So much has happened since I
last wrote, but today I have a real story for you. I won't apologise
for the content. If you're not a Christian, you're probably not gonna like it -
it's all God and God's power in THIS post so sit back for a ride like no other.......
I have a very dear friend (Im calling her “A” here and I have
her permission to share this story). “A” and I got back in touch about 6 months
ago after ten years of not seeing each other. Our friendship picked up where it
had let off, only in the interim “A” had developed a
love for alcohol. Ok, it wasn't just a love; she was well and truly
addicted to it.
A couple years ago, she and God had a conversation where He
warned her that she needed to stop drinking bc if she didn't it would become a
major problem She told her partner at the time what God had said and
he went out and bought her top shelf gift-wrapped scotch each day for
the next two weeks. I dunno wot prompted him to do this. He isn't a
believer, and my only thing is that he liked her drunk bc there were certain
things he could get out of her then. Supportive partner! Not!
Well,
the long and short of it is that my dear friend ended up with a pretty severe
addiction to alcohol to the point that her body was starting to break down. It
was so scary. Since we met up again I have seen her
drunk but functional and also well and truly smashed. It's
been heart breaking to see and my brother and I have done all we
could to support her. She herself doesn't want to drink anymore but her body
needs it. If she doesn't drink at least every hour, her body stands a very good
chance of going into seizures and she could possibly die.
I spent a night with her in emergency after one such seizure - the doctors got real with us about the damage that alcohol had done to her body. I won't tell you everything here, but needless to say, it was a massive eye opener for this teetotaller. It actually scared me - the fact that “A” could be that sick from only a couple years, if that, of alcohol consumption when there are people out there who drink for years and don't have the same health issues associated with alcoholism.
I was more determined than ever after that to help “A” get off
the drink. Just before and after Christmas, she attempted three times to do
at-home detox (using Vallium which is the only way to do it without seizures
but unfortunately wasn't successful. In the end she made the decision to
go to a facility to detox. I was so so proud of her bc having been addicted to
self injury in my past, I know the power of addiction. It takes great
courage to admit you have a problem and then to take steps to overcome it. I can't begin to tell you how proud I have been of her.
Well,
she was due to go into the facility on Tuesday morning. So on Monday night - the night before “A”'s
admission, we had a BBQ tea at her friends' (let’s call them “X”&”Y”)
place. Apart from “A” and myself, “A”'s parents and her little 21 month old boy
(“B”), and “X”&”Y”'s son and daughter-in-law were there. It was an
absolutely lovely relaxing evening for me personally and I thoroughly enjoyed
getting to know them all better. However for A it was fraught with anxieties
over what the next day held.
The poor girl was going through all kinds of anxiety as she
faced a future without alcohol. She was dealing with the fear of
giving up an addiction that had been her whole life.
How
on earth would her body withdraw from it without killing her? (She has been in
serious danger of possible death due to withdrawals in the past).
How
could she possibly deal with the demons, thoughts and memories in her head
without the drink to quiet them?
What could she use to replace this coping
mechanism?
How on earth would she cope without it near
her as her safety net?
I
can relate to her anxieties bc I went through similar when I eventually gave up
my 'friend' self injury. (Yeah, I know it's not the same, but it nearly is - still an addiction
to something unhealthy and the same reasons behind it all). And we both used our addictions in the same way - to cope with incredibly painful thoughts and emotions.
It really was a lovely night of relationship building, but after
everyone else had gone home and it was just “X”&”Y”, “A” and me left, we
decided to go inside and pray about “A”’s admission in the morning before I
left for home. We went into the lounge room and “A” and I sat together on the
lounge, with “X”&”Y” next to “A” on the floor. “X”&”Y” prayed first
while we all laid hands on “A” - meaning, I was holding her arm and the others
rested their hands on her hand and shoulder.
Then, “A” asked if she could pray. Ummm, of *course*!
No, I understand why she asked. It was massive deal as she felt she could never pray out loud with others. And “A” hadn't
prayed out loud with anyone for a long time (except for a one off with
me). So I knew her reluctance and that made me even more excited that she
*wanted* to pray out loud. We encouraged her to say whatever was on her heart.
It was one of the most beautiful prayers I'd ever heard. Heartfelt,
deep, personal, sincere and so humble. She got so
honest with God, telling him everything. She apologised to her God, she
asked him to change her heart, she cried out to him. It was truly
beautiful and it was....wow! After that, I think
the three of us others were all crying, I know I was. And then I prayed.
I
don't remember everything that we prayed, all I
know is that all of a sudden “A”’s back arched up and she was flung to the
floor. At first I thought that she was so moved by the Holy Spirit – given her
prayer but I was soon to recognize tho, it was
a completely different kind of spirit that was in da house!
Suddenly, I realised we
were well and truly in the middle of a battle between heaven and hell.
I remember the many many discussions I've had with my spiritual
parents about spiritual warfare. I have sat at their feet and fired off
question after question learning and trying to understand this kind of
ministry. I have learnt over the years to pray certain things for
protection and stuff. Im now so thankful for these talks bc I felt a little
more armed than I might have previously been. Neil T Anderson also has a couple
of awesome books that I read years ago that are wonderful for this kind of
ministry and added to my knowledge base immensely (one of the ‘The Bondage
Breaker’).
For
example:
One
thing I have learnt is that the most powerful things you can say to a demon or
even the devil is Jesus' name and Jesus' blood. They HATE that. So over and
over and over again we prayed Jesus over “A”. We prayed for a
covering of his life-giving blood over “A”, over “X”&”Y” and over me. That
His blood would cover all our homes and the ppl we love. To pray Jesus' blood over somebody is something that will
get them scurrying for the darkest of corners. And I saw the proof of this
countless times over in that two hours that we prayed.
Much of what happened throughout that prayer session is a blur. But I do remember some things. I remember the look of that demon as it stared out of “A”'s beautiful eyes at me. The look of absolute hate as it spat its tirade in my face. We just prayed all the harder. Every time we prayed that Jesus blood would cover “A”, the spirit of alcoholism wud scream out "Noooooooo" and would violently jerk my friend's body. So then we would bind it in Jesus' name and “A”'s body would calm down. As we watched her relax, the evil demon would leave her features and we could see her come to the fore. She would plead with her eyes and barely manage to whisper "What is happening to me?" We would try to tell her that it was gonna be ok, we were praying for her and God was here. We would say that alcohol wasn't gonna win and then her body would tense up again and we would hear the demon using her mouth to scream at us again. Every time we rebuked it, it played havoc with A's body, throwing her around the floor, tossing and turning her at random. Giving her the utmost pain in her abdomen.
"She is miiiiiiiiiiine!"
"No, she *isn't*. She is God's daughter and she is
covered by the life giving blood of Jesus who died just for her. You
have NO power here."
"Noooooooooooooooo. I’ll kill her first"
All the while, “A” was either writhing around
on the floor or was physically trying to jump up and leave. Thank goodness for “X”'s
strength bc us girls couldn't have held her down. we prayed that he
be bound, that his mouth be shut up and he would suddenly go quiet and we just kept proclaiming the promises of God over “A”,
no matter what that spirit would try to do.
There was a very distinct difference between the face of my beautiful
friend and the face of the demon spirit even though he used her. “A”'s face was
gentle, relaxed, pained and crying. Her eyes were begging and pleading for the
pain to stop. She was very questioning while also looking so frightened.
The demon Alcoholism had an almost triangular face. I really
don't know how he managed to contort her face into the shape it was bc it
wasn't her face - and yet it was, if u know what I mean. All I can remember
were small eyes and gritted bared teeth and a red red face when it was the
demon. There was a hardness to its eyes. It definitely wasn't my
friend.
At one point I remember wondering to myself how on earth were we
gonna get rid of this damn spirit but no matter how long it took, we were there
for the long haul. And then it popped into my head (or rather God spoke to me).
We had to get “A” to speak it out herself. That was the only way. We could pray
over her as much as we liked but that demon wouldn't leave her until she spoke
out with her own voice that she wanted Jesus and that she belonged to him.
I prayed and asked “A” to say the name "Jesus". She
tried. She tried so so hard but no voice would come. That's when we knew that
the demon had left her abdomen (where it had already caused physical
damage) and was now up in her throat. I could, in the Spirit, see it holding
onto her vocal chords stopping her from speaking. I demanded it to let go of
her throat and vocal chords. We all prayed about it, very determinedly, and
after a fight, we could see it losing its grip and “A” was able to whisper in a
very hoarse voice "Jesus".
I remember the tears pouring down my face at
that victory for God. We continued to pray - pray Jesus blood and
proclaim His salvation over “A”.
The next thing we got her to say was along the lines of
"Alcohol, I demand you to leave me in Jesus' name". It took a long
time as that demon kept trying to stop her from speaking, but, word by word,
she managed to gasp out the phrase. Interspersed with us all praying Jesus'
blood over her and binding the spirit and his voice. Once “A” had said this
sentence it was basically over.
The demon was toast. Hell had lost!
We continued to pray for about 5-10 minutes and again, I
wondered how do we know if it's gone? Simple, the answer came from above; just ask
her. So, I did!
"“A”, do you think it's gone?". “A” nodded her head
weakly and we could see she was free. We prayed rejoicing over her and thanked
God for how hard he worked this night. I think those last 10 minutes of prayers
were born out of tears, emotion, relief and just plain thankfulness.
A moment or two later, “A” kind of 'came too'. It was like she'd
been in a trance or hypnotized or something bc even tho her eyes had
been open it was like she just woke up. She asked us "Uuummm, what am I
doing on the floor? Why is the music off? When are we gonna pray? C'mon guys, I need to get to
bed."
We all just laughed. It was so bizarre, after being in this
massive spiritual battle and “A” not even remember it. Her reactions just
tickled me but I think that the laughter was also just the incredible joy from
witnessing such a massive healing too.
We eventually ended up outside under the pergola with cups of
tea and blankets as we shared with “A” all that had happened in
the last two hours. At first she couldn't believe it -
although one of the first things she said was that if someone put alcohol in
front of her she would, without hesitation, smash the bottle. "I hate the
stuff" she said.
Over the next 15 minutes to half an hour, God brought
back certain memories for her - memories of her deliverance and we all shared
and debriefed together. One thing for sure, “X”, ”Y” and myself had never met
before that night, but we were closer than family could be after this.
“A” had an incredibly tender stomach - and we explained that is
where the demon was for most of the time - flinging her body around, then it
went up to her throat - she said that explained why her throat was also sore.
Eventually it was time for me to leave, and “A” to go to bed so
that “Y” could take her to detox in the morning. I received a text
from “Y” the next afternoon saying that “A” had gone to detox 'like a lamb'. I
was so happy.
I have been able to call “A” each day at detox and up until
today, she has had no withdrawals or cravings at all. That is something else we
prayed for in amongst it all that Monday night. I get so excited every time I
call and she tells me that she still hasn't had any. Tonight however, she told
me she has had cravings for alcohol and they have been so intense. Im not
worried tho. I honestly believe that the cravings are more a mind thing than a
body thing. The alcohol should now be out of her system and
it's just a matter of her mind finding other ways to deal with the
anxieties and stress of life than to just reach for a bottle. She
comes 'home' to “X”&”Y”'s place tomorrow where she can continue to
recuperate for a few more days before facing the big world again.
That night I realised that my faith was a lot
stronger than I ever thought bc why else were we fighting
so hard against a demon? Thinking about it all…it was kind of bizarre
for me to be praying against something so evil as I have always had this
inkling that my prayers arn't as powerful as those who have stronger faith. I
will always ask others to pray bc I believe my prayers arn't as good.
Or that my faith isn't as strong so why would God listen to me? What a crock. I
sure learnt differently that night. No matter how insignificant you think you
are God can still work through you.
I have absolute confidence that my Lord God will keep her from
drinking alcohol. I know that he has placed a strong support network of people
around “A” to guide her through the next few months. Months that will be
difficult as she deals with things from her past, clear minded. I know that she
can now lean on God for the strength instead of reaching for a bottle that has
no strength but that wud only cloud everything.
If you would like to pray for something I will make a small list
here below. Because I think it's so important that “A” continue to have as much
prayer support as she can get - life is not gonna get easier any time soon, but
with Jesus and the support and prayers of friends and strangers she
can conquer a lot more than she could have ever hoped or dreamed.
Prayer Points:
Thank Jesus that He was able to bring “A” through such a
horrific ordeal and come out the other end completely victorious in Him
For “A” to keep her focus solely on God as she ventures forth
alcohol-free to a brand new life.
That God can continue to heal “A”'s body from the physical
damage alcohol did and reverse some of the damage.
That “A” has the support around her to really get transparent
and real about the stuff she has to work through in order to be healthy and whole.Pray also that "A" can get back to the business of being the best mum in the world to her beautiful son "B".
Thank you for reading this far.
It was something I so much wanted to share- as it was a new thing for me - and
bc it’s something I’ve heard of happening – even to friends of mine, but I’ve
never seen before.
I think this ‘experience’ has
shown me that my faith is stronger than I realised, and that God can use people
who think they are so little when it comes to fighting these massive battles.
It just shows that with God, ANYthing
can be achieved.
Praise
and thank you Jesus for “A”’s
continued healing and new life in you. Thank you also for strengthening my
faith and providing me with two more people to love and live and learn from
xoxoxo
