I grew up in an old farmhouse, convinced it was haunted. It wasn't something talked about, but as I got older, I noticed that my sister was frightened of the same rooms. We hated walking in the hall and landing, especially by the bathroom. The 'best' room (used only at Christmas time and special occasions) was terrifying and entered with someone else on hand, if possible! When I was around 7 years old, and my sister was about 11, we were heading upstairs when I saw a 'ghost' walk across the landing and straight through the wall. I said nothing, held my breath for what seemed like an age, and then carried on up the stairs. Eventually, one of us broke the silence with, "Did you see that?"
Roll on a couple of decades, and I was a mum to a little one who seemed to be having unwelcome visitors at night! We tried to ignore the problem, but it got worse. It's one thing sleeping with your head under the covers as a child, but it didn't seem appropriate for an adult, even if I was still in my 20s!
I tried to find help, but where do you turn when you have things that go bump in the night? My first thought was to the church (we lived in a Chapel house, so that seemed like a good idea and exorcisms are done by vicars, aren't they?). I was cautious, fearful of looking weird. I didn't know many Christians then but approached the ones I did with an "asking for a friend...". The responses weren't very encouraging. I was met either with "It's a load of rubbish. It's all in their imagination." or complete panic, the look of fear rising with the very mention of spirits. With that not working, I tried the library, but that left me with more questions than answers, opening up a scary world I didn't want to venture into. A work colleague had started dowsing (asking questions to a stone in a wire cage on a piece of cotton - it spins one way if the answer is yes, another for no.) Obviously, he was controlling it, but I thought it was a great party trick. He offered to let me try, and to my shock, as I asked questions, this thing started swinging. I could feel the power running through it. I ventured to mention the issue we had with the "visitors" in the house, and he said that was no problem. He could come and sort it out for us. Finally!
He came around shortly after, armed with a dowser. After walking around the house, he confirmed there were three spirits present. He handed me a piece of paper which he proudly informed me would be the only way to get rid of them. He'd received it from a lady who had performed many exorcisms and used it in his own house successfully. To my complete amazement and slight disappointment, it was a prayer. The first line read, "In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I repent for each and every time I have partnered, knowingly and unknowingly, with occult practices, in particular tarot cards, clairvoyance, DOWSING...". The list continued, but I was a bit perplexed, to say the least. If dowsing had so much power, why couldn't that shift what was in the house? I hadn't ever considered where or what the power source was before. Was it bad? This man had told me on numerous occasions he was an atheist, so why hand me a Christian prayer as an answer? Despite the questions and feeling downcast, I gave it a go that evening. And we had peace! And the next night and the next! I couldn't believe it. How could commanding these spirits to go, using a name I didn't believe in, work? I shared the prayer with another mum who was having similar trouble. One of her children struggled to sleep because "the man under the bed keeps talking to me". The result was the same. Peace.
And so my journey to find out more about the One with a NAME so powerful that demons flee at the sound of it, started thanks to an occult practising atheist. Imagine!
Philippians 2:9-11 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free,
Deuteronomy 18:9-11“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there. 10 For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord.
1 John 1:9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
Comments
Post a Comment