By far, the most peaceful way to wake up in the morning has to be when there is no alarm clock, when daylight breaks through the window panes, and when the smell of an amazing breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast fills your room. I can probably count the number of times that I’ve experienced this type of morning on one hand. This is almost a dream world to me these days, but I like it like that.
I woke up yesterday morning on a ferryboat heading to Bacolod City on the island of Negros. We had been anchored during most of the night due to a storm heading through the Philippines so already it had been raining a lot. I had slept well and it was completely dark in my room. Apparently during the night I had yelled out something and clapped my hands a few times (Seth, Brandon, and Mark all confirmed this story). They said that I woke up in the middle of the night and said that someone was in the room. I DO NOT remember any of this. Anyway, by the time I woke up it was around 9am and everyone had already left the room. So I got up, threw some clothes on and headed to the back deck with my Bible. Immediately after I exited the room into the narrow hallway, I was greeted by several crew members. They asked me, “Are you a missionary?” So I answered yes, not knowing what was about to happen. They kinda beckoned me over to one door on the same hallway and slowly opened it. As they opened the door, one crew member stated simply, “This woman is possessed by a demon.”
Ok, God, what the heck? Remember that peaceful dream of the perfect morning? What the crap do you think you are getting me into? I hadn’t the slightest idea of how to actually cast out a demon. So I decided to just pray and ask God for courage to go in the room trusting that He would do the rest.
When I entered the room, there sat a woman shaking back and forth, she couldn’t stop. She kept repeating the same words over and over again, “In the name of Jesus, In the name of Jesus, He has my life, you cannot take it from me.” She screamed it at points. She clutched a crucifix in her hands. Nothing on earth would have prepared me to wake up to a morning like this and be thrown into a full-fledged battle. I started to talk to her…
After talking a bit, Mark also entered the room. Every time we tried to talk to her or calm her down, she would stop listening and just repeat the same things over and over again. She said that she saw demons on all of the men of the ship. At first, she said that me and Mark were different, but after leaving, we were told that she saw demons on us too. She had an abusive husband back home. And we believe that it led her to be afraid of men and possibly see her husband in all of us. We prayed over her. We rebuked the spirits of fear and anxiety on her life. But she didn’t calm down. Eventually Jenn came in and just tried to love on her while the rest of us were praying outside.
As the day went on, the same woman had a few more outbursts of panic. I didn’t know what to do and I didn’t feel prepared. I knew that I didn’t want to feel that way again and that I wanted to have the power and authority to walk in there and call the demon out. It was clear that her inner spirit was battling. The words she was saying were from Jesus, but the fear and anxiety were not. We wanted her to really claim and walk in authority of what she was saying, but she couldn’t. This is what the spiritual world looks like. A battle over each one of our souls.
I know now that the idea of a perfect morning doesn’t suit me. I would rather be on the front lines, waking up, calling out demons, healing the sick, and setting the captives free…then I’ll eat the bacon, eggs and toast.
Please take time to pray for this woman to be set free from this burden and these demons that are attacking her. Pray for spiritual eyes to see and ears to hear. Pray for healing.
