I know some might think that this topic has nothing to do with Christmas.
In light of all the things that happen as far as discouragement, stress,
worry, anxiety, and concern during this time of year, I think it is very
apropos.  Besides, what you are about to read just happened to me yesterday,
Christmas day, so I think it applies.

Devices Of Demons

                         By Phil Scovell


     During an hour intercessory prayer session with one of my
prayer partners, 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 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 bate, as in to bate 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 of to
fall.

     Many think I place too great an emphasis on the demonic
realm.  Often this 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 he can devour, (1 Peter 5:8).  This
means you.

     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.

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