere in the world.
He has a Patreon account which gives you different levels of access to his training based on how much it is worth to you (and how much you can afford). I screen shot the levels so you can see what they are. You can join Patreon and follow Blake’s account for free, but to access the content, there’s a monthly cost.
He has 3 training sessions already uploaded so it looks like he is just getting started! You could join now for $15/month to enjoy the live group discussion with Q&A on Zoom twice a month. Then later when he has more course content released (probably in a few months), you could increase to $30/month and watch all the training videos. Looks like he will also be offering activation meetings every three months too. If you want one-on-one coaching and even more activation calls, then you can sign up for the highest tier.
If you are eager to be able to see in the spiritual unseen realm, I encourage you to read Blake’s book and then join his Patreon community. He’s one of the most knowledgeable people on this topic – and he makes it simple and easy to grasp. Here’s the link to his Patreon community. I noticed he posted the first lesson of his Foundations class for free – click here to watch it.
So many people find this blog looking for tips and suggestions for how they can see in the spirit realm – I hope this new resource from Blake Healy helps you! 🙂
Posts on Seeing in the Spirit from this blog:
How to See in the Unseen Realm
Why Can’t I See or Hear in the Spirit?
How to Remove Blocks to Hearing God
God’s Voice vs Other Voices: How Can You Tell the Difference?
Spiritual Senses – Which one is your strongest?
Fiction Flexes Your Seeing Muscles
Click one of the article titles above and start learning more about this fascinating topic.
I’ve Been Slimed! 🤢
The other day I was in traffic and I pulled behind a large black van. We were both in the lane to turn left into a busy multi-lane highway. As I was waiting for the traffic light to turn green, I read the advertising on the van. It appeared to be for a man’s grooming salon and I wondered out loud, “Why do they have such a big van for a man’s salon? Do they offer mobile grooming?”
Suddenly I felt a wave of negative energy come towards me! I was shocked. My eyes were still on the van and I noticed at that exact moment the address on the van – it was from a part of town where witchcraft is common and celebrated. People especially use it to prosper in business.
I’ve been slimed! I thought. It felt just like what is depicted in the movie Ghostbusters when a negative other worldly being rushes towards its victim. YUK! 🤢
Immediately I prayed out loud, “I come out of agreement with witchcraft. You do NOT have permission to mess with me. Go back! Now!” I felt the energy shift but it was still lingering. So I continued to tell it to leave me alone and it did!
By the time the light changed, it was gone. I kept my eye on that black van because now I knew what it carried in the spirit realm. Initially it pulled into the far left lane and then suddenly the van cut across all 3 lanes and turned right, into a shopping center. Thankfully no other cars were around and since I was keeping my distance from the van, it didn’t affect me. I just watched and shook my head as the driver made a “Miami right” as we say (turning right from the far left lane).
Whew! Thank goodness for very sensitive discernment. In the past, I have not been so aware and I’ve been affected by being randomly “slimed” – it messes with your mind and emotions and yet you don’t know what’s wrong or how to fix it. No fun at all.
I don’t know why it decided to attack me – maybe it didn’t like the tone of my question about the van. I was being a little skeptical, I guess. Maybe it sounded like I was mocking them? 🤷♀️
Are you aware of negative energy when it hits you?
As I’ve been walking with Jesus, I am definitely more aware of it. Especially when it specifically targets me. Sometimes I am aware of it just in the air – as a storm moves through the area or when I drive through different parts of town.
On a positive note, I had a good experience with spiritual energy today. I felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to go to a park near my house. I wasn’t sure why. So I asked if I should bring my journal or art supplies – sometimes I write or paint at the park. I sensed that I didn’t need to bring those today.
When I arrived, I felt drawn to walk through a specific section of the park. As I did, I began to feel God’s “good energy” being released from me to bless the ground and the surrounding area with His glory. I can’t really explain it other than to describe how it felt – like positive vibes leaking from my arms and legs as I walked. From an outsider’s perspective, it just looked like a woman walking in the park. But in the spiritual realm, it might have looked more like this.
That was fun! I like to go on random adventures with God. I never know what He has in mind.
Do you have any experience with positive or negative spiritual energy? If so, please comment below. I love to read other people’s experiences – that way we all learn from each other. Some people refer to the negative energy as demons or evil spirits. It definitely could be. I didn’t specifically see demons – it just felt like a wave of energy that was not good. And when I was walking in the park, it simply felt like “good energy”, but I didn’t know if it was love, joy, peace or what – to me it just felt like a blessing of God’s presence and goodness.
It can be hard to learn how to deal with energy because you can’t often see it – or at least, I can’t. Sometimes I can perceive it on other people but not usually visually. But God knows that and He knows what we need to learn to be able to respond to it well. I hope I’m learning more and more each day. And now I’m sharing it with you so you can learn from my experience.
Thanks for reading this far – God bless you! (sending lots of positive vibes your way 😊)
Cloud of Protection
“NO! Aaahh, stop!!”
I woke up screaming from a nightmare (again). Sigh. When was this going to STOP?!
But this time, I could still feel the Fear in the room – like something was watching me! Maybe several somethings … ((shudder))
I turned on all the lights. I walked around and prayed, trying to dispel the effects of the nightmare on my mind. This was back in the early days before I knew much about spiritual warfare or my authority in Christ.
I was exhausted and just wanted to go back to sleep! But I still felt unsettled.
My mind told me, “There’s nothing to be afraid of. God is your protector. You can go back to bed.” But my heart said, “Yes, and what if those things come back as soon as I close my eyes. I hate nightmares!”
A few days before this experience, someone had mentioned the concept of using your imagination to help make God’s qualities more real to your mind and heart.
So I imagined a fluffy pink cloud surrounding me as I lay back down in my bed. This represented to me God’s Love and Protection over me as I slept. I started to relax and soon fell deeply asleep.
The next morning I was pleasantly surprised that this simple exercise had helped me SO much! I began to use it whenever I felt unsettled before going to bed. And I always slept peacefully.
I recently shared this with one of my readers who was asking about nightmares as well as how to deal with demonic entities in the atmosphere that she could feel. It’s not easy to stand up to the enemy when you don’t feel safe. I know that feeling well – not feeling safe, or feeling overwhelmed by the pressure of the demonic entities and not knowing what to do. That used to be me every day. Can you relate?
Learning I could create a personal space of safety by trusting in God as I went to sleep really helped me. It gave me more confidence. Later I learned how to apply that idea at my job, which was often a very oppressive environment. I’ll post about that on another day.
So what do you think? Does using your imagination empower you? Does it help make God more real for you? Have you tried this technique before?
I used to know a lady who really wanted to make Jesus more real in her life. She struggled to stay focused during her prayer times. So she set up her kitchen table with tea cups for two. She put tea bags in both cups. As she poured the boiling water into the cups, she began talking to Jesus as though He was joining her for tea. She talked to Him like He was sitting right there in the chair next to her – and it became so real for her! She felt comforted by His presence and they talked until His tea got cold. Then she drank His tea and put everything away, confident that her “tea time” with Jesus was as real as any prayer time she had ever had.
Discernment of the Supernatural Realm 