How I learned through experience under God’s hand to escape spiritual victimhood and overcome in the spiritual battle against darkness
READ TIME: 10-12 Minutes
The Spiritual Battle You Don’t Know You are in
Whether you know it or not, you are in a spiritual battle. And if you don’t know it, you are losing.
Everyone is afflicted, affected, and/or tempted by demons. They knew our ancestors, have known us since we were born, and want to destroy our lives. They watch us consistently for weaknesses and attack at any opportunity. And worse, they are generally invisible and never sleep.
While demons have been with us for millennia, they are gaining ground. Our society has rejected God’s commandments and thus rejected Him. When a society does this, God leaves them to their delusions to fall deeper into sin and receive the penalty for their errors in their selves.
As this was in the past, it will worsen in these end times. As God leaves a vacuum over those who reject them, the dark spirits step in, and the fallen angels/principalities/pagan gods and demonic forces have a more significant impact on the world and our lives.
To overcome as Jesus instructed, we must learn to discern the spiritual battlefronts and repel the attacks before they gain a stronger foothold in our society and our lives.
Having Your Eyes Opened
You may have heard the comparison between the movie The Matrix and becoming a Christian. In the film, those who become aware of the realm around them are found and given a choice between taking a blue pill, and living their life as it was, or taking a red pill and having their eyes opened.
Before coming to this choice, there were always entities among them whom they thought were ordinary people but living in a different realm than they could experience. They may had seen signs that this other realm existed in the form of ghosts, deja vu, or a feeling but could not see it. Once choosing to take the red pill, they were, in a sense, reborn. Their eyes were opened, and they could understand the nature of the realm around them.
Before we surrender our will to the Lord, we are like the characters in the movie. Before salvation, I knew there were entities around me. I thought they were ghosts. The first incident I recall was when I was sitting at home alone as a child and saw a magazine progressively move across our kitchen table until it fell on the floor. I ran out of the house and didn’t return until my parents returned.
But as I grew, I rarely had any such incidents. Why would they bother me? They had me right where they wanted me, in sin and unaware of their existence.
But as I got deeper into sin (and closer to knowing I needed salvation), the signs of their existence increased. For some reason, their presence became closer. I have many stories, including a bowl sliding off the counter, crashing sounds with no source, footsteps in the hallways, spring doorstops being sprung, and my whimpering dog wanting to flee the house at night with her tail between her legs. Even one of my younger children began to see “people” in the house.
This activity peaked as I reached my lowest point and started attending church. In this spiritual battle, God began to show me signs that He was calling me to Him. Fortunately, I paid attention to these signs and came to Him.
But then the battle really heated up.
Revelation of the Battle
When I was led to salvation, no one told me that demons would come after me. It was the Lord who warned me.
After making Jesus my Lord, I had several dreams that showed me I had a battle coming. In one dream, I wrestled with someone like a brother who was trying to restrain me from uncovering knowledge (in the form of an ancient archaeological dig site). Then a type of hydra attacked my wife and youngest children, who were with baby Jesus (I believe this symbolized the infancy of Christ within my family, not that Jesus was a baby). I severed the heads of the hydra one after another, but it kept growing new ones. Though I continued to battle, it felt impossible to overcome this relentless creature.
But then another dream showed me something important. I was standing in a stairwell of a building, and a dark-cloaked figure approached me and came face to face with me. I knew in the dream that it was Satan. Without doing a thing, I felt the Holy Spirit rise inside me. At this moment, the dark figure immediately coached down, quickly ran past me, and disappeared into a dark room.
This dream showed me that there was something (Someone) more powerful inside me than even the prince of darkness.
Soon the demons showed up.
Learning to Fight the Enemy in a Spiritual Battle
Just as no one told me that demons would attack, no one told me what to do if/when they did.
Almost two months after my salvation, Halloween came. While sitting in a recliner, I was flicking through the channels and came across a ghost chasers show. As I watched, I dozed off.
I awoke to tightness around my throat and choked, gasping for air. The recliner was shaking vigorously as I tried to catch my breath. It lasted for at least thirty seconds and gradually started to fade away. Despite my salvation, the “ghosts,” which I now know were demons, were still in my house. And they continued to show their presence.
Shortly after that, I learned about the authority of Jesus Christ and the rights He has given us to call on His authority using His name. One night I became alert in bed and once again was choking. The bed was shaking, and while still in a dream-like state, I could see three demons looking me in the face. This time, I called on the name of Jesus and commanded them to leave in His name. Their faces disappeared, my breathing returned, and the bed ceased shaking.
Wanting to take back the house, I walked through all the rooms, commanding the demons to leave in Jesus’ name. They complied. The paranormal activity ceased, and my youngest son ceased to see “people” in the house.
(I want to share a few other relevant stories, but to keep this post from getting too long, I will share these on the podcast, which should be available in a few days.)
I did not choose this battle. It came to me. I had no choice. But there will be times when you have a choice, and if you want to win, you need to know which battles you should fight and which to leave alone.
Knowing YOUR Spiritual Battles
How do you know if you will win a spiritual battle? Remember my last two posts. You will only win a battle if it is God’s will for you to fight it. You must discern this when you “come in” so that when you “go out” you will go forth with God’s presence.
I think of spiritual battles falling into three categories: ones you must fight, ones God assigns you to fight, and ones you choose.
Battles You Must Fight
The battles you must fight are the areas where you have authority by position, such as your family, workplace, or homestead. I can attest that if you align with God’s will, the enemy will come after your family. Particularly, as a parent, you are in a position of authority in your family. In this position, you must discern the spirits affecting your household and command them to leave in Jesus’ name. Know what spirits are afflicting each member of your family, whether it’s anxiety, lust, rebellion, laziness, etc.
Furthermore, consider if these spirits are connected to sins passed down your family line, or that you committed. To deal with these spirits, you must first deal with the sin issue. Repent of the sins of your ancestors and your sins. Remit them to the Lord and ask Jesus to cover you and your family with His blood and wash these sins and family curses away.
Battles God Assigns You
Next, there are fights that God brings to you. For example, I used to work in a building near a train and bus station. The train stop was about two stories down, so you had to descend into it. These were dark places. Many people were mired in poverty, addiction, afflictions, and crime. I felt God called me to go into these places during my lunch break and minister to the people there. I was fairly certain it was His will, so I tested it to see. If it were God’s will, I would succeed, and if it weren’t, I would fail.
I started by taking authority over the area (and regularly reestablished it). I discerned in each case which battles to fight and which not to. During this time, I saw many people healed from problems with hips, knees, and shoulders. I saw a woman with MS move an immobile arm and a blind woman regain sight. I was also able to minister many acts of kindness and lead people to Christ.
However, I also encountered full-blown demoniacs who manifested as I grew near. I found them to be fearful of what they saw inside me. This area was new to me. I wish I could say I simply cast them out, but the situations were complicated. For example, I backed off from one when the demon threatened to throw the woman onto the train tracks while the crowd was watching. (I’ll add some of these stories to the podcast.)
I also experienced countermeasures from the enemy, such as curses that felt like cold electricity running through me or that made my skin burn as if it had touched acid. However, I acted in authority and rid myself of the curses within minutes. Had God not willed me to do these things in this place, I would not have succeeded nor been protected the way I was.
The stakes are high. Knowing if you have been assigned to a battle is critical, even a matter of life or death. I have listened to many testimonies of the late Henry Gruver. These are amazing testimonies where he put himself in great peril. He could have easily died but was protected because he only went into those places under God’s direction.
Conversely, I remember a few years ago reading about a Christian who took a boat alone to an island to spread the gospel to an isolated indigenous tribe. His intention was good; he was carrying out the great commission to spread the gospel. But days later, his body was spotted on the beach. Why didn’t God protect him? We can only surmise why. Maybe he wasn’t the right person. Or perhaps he was, but it wasn’t the right time. But now he is dead, and the tribe and their land have been stained with innocent blood.
Battles You Chose
We all see injustices in the world and choose battles we want to fight. However, if the battle is not in an area already in your authority (such as family or workplace), nor is it one that God assigned to you, you should consider passing. As I have said in previous posts, if you are not operating in God’s will, you cannot expect that He will go out with you.
Now I’m not saying you shouldn’t pray and petition for many worthy causes; you should. But if you take on the powers, principalities, and spiritual force of darkness over an area where you are not in a position of authority, you better make sure God is with you.
Our spiritual authority is partly based on our earthly position. For example, a county sheriff will have different positional authority than the president of a country. The president has positional authority over the country and the sheriff over a county. A righteous sheriff could find great success in the spiritual battlefield over his county but may not be effective in the battle for the nation.
I’ll give you a personal example. During the last presidential election, a preacher on a YouTube video inspired me to fight the spiritual battle against the giants influencing the election. While praying one night, taking authority over spiritual forces and sending orders against them, I heard God speak to me.
He said, ” What are you doing?”
I meekly replied, “Fighting the battle over the election.”
He then said, “Did I ask you to do this?”
I sheepishly replied, “No.”
And He responded, “If you keep fighting battles I did not ask you to fight, you will miss the assignments I have for you.”
I ceased at that moment, learning a valuable lesson. And within days, he revealed things to me that inspired a blog post that was accepted as an article on Charisma News. This began a year where views of my blog posts increased by 3000%.
But know that you will be attacked if you are on the right track. And if not you directly, the attack will come against your family, your job, and your possessions. So what can you do to defend yourself against such attacks?
The Necessity of Vigilance in Spiritual Battle
Attacks will come. It is inevitable when you are performing God’s will. And while God does protect us, I believe He also lets some things happen to help us mature as Christians.
The best thing you can do against an enemy that can strike at any time from any direction is to build defenses. Establish a daily routine of proactively blocking and casting our spirits affecting you, your family, your workplace, and other areas assigned to you.
Start by getting yourself right with God. If you are in unrepentant sin, the enemy will have an opening to attack you even if you try to cast them out. Repent of any sin and disobedience and accept the covering of Jesus’ blood over your sins. Once you are made innocent by the blood, cast out the spirits attacking.
Be vigilant! Casting demons out from your residence is not a one-time event. Remember, if you live with others, they may open doorways that allow spirits in. I have been reminded of this many times. Others living in your premises may watch horror movies, pornography, or dabble with new age practices or eastern religions, even yoga.
Here is one of many examples. I had cleared out my house of any demonic spirits and prayed for certain protections over my house. But one of my sons had friends over often, and they were not saved. Someone opened a door.
One evening, I was writing a blog post under my first blog site purposed to expose the darkness in the world. I was writing a post targeting psychics, mediums, and spiritualists, which apparently ticked off a demon. It happened while working at the kitchen table with my family around. Two of my son’s friends came in with a gift of donuts from a place they worked. I ate one of the donuts, and within minutes a demon attacked me.
Something started to scratch my back, and not in a good way. I knew instantly what it was. I went to the bathroom mirror and confirmed that scratches were all over my back in either three parallel lines or two. While this may sound scary, it wasn’t. You and I have authority over these creeps. And honestly, I’ve had worse scratches from kittens. Only a few of the scratches bled just enough to form scabs. They were different from normal physical scratches, though, because I could still feel them after they physically healed. But I will explain this in more detail in the podcast to keep on topic.
The Necessity of Consistency in Spiritual Battle
When you follow a routine every day, it becomes, well, routine. The importance of your work can seem dulled by the repetition day by day. But don’t cease. Doing so only leaves an opening for the enemy.
Be consistent! Follow your routine even when your other routines change. For example, a couple of weeks ago, my wife and I went out of town for a few days. I skipped my usual routine because we had things planned, and the hotel room wasn’t conducive to my routine.
When we returned home, we found my oldest son (who has been subject to multiple spiritual attacks in his life) outside. He looked awful. His eyes were heavy, and his complexion looked terrible. He told us that he hadn’t been able to sleep and barely slept while we were gone. He was taking a sick day off from work to try to sleep.
Going inside to work, I went to my desk and sat my backpack on a chair near me as I usually do. The backpack was pretty heavy, with some notebooks and a laptop charger. It was as if a demon wanted me to know that they had reentered the house. While working on my computer, my backpack appeared to be pushed off the chair and onto the ground.
This reminded me that we can’t let our guard down. The darkness is always looking to exploit opportunities.
Learn to be Trained by God
The Holy Spirit guides us and trains us if we let Him. This means that we will face spiritual battles. He lets us fight some fights so that we will be ready to fight bigger ones that may come.
He even disciplines us when we are disobedient. Recently, I was seeking God’s will on a big decision. I ultimately found peace in one of two paths and decided it must be God’s will. But then I let my heart and outside influences steer me to the other path. After deciding on this other path, my family immediately experienced three tragedies in a few days. It was bad.
Now to be clear, God did not cause these adverse events. But when I stepped out of His will, I no longer “went out” with His presence, and it allowed the enemy to step in. By the third event, I was confident of the cause. I repented of my decision, and although I couldn’t change it, I would if I could and still will if I can. After repenting, I immediately heard a response from God. The adversities were over. There would be no more.
This was discipline, and discipline is part of our training. Discipline comes from the same word as disciple. And God disciplines those He loves and those He calls His sons.
God lets us fight these spiritual battles and disciplines us so we can step into the fullness of what it means to be a child of God and stand for ourselves and others in need. He also expects us to pass on what we’ve learned and help others grow.
The time is near. The darkness is growing—train to prepare yourself for what may come. Learn to come into His presence and go out with His presence.
In the next post, I will discuss walking in His power.
Now Available: the podcast of this post with additional testimonies at www.westcloudsrisingpodcast.com
Also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify
Related Posts:
How to Train for the End of this Age: Coming In
End Times Training – Positioning to Go Out to Battle
Apostasy: Is the Darkness Closing In?
Days of Pagan Gods and Empowered Apostles
Apostasy Rising: Past Ages Reveal What Comes Next in this End of Age Paradigm
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Brother Joel, Thank you for a excellent explanation of Spiritual attacks. I have had unexplained things that have happened to me off and on since I was a child. One was a dream I had as a young kid, probably about the age of 10 or so. It was extremely frightening to me and left me very afraid for months afterwards. I don’t remember much about the dream anymore but I still remember the utter terror and darkness that scared the living daylights out of me every time I attempted to go to sleep. All I remember is being very afraid to sleep and my mom ( not a Christian) couldn’t help me. I slept with the lights on in my room for years, I didn’t know God then but remember asking in my head for protection from this. Eventually the fear went away but not the memories of the the sheer terror I felt at bedtime. Another incident happened when I was about 12, I was home sick from school with a fever and cold and in my bed half way between awake and sleep.. Not totally awake and not totally asleep either. I heard a conversation between a man and woman, plain as day. The woman asked the man ” what should we do with her”? The man answered ” I don’t know “. I immediately awoke fully and ran to my mom scared to death and told her what happened. She insisted it was my imagination brought on by my fever. I still don’t believe her explanation and know it was something more. The voices were so clear and close, like they were standing right by my bed. I also had one dream I will never forget, that happened almost 30 years ago. My brother who had passed away took me on a car ride in the car he died in ( he died from a car accident). He drove me to a place I don’t think I have ever been to, but for some reason seemed very familiar, like I had been there many times before. He reached a pull out area and stopped the car, then he turned to me and said ” be very careful what you do “. The dream was like nothing I’ve ever had, it was so clear and seemed so real. Very shortly afterwards another brother suddenly died unexpectedly from a heroin overdose. My mother insisted on seeing the house where the drug dealers lived and I insisted on going with her, I was scared for her to go alone which she would of done. My mom had me stop near the house and shortly some men came running out jumped into their car and came driving towards us. I immediately took off, and found a side road that took me back to the freeway all the while these men were gaining distance on us. Shortly after turning onto the freeway we saw a State trooper who had pulled over another car. The car that was chasing us passed by and exited the freeway heading back towards where they lived. I believe that God saved us that day and put that State trooper in the right place at the right time. And I think the dream I had was a warning from God, not to do what my mom and I did. I’ve learned my lesson the hard way, things could of ended up so tragically for my family. I’ve told my mom about the dream and what I believe was a warning, but sadly she still refuses to believe. I am a Christian now, believing in the blood of Jesus, I’m not perfect but each day I’m trying to follow the will of God, staying in prayer and reading my bible. The spiritual attacks have lessened in intensity but not gone away for good. From time to time, my old sins for the past pop into my head even though I’ve asked for forgiveness from them and the shame of them get me down and the feeling of not being forgiven. I know it’s just satan up to his old tricks and I have to say verbally ” satan get behind me”, ” I am a child of God and you have no power over me”. Sorry this is so long.
Chris – Thanks for that testimony. God certainly gives us dreams that help us and, in your case, protect us. You trust your brother, and the significance of being in the car he died in ensured that you would remember this dream and pay attention to the message delivered to you.
You are in the middle of a spiritual battle and based on your testimony, it probably started generations ago and is affecting your whole family. Many people, including me, believe that we have angels assigned to us who are with us our whole lives. What many people don’t realize is that demons also stay with us and may even hang around in the same family for generations. Those demons that troubled you as a child may still be near you if you haven’t made them leave. About a year ago, I was surprised to find a demon disguised in one of my dreams that had been with me most of my life. There was a person in my dreams since I was a child who I always recognized as a friend. I couldn’t describe them, but in the dream, I always recognized them. I would forget about this person when I was awake and so I never thought about their consistent presence. So this one night I was dreaming (I think I was in a hotel) and this person appeared. I immediately recognognized the person as someone familiar to me for many years. But at this time, instead of just accepting the person, I started to scrutinize them. I noticed that their skin was all gray, and that they didn’t have a discernable face. I awoke with revelation that this person was a demon disguised who had been with me my whole life. I quietly whispered, “you just screwed up.” I immediately told this demon to leave in Jesus’ name and never return, and to my knowledge, it has not.
None of us are perfect, so repent of any sins and ask the Holy Spirit to change your heart and help you resist temptations. I also recommend repenting for your family’s sins back generations and ask Jesus to cover those sins with His blood. Break any family curses in Jesus’ name and then command any demons who may be near you or your family to leave. Be persistent, they like to try to find ways to come back. Don’t give up on your mom – fight the battles affecting her that she is not aware exist. Keep hope. These are the things I do my family members who are not yet saved. Thanks for reading and listening!