Marta and Brent waited for Karen and Tara to arrive. They thought that meeting at the church to talk might be best. It was open and occupied for the first night of play practice so there was no trouble having access. Plus, Pastor Chuck was going to be in the building, too.

Brent had thought it best that Pastor Chuck know what was going on. So, Wednesday morning, before classes, he called the church to speak with him. He asked for counsel on how to best handle the situation.

Should they not say anything to Tara about what may never happen? Would telling her cause her to start second guessing any weird feelings she might have, though none of them were even remotely spiritual in nature? Would giving her a head’s up be the wise move, just in case demonic symptoms arose?

Pastor Chuck said, “Brent, all of those questions are good ones. However, the one you didn’t ask is probably the most important. What if she starts feeling the draw of the occult again or if she thinks that there is no one that she can talk to that would believe her strange experiences? She might feel like a failure as a Christian. She might be too embarrassed to come to one of you who seemingly have it all together.”

Brent immediately understood.

“Definitely bring her to the church if you can arrange it. You can share with her on your own, but I’ll be there as a backup if you need me.”

“Thank you, Pastor.”

“Brent, one more thing. My son, Pastor Jonathan, he’s dealt with a few cases recently in his own congregation that are very similar to Tara’s. If it comes down to Tara needing to be ministered to in this area, I’m going to ask him to take the lead on it.”

“Okay, Pastor. Thanks again.”

TARA WAS GRATEFUL that Karen had been up front with her, though she still didn’t know completely what the three of them wanted to talk with her about. Karen would only say that they wanted to discuss some precautions with her as they related to her occult past, and they thought that the church would be both a convenient and more appropriate place to get together to talk.

Okay, it was actually weirding her out a little bit.

As Karen turned into the church’s parking lot she saw a lot of cars. Surprised by this, she asked, “Why are so many people here?”

“The church is getting ready to start practices for their annual Christmas production.”

She looked at Karen. “Like a play?”

“Actually, a full-scale musical.”

“No way.”

“Yep. Obviously, I’ve never seen one of their productions, but Brent and Marta say they’re pretty impressive.”

“Wonderful! I can hardly wait!”

After parking, they walked into the atrium. Sitting at a table near the café were both Brent and Marta.

Tara smiled and waved. Both Brent and Marta lit up. Whew! Thank God, Tara thought. It looks like I’m not in trouble.

After hellos and hugs, Brent suggested that they just stay right there at the table to talk. Everyone was agreeable, though Tara did wish the café was actually open.

Brent asked how everybody was doing. Each shared a little about his and her week, though most of it was already known as a result of being on the same college campus. When the ice was broken, Brent apparently felt compelled to be the one to broach the subject of why they’d all gotten together. Karen interjected that she had mentioned to Tara that it had to do with her prior occult involvement.

“Good,” Brent said. “I’m glad this isn’t going to come out and hit you from out of nowhere.”

“Brent,” interrupted Marta, “maybe we ought to pray before we actually start talking.”

“You’re right. Let’s do that.”

Brent prayed that God would meet them there, that they would be joined in a spirit of love and caring. He prayed that God would grant them spiritual protection, proper discernment, and that he would give each of them wisdom. He wrapped up the prayer by giving God glory for the work that he had begun, and was continuing to do, in each of their lives.

That’s when Tara felt it. An awful twisting in her gut. She grimaced slightly.

Marta noticed. “Tara? Are you okay?”

Tara didn’t try to hide it. “I don’t know. I’m starting to feel very nervous and nauseated.”

Karen took the lead here. “Tara,” she began with a look of compassion and a half smile, “That’s why you’re here.” She put a hand on Tara’s head and said, “Spirits, be still and be quiet, in Jesus’ name.”

Tara furrowed her brow in concern. “Okay. The pain and nausea are gone. Are you telling me that they’re still in me?”

Karen gave another reassuring smile and said, “That’s what we’re here to talk about. Was that the first time that you felt what you just did?

“No. It’s happened a few times since I came to Christ.”

“You okay to go on?”

Tara nodded. She was still feeling nervous, especially now that she knew what the subject matter was going to be.

“Tara?” asked Brent, “How have things been going in your walk with Christ since the day you got saved?”

Tara thought that an odd question, considering that all of them saw her on campus almost every day. “Well, things’ve been great! I love Jesus, and I know that he loves me. I haven’t like moved off the narrow path at all. Why?”

“Know this first, Tara. We’re all excited for you. We know that your love for Jesus is genuine. There are no accusations here, whatsoever. There is a reason we’re asking, and we’re going to get to that in a second, but please don’t get mad because of the questions. They’ll all make sense in a minute.”

She looked to both Marta and Karen. Marta’s smile spoke of caring. Karen gave her a wink along with her smile, which straightaway made her feel better.

“In truth,” Brent continued, “Karen is probably the better person to ask these questions because of her experience. And she’s the one who was concerned enough that we get together to talk.”

Attention shifted to Karen, who simply nodded and said, “Tara, how have you been sleeping?”

The old, evasive nature in Tara tried to rise up. She initially thought to say that everything was fine. The truth was that every few nights she’d wake up from night sweats. She had initially played them off as the result of bad memories affecting her dreams. But she eventually realized there was something deeper going on.

“I sleep pretty good most nights. Sometimes, though, I wake up in a panic. A few times I woke so suddenly that I didn’t know where I was. I couldn’t tell you what my dreams were about, just that they had to have been bad. Sometimes I have some vague images of things when I first wake up, but like, right now, I can’t remember a single one of them.”

Karen went to her next question. “How often have you felt sick like you did a few minutes ago?”

“Umm… I don’t know. It doesn’t happen often. But when it does, I get scared.” Tara looked at the faces of her friends. “What does it mean? Is there something wrong with me?”

Brent’s eyes darted back to Karen as Marta’s went down to her own folded hands.

“Nothing that I haven’t gone through myself,” assured Karen. “It’s a common occurrence with those of us who have come out of the occult.”

“Brent, too?” wondered Tara.

Brent was both glad and sad that he couldn’t relate to what Tara was going through. “My experience was different. I don’t know why, but it’s like God knew that if he didn’t take care of all of my challenges in one extreme act of deliverance, I’d go home feeling like a failure and kill myself. The night that I got saved he completely took away the things that were about to kill me or drive me insane.”

“Then why not me, too?”

Tara’s question hung in the air for a moment. It was Marta who answered. “I’m the least qualified to talk about any of this. I haven’t experienced anything that the three of you are talking about. But I do have experience in relating to people in the areas that God has changed in my life.” Marta considered how to proceed. “I was an extremely spoiled brat in high school, not to mention materialistic. Being an only child allowed me to guilt my parents into giving me more and more stuff since they didn’t give me any brothers and sisters. When I got saved, it was very hard to change. I was still an only child and I still wanted what I wanted. But God slowly started to change my heart as I read the Bible and got around other Christians. I started noticing my high school friends with new eyes. The girls that I hung out with were of the same spoiled breed, and I started seeing very clearly the whiny, manipulative monster I had been.

“The thing is,” Marta continued, “if I hadn’t gone through the struggle of change, I wouldn’t have been able to help my friend, Lacey, go through it. She came to Christ later the same year I did. Because I could identify with her, I could help her. Everyone else could only watch and pray.”

“Yeah,” agreed Brent, “that’s how I feel now; like an outsider, even though I had been involved in the occult, as well. I can’t relate like Karen can. She’s been through all of this.”

Tara understood. Then it hit her. What if Karen wasn’t with her right now? What if there was no one with whom she could relate at this moment? She looked back at Karen with appreciation in her eyes. “I’m sure glad you’re here.”

Karen smiled. “Me, too! I love you, chick!”

Tara smiled, as well. “Okay, so, if I had to guess, the reason I’m going through this stuff is that the demons that I invited into me didn’t leave when I got saved.”

“Some of them might have, but the strong man—that’s what the Bible calls the ruling demon that controls the rest of them— is still in you. And until you renounce him, he has a right to stay. After all, just like I did, you gave an open invitation in order to get more power. Am I right?”

“Oh yeah. Big time.” Tara asked the question that she wasn’t sure she wanted an answer to. “So, how do I get them out?”

Karen’s face became serious. “I’m not going to lie to you, Tara. It’s not going to be fun.”

Brent interrupted. “You know what? I think that we should have Pastor Chuck answer the rest of this question.”

Karen looked at him and nodded. “Definitely.”

Brent pushed back from the table and went to find the pastor. A few minutes later he returned with the older man.

Pastor Chuck had a warm smile on his face as he approached the table. It was genuine, Tara could see that clearly.

“Hello, ladies,” he said.

The three responded in kind.

“Tara, I’m not going to pretend that I don’t know why all of you are here this evening. Brent approached me earlier this week to see if I could help in some way with what you’re going through.”

Tara was taken aback for a moment. How did they know she was having struggles? Pastor Chuck answered that with his next sentence.

“Brent was working entirely on assumption after a conversation with Karen. We talked and I suggested that you all meet here to talk in case I was needed.”

Tara was very aware that all attention was on her. It was making her uncomfortable.

“Brent has already told me that you are having a few challenges, but I want you to know something. And this is coming from a man who has years of experience in dealing with spiritual issues. Everything is going to be okay. I can’t say that I’ve had a lot of experience with deliverance, but I have had some. And one thing is a foregone conclusion: the demons always lose when the host wants them gone. So, take heart in that.”

That last statement gave Tara much-needed encouragement. She took a deep breath, exhaled, and with a look of resoluteness, she asked, “What do I need to do?”

Pastor Chuck smiled. “Very good, Tara.” He looked at the chair that Brent had vacated. “May I?”

“It’s your chair, Pastor. Literally.”

The group snickered.

“Tara,” Pastor Chuck continued, “this is my suggestion on how to make things as easy as possible. Do you know what a fast is?”

“To not eat?”

“That’s partially correct. In context, it means to give something up, so that you can exchange the time you would have devoted to doing that thing, to, instead, focus on God. When Jesus talked about a fast, he wasn’t talking about candy or TV—obviously. He was talking about food. He went on a 40-day fast when he was led into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. Jesus knew that a fast would create discipline and focus and willingness to hold onto the things of God and to fight. A fast can be either a waste of time or it can be used to make yourself stronger as you deny your body what it thinks it needs.

“What I would like for you to do, is consider doing a fast. But first, I want to ask about your availability next week to get together again. All of you.”

After a minute of deliberation they all agreed that the following Thursday would work best.

“Thursday it is,” agreed the pastor. “Okay, Tara, next Thursday is ‘Freedom Day’.”

Tara cringed. She felt bile travel up her throat. She swallowed hard to keep it out of her mouth.

Pastor acknowledged her unease with a smile that was meant to bring some comfort that he understood. “They’ve been put on notice and they’re not very happy, are they, Tara?”

“Not at all.” She attempted a smile.

“Tara, it’s a normal part of life that there are consequences that coincide with past actions. You invited them in and they took you up on your offer. Now they want to stay in, and they’re going to do all that they can to keep their home.”

“I want them out of me.”

“Good. That’s the first step in getting rid of them. You’ve got to renounce them.” The pastor gave another reassuring smile. “Karen? Marta? Will you lay hands on Tara. We want to quiet these things down for her.”

Karen and Marta both got out of their seats to stand behind Tara and lay hands on her shoulders. Brent began to do the same, but the pastor intervened.

“Brent, let the ladies have the only contact.”

Brent stepped back.

“Father, we love you,” began Pastor Chuck. “We acknowledge that you are sovereign over all things on Earth and in Heaven. In the name of your Son, Jesus, we command the spirits residing within Tara to be silenced and to remain still. We take the authority that we’ve been entrusted with and we bind you spirits with chains that will not let go. We gag your mouths to keep you silent.

“Father, I plead—we plead—the blood of the Lamb to cover Tara. Establish a hedge of protection around her and keep her safe and strong until the day of her freedom next week.

“Thank you, Lord, for the work that you are doing in her life. We are excited about her walk with you and look forward to seeing the things you will accomplish throughout her life. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.”

The ladies sat back down and Pastor Chuck continued. “Yesterday I spoke with my son, Pastor Jonathan. I told him about you, Tara, and your situation. I hope that was okay.”

Tara didn’t know what to say, so she just nodded.

“He said that he’s available to come into town to minister in this situation. He’s had much more experience than I. So has his wife, Jenni. You’ll really like her. If it’s okay, I’d like to pass on your contact information to the two of them to call you in the next couple of days.”

Again, Tara nodded.

“Good. Now, Tara, get into the Word as much as possible. I imagine that you’ve still got all kinds of classes that you’re taking and lots of text books to read, but don’t let those things keep you from God’s Word. Okay?”

“I won’t,” Tara said with resolve.

“I know this is scary, Tara. But thousands and thousands of men and women have gone through similar experiences. This isn’t something unique. I want you to also be in as much prayer as possible. Stay in an attitude of prayer all day long. Now, the fast that we talked about. I’d like you to fast for at least 24 hours leading into your ‘Day of Freedom’. If you think you can manage it, try for 36 or 48 hours. Drink plenty of water, though. When you feel hunger pains, let them remind you of what you’re accomplishing. Take that hunger pain and make it a trigger for prayer. Any questions?”

Tara thought for a moment. She had a thousand questions, but they were so jumbled in her mind that she couldn’t think to construct a single one, so she just said, “Not that I can think of.”

“One last thing, Tara.” The graying gentleman smiled broadly. “Get excited. In six days you’re going to know what real freedom feels like!”

Tara couldn’t help but grin.