My squadmates and I refer to it as "that night." The night of Training Camp that shattered all of our previous perceptions on spiritual warfare. The night we saw healing firsthand. The night we slept on a bus.
What you are about to read may seem unbelievable. Two weeks ago if I had read this story, I would have been skeptical. I knew God moved and that He worked in the here and now, but I didn't truly grasp it. But after Monday at Training Camp, I saw things that confirm without a shadow of a doubt that the spiritual realm around us is more real than the physical world we see.
All day, our speaker, Ron, had been teaching on the Holy Spirit. We learned about prayer healing (which is another blog post!) and the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit. All believers have the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives, but that's different from the manifest presence. Manifest presence is when the Holy Spirit physically enters a room. That night at our session, Ron told us that we were going to invite the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit into the room. He told us that we would experience spiritual warfare, we may gain new spiritual gifts, and we would physically feel the Holy Spirit moving. At this point, I was nervous. This was so far out of my experience and comfort zone, but Ron did an excellent job backing things up with Scripture, and I knew that this was Biblical and truthful. So I tried to prepare myself. I remember praying, "God, let me feel You!" Then we invited the Holy Spirit into the room.
BAM!
All heaven broke loose. I could physically feel dark and light forces moving in the room. There was a spiritual battle that rivaled Narnia and Lord of the Rings. I felt it in my soul. As people around me began to drop to the floor, cry, laugh, speak in tongues, and lift their hands, there was a sudden unearthly scream. Scream upon scream poured from the mouth of one of my squadmates. I have never heard anything like it. It was not from this earth. The terror that gripped my soul as I watched this man jump from his seat screaming was intense. He tried to run out of the room, but crashed into a wall and fell to the floor instead. As AIM leaders descended upon his writhing form, it was as if I felt a physical hand turn my head away, and I heard God tell me that this was not important, that I needed to focus on Him instead. So I did, and His peace flooded my soul. The terror was removed, and He comforted me and reminded me that though the enemy is strong, he has already been defeated. As long as I remain in God's presence, I will be safe from spiritual warfare. My body started shaking uncontrollably, and I dropped into my seat, unable to do anything except weep. I felt the Holy Spirit in me, and it gave me so much peace and joy. That night was the night that I truly started to feel God in my life, and I learned so much about trusting Him and how much He loves me. I was overwhelmed with His love. Over and over again He told me how much He loved me and how precious I was to Him. It was incredible.
After the session ended, we walked to the bus we were to sleep on that night, and I found out that my squadmate had had a demon cast out of him. When we invited the Holy Spirit into the room, the demon had possessed him and tried to flee from the Holy Spirit. The AIM leaders spoke with this demon, and cast it out of my squadmate. And throughout the rest of the week, this man was a different person. He was so joyful and at peace, and I would often find him reading his Bible and praying, trying to process the experience. As intense as "that night" was, with all the processing we had to do combined with sleeping (or not) on a bus, and a few other things that happened, so much good came out of it. My entire squad drew together in true unity after that night. Bonds were formed that will not be broken, because they are founded on what the Holy Spirit taught us that night. All of our perspectives were changed that night, and the only way forward was to put our whole trust in our Father.
Walking forward from this experience, I know that what I saw, heard, and felt that night is not a one-time experience. The enemy is out there, and my entire squad has a wanted poster with our faces on it. We are walking out into the world where the enemy has strongholds, and we are being led by God to break down those strongholds. I expect to encounter spiritual warfare on the Race. Please come alongside me as prayer warriors and pray that God would give me strength to face it when it comes, and pray that I would daily seek His face. For He is my King, and I long to be His loyal and obedient soldier.
