Assisting Non-Christian Believers with Demonic Torment

How does a Christian assist a non-believing Christian who is experiencing demonic activity? Glad you asked. In this blog I will outline what our initial meeting at pagan or New Ager's house usually looks like.

First of all, you must ask yourself the question, are you the one who belongs in this fight. Many times Christians get over zealous and jump into a battle way above their pay grade. Yes, we were given authority over the demonic. But many Christians can't handle the midget demons in their own closet, then they go off and take on what they call "a giant". This is a remedy for a good old fashion spiritual butt kicking. It won't look very well if you go off half cocked into a battle, get beat up spiritually and quite possibly physically.

I didn't use to differentiate myself before from a deliverance minister, but now I do use the title exorcist. An exorcist is a minister who is operating under the anointing of God to assist individuals with long term and nasty battles against the forces of darkness and sometimes mental illness (from demonic forces). The anointing is critical because it protects you and helps you when severe demonic oppression is flung on you from warfare. This is a nasty demonic acid trip of depression to endure and it requires a supernatural battle. Many times while you're helping someone else. They don't call it spiritual warfare for nothing!

Many deliverance ministers cast out demons, bless homes and break curses. I started using the term exorcist because my ministry was recognized as such and operating at that level. At this point in ministry, your team includes therapists and doctors, It wasn't a self-appointed title. If you read my book, "A Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare - the Power to PULL the IMPOSSIBLE from the HEAVENLY REALMS", I discussed this distinction. An exorcist comes in where the deliverance minister needs assistance with warfare. I help other ministers that have gone into homes and got slimed by the demonic activity taking place there. Exorcism and deliverance ministry is not for everyone in the church body. We were given authority by God to deal with our own spiritual warfare. Many Christians are misguided and believe that gives them a license to go out and start a spiritual bar fight. Some Christians are "DRAFTED" and not called into higher levels of spiritual warfare. Exorcism can be a life threatening ministry and only those equipped should be involved. PERIOD.- End of my disclaimer.

How do you help a non-believer who experiencing demonic activity? Simple. The same way Jesus would have. In the western church we only recognize one category of Jesus 3-fold ministry. We only preach the Gospel. Jesus ministry was comprised of teaching the Gospel, healing the sick, and casting out demons. When I work with New Agers and Pagans, many times a one fold Christian with lack of spiritual maturity has already gotten to them and vehemently hurt them. This is the person who told this individual that they are going to Hell rather than love them as they were like Jesus would have. I know I just rattled some religious spirits reading that line. But it's how Jesus ministered. Remember in the last days of the church the Holy Spirit was poured out on all of us. Jesus is seeking all of us!

When I am called out to a pagan's or New Agers home I respect their beliefs and not try to convert them. They are in the midst of a personal and spiritual crisis. I walk into their home with the confidence that Jesus is going to do something and make himself real to this individual. I am demonstrating the true Jesus, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. Not the false jesus they may know from the unitarian perspective of spirituality. Yes, you are operating in the miracles, signs and wonders - the three-fold Gospel of Jesus. If you never seen a miracle through prayer this is not a good scenario for you. Why? Because these people are spiritual and you're not going to be able to give them a fire and brimstone sermon when you yourself have never seen the supernatural like they have. Get the picture? Many Christians aren't walking in the power their own God gave them the authority and power to walk in. Unless you are walking in this, can hear from God, can pull down the power of heaven through prayer, you won't be affective. These people have seen the supernatural through the forces of darkness. And pretty much the predicament they are in stems from their own dabbling in darkness. White witches don't realize their power is dark.

When our team ministers in these environments we use prophetic ministry. When we meet the individual we listen to God for him to give us something meaningful about this person. Usually, it is deep and touches their heart. At the right moment, we share the word we got during the initial meeting with the individual. When they hear what we have to share - it puts our team in a position where their wall with Christians comes down a bit so we can minister. We let God do the talking. We walk on egg shells in these environments. Recall that Jesus sometimes performed healing miracles before he shared the Gospel. Same situation here. It's a woman at the well encounter (see John 4). There is a correct and positive way to demonstrate the supernatural realm of Jesus. Word of knowledge or prophetic word is the tool of choice through Jesus. And whatever you do, avoid your "So sayeth the Lord" malarchy. It may fluff you up at church, but if you're word is wrong. You just shut down the whole meeting. What I am saying, is, don't be afraid your word is wrong. Be more afraid it is offensive to the individual. "So sayeth the Lord" is overly religious and usually used by people in church who fake it until they make it - so to speak. You must be experienced at hearing God to do this. We can ALL hear from God! Do you ever wonder why all these people on ghost hunter shows buy into the lie that their kids are psychics? We are all spiritual beings and we all have the spiritual listening equipment. If you are a deliverance minister - get trained. John Paul Jackson's Art of Hearing God is a great place to start. My team trains churches too. So if you're in Northern California, look us up. We'd be glad to come out and train your church.

With these individuals, they are looking at you and waiting for you to sound like the immature Christian who is going to tell them they're going to Hell. Jesus loves people where they're at. It's important to build a relationship with these people and gain their trust. Jesus will give you a dead on word to get their attention. We always laugh when the people ask us where did we get our psychic training from. We tell them we're not psychic, we're trained to hear the voice of our creator.

When we make appointments with New Agers and pagans they are always blown away that we are not the typical (Western) Christians. We are there to build a relationship with the individual. Sure there is a demon in their home -but Jesus will deal with that.

When the initial meet and greet is over we ask for permission to walk through their home. We're not carrying an over-sized ornate cross like we just stepped out of a horror movie. Many times we just show up in plain clothes and carry a Bible or an ipad - and some anointing oil. That's it for the items we bring to a house with activity. The Jesus inside of you -the minister, is who is going to be doing all the work. You just need to be listening and moving with him and not in the opposite direction of him. So yes, you read that correctly, no ovulus, no spirit box, no K2 meter, no digital recorders, no video cameras, nadda - just a small flask of anointing oil. We like to travel light, minimizes setup time for the ministry. Then we walk through the house, and we discern where the spiritual activity is taking place in the home. Yes - we kick it old school. Believe it or not the Holy Spirit is more accurate that a K2 meter! And we walk through the home with the lights on! We're not filming a lame ghost hunting reality show. We're actually helping someone who is in spiritual torment.

It is common, during the discernment walk through, the demon will reveal itself because it knows an anointing when it sees one. We did not provoke the demon - which is extremely dangerous and should never be done - EVER! If a demon manifests it's good to have team members who understand their authority and identity in Jesus Christ. Because now you have entered the miracle, signs and wonders moment of the meeting.  It at this point, my ministry team gets the thumbs up approval from the non-believer. It is at this point the individual is physically witnessing the power and authority of God. At this point it is okay to vocally pronounce the authority of Jesus Christ during warfare. You must discern if this is the appropriate time to take action and remove the demon or to just demonstrate your power authority over it. God could careless about the demon, it's already been judged and is going to Hell anyway. God cares about the person you are helping. If they clearly understand the power they just witnessed it is time to discuss, after the encounter, and it is shutdown, what just occurred and why. Jesus only wants people to love him through the individual's own free will. This is when you explain the angelic spiritual war and that these creatures -demons, are in rebellion to the God most high. This is not a convert to Jesus or perish speech. This is the time to give them information on what happened and why. They must process what they witnessed and make some decisions. You must be mature in your walk and know that God is big enough to deal with this individual and give them time and space to process. Exorcism is essentially prophetic and process evangelism while operating in the miracles, signs and wonders. Many times, you just need to be a good listener, discern when to shut up, and listen to their story. Some people will come to Christ, some will over what seems to be a very long period of time, and some never will. Some people will run to God just to be healed from their pain and not seek Jesus. This situation in itself is a whole other can of demonic worms.

It is through YOUR sensitivity to the individual plus the miracles, signs and wonders, that hearts change during warfare. The heart must change before the demons are expelled. Otherwise, 7 more horrible homies will return. Not always the rule of thumb. If you can hear God on one or two  occassions he may ask you to do otherwise and evict the demons before repenting. I know - the religious spirit person's head just spun around again. YOU MUST BE ABLE TO LISTEN TO GOD IN THIS MINISTRY!

This is not a methodology. It's building a relationship with the individual and understanding where they're at in their spiritual walk. I have used miracles, signs and wonders over the phone to help gnostics who called me. One gnostic went to a psychic and the psychic told them to call me! I didn't know the psychic. Sometimes God intercepts transmissions and gives psychics info. This person through a supernatural God was led to Christ. Using prayers and shutting down demonic voices over several phone calls this individual decided God was real. She had no where else to turn but to Jesus.

I have had power encounters with legion and shutdown their activity. Only in this case, the psychic didn't want to give up her legion of demonic spirit guides (we've seen this with Paul in Acts). In this case, the woman would rather be thrown down the stairs then seek Jesus. We broke off ministering with this woman. Her husband would call us every night for a week because we could shut down legion over a phone call on the speaker phone. But this individual didn't want Jesus so we couldn't help her any further. You must remember, this is all a process. Just because they reject Jesus now doesn't mean they won't call you back later. Exorcism takes time and it's all about the heart of the individual and turning their heart to Jesus. This ministry is not about kicking the BUTTS of demons. It is about the grace and mercy of God coming down and helping someone who is spiritually wounded - in their darkest hour.

If you require information on how to bless a house, or foundational information in starting a deliverance ministry, pick up a copy of my book.

A Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare - the Power to PULL the IMPOSSIBLE from the HEAVENLY REALMS

Blessings

Rev. Mike

The Paranormal Project - Demonic Home Invasion

Fellow Warriors, It's been some time since I updated this blog. M16 Ministries has been pretty busy the past couple of months. A lot of NEW paranormal shows have popped up recently. My favorite is Ghost Mine. That one has got to be a mocumentary. Ghost Mine combines Ghost Hunters with the popular Alaska gold shows that are on now. Ghost Mine even includes the same haunting narrator from the I Shouldn't Be Alive shows. You know the one. He always narrates the disasters. "What Pappa Smurf doesn't know right now is that his 8 year old niece has fallen down a well." Then there is the lead paranormal investigator who screams every time she sees a ghost. Whoever wrote Ghost Mine left no stone unturned when they scripted these episodes. Anyhow, enough of Ghost Mine, I am here to discuss the new show on Destination America, The Paranormal Project. There was a lot going in this show so I decided to video blog it and save myself some time in writing this all up. I took a particular interest in this show because it presumably documents some demonic activity in the town of Clovis. Within driving distance <road trip actually> to the M16 bunker.

 Let's roll that footage Mike...


Feel free to leave your comments below.
Be blessed and thank you for stopping by!

Rev. Mike

A Field Guide to Spiritual House Blessing

The most highly requested information for my ministry, M16 Ministries, is for house blessing. We have been involved in a broad spectrum of spiritual cases requiring house blessing. We have been to houses where violent crimes have occurred all the way to the other extreme where we dealt with a house with a demonic legion in it. I can't say that we've seen it all, but we've certainly seen a lot.

During a missions trip to Guyana, South America, my close friend, Mark Neitz, of WhyNotNow Ministries, and I were called out to bless a home where spiritual activity was taking place. We were staying in Guyana at our missionary friends' house of Don and Maria Whitney. One hot afternoon, while we were at Don and Maria's, we were preparing for our 4 day trip into the Guyanese interior (the rain forest) to meet with Amer Indian pastors. A pastor came to the Whitney's house and requested Don, Mark and myself (Michael), to come out with him to bless a house. A woman, recently widowed, was in need of deliverance prayer and her house needed blessing. The three of us were in our shorts and t-shirts, it was hot. But we figured we were adequately dressed for deliverance and house blessing. What did catch my attention was that the pastor was dressed in his Sunday best. It was hot but I figured this pastor just stayed in uniform all week long. Don, Mark and I got into the pastor's little Toyota car and off we went for a house blessing.

When we pulled up to the house we were supposed to bless, we noticed a large number of people already there. They, too, were dressed in their Sunday best and this was the middle of the work week. It didn't take long for Don, Mark and I to figure out that something was wrong with this picture. Mark boldly asked the pastor, “hey, what is going on?”.

The pastor replied, “It's a 9th day funeral.”

A 9^th day funeral is literally a funeral held 9 days after a person dies. It gives family members the opportunity to get their lives in order and make travel arrangements to get to the funeral. In Guyana, the biggest method of transportation is by boat. Some have power boats and some have canoes. Nine days is adequate time for the word to get out and for the family members to make it to the funeral.

I became more uneasy with the situation as we got out of the pastor's car. The Holy Spirit started giving me things to speak on at a funeral. I looked over at Mark and told him, if we get led up to the front of the people – I think we're doing this funeral. Mark looked at me and grimaced, “I was thinking the same thing.”

Low and behold the pastor led us to the front of the families and introduced us as pastors. And yes we did an impromptu funeral. In our shorts and t-shirts. When the funeral was done, the pastor led the widow up to the front where we were and asked us to pray deliverance prayer. I didn't like this one bit. Deliverance prayer is personal and I don't do it in front of an audience. So I gave the woman a quick blessing and whispered to her that we needed to pray in private after this was over.

When the opportunity lent itself, and the family members had expressed their condolences, Don, Mark, the pastor, and I were able to go into the house with the widow and bless it. I had the woman tell me what was happening in the house. The house itself was small, maybe 20x20, two rooms, built up on cement stilts. The woman proceeded to tell me how a hindu god (a demon) would come at night, manifest at their front door and terrify the family. I was then informed that one night the activity was so horrifying her husband dropped dead of a heart attack.

I asked the woman how she knew it was a hindu demon. She said because her family's fields were blessed by hindus. And her and her husband were hindu followers before they became followers of Jesus a year ago. And that is when the activity started. The four of us proceeded to bless the house and prayed over it in the blood of Christ. We blessed the doorways, the windows and the four corners of the house. We instructed the pastor on how to work with this woman in keeping the spirit from returning.

M16 Ministries gets requests from all over the world. Especially, from areas where witchcraft is prevalent. How do I protect my house from witches next door to me? This is a pretty common question. But that question is a double-edged sword that frequently requires discernment. Either the person requesting help is actually in need of help from a battle with the occult, or the person is in a spiritual battle where they are being deceived into believing they are under attack by the occult.

In any case, it doesn't hurt to simply bless your house! If you are a follower of Jesus you should bless your house often just to make your mansion a pleasing abode for the creator of the universe. Since I am in spiritual warfare I frequently bless my home. Many weary people step through the threshold of my front door and the first thing they always comment on is the peace in the house. We keep the spiritual blessing at a constant setting in our home. Regardless if you are under a spiritual attack or just wanting the peace of Jesus to descend on your home, bless it!

For starters, if your house is a mess and in complete chaos. Clean it! Hey, I have teenagers and my house can look worse that tornado stricken mobile home in seconds. FEMA doesn't cover teenagers, so we train the kids to routinely clean up. If you can't take normal steps down your hallway and you have to leap and jump to open spaces of carpet – it is time to clean your home!

Step One – Clean the House

Step one of house blessing is cleaning and spring (seasonal cleaning). Get rid of stuff you no longer need. Also, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you items you need to get rid of. You may be surprised what turns up. And you may stumble upon an item that spirits are attached too.

You're scratching your head right now and saying, gosh, my problem is paranormal and this doesn't make an ounce of sense. That's because you watch too much reality tv. The stuff on the paranormal shows is all bovine excrement. You are better off getting your advice from Jersey Shores. M16 Ministries is the team that gets called in after the paranormal investigators and demonologists fail. It's all New Age and spiritist mojo that doesn't work!!! If you truly have spiritual activity in your home it is a demon. It is not a ghost or a wraith or some other thing having its roots in spiritist and New Age lore.

Again. Step one – clean your house. Make it pleasing to yourself and the God most high. We're calling in the big guns. The capital-G God and not the lower case g (which are actually demons). Clean house! No psychics, no paranormal team and no paranormal clergy!!! This is a supernatural problem!

If you feel weird in any one room of the house make note of it while you are cleaning everything out. Get an idea of what the spirits are attached to in the house. Make note of it. We're cleaning right now. If you're a follower of Jesus put on some Elijah streams soaking music. Psalm 149, worship is a double-edged sword that puts kings in chains!

5 Let the godly ones exult in glory;
Let them sing for joy on their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,
And a two-edged sword in their hand,
7 To execute vengeance on the nations
And punishment on the peoples,
8 To bind their kings with chains
And their nobles with fetters of iron,
9 To execute on them the judgment written;
This is an honor for all His godly ones.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 149:5-9

This will be the spiritual beating of the battle drums off in the distance. If you're going to war in your house -start the singing and praising! Jesus is going to do something about the situation you are in.

If you are New Age or any other faith or belief and you are stuck in a really tight spot that requires a house blessing. Do the same as I instruct here. Jesus will answer you when you call to him. He wants to reveal to you that he does care about you. Forget the hate speech from your local self-appointed religious experts, they don't speak for him. Jesus is powerful enough to speak on his own behalf. If you are under a spiritual attack – call on him.

Step Two Bless the House

Very important you follow this guideline at this point. No psychics, no paranormal teams, and no paranormal clergy! Now let's proceed.

The paranormal tv shows love to bless a house in the dark. Why??? Do demons sleep during the day? All my battles have carried out during the day. I don't fight on demons time, I fight on my time. I am not at their beck and call. So I kick them out during the day. America has been spoon fed bovine excrement by paranormal tv shows! My team doesn't “Go Dark”, or have “Dead time.” or do EVP sweeps or use spirit boxes. These are all seances. M16 Ministries doesn't do seances we do evictions!

If you go to church, pick a nice Sunday afternoon after church and invite a few church friends over. Preferably, some mature followers of Jesus who won't be afraid of a spirit manifestation. Believe me, I know these people are hard to find. But if you have them at your church, bring them on your team for a praise and worship setting at your house. I strongly recommend it at your house where the battle will take place. If the activity is too intense. Start the praise and worship at your church and then move the party over to your house for the cleansing.

If it is your house that has activity I recommend appointing someone to be a prayer leader at your blessing. Why? Because if a spirit is attached to you, you will unwittingly be steered away from the areas that need blessing. Yes. The spirit will use you as the distraction. A prayer leader will lead the session and you will follow them. You will, however, stand in your spiritual authority with them. Having a prayer leader is also beneficial in the event the spirit manifests in you or one of your family members. This is spiritual warfare and stuff happens! Never ever bless your own home alone if it is a spiritual war zone.

Pick up some anointing oil. If you don't have some, just buy some olive oil and have your team pray over it and bless it. I recommend that you turn on spiritual music at this time too. Let it play low as background music.

If it is your house you must stand in your spiritual authority. Pray over and bless the people on your team. If you have a prayer warrior, have them pray and bless the team members for protection. If you know someone who is operating in the gifts of the spirit have them prophetically speak over your team.

Now you are ready for battle. Start in the front room of the house where the front entrance to the house is. Step outside to face the threshold of the front door and pray over the front door. I like using the method Moses described in Exodus 12, for anointing doorways. 

7 Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it.Exodus 12:7

We wont be applying lambs blood, remember Jesus was the final sacrifice. We will apply dabs of olive oil onto the doorframe. At the top of the door frame I draw a small cross with my finger dipped in olive oil. The two side frames I swipe with olive oil like the Hebrews did on their door jams.

Front Door Blessing Prayer:

1 Holy Spirit we turn this house over to you.
2 We invite you into this house and we pray over this house with the blood of Jesus Christ.
3 I bind darkness from entering this door.
4 Only the light of Jesus Christ may enter.
5 We expel the enemy from this house in the name of Jesus.

In the front room, declare your victory over the spirits. Read Revelation 20:7-10. You will start in the front room and systematically move through the entire house. Evil spirits that claim Jesus is a myth seem to always go berserk over that scripture. Inside the house, in the first room, read Psalm 91.

Bless all doors inside the house, including closets and basement doors too. Bless all the windows and the attic and the basement. Move slowly through the house and let the Holy Spirit guide you. When the Holy Spirit is with you, there is a supernatural protection you can feel. It literally is a tangible feeling You must not give in to fear and unbelief which is a weapon of the enemy.

Blessing doors:

1 I bind darkness from entering this door.
2 Only the light of Jesus Christ may enter.
3 We expel the enemy from this house in the name of Jesus.

Blessing windows:

1 I bind darkness from entering this window.
2 Only the light of Jesus Christ may enter.
3 We expel the enemy from this house in the name of Jesus. Bless the property line. Walk your property line and anoint the fence on the four corners of the compass. Take your anointing oil and draw a cross with your finger on the four compass corners of your land. Read Joshua 6:1-6 in the Bible about tearing down strongholds.
I have kept the prayers pretty simple for people trying to bless their own homes. Be slow and methodical and pray through each room. Take time in each room and listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling you.

Step 3 Dealing with Manifestations

Now what happens when the magic show starts? You hear a growl, clawing, or a chair slides across the floor in front of you. You got the spirit's attention. It is fighting back using fear. When objects move shut it down immediately.

“I bind you from moving my stuff. I own this property and I own this house and I demand you leave now and go where the Holy Spirit tells you to go! In the name of Jesus Christ!”

Whatever you do -don't play exorcist. I have seen too many times in the middle of my deliverance sessions where a spouse decides to jump in and help me. It's always a binder with exorcist prayers and it is nothing more than a distraction when it is read by the untrained! No exorcism. Period!

The battle is all about you no longer fearing the unclean spirit. You have the authority over evil spirits handed to you by Jesus Christ and his work on the cross.

Read Luke 10:17-29

I have been in numerous situations where I confronted the spirit based on the intel the Holy Spirit was telling me. I was in a house where a psychic woman was channeling legion. She was not Christian, of another faith, and a foreign national. She had no idea what legion was other than it was making her life a living hell. Yet, she didn't want to part with it because it gave her psychic abilities. Be aware of these things too when blessing a house. And don't ever cast demons out of a person that doesn't want them gone.

Read Matthew 12:45.

This is where my wife and I have to come in and clean up after paranormal investigators because they casted demons out of people who weren't willing to have their demons cast out. Yes, there are people who want their demons and yet can't figure out why they're in torment. Anyhow, while my wife and I were working with the psychic, I heard from the Holy Spirit, the spiritual portal was upstairs in an empty bedroom's closet. So I walked up there and sat down, indian style on the carpet, in that room and stared at the closet and prayed in the language of the Holy Spirit. The spirits didn't touch me. The oppression was so thick in that room you could have cut it with a knife. The spirits didn't try to do anything to me other than they wanted me out of the room. The woman manifested downstairs with my wife and the psychic let out a scream. I have encountered legion numerous times and they know that I know they're fallen angels. I also know they must obey God.

Philippians 2:8-10

I don't do anything stupid during warfare. I know how to listen to the Holy Spirit during battle. The point to get across here is that demons are not a ying and yang thing with God. Demons are not the evil equal to God. God is omnipotent and powerful. Demons are creations of God and they have powers, but they're limited. When you understand this in battle, it makes all the difference in the world.

Now if a person manifests during the prayer session, it is an attempt by the spirit to shutdown the prayer walk. It means your efforts are working and the spirits are trying to stop you from finishing. Several things are now possible when a manifestation occurs. One, the spirit feels they have a legal right to the family for some strange reason. It could be they have freemason or witchcraft in their background. Those are examples. We don't know. The prayer leader must discern if the spirit attacks are focused on one family member. If they are there is an attachment that must be broken. This is difficult because now we are dealing with past sins that must be addressed and we're talking about deliverance prayer session which is different from a house blessing. I use prophetic ministry when I work with people. That is the Holy Spirit reveals the sin that the spirit has attached too. Wait a minute Michael! Did I just read that correctly. Yes. You did and this is why the paranormal clergy is ineffective. When we use prophetic ministry the Holy Spirit will reveal the sin that is causing the familiar spirit to attach to the victim. We can go for sessions with an individual lying to us and finally admit the sin that was revealed was in fact correct. Deliverance is a whole other topic. But if you have a familiar spirit attaching itself to a family member this is what is going on. If you have never dealt with a demonic manifestation before just order it to shutdown.

Speak the person's name and order them to come up. For example, “Sarah. Sarah listen to me. I am speaking to Sarah. I order her in the name of Jesus Christ to come back up. I bind you unclean spirit and I order you to stop manifesting. I bind you. Release Sarah. In the name of Jesus!” This is how to shutdown the manifestation. Now you know there is a spiritual attachment to the person for some strange reason. I give more detail on how to deal with manifestations in my book, A Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare.

Don't prolong the battle if you don't know what you're doing. It only makes things worse for the person under attack. You break the yoke of sin off the person and then you cast the demon out. The demonic rights must be revoked or else it won't leave!

Now keep in mind too, this is different from children seeing spirits. Many children have the gift of discernment and spirits try to use this to attach a spirit of fear on the kids at a very young age. Paranormal tv calls these kids psychic kids. THEY ARE NOT!! They are operating with a discerning gift from God that must be redeemed. This is a different style of work we do when kids have this gift from God.

There are lots of factors involved in a house blessing with spirit activity. It may take more than one battle. If this occurs, move the kids and the pets out of the house. There is victory in these battles. The spirits theater of operation is to convince you that you can't win.

God always does amazing things in this battle. Let him battle his enemies!

I hope this information blesses you. Again, Jesus helps everyone who is in torment. If you don't believe in Jesus and you are under spiritual attack, just find a place of peace and reach out to him. There is a spiritual war going on and it is very real.

Download our House Cleansing Prayer Guide pdf

Battling the Occult

M16 Ministries receives a lot of e-mails requesting help on how to battle witchcraft. Witchcraft is one of the most difficult topics on warfare to teach. For one, battling witchcraft comes from experience. I would say this is one of those subjects that is caught and not taught. It's not so much the battle with witchcraft itself as it is working with misinformed Christians. Many times our ministry is approached by people who are in a panic and are not standing in their own spiritual authority. One of the biggest issues we deal with is determining whether there is actually a threat at all from witchcraft. Our ministry deals a lot with another subject of deliverance, called demonic obsession. This is when a person is diabolically oppressed with obsessive thoughts. In the case of demonic obsession and witchcraft, the oppressed person believes everyone around them is a witch. Through their eyes, everyone in their town is secretly a member of a coven. The ministry call always has the person requesting help and in a panic. "They're every where and their after me. They come into my apartment when I am not home..". The demonic obsession is real but it is in the form of obsessing they are under attack by a covert coven of witches, singling them out for their attacks. Working with these people involves having them wake up from their demonic lie. Some do and some don't.

Now what do we do when we establish the threat is real? First of all. Our ministry doesn't go running into a gun fight. If we establish an individual is under an attack from witchcraft we pray and talk to the Father for direction. God may give us revelation on what is going on in this situation. Perhaps this individual still is yoked to witchcraft through their past involvement with the occult or a soul tie to a witch. The yoke must be broken, and during this time you must assess if the individual is sincere about being saved from the attacks. We have worked with individuals who would rather be attacked because it brings them their identity or notoriety or attention they are seeking. Be careful of running into a fight with witchcraft. Look at the individual asking for your help.

Never ever launch an attack against witchcraft. Pray to the Father for understanding and to see if you are released into helping this person. You won't always get a yes. During this time have you and your prayer team pray to the Holy Spirit for a hedge of protection around the individual.

In fights we were called in to, I have noticed during this time of waiting and praying, true diabolic attacks or spirits show up at our doorstep looking for a fight. Again, we didn't run in and start a bar fight. This is during the time we are waiting and praying to the Lord. The spirit realm knows something is up and comes to you to investigate or to act like a gang banger to scare you off. Now you know you have a real threat with witchcraft. In all the battles with witchcraft my team has been in we have been called into the fight by simply praying for revelation and protection for the individual seeking our help. This takes experience. And I highly recommend you stay away from all prayers where you are “binding princes in heavenly places”. I never pray that prayer but inexperienced prayer warriors do.

There is no methodology in battling witchcraft. It is a Holy Spiritual lifestyle and standing in your spiritual authority. During this time we work with people to stand in their own authority. Yes. We make them fight the battle. If they don't want to stand in their own authority they are turning their dominion over to Satan and I don't recommend working with these people until they're ready to be a mature Christian. Second, the demons bypass this individual as already being conquered and come after you and your team. Many times we are working with an individual in raising their own bar in faith and authority. If there is no progress, and many times it is baby steps, break off working with the individual. In these fights I am talking about working with Christians. My wife and I have gone out and worked with non-Christians, 50% of the time, when the person sees for themselves signs and wonders in an attack they don't need much more proof to ask Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. But we have the other 50% who don't want to accept Jesus. It happens. We work with them on what they're options are. They're not a lot. Demons come back multiple fold when the house is left unclean. Sadly, after a few sessions we'll stop working with these people.

Battling witchcraft itself is praying and having a conversation with the Father. It's the Father's will be done in these battles. Many times people are surprised I am not always having discussions about warfare with Jesus. It's about your relationship with Jesus. I will fast during these battles to go deeper with Jesus in prayer life. And at the same time, as I said, pray that His will be done in this situation.

Why do I do this? Because Jesus fights witchcraft his way. The spirit was poured out on all of us. Including the person practicing witchcraft. He doesn't want this individual facing eternal separation from him. I have no clue how Jesus will fight a battle either.

Witchcraft uses spirit realms and dreams for their battles. On several occasions, Jesus has used these factors in warfare. God will use dream warfare quite often when dealing with witchcraft. I don't understand why.

Ok Mike, give us an example. Alright, ...just remember you asked!

In November of 2007 my home church was involved in a large church planting in Ethiopia. Our senior pastor at that time took a team to Ethiopia and held a conference to equip pastors in that region. A few weeks later, a couple of days after Christmas, one of these equipped Ethiopian pastors went back to his village and had a power encounter with the local witch doctor. Witch doctors have powers and are feared. The threat here is real. Don't let your western civilization way of thinking tell you other wise. The Ethiopian pastor drove the demons out of the witch doctor and all the village saw it. The result of the power encounter was the entire village then accepted Jesus – the one who defeated the witch doctor. This was big news in this part of Ethiopia.

During this time, witch doctor's in other villages heard too and put out the spiritual hit. Retribution was building a special ops force in the spirit realm to retaliate. In this, one of the responsible parties was my home church for sending our pastor to equip Ethiopian pastors. The hit was out on the streets so to speak.

One night, somewhere in the week after Christmas and a day or two before New Years eve, I was a sleep in my bed. I was in a deep sleep and all of a sudden I found myself standing in a swamp looking at a small shack. I entered the small shack and saw a woman, about 65 years old, standing next to a large cauldron. There were lots of candles lighting the shack. The woman was stirring the cauldron, and I distinctly remember, she was startled by my presence as she saw me walk into the door of her shack. Kind of like, “What are you doing here?” She gave me a sinister smile and I walked over to see what she was doing. I looked down in the cauldron. I could see she was stirring a black mirky boiling broth. I could see bones boil up as she stirred. I noticed the bones started manifesting flesh as she stirred. One skeleton formed into a large man that stepped out of the cauldron and came after me. It was a tall, big man. I decided it was time to exit -stage right!

I left the room and the man caught me. He wasn't human, he was a demon. He grabbed my right arm and forced me to the floor to bow to him. Like vin Diesel's character Riddick, “I bow to no man!”. Or in this case, to “no false god!”. The demon forced me to my knees by crushing my right hand. I fought to keep from kneeling. The demon took out a knife and proceeded to cut into, I believe it was, my right pointing finger. I felt the pain. It was real. As I struggled I heard the Holy Spirit tell me to say, “I know where you are. You're in Louisiana!” At that moment I was thrown out of the dream warfare and woke up with one of those gasps for air that accompanies a nightmare. Only this wasn't a nightmare. There was a huge adrenaline rush and a feeling of something wasn't right about what just happened.

The next morning I woke up with a weird buzzing in my head. I didn't realize it yet. But I got hexed by the witch in HER dream. It took me years of warfare and studying Christian dream interpretation to figure out it was HER dream. Hey, remember you asked!

With my mind buzzing, I did my morning routine and sat down and checked my e-mails. One e-mail caught my attention right away. It was from my senior pastor. He shared in his e-mail the testimony I shared earlier on the power encounter with the witch doctor. My senior pastor called for a fast and a special prayer meeting later this evening. As I read the e-mail, I remember hearing the Holy Spirit telling me, “You did it. You averted the attack (on your church)”. In the cauldron were the demons summoned for our church. It's interesting to look back in retrospect and see that at this time I didn't think the Holy Spirit was talking to me. And now I know all along he was there with me the whole time.

During the day the buzzing became worse and words in my mind became an obsessive disorder. It was extremely irritating. Then I heard the Holy Spirit tell me to go to the church prayer meeting tonight. This is hard to explain. But I am following the Holy Spirit's direction thinking it's my own thoughts. Later, as you work in prophetic ministry you learn the still quiet voice is the Holy Spirit.

It seemed like forever for 7:00 PM to roll around for the prayer meeting. All I wanted was this rattling out of my head. For some reason I felt the prayer meeting was the key (Holy Spirit at work here...).

When I entered the sanctuary I was surprised to find only about 7 people in attendance of this meeting to glorify God for the work done in Ethiopia. It was the senior pastor, his wife, the church accountant and his wife, one other woman, myself, and the pastoral care pastor. The pastoral care pastor lead the prayer session and he had us go to the altar of God and confess our sins. At this time I was eager to do anything. Can you tell I am a bit green in spiritual warfare in this stage of my life? I approached the altar and soul searched for the sins I needed to confess. Just me and God. I wanted to be honest with God about what I wanted to confess. Then the sins came to me I needed to repent for. I remember weeping and all of a sudden, I realized the witches mojo was GONE!!!!

The people in attendance had no idea what had just happened. I was elated and emotional and it was a side of me they had never seen before in church. I think they were even more curious to figure out why I chose to come at all to the meeting. Yep. God was really working on me during this time. I wasn't the man He needed me to be. But the Holy Spirit was working on me!

I use this as an example of how God battles witchcraft. If God is in the fight you are triumphant every time. Because of my spirit realm dream warfare battles I have experienced I no longer put God in a box . I give him free reign to do it His way!

If any of you send me an e-mail to teach you about dream warfare I will reach through your display you are reading this on and slap you silly. God handles everything His way. And that's what you must keep in mind during these battles. Above all, make sure God is in the fight with you. Witchcraft packs a nasty bite when you are operating outside the covering of God. And never ever go looking for a fight with witchcraft. Yes. Witchcraft is there. It's been there since the dawn of man. Let God deal with it.

More information on spiritual warfare can be found in our book,
 A Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare - the Power to PULL the IMPOSSIBLE from the HEAVENLY REALMS.

Blessings

Rev. Mike