My Experiences with Spiritual Warfare

Amen.  Ol' Scratch don't like me much.  If I forget to ask God to cover my house with His protection at night, I get attacked in my sleep - without fail - and I'm not just talking about having "bad dreams."

The enemy tries his hardest to instill fear in me, but I'm just not afraid of him.  Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4).  I have read a few books on spiritual warfare, and while that hardly makes me an expert, I feel confident enough as a Christian to rebuke demons. 

They started paying attention to me right after I shifted gears in my life and rededicated myself to God.  When I was dormant and sitting on the sidelines, I wasn't a threat to them.  But now, I am loud and proud about storming the gates of Hell and not worried about who's watching.

I never really thought about spiritual warfare before until my children began telling me they were hearing voices in the house.  I don't believe in ghosts, I believe in demons.  I know my kids were telling me the truth due to my own experiences as a child.  I, too, used to hear voices calling my name in an empty house.  I used to hear them speak horrible, hateful things about me in a sing-song type voice, either talking really fast, like a tape recorder on fast forward, or really slow like a video on super-slow-mo.  I, too, used to feel an intense fear, see shadows, and once, even witnessed an apparition in my room.

I'm not completely "green" when it comes to the spiritual realm.

After reading a fabulous book called "I Give You Authority" by Charles Kraft, I went through my house room by room and rebuked anything that might be lurking in the mighty name of Jesus.  After that, as the spiritual authority in my home, I declared the demons were not allowed to touch my children, they could only come through me.  I've learned that demons are very legalistic.  They follow rules.  And if one in authority claims their authority, they must listen and obey that authority.

They stopped pestering my children.

Until I learned how to come before God and wield my rights as a child of God, the enemy attacked me almost every night after that.  They'd come into my dreams and pounce on me.  I don't often realize my dream is demonic until they've already pounced, as they catch me off guard.  They do this so I don't have "time" to call upon Jesus, and, without fail, they try to prevent me from doing so.

Within these dreams, I've had my voice altered, as if they're trying to change how my vocal chords work so I can't say Jesus' name.  I've been choked many times.  And once, in a particularly vivid dream, a demon jumped on my back and shoved its fist down my throat.  They've tied me up, set me on fire, made their hatred known, and even sent a "super demon" to face me once.

I call him a "super demon" because I don't know how else to describe him.  He was enormous.  He was powerful.  And he growled much like the Balrog in the movie "The Fellowship of the Ring".  In the dream, he'd slammed my son and my baby daughter against a wall.  I pretty much went "Spirit Filled Mama Bear" on him when I saw that.  I ran into the room, and immediately, I was in the center of the room, like a "cut-scene", it's the only way to describe it.  My legs were planted firmly apart and my arms were reaching toward Heaven.  I believe God put me in that posture because I could feel the Spirit of the Living God coursing through me.  It rained down on me like a waterfall, hitting the floor and spreading throughout the room like fingers of thick mist.

I screamed, "Get away from them, in the name of Jesus Christ!"  My voice was deeper and stronger than it is in the natural, more guttural, and full of power.

The demon immediately whipped around to face me and screamed "JESUS!" right back.  I'm unsure if he was taunting me, cursing at me, or genuinely surprised I could rebuke him.  I didn't tell him to leave, just to stop harming my kids, of which he immediately did.  But since he didn't immediately leave, I thought I'd have to rebuke him again.  In that moment, God woke me up.

Usually, if I don't fully rebuke a demon in my dream, I can still "feel" it in the room upon waking.  It's an odd feeling.  An oppressive feeling of darkness and fear.  But once I rebuke it in the natural, it slinks away, and one even left somewhat reluctantly, as if I was prey it wanted to play with like a cat playing with a mouse.

But there was no trace of this "super demon" when I awoke.  I felt nothing but peace in my spirit.  I believe God completely took care of it for me.  Perhaps it was bigger than I could have handled on my own.  Or perhaps it decided to leave after seeing the grand display of God's glorious power pouring out of Heaven and down through my body.  Maybe he decided it wasn't worth it, that God Almighty vehemently and jealously protects this little "nobody" housewife.

Ever since that encounter, I've had a couple of times when I'd forgotten to pray for God's protection over my house and my dreams and they've tried to get at me again.  But what I find amusing is the last time they attacked me in a dream, the demon was down the hall of a house I was in, and he only peeked his head around the corner.  He wouldn't come any closer.  I rebuked him easily, but after I woke up from that dream, I couldn't help but laugh.  It makes me joyous to know the enemy is frightened of me.  It gives me more faith in God that He is with me wherever I go.

I've learned through all this that even when they choke you or change your voice or even shove their fist in your mouth, if you just *think* your rebuke in Jesus' name, they immediately let you go.  God can hear our thoughts and He will not leave us to fight alone.  "All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13).

I really don't know what prompted me to write this post -- I felt the Spirit wanted my brethren to know what I've been going through and a little of what I've learned to protect myself in spiritual warfare.  I don't talk about this at all to anyone, because it is a little uncomfortable.  Even fellow Christians don't like to talk about demons, and if one goes around talking about being attacked in their dreams, people they tell might be skeptical.  Therefore, I keep this kind of thing to myself.

But God is telling me to share my knowledge.  Perhaps more of you are being attacked as well.  So here is what I've learned during my trials of war.

Every night, I pray and ask God to protect my dreams, and the dreams of every member of my family.  I ask Him to hide my house in the spiritual realm.  Sometimes, I ask Him to hide it in the shadow of His wings, or to cover my house with His hand.  I ask for angels to be posted in every corner of my house, as well as my property, and I ask for them to sing praises to God in the spirit.  I cannot hear them, but demons can, and they won't be lurking about with the Heavenly Host singing, "Hallelujah!"

I know God honors these kinds of "creative" prayers, because once I got cocky and asked Him to shine my house like a beacon in the night with His glory so that every demon for miles around would know a Christian lived here.  I asked for angels singing loudly in the skies above my house, and basically for my house to be like a spotlight.  For about a week after that, I had to deal with some hairy spiritual stuff.  I definitely got some attention.  Therefore ever since then, I've asked God to HIDE my house in the spirit rather than advertise where I live.

And every night I pray for protection, I have it.  Peaceful, warm dreams about whatever.  But the night I forget to pray for God to cover my dreams and my house -- the demons press in.  They're looking for any chink they can find, any weakness to get at me.  But even so, the demon from my last dream wouldn't even come out from around the corner.

While this sounds scary to the average Christian, its really not.  Demons are more like cockroaches than Hollywood horror.  When one properly exercises their authority over them, they must obey.  Christ is greater and He lives within the brethren.  We are His Body, and if we call upon our Head -- Jesus -- He'll route those demons and send them packing.  "Whatever is bound on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever is loosed on earth is loosed in heaven" (Matthew 18:18).

Therefore, put on your armor, believer, and do not allow the enemy to get the better of you -- even at your most vulnerable.  They refuse to face me when I'm awake.  It's always when I'm asleep.  Demons are cowards, especially when they're trying to pester a Christian who is fully aware of their inheritance and authority in Christ.  They will not shake me.  My God is greater.  "If God is for me, who can stand against me?" (Romans 8:31)