Under An Attack
Thursday, August 31st, 2006INTRODUCTION
First off, allow me to apologize for not posting last week. I was sick both physically and spiritually and was not in a good condition to be able to think straight. The reason for all of this, I have decided to make the topic of this weeks post. But before we get there, I want to encourage everyone out there that each of us has a testimony of the power of God in our lives and no testimony is greater then any other. Instead, all testimonies are used to demonstrate God’s love for us and for those who have not yet discovered his love. Maybe you haven’t seen a demon or angel or seen broken bones healed, but that in no way diminishes the same God who saved you from your sins. Maybe someday you will see such wonderful workings of God’s hand and maybe you won’t, but don’t let yourself be hung up on whether you have seen it or not. The point is that God works in you and through you and with you to achieve his will and plan for your life and the life of those you will come into contact with. Pray that you will know the will of God for your life and share the testimony you have with those around you (and me, because I love testimonies).
6 For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,
9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,
10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
UNDER AN ATTACK
Wednesday, August 23rd, I was awakened at 4am by a serious pain in my chest area. It had felt primarily like a gas bubble that needed to work it’s way out except that it did not move. By 7:30am, my wife had suggested that I eat because many times that could be the problem. This was a bad idea, as my pain went from bad to extremely worse. I had a ban about 3 inches wide extending in both directions from just about my sternum all the way to my side. It was a constant band of pain that hurt so bad I could barely speak. I took all my effort to be able to mumble the word, “doctor,” through my pain. By 9:40am, when we arrived at the doctor’s office the pain had subsided back to bad when the nurse practitioner believed I was having a problem with acid reflux and gave me some medicine to reduce the acid in my throat. However, this medicine did not help, but hurt all the more. I was again in intense pain. The doctor ordered a bunch of tests and told me to go on an all-liquid diet (no calories, no caffeine and no dairy) until I heard otherwise.
Now, before I go on, I want you to know that while I was at the doctor’s office, I realized that this was also a spiritual attack. The reason is because I have been moving out in what God wants me to do and the enemy is mad (see my previous BLOG post, “?Four Types of People The Enemy Attacks”?).
NOTHING SEEMED WRONG
Every test that the doctor ran came back normal. Therefore, on Friday, they told me to go ahead and eat. I started with a couple of pieces of toast and had some discomfort, but nothing major. A little while later, as I was very hungry, I tried to eat a microwaveable meal. Less then thirty minutes after I had completed the meal, I was bent over in intense pain again great then the likes that I had the Wednesday morning. My wife quickly checked my doctor’s office hours and discovered that they were about to close for the day. This was not good news because that meant that I would not be able to see my doctor until Monday, and I was really hurting. We jumped into our car and raced towards the office. The entire time, I was praying that God would allow me to be seen and for the pain to stop. I was also crying like a baby because the pain was really intense.
I entered my doctor’s office as they had pulled down the chain gates by the main desk. There was one lady left on duty and I must have looked pretty bad because she asked me who my doctor was (my doctor is one of four in the practice). She then stepped out and returned with my doctor who had not left yet. He took one look at me, and again I must have looked bad, took me in and saw me immediately. My doctor is a Christian and I later learned that he was waiting for a call from his wife before he could leave the office and as God allowed, she had not called until after he finished treating me. I praise God for a God fearing Christian as a doctor.
He examined me and suspected that it must have been my pancreas that had gotten inflamed from something and was causing problems. The issue with this was the no one really wants to play with the pancreas because of its tendency to head towards cancel when messed with. Therefore, he gave me a shot for the pain, a prescription for pain medicine and instructions to remain on the liquid fast until I was pain free for a period of twenty-four hours.
I spent the majority of the weekend sleeping as my body was exhausted from combating whatever was wrong and was not getting enough food supply to allow for extra energy.
WRESTLING AGAINST THE ATTACK
By late Saturday night, I was tired of being sick, tired of not eating, tired of being exhausted and just basically tired of all the enemy had already accomplished. Under our original plan for the week, we would have attended Wednesday night prayer, handed out flyers for our church’s grand opening family festival, visited local businesses to acquire donations for raffle prizes, my wife was to have helped set up for the women’s conference, and my wife would have attended the same conference. All of those things were not able to happen and I knew that this was an attack. Armed with that piece of knowledge and the manner in which the enemy was able to get a foothold in my home, where the open door was coming from, I went to prayer against what was attacking me. As a Holy Spirit filled Christian, no demon could possess me, but just like Jesus, they could tempt and torment me. I decided that it was time to go on the offensive and began to pray in the spirit against the attack. I prayed some in English and some in tongues and I could sense the struggle within me against my praying. I continued to push in and pray against the attack and called out every demon I could think of. I was doing my warfare as best as I could, but in the end in my weakened state; I was unsuccessful and shaking off the attack. That is not that I stopped praying, because I continued to pray, but the pain did not leave me.
I woke up Monday morning for the first time not feeling any pain and thought that I had finally broken through the layers and deception of the attack and found victory in Christ. I called my doctor and he told me to remain on a liquid diet until Tuesday before eating solid foods. However, when I did start back with food, there was some discomfort again and to be honest that broke down my spirit some as I was really looking forward to being able to eat again. I finished out the day still having food and feeling some pain, but not a lot and attempted to convince myself that it was just nerves and not an actual problem.
I woke up Wednesday morning and got myself ready. I was feeling off and I knew that I was not right, but had hoped that it was still nerves and continued. It was not long before I lost it and began to have more pain and other problems. I called the doctor and he told me to lighten what I could eat until a time when my stomach could handle it. At this point, I would have been really bummed out, but my pastor has called and wanted to come over and pray with me and that was the only thing keeping me from becoming really upset.
ELDER PRAYER BREAKS THE ATTACK
Wednesday afternoon, the Pastor and Associate Pastor of our church visited us in our home and prayed with us. Most important, he prayed over me while anointing my head with oil as it says to do in James. While they were praying over me, I could feel a washing sensation over my body from my head and shoulders down through my body. The best description was that it was like standing under a waterfall of cool water calmly, not harshly, raining down over my body and washing away the crud. My pastor told me that he could see the water flowing over me and I knew in my spirit that something in the spirit realm was broken over me. I became set free from the tormenting and the pain left my body immediately. Praise God.
SCRIPTURES
The enemy is a crafty one and seeks to destroy us if he can get the chance.
8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.
However, he is a lion that has been declawed and defanged and the worse thing he could do is send us to be with Jesus and that is only if it is within God’s will. Even in death, the devil has to conform to God’s will. So, stand firm and confident on the God.
10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
Jesus said he came to give us life and life to the full. He never said there would not be trials (and in fact the Bible tells us to expect them) and he never said everything would be perfect. Instead, he promised to make our life full and abundant and overflowing and that he would always walk with us. No matter the cost, to have the Son of God walk with me is worth having to face trials and attacks..
CONCLUSION
Today, I have been eating and everything is acting normally. I know that as I press into God, the enemy sees my family and I as a threat and will continue to attack. However, my God is bigger and will not only win every time, but will also ultimately win in the end. So, praise God that I am counted worthy to encounter various trials and attacks.
Until Next Time,
I want to thank the great guys over at My Life Ministries (http://mylifeministries.org/) for encouraging me and hosting this blog. If you haven’t done so yet, hop over to http://mylifeministries.org/ and take a look around. Join the forums and become part of the family.
Also, if you have a testimony, email it to me at testify {at} fireknights {dot} net. I would love to hear it and I may just post it here on the blog.
Love in Christ,
Sir Jesterhawk
My name is Jester of the Hawk
Adopted Prince of the Kingdom of God
Commander of the Armies of the FireKnights
General of the Spirit-Filled Legions
Loyal servant to the one true God
Father to kids on fire for Jesus Christ
Husband to a praying wife
And I will have my blessings, in this life and the next.
