“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…”
-Psalm 23:4
“You have your God, Mama Kate. But I have my own gods. And my gods protect me from your God. My gods make me feel good when I’m angry…” said one of my girls just a couple weeks ago, who has been in a satanic cult. She later regressed, “But I know your God is good and mine is evil. And I know your God is more powerful than mine.”
The battle is real. The enemy is real. Not all Christians believe there are demons today. But I’d be suppressing the Truth if I told you there aren’t. Demons are real. Exorcisms are real, not just for movies. (Do a scriptural study of the powers of darkness.) I’ve witnessed this. Contrary to movies and public display of demons and devils, exorcisms/deliverance can beautiful, freeing, empowering, miraculous, marvelous, captivating, breath-taking, chilling, and joyous! Freedom is TANGIBLE! Jesus is TANGIBLE! The Word of God is POWERFUL to breaking those chains that are unseen to the human eye.
Even though I have known, seen, touched, experienced these things myself, it still surprises me, scares me, worries me, etc. Sometimes I feel darkness in my room at night, like a blanket hanging from my ceiling. Sometimes when I close my eyes, images of snakes come in through my windows. Sometimes I hate the fact that I have to sleep alone. Sometimes, I’m scared of the dark.
But then moments of deliverance happen, and I am reminded that nothing – NOTHING and no power of darkness, no fear – can separate us from the loving and saving work of Jesus Christ who saves our souls from death. (Romans 8:38) I've learned to utilize 3 unbeatable sources of Light: 1) prayer works! It's a remarkable humility that unleashes the blessings of heaven, soaking us all in healing rain; 2) worship music has a special unseen power to torture the enemy and set captives free; and 3) the Word of God is sharper than any double edged sword! These three combined are unbeatable sources of Light to overcome any power of darkness.
Although this past month, JuIy, was unlike I’ve ever experienced in all 6 years of living here, I count it a blessing to walk through valleys of death and darkness and claim victory and light. There is no way to summarise all that happened in one month, but I’ll give the skimmed down version here:
I’ve been the recipient of death threats, and I’ve experienced evil at an all new level. Being involved in Satanic cults invites a darkness, an evil that only ends in one of three ways, as John 10:10 says, “the thief comes only to steal, kill, destroy.” A couple of the girls were “assigned” to kill me and our other house moms (something that has happened in the past but this was a new level). A couple of the girls proceeded to make a plan to set fire to land and burn us down. Thankfully, their counselors helped unveil these evil plans and we were able to confiscate the stolen and hidden match boxes that they had been storing up. We involved the police and social welfare of course, as well. But we even had to remove one of the girls who’s been with us for 6 years. It breaks my heart that we had to remove her, but it had to be done for the safety and sanity of everyone else, including herself. But oh, it tortures me. I remember the day I personally picked this young girl up and brought her home. I remember her running to me, with a bag already packed and ready to move into our girls home. All I’ve known of Hosea’s Heart has involved her. I already miss hearing her voice and her laugh. Seeing her smile and feeling her daily hugs. Her hunger to be loved. Her intelligence. Letting her go was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. But since she’s been gone, a dark cloud has lifted. Some of the other girls who struggle similarly with desire for darkness are radically different these days. Newer, lighter. God is here. And God is with my baby girl, too. I have to trust that God is God no matter where we are, who we are with or who we are without. I have to trust that my prayers for her are enough, and that God does His saving work without me. And God gave me a front-row seat to the power of prayer just a few weeks back, almost as if to prepare me for this difficult move and remind me to keep praying.
I had gone away for the weekend and had just gotten in my car to begin the hour and half drive home when the Holy Spirit put a certain girl on my heart. She was also one who’d been involved in Satanic cults, so I began praying out loud for her. I spoke blessings over her and prayed for very specific things. I began speaking as if I was talking directly to her, but still through prayer. At the very minute I began praying for her, something started happening inside her even though we were hours apart in distance. I didn’t know it until later that afternoon, but the same time I began praying out loud, she told her teacher, “I’m burning, I’m burning”, left class, and proceeded to go partially unconscious and non-responsive until she was delivered. Later that night when I returned, I told her I had been praying for her that morning…
“I know,” she smiled.
“What do you mean you know?” I was surprised at her response.
“I heard you praying.”
“You what?” I didn’t think I heard her right.
“Mom, I heard you praying. I heard you praying for me. And that’s when…” she hesitated.
“You actually heard my voice?” I interjected.
“Yes. And I heard another voice, too.”
“Who’s voice was that?” I asked.
“Satan’s. And that’s why I started burning. It’s like he was trying to prevent me from receiving the prayer.”
“Did it work?”
“No, ‘cause I decided to listen to your voice instead,” she declared.
I asked her to write down exactly what had transpired that morning. She wrote down word for word what she heard my voice praying and also satan’s voice. The things she wrote down were almost exactly the same words I prayed out loud that morning! Not a single ear heard the words I spoke in my car – only me and Jesus. Miraculous!!! Amazing! Marvelous! Awe-inspiring! I got to experience how the Holy Spirit works through prayer in setting others free! Wow! And I got to see the devil’s schemes and works exposed. The devil is clever but he is not creative! (Creativity is an attribute reserved for God alone, our Creator). The things she told me that the devil was saying reminded me literally of the Garden of Eden. “Did Mama Kate really say that? Can you really trust her? How can you trust your staff? You don’t even know the plans they have for you…etc.” He hasn’t changed. His whole tactic is to make us DISTRUST. A Lack of Trust in God leads to disobedience. Period.
Please be encouraged. This has never happened to me before and I don’t know if it will ever happen again, but it is what I needed to know that prayer works. Deliverance, healing, or any kind of help does not depend on our works; prayer works regardless of our physical presence or deeds; just know that PRAYER WORKS.
I needed that to be equipped to say goodbye to my other daughter, not knowing if she will be able to come back again or not. Not knowing if she will choose life and choose Jesus someday or not. But praying that she will. And praying it will be sooner than later. Her story is not over yet. I am convinced she still has a part to play in Hosea’s Heart. Maybe someday she will be able to come home, but if not, I know that as long as I pray for her, she will hear God’s voice of truth every day I choose I pray.
And not only her, but all my girls who move on, whether by natural sequence or consequence. It’s so hard for this Mother’s heart of mine to say goodbye and release them to make their own mistakes in pursuit of success as life continues to unfold. To release them means to risk being forgotten or rejected as sometimes they make it clear "I'm not their real mom." Of course this is fact, but it's hard to swallow sometimes. My hurt heart (or pride) is a small price to pay, though, for their future. And I'm willing to invest no matter what because I see them as my own flesh and blood - we have the same Blood of the Lamb anyway.
Maybe that's why it's harder in the moment, and since there's little consistency in my life to begin with (I mean, imagine all the people who have come and gone already over the past 6 years since I’ve moved here...Not to mention losing my own staff member to cancer in July), saying goodbye gets harder rather than easier. Especially because it’s something I have to do year after year. Most moms only have to go through that a few times. But eish… this happens every year, and will continue to do so every year as we raise up these girls through graduation.
But there is ONE thing that makes all this easier: prayer. And I am SO thankful God gave me the gift of SEEING in human form what our prayers do in the heavenly realm. Never underestimate prayer. It is Satan's undoing. Oh, and he’s gonna wish he never messed with us. For, we are in the business of souls. And I have the Undefeatable, Secret Weapon: prayer.
To save a soul from death takes only prayer.
