© Copyright 2007 by Phil Scovell - All Rights Reserved
2
Demons Working On Christmas Day
By Phil Scovell
During an hour intercessory prayer session with Bret, my prayer
partner, I experienced a great deal of emotional healing. It was one
of the most powerful times I have ever experienced with the Lord in
prayer and many exciting things occurred.
Two days later, on Christmas day, I awakened from having a
nightmare. I dreamed I was sleeping in a house I had never been in.
I was alone. I heard a window break and was instantly awake. I could
hear someone moving around in another room of this unfamiliar house.
Getting up, I left the house and got some help and returned. I do not
know who came back to the house with me in my dream but it was someone
I knew because I could feel that much. We entered the house and began
searching each room together. We finally found the room with the
broken window. Yet, nothing in the house had been stolen.
I awakened from this dream, which I refer to as a nightmare,
because my heart was pounding and I was breathing heavily. Plus, I
felt strong raw fear that bordered on panic. However, I was able to
calm down and even go back to sleep within a few minutes. After all,
it was just a dream, right?
When I got up that morning, I didn't feel well. I felt somewhat
disturbed by the dream but I felt more nervous and anxious about
something and I could not determine the reason for this uneasiness.
The anxiety continued to build throughout the morning hours and I felt
tightness in my chest. It even seemed as if I could physically feel
my heart. At my age, you think about heart attacks but you don't talk
about them. It is like the time I visited my sister and her family
when they were living in San Francisco. I asked her if anybody ever
talked about earthquakes. I asked because I was thinking about it
every day we were there. She said, "Well, we think about them but
nobody talks about them." I didn't really think I was having a heart
attack Christmas day but one thing I knew for certain and that was the
fear level was rising and I didn't seem to be able to figure out why
even when I prayed.
Walking into the kitchen just before noon, I got a drink of
water. As I drank, I felt my entire chest flush with a tingling
sensation. Fear instantly jumped off the scale. I had experience
that feeling many times before in years past. In my thoughts, "I
heard, "I'm not going to make it. It is all going to come back."
This may have been in reference to anxiety and panic attacks and
nightmares and demonic attacks I had experienced many months earlier.
I had a feeling, however, that it was that and much more, including
all the Lord had done two days earlier when praying with one of my
intercessory partners.
I sat my glass down on the counter top and turned to leave the
kitchen. As I turned, I said to the Lord, "Where is this coming from
because I am healed from that and I am not going back." Instantly I
knew what was wrong and the source.
I want you to read again what I heard in my mind or in my
thoughts before I explain further. Here it is again. "I'm not going
to make it. It is all going to come back." Since it was in the first
person, I logically assumed these were my own thoughts. I also want
to point out that the raw fear I felt, which had already started
earlier in the day, if not actually during the night, rose instantly
to a high level of anxiety at the same time the words were heard in my
mind. I honestly thought I was one step away from going into a full
blown anxiety attack. Please note that I keep saying this was all a
feeling I was having; I cannot stress that enough. You will
understand why later.
As I said, after sitting my glass down, I turned from the sink
and was prepared to walk out of the kitchen. This is the very moment
I prayed in my mind and asked the Lord where this was coming from,
that is, what is its origin. It was such a sudden and powerful
response in my spirit, it almost felt like a physical blow to my body.
By that I mean, I thought I had been physically struck and almost took
a step backwards to regain my balance. The awareness of the answer to
my prayer was all there was time for, apparently, because I had no
impression, that I could recognize, or any thoughts in mind but one.
It was not a physical or emotional attack; it was demonic. I almost
laughed out loud. Why hadn't I seen it before? I knew why; because
it was a demonic attack from the Enemy and a spiritual test by God.
The Lord was showing me that I was beyond a certain point in my walk
with Him and what He had said to me in prayer two days earlier was His
truth for me to live by. That is, the area of my life where I had
experienced a spiritual renewal was a place He had promised I would
not be returning to because He, God, said it was so.
The split second I realized the truth of what was happening, the
fear and anxiety immediately began to dissipate. Why? What I had
thought I had spoken in my thoughts was not me speaking but a demonic
presence speaking lies. I have had this same thing happen a couple of
times before over the years, that is, a demon speaking into my
thoughts using the first person. It is almost always preceded by fear
or some other negative emotion such as anger, rage, guilt, or pride.
If it doesn't precede the thought, it instantly follows. Again, why?
Demons have feelings, too, and they are not emotionless creatures.
Remember, they were once angelic beings ministering in the presence of
the Creator God. Now they have no glory of their own. They sinned
against God and were cast from Heaven; the brightest and holiest spot
in God's Kingdom. Now they have nothing but evil and unholiness as
their covering. They are doomed and without hope. They are going to
burn forever, along with all those who reject Christ, and they will
never be released from hell. Their purpose? It is the same as their
master; to kill, steal, and to destroy. Their father, Satan, is the
father of all lies and Jesus the Christ confirmed it, (John 8:44). In
short, they never tell the truth unless forced to do so by the Chief
Shepherd; the True Lord Jesus Christ or when instructed to do so by
the Lord God's servants under the direction of the Holy Spirit. This
means that they will use anything to try and fool even a Christian
into believing a lie.
In my case, they used fear, which was jumped started by the
nightmare I had, and confusion about events going on in my own life at
the time. They also used another unholy device in the art of
deception and used the presence of their own evil feelings to place on
me in order to make me think I was going to have an anxiety attack.
This was their way of distracting me. At that moment, they took the
opportunity to try and implant their thoughts into mine which was by
speaking in the first person, "I'm not going to make it. It is all
going to come back."
When I said, "I have been healed of this," it was not the first
time I had said it during those morning hours. Satan also did not
leave our Lord the first time Jesus told him to as well. If you doubt
this, read the account of the forty days of temptation Jesus went
through as recorded in the Gospel of Luke. (See Luke 4:1-13). In
Luke's account, Jesus told Satan to get behind him but Satan did not
obey this first command and continued his assault of temptation for
the balance of the forty days.
Ephesians chapter 6 says we must stand against the wiles of the
devil. It does not say, by the way, that we have to chase the Enemy
down or run and hide, bind or loose, command or demand, threaten or
curse anybody or anything. It says we just have to stand. It even
says we are to stand, above all, taking the shield of faith. Why the
shield of faith? Because, such demonic attacks will bounce off of you
as the Holy Spirit gives you awareness of the nature of the deception
launched at you.
So then what is faith? When I said, more than once that morning,
"I am healed of that and the Lord told me I don't have to go back," it
was my faith speaking. How do I know? Because it was what the Lord
Jesus Christ told me during prayer two days earlier, that is, "We are
leaving this place and not coming back." How did I know that was the
Lord speaking to me? There are two reasons. First, my faith was
given to me by the Author and Finisher of my faith; the True Lord
Jesus Christ, (Hebrews 12:2). Secondly, "Faith comes by hearing and
hearing from the Word of God." The two words rendered "comes by" in
Romans 10:17 which I just quoted, means (it comes out of). If you
doubt this, look it up in any Greek lexicon. Thus, even the
confession of God's Word brings faith to the circumstances we face if
our foundation is solid, that is, what we believe. If we are being
controlled, on the other hand, by lie based thinking through the
implanting of lies into events of our lives, faith will not come
because we have been deceived into believing another word.
In my case, when I was shown by the Holy Spirit what was
happening, that is, it was an attack of the Enemy and a test of the
Lord, the demons fled. Why? Because they had no right to stay. What
they were trying to do is to gain a foothold once again concerning
issues in my life which the Lord had resolved with me, and for me,
just two days earlier. Why did the Lord, if I truly was healed, allow
this attack against me? Because, the Lord was testing me, which
means, He, the Lord, was showing me a very valuable lesson. He was
reminding me that demons will use first person speech and thought to
deceive us into thinking we are the source of such thoughts and that
their lies are true and God's Word should not be believed.
Furthermore, the Lord was showing me they were attempting to fool me
into believing their lies again by using both their own feelings and
thoughts to confuse me into believing a lie.
Something which I think is important to point out in this
experience is that no sin was involved. I had no unconfessed sin to
deal with in my life at that moment. So, this demonic attack was not
due to committed and unconfessed sin. Additionally, this experience
of the demonic oppression was orchestrated by God. How do I know
that? Because, if I had fallen for the lies of the Enemy, it would
have been due to being drawn away by my own lust and enticed. (See
James 1:14). The word for "enticed," is the same word use as bait, as
in to bait a hook to entice a fish to bite. In my situation I have
described, they tried, by trickery, enticement, beguilement,
deception, and even physical deception, to make me think that God's
Word was not really true. "Yea, hath God said," is what the Enemy
said to Eve in the garden. God does not, therefore, tempt us with
something that would cause us to fall.
Many think I place too great an emphasis on the demonic realm.
This often is due to fear Christians have concerning demons. Jesus
said, however, that we are complete in Him, meaning Christ, who is the
head of all principality and power. (See Colossians 2:10).
Furthermore, we, as Believers of His Word, are joint heirs of all the
Lord Jesus Christ has, (Romans 8:16-17). Jesus said all power in
heaven and on earth had been given to him, according to Matthew 28:18,
and since we are joint heirs with Christ, we share in his power and
authority.
It is true I talk about demons and how they operate but we are
told not to allow Satan to get an advantage of us because we are not
ignorant of his devices, (2 Corinthians 2:11). Furthermore, we are
commanded in Ephesians 4:27 not to give place to the devil. The
question is, therefore, are you ignorant of his devices or have you
given place to him?
My ministry, to which the Lord has called me, just so happens to
bring me into contact with the demonics more often than perhaps
others. Regardless, Peter said, Satan walks around as a roaring lion,
seeking those whom he may devour, (1 Peter 5:8). This means you and
this means me; no one is exempt.
I share my personal experiences to help others when the Enemy
attacks and attack he most certainly will. When he does, where will
you stand? Are you aware of his devices? Will you believe his lies
and be fooled by his demons? Will they gain a foothold in your mind
because they distracted you and then implanted their thoughts secretly
into your thoughts? Will you know the difference between their voice
and that of the Holy Spirit? Do you know God's Word well enough to
cut through their evil trickery and unholy schemes with the Sword of
the Spirit? Is your mind renewed so the Enemy has no spiritual right
to come against you and when they do, they bounce harmlessly away?
These are all important questions every Christian must answer lest
Satan gain the advantage.