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The Vision
W hen I slowly walk through the doorway, it feels like my entire body was being submerged in warm wax, with the heat starting from my feet very slowly moving up over my entire body.
With this sensation, I am reminded of a time several years ago when I was at a Friday Night Bible Study. I had gone through a sad time in my life experiencing a terrible divorce and losing my family. I was a fool in those years. The most important people on Earth to me were my three kids and my wife, and they were suddenly stripped away in what seem like overnight.
I turned to God more in that time than ever before. I was a lump of clay in God’s hands, poured out with nothing left in me.
One particular Bible study stands out in my memory. At the end of our meeting, Dr. Forester wanted to prepare us for spiritual warfare, because there were several people that needed special prayer, and we were about to go into battle for God. Before we stepped to the front line, he asked that we would pray for God to totally cleanse our hearts of any hidden sin.
As I was praying, I leaned over slumped with my elbows resting on my knees with my face buried in my hands. As I prayed, God, please forgive me and cleanse my heart. Take away the pain of my failed life. Please Lord purify my soul, make me as white as snow. Suddenly I started weeping heavily with tears pouring between my fingers and running down my arms. My heart moaned with a great depth of humility and sorrow. I felt like all my strength was poured out, totally gone; and out of nowhere, a vision appears.
I see a huge wooden cross standing in the darkness that suddenly catches fire. The bright white flame started at the bottom and moved up the cross very slowly, finally covering the entire cross. The bright white blaze didn’t seem to harm the cross at all, and at times it even looked like the tips of the blaze were a light blue color. This vision lasted only a minute or two, and when Dr. Forester finished praying and started talking to the group, my vision had disappeared.
With this strange vision still fresh on my mind, I actually shook my head and asked myself, What was that? Where did that come from? I tried to dry my eyes without anyone noticing my moment of weakness.
Doc stated, “At this part of our Friday Night Bible Study, we are going to have special prayer for anyone who needs it.”
With me being a full blown Baptist, I wasn’t use to the laying on of hands, anointing with oil or praying over anyone. With my shyness, I stand in the background and watch how this will all unfold.
The first lady we all prayed for, you could tell by her countenance she was in a bad way. She looked very sad, so several of the folks there gathered around her to pray. Since I wanted to be involved, I placed my hand on a shoulder of one of the ladies that was standing on the outside ring of people. We all prayed with Doc leading and anointing her with oil.
To my surprise, after praying over this young lady, I could see an amazing difference in her countenance. She was smiling and looked totally healed of her problems, whatever they were. I’m thinking, Okay, they must be about finished and ready to close . But then, I hear someone in the group say; “A lady has come forward and asked for prayer and her friend says that she has a demon of adultery.”
This catches me totally off guard. Okay, with my Baptist up-bringing, I’m thinking this it a bit much, but I guess I’ll hang in there….
As we gather around this lady, I’m still standing on the outside of this circled-up band of prayer warriors. I have a clear view of the lady’s face.
Doc and everyone else start praying and everything is going pretty good. With my eyes closed, I’m trying to pray for this lady when I hear her starting to slur with a type of hissing and then she was talking in another language that sounded just like an Arab dialect.
I couldn’t help myself; I opened my eyes to see what the heck was going on. What I saw was an awful and scary site. This very nice looking lady’s face had transformed right in front of me. Her facial features had changed into a horrible, distorted mask of what looked like something dead, fresh out of the grave. She continued to get louder and her face looked worse than ever, as everyone continued to pray.
I felt God telling me to grab her left hand and lift it as far up as I could. I actually was so scared; I started to argue in my mind with God. I told Him, “I’m not touching her, that thing will get into me! ” Again and what I believe was the Holy Spirit, telling me, “Grab her hand and lift it up .” This time it was more of a command. I suddenly step closer in and grabbed her by her left wrist, closed my eyes, and at this point I wasn’t even praying, just doing what I was told.
Suddenly, just like earlier during our special prayer time when God gave me a vision of the cross burning from the ground up; this same thing was now happening to me. It felt like my feet had caught on fire. No, it was more like being lowered in warm wax or some kind of thick, soothing hot liquid. This sensation beginning at my feet and very slowly moving up through my whole body, continuing up my arms and finally out through the tips of my fingers. All the while, I continued to hold on to this lady’s wrist. I felt like I had super human strength and at that very moment I could have lifted her and the whole group off the floor!
Immediately after what I felt was an anointing of the Holy Spirit passing through my body, the lady stopped slurring and speaking in a demonic tongue. Her face was now normal and peaceful, with tears streaming down both cheeks.
In all my years of being a Christian, I had never experienced anything that even came close to that night when God allowed me to experience His touch of the Holy Spirit.
I was at one of the lowest points in my life…I had lost everything dear to me, I was sleeping in the bed of my truck, working away from home, trying to get back on my feet. In that moment, at that meeting, I was humbled before a Father that had reached down and delivered me out of the mire of my life. I truly believe God chose that moment to draw me even nearer to Him, to bless me with this supernatural experience.
I’ve only shared what happened that night with a few people, and these friends I felt were at a place in their walk with God that they would believe me, and would understand how real the ongoing war with the principalities of darkness is… and that it continues even now.