Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

To any brothers and sisters struggling against a spirit of Fear and other demonic manifestations. 

Gentle Reader,

The devil wants you to  have one of two responses to the presence of his forces: deny/ignore their existence or stark terror. Whatever you do, DO NOT BE AFRAID.

I know that’s easier said than done–I’ve had a few more encounters than I care to remember and even had a spirit of fear driven out. No matter how big, ugly, or mean the manifestation looks, the One who lives within you is still greater, as the Word says.

Resist the devil and he will flee, the bible promises it and it’s been my experience. He’s attacked me in my sleep, in dreams, and every time I recall, I recognized the monster for what it was, rebuked the devil, and he left (with the more stubborn ones, you have to do it two or four times, but they’ll still leave if you hold your ground.)

In the day light (IE, awake), he’s much more crafty, that’s when I struggle, that old fear spirit knows me and keeps coming back, it gets really tiresome.

Evidently he also doesn’t like the scripture I’ve posted over my bed, the bad dreams and panic attacks I was having trouble with before I posted it have all but vanished. I’ve only had a couple of the fear-attacks at night since. Just recited the verse I’d posted, Ps 4:8, until the fear went away.

Likewise, witchcraft is demonic, but you don’t have to be afraid of any spell anyone can cast on you. In Christ, we’re blessed beyond any curse, faith in God is a shield their darts cannot penetrate. They only have as much power over us as we let them have.

Not to say none of what we normally associate with the devil can be done from a godly context. The devil can’t create anything, all he can do is counterfeit what he sees the Lord doing. There are spiritual gifts that correspond to a lot of the evil phenomena in the world. For instance, Word of Knowledge can be supernatural knowledge, like Peter knowing Ananias and Sapphira had lied to him, and sometimes God works his miraculous power through people. The main difference is the most important–the Christian’s source of information and power is trustworthy and incorruptible.

In short, the best way to discourage demonic manifestations is to not be afraid of them. If they don’t scare you, that takes away the devil’s purpose in doing it. It’s actually much easier to fight him when he shows up in all his nastiness than when he comes subtly, whispering in our own voice and speaking to our deepest fears and desires.

In Christ’s Spirit of Love, of Power, and of a Sound Mind,

Andrea Graham