Spiritual Weight: The Bad

In the last week of doing street ministry, we've begun seeing a new thing.  During prayer, some people will experience a 'heaviness' in the injured part of their body just prior to full healing.  This heavy sensation comes after pain leaves, but before strength and range of motion are totally restored. This past Friday, I was praying for a young man with wrist pain and after awhile this heaviness just came into his wrist.  I had his hand in my hands, and it was so tangible.  It left after a little while--it wasn't from God.

"To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified."                Isaiah 61:3

This is what Jesus does.  He takes away heaviness, He takes away our sadness.  He casts out anything not for His purposes.  He turns our oppression into a joyful procession.  From Him is the authority, and to Him is the Glory.

"For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."    Matthew 11:30

If there is a heaviness oppressing us, then it is not of God.  It is inherently against Him, and it is also usually against us.  But Jesus paid the price to overcome these things.  If we seek Him, He will also overcome them in our own lives.

If heaviness comes onto you, it's the manifestation of something that is already there.  It's the manifestation of a spirit that is not of God.  It may have just arrived, or it may be ready to leave.  If it comes, cast it out!  If it is leaving, close any open doors, especially doubt, through which it might try to return.  Close them through repentance and submission to God.  Be filled with the Spirit, and put on the armor of light.  Nothing can stand in the way of these things!  Nothing can separate us from God's love, and nothing can truly steal away His promises.

Deliverance comes when someone yields themselves to the truth.  If we are gathered in His name, than anything with another name will scatter (Matthew 12:30).  This is what we've seen in street ministry.  That's when He sends His word and heals them (Psalms 107:20).  That's when unclean spirits leave people --when God comes in and does the work.  He wants to give us all the garment of praise.  He wants to give us a light yoke, and impress onto us a lightness in our life.

Dream: Spirit of Doubt

About a week ago, I had some bad dreams. In these dreams, I discovered I had cancer in my brain. The tumor was the left side of my forehead. In the dream, I was confused about why God allowed me to get cancer. I felt let down and didn't understand why this has happened to me. This was particularly sad for me because I've really trusted God for my health in the past.

I woke up from the dream a few times, with a throbbing headache on the top left corner of my forehead. Right where this imagined cancer had been...after waking up a few times, I finally realized what was happening. Everything began the night before, when there was a lot of talk about people who had cancer, holistic cures for cancer, etc. These ideas manifested in my cancer dream, and a tangible headache!

In thinking so much about cancer, I opened myself up to a false manifestation of it. I find that physical symptoms follow spiritual battle. The tangible, physical patterns we observe are usually only effects of an unseen spiritual battle. In this case, the ideas I'd let in prior developed into tangible pain.

So I began to pray. Often just thinking, "Jesus", is enough to have Him heal me. I did this twice, and the pain eased, then came back, twice. So, I said the same thing out loud. This seems to be more effective. The Lord can discern our thoughts, but adversarial forces cannot. So I believe it benefits us to have the enemy hear us call upon the Lord.

I fell asleep again, free from pain. Praise God! However, bad dreams resumed and when I woke up for good, the headache was back. I got anxious and began praying pretty blindly. The Lord halted me, and told me to what to say. He told me to command a "spirit of doubt" to leave. I did so verbally, and the pain left for good. I instantly felt a force lift off me. I was opened up to God's love! Truly, the burden Jesus gives us is light.

In hindsight, doubt is a very dangerous thing. I went wrong in fearing the power and prevalence of cancer today. By thinking of things like this, my faith was hurt and I began to doubt the unconditional promises of God. His WORD is greater than cancer. His name is the name above all names, and when I began to doubt this I got into trouble. Praise God that the blood of His Son keeps us free from oppression! Sometimes, though, we need to pray against the enemy as God directs us. We also need to stay transformed, with renewed minds. Seeds of doubt and fear can be sown even through ordinary conversations. This is why God wants us to guard our speech and stay sanctified. Let's be pure, just as He is pure!