Earlier that week, one of my prayer partner had suggested we had an overnight that Friday. I had not felt a go-ahead from God though. But I didn’t want to be so rude. Somehow, God confirmed the inner feel. She was set to travel early morning, so we rescheduled to meeting & praying Friday evening until when the Spirit was done with us.
At 9pm, I walked back home, after an amazing ‘high’ in prayer. No sooner had I entered the house when I heard my auntie scream,
“A spirit! It is a spirit, it’s taking me.”
I went to close the gate, and by the time I got back to the house at about 9:30, her voice had risen to a crescendo.
“It’s taking me! IT’S TAKINGGGG ME!”
Now, I was still set ablaze from the altar I was from, and I was curious — ready to shoot any nonsense besetting the peace here.
It was alarming the expression off aunt’s face though. She was staring wide at something invisible at the ceiling cornice. She was yelling and her husband was holding her down — arms round tight. They sat on their bed but she was writhing — trying to escape the bedroom.
Quickly, my cousins began to pray! Panic panic panic! One was calling all the prayer warrior friends her mother knows. The boys held the legs to ease and strengthen Uncle’s grip. Four cousins are from his siblings. Their two daughters were present. I was the only relative from my aunt’s side.
In between her screams, she’d tell those around to pray. She was pale in the face and her eyes were so wide open, that whoever they landed on became dumbfounded. She asked the Bible to be laid on her head! Deep down I knew that wouldn’t help much.
She asked the olive oil that was used for anointing in days past be poured on her lips. I was calm in all this. I proclaimed, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.” She nodded as she wailed.
Then she shouted, “Say it seven times!” I said, “We don’t need to say it all those times. You just need to belie—”
“The Bible says we have to say it 7 TIMES! Do not TWIST what it says.”
My cousins joined in chorus. But I wondered where the Bible says so. I do not blame her. We were all on edge.
At another point she said, “They have come for me from Mombasa. THEY WANT ME DEAD! THEY WANT ME TO RUN MAD. THEY WANT ME DUMB. THEY ARE TAKING MY VOICE!”
I declared, “The enemy that comes against you shall be defeated before your face. They shall come against you in one direction, but they’ll flee seven different ways.”
She was folding her lips inward. I held her jaws commanding, “You will not run mad or dumb. Whatsoever I decree shall be established…”
I forgot that this was an elder. It was time to employ all those Elijah-spirit-is-within-me mantles and the I-have-given-you-all-power-and-authority realities. It was time to put to the test.
By this time, my uncle had left the room. Everything was overwhelming. The spiritual world had never been too close. My aunt was venting many things.
Amidst the tongues, I’d hear the Spirit interpret for me what to say in English: “You trample over snakes and scorpions and ALL power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm you! … You trample upon the adder and the lion … No evil shall befall you!”
I was declaring war with scriptures. She was so shaken. None of us knew what she was seeing, but in between, she could see the room, and then return to where her spirit was. She’d look up again.
“… You trust in the Lord. You’re like Mountain Zion. You cannot be shaken. You endure forever…” I remembered Psalm 112 too. “You shall not be moved. You’re not afraid of evil tidings. Your heart is fixed trusting the Lord.”
“LOUDER. They have sent witchcraft! I’m leaving my body! To Mombasa!”
Her last born said, “But mom you are a powerful prayer warrior! You’re stronger than them.” She was a bit unamused. As if to say she expected her mother to be a level beyond this. (Yes, dear christian! People are watching; and having high expectations of you. You had better surpassed them) …
I declared, “Greater is He that is in you than the devil in the world … Your enemies were already defeated by Jesus. They are disarmed … The battle belongs to God …”
She began closing her eyes falling back!
We had just buried my brother last year. It was just a year past, and I wasn’t ready to bury another family member! I got ANGRY! I told my aunt to stop imagining and empowering death;
“Woman! The Bible says as a man thinks so is He. You’ll see your children’s children! SAY IT!” Her eyes closed, and her children staring, she found strength to say those. I also told her to say it seven times! She did, believing —
I told my spirit. If she’s to die, we’ll resurrect her. After all, didn’t Jesus say one of the signs that’d follow us would be raising the dead — ?
Shortly afterwards, she started apologizing to everyone, and telling us good bye! Then — “I can see heaven! O it’s beautiful. So beautiful.”
I remembered that the remaining battle is at the gates of hell — stopping death from taking our people prematurely. So, ANGRIER, I declared in my spirit: “YOU GATES OF HEAVEN, I COMMAND YOU TO CLOSE. YOU SHALL NOT RECEIVE HER TODAY!” That was an order.
You see, there’s a reason why Abraham was called possessor of heaven and earth in Genesis 14:19. There is a reason why the other Lazarus (in Luke 16), when he died and was in Abraham’s bosom, the rich man who mistreated him told Abraham to send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and place it upon his tongue in the hell fire.
When Abraham said it was impossible, the rich man asked him to send Lazarus to warn his family members about hell being real, but Abraham forebore, saying if they can’t believe the old prophets sent to them, then they would not believe someone from the dead. By the time Abraham is being asked to intervene between the dead and the living, that proves the possession of heaven and earth. And you’re his child if you believe! (Selah)
I then saw Jesus on His throne seated in front the door to my relatives’ bathroom. It was a flash. He was — and the throne — all bright light! I smiled.
Few seconds later, my aunt said, “I SEE JESUS. I SEE JESUS. (Her eyes were still bulged looking at the bulb in the room) He’s hugging me (everyone thought it was time, then she added) but He’s saying it is not yet my time!”
“YES IT’S NOT!” “WHERE DID YOU THINK YOU WERE GOING!” “RETURN ALREADY.” — rang various voices by her daughters and her nieces from her husband’s side.
Ah! (The calm elongated one, not the disgusted one) O to know your God-given authority! Heaven’s gates had indeed closed. And that meant death was suspended.
My aunt prophesied some things in between there telling us what Jesus was telling her. We loved everything, but we all just wanted her to say ‘I have returned to my body.’
“You are more than a conqueror.” I declared. “With long life, God has satisfied you.”I was reminded of Jesus sleeping through the storm and just waking up to say, “Peace be still.” I told auntie to do the same.
One of her daughters was still trying to call up the other ‘prophets or pastors’ in her mother’s phone. I told her to STOP!
“The enemy wants you at unrest.” I told her. “You must learn to fight spiritually on your own. You have all that you need to win on your inside. And that’s the Holy Spirit — God Himself. You just need to be in one accord with us who are present. After all, where two or three are gathered in His name, He’ll be in their midst.”
She put the phone down and began opening the Bible. Good enough she’d seen that many people she was calling were not even picking up. That taught her to equip herself.
I remembered Jehoshaphat from the Bible amidst the tongues again. If the Lord has already won; by faith, then why not put up a praise party. Being Itesots (maternal side), I began singing one of the famous gospel songs from there;
Eyalama Eyalama, Ejok Edeke…
Tikolong engatwana, Ejok Edeke…
The first part translates ‘Thank you Thank you, God is good.’ I hope I got the spelling right. I’m yet to find out what the second part means. Interestingly, I asked her today what it meant. She said, “It means ‘I’d have died if not for the good God.” WOW! An appropriate song in season.
The rest of the children present began clapping their hands, praising God. We sang that over and over again depicting that God had won even before we’d seen it.
“I’m returning to my body. I’m running. Give me water.” My aunt said. She drank and drank and drank.”I’m almost here. Keep singing.”
We repeated. Victory was ours.
About ten minutes later, she was back. Breathing calmly, though confessing weariness. We took her to the sitting room, and served her panadol to numb her mental pain. It was about 11 pm now. We stayed up — I and my gun of the Word ready for any nocturnal nonsense.
There had been suggestions of taking her to a hospital earlier. But the car was taken by their son to work in Jinja, and the neighbors had travelled to Kumi with theirs. We wonder, if the hospital option was taken; and she was given sleeping pills, and knocked out without our intervening. Would she have told us her side of the story? She’d have died.
So we thank God for creating the appropriate atmosphere. He must have seen it all coming. That’s when I realised why I hadn’t been up for the overnight. What if I wasn’t around? I’m not boasting, but surely knowing scripture off head helped a lot. I set the atmosphere for victory and the strategies of peace within the room.
I thank God that His word didn’t fail. My caution to you dear reader, is to fill yourself with His word. The word in memory is better than the word on a shelf Charles Spurgeon said. (paraphrase)
And it’s not SHOUTING that will guarantee your victory. Even a whisper of what you BELIEVE deeply — before you even finish that scripture, trust me, you’d have won.
Africans believe in witchcraft a lot. And even many pastors put up ‘deliverance services’. But why is it that some never get delivered. One time, with this same aunt, I brought up that conversation. I asked her, “Do you know the scripture that says ‘who the son sets free is free INDEED?'”
She said yes. Then I asked. “Free from WHAT?”
When I went deeper to exegete that we are freed from ‘witchcraft bondages’, and generational curses, she failed to believe that it’d be that easy. But it is … It is that EASY my friend. You just have to believe it! Knowing His word will ‘deliver you.’ You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.
You must continually store up His word in you. Do not be like those students who when an aptitude test is announced, they begin to fumble. You must take His word as daily bread — not panic bread, or emergency bread. It has to be for life. Something that’s part of you. For in moments like these, you won’t have the luxury to flip where it is written. It’ll be time to flip where it is stored!
Believe the littlest and most seemingly cynical statement that His word says. It’s not reading the verse ‘we’ll raise the dead’ at that point that your faith will come. When I personally first heard that, it was shocking; but over the years, hearing that again and again, plus many testimonies of believers and preachers around the world declaring the same, my faith of that GREW. My confidence of it burgeoned.
It’s not that we do not believe God’s word. It’s not that the witchcraft is stronger than God. We are just not confident! We are just not confident that He’s not a man that He should lie. We are more confident of the witchcraft because we’ve heard more about it than God’s awesomeness. Even those that testify in some churches tend to shed more light and accord more power to it than God. Therefore, we meditate upon it more than God’s ability to do.
O how we must guard our hearts. How we must prove Him o’er and o’er. That our confidence of Him overflows! And that work won’t be done by your pastor, or your cell group members, or your prayerful mother, or your reverend father but by you.
But for this night — my biggest take away — was the sovereignty and authority of God’s word. He said He exalted His word above His name. Meaning, He’s really, really a man of His word. If you declare that no weapon formed against you can prosper, and you believe it in your heart, you empower that word to fight for you. Even a verse like ‘Jesus wept’ He has exalted above His name.
It’s the ultimate weapon this Word. It’s a sword according to Ephesians. And what other weapon do you find common in days of yore!
Anyhow, my aunt finally slept at about 11:45pm. The rest of us stayed up, shifting mattresses to sleep around her. At about 1am, I had my supper.
At 2, I slept off. It was done. It was finished. God won again! Thanks be to Him who always causes us to triumph in His name. He can be trusted. He created the angel that turned into Lucifer. He is far mightier than Lucifer and his minions, and yet, He’s on our side. He’s on your side! So who can be against you? Who?
Know Him more. Trust Him more. Be confident of Him more!
Biggie's Big Blogs 
The earth and heavens may pass away but His word will remain🙌🙌🙌
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YES! YES! YESSSSS!
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