Prayer Request: (Spiritual Warfare)

[Aquila]

I haven't really said much about a recent circumstance in my life. We have a good unsaved friend who ended up down on her luck and she and her 17 year old son started staying with a guy named Charlie. The man was a drunk and a pot head. He also was demanding $500 dollars a month for her to stay in an upstairs room in his house. Her son, Brian, is a wayward young man who has been in some trouble and is on probation. Not only was Charlie proving to be an obsticle to her son cleaning his act up, but Charlie also increased her rent to $600. She's on a fixed income and couldn't afford to save up anything to get her own place. So here she is... no money to get her own place... and watching her 17 year old son struggle. After hearing that the man wanted her son to go buy some pot I began to pray and I felt God lead me to invite her to stay in my basement. We have a few rooms down their that needed cleaned up, but I felt it would be better. I spoke to her about it and she was so relieved, yet she wanted to pay me something... so I asked for her to only give $100 a month and to help with groceries on occasion. So her and her son moved in. They pretty much keep to themselves and she helps around the house a lot. It's not been a serious burden in any way and she's saving up money to move out next month. So things are going good.

Well... last night her son and I were talking after watching Star Trek. In this episode there was an "all powerful" alien being named "Q" (some of you Treckies might be familiar with this trickster). Somehow the conversation moved from "alien entities" to God. We discussed who Jesus was, the cross, the Holy Ghost (I alluded to "The Force" in Star Wars to help Brian wrap his mind around the "power of the Holy Ghost"). Well... his mother came upstairs and asked... "How many times have you been downstairs?" Brian explained that he hadn't been downstairs because he was upstairs watchint television and talking with me. Well... she was greatly disturbed and I asked what was wrong. She explained that she was in the laundry room in the basement and saw Brian "rush" into their room. However, when she went to say something to him... no one was there. Then she said she got what she called the "spookiest feeling". I could tell she was REALLY shaken up and wasn't just telling stories. So I offered to pray with them. We prayed in the living room. A decent prayer... but nothing really "moved" in the Holy Ghost. So I offered to pray with her again downstairs. For some reason, I felt the need to grab the vegetable oil... and I'm glad I did.

Once downstairs in the basement we entered their room and began praying in a circle holding hands. It was me, my fiance Christina, this woman, and her son. While praying things were okay, again... a "decent prayer". But suddenly the lights in the basement went out. Taunya (our friend) gasped and pulled her hands over her face and started to freak out. I felt the Spirit inside me just "open up"... full bore... I began speaking in tongues and staking authority in the name of Jesus, cursing the enemy, and demanding that he leave. I honestly felt angry that something uninvited was in my home, so I might have came off really heavy in my prayer. I asked that God bless the oil and I anointed all of us and the walls of her room. After a good shout out rebuke to this spirit things settled in us and we felt more at peace. Christina, Taunya, and Brian made a bee line for the stairs and the upstairs door. I followed in tow and the moment we all cleared the doorway into the kitchen... the basement lights came back on.

Needless to say... we had some Bible study and Taunya and her son have already committed to come to church this weekend. They both wanted to sleep in the living room on the couch and chaise longue so they slept in the living room last night. I also get the feeling like she's going to move out a bit sooner.

But here's my issue. I don't feel like it "left". I feel like it threw a "temper tantrum". While I've talked about spiritual warfare in the past on this forum, it's been a few years since I've had to engage anything. I wasn't fasting and part of me was only praying to help Taunya feel better... I didn't exactly expect to hit a bee hive. So... in the coming days I'm going to dedicate some time to consecrate myself, fast, and pray. Then I'm going for an all out cleansing of the home and basement. I know things can ramp up, get troubling, and the enemy tries to divide people into arguing factions during the period leading up to a cleansing or exorcism. Most preachers I've talked to in the past either just say a prayer, dab some oil, blab a prayer, and then say "Have faith.", and go home. That's not how I was taught to do it and most don't want to do an overnight vigil to confirm and cleansing. The rest look at me like I'm crazy and give me a prayer cloth. lol So... I'm alone on this one unless Christina wishes to stand with me. So, I'll be getting a few things to secure the gates and start fasting. I might bring Christina up to speed on what we're doing. She'll either become convinced that I'm crazy... or she'll realize the reality of the Kingdom in a deeper fashion. I think the lights going off during prayer already demonstrated that Christianity isn't about playing church and talking about Heaven. We'll see.

What I'd like to have is a few people offer up some prayer for me (us) that the bonds of love that tie us all together be strengthened. That we keep in good spirits towards one another. That Taunya and Brian be protected and receive a "revelation" about who Jesus truly is. And that this thing be successfully banished and bound in chains of darkness.

I'd also like to ask that (if any of you feel led) please fast with me (even if it's just one meal) or include me in your prayers during your regular fasting. I don't know when I'll do this but it will most likely not be before the weekend at the earliest.

Thank you guys.

Chris