Friday, I came back from my morning jog and I returned home absolutely on fire in my spirit. That morning I wrote about my recent account with evil trying to enter my home and the spiritual warfare in which I engaged. After posting my story, my spirit continued to burn with a Holy inferno to inspire the Saints in their march against the gates of hell. 

Well, a few hours later Dineen telephoned me to talk about some of the details about our new book. However, I was still all fired up about how the enemy attacks so many of us and we don’t know how to defend ourselves. 

Poor Dineen, she had a fired-up Lynn Donovan on the line a preachin’ about the power of God and His amazing Son, Jesus. It’s so great she loves me and boy-howdy, do we have the most amazing conversations about the world of our Lord. 

Anyhoo, while I was on the phone with her I shared a story about another spiritual encounter that not only affected me but my daughter. Dineen and I agreed that it’s time for me to share that story here in the hopes it will help other parents to help their children. 

So, I ask that you once again understand that the spiritual world is very real. It is all around us and absolutely active. The devil roars around like a lion looking for someone who is weak to devour (1 Peter 5:8) also remember Ephesians 6:12 

Ephesians 6:12 our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. This passage is NOT a metaphor it is absolute reality and truth. 

Onward. 

For many, many years I would be awakened occasionally at night. I especially remember a lot of this kind of activity I’m about to tell you about happening while I lived in Las Vegas, NV. But it continued when we moved to California. 

Just as I was falling asleep, when I was in the weird in-between state of being fully awake and fully asleep, I would feel my bed begin to shake. The shaking was vigorous and fast-paced, as if someone was standing at the foot of my bed shaking with determination to wake me. 

Of course, I was groggy and not fully comprehending what was going on. And of course, the bedroom is dark. So, I would sit up not fully coherent and look around in the dark to see if it was my husband or an earthquake or ????? 

I didn’t know what it was and it always stopped. I thought it was my imagination. 

I thought it was my imagination. No, I convinced myself I imagined it. 

Well, as I matured in my faith, I began to recognize what was really happening. It was an evil spirit that arrived to frighten me. If I was frightened at night, it was in direct conflict with everything I was learning that God wants for me. 

The devil wants fear. God wants peace. 

The devil wants doubt. God wants security. 

The devil wants me to be paralyzed so I won’t pray. God wants my mind free so He can call on me to pray at night. 

The devil wants to torment, just for the fun of it. God wants to love us with passion. We are His heart. 

As I learned about speaking scripture out loud and how to pray against the enemy, I began to fight back. 

In the darkness of the night when I would begin to drift off to sleep and the bed would shake, I would sit straight up and start praying OUT LOUD. I would pray something similar to the prayer I wrote in Friday’s post. I would also quote scripture. 

One of my favorite passages and one that holds power against the enemy is: 

2 Timothy 1:7 (New International Version) For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (fear), but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 

I would quote this to the enemy and tell it that God did not give me a spirit of fear and I will not be afraid. I would bind the spirit with the name of Jesus. 

The name of Jesus. The name of our Savior is our strength and our power over the evil in this world. I speak to the enemy as a redeemed child of Jesus and it was by His power I command the enemy to leave my home. In Jesus name and by his shed blood. It would leave. 

My heart would be pounding but as the years have passed, I’m not frightened anymore. I know it can’t touch me. And in fact, today it’s quite rare that I experience this kind of spiritual attack. 

However, the story doesn’t end here. This is what I didn’t know. 

If that evil thing couldn’t get to me, it went to my daughter’s room. 

Gulp, I know. It’s hard for me to even type. I don’t want to alarm you as parents but I am convinced it’s critical to know the devil doesn’t restrain himself from messing with our young children, just because their young. 

The fact is I have seen very small children who are bothered by evil. Have you ever wondered why your kids are afraid of the dark???? There is good reason to be. 

Okay, now don’t freak out. I’m sharing this because this knowledge will bind the enemy and help you defend your children from evil. 

So, how did I find out it was bothering my daughter? 

One day my daughter and I were talking about nothing and she brought it up. “Mom, something is shaking my bed at night and it is scaring me. I think I saw something (-eyes-, her words not mine).” She said it happens as she is going to sleep and sometimes in the middle of the night. 

I think I trembled when I realized my baby girl was in the sights of the enemy. 

BUT, this is when at a young age I began to teach her to pray against the shaking. Against evil. Now I didn’t make it a scary thing for her but I was truthful. I told her that the devil was trying to frighten her because she loved Jesus. I said to her, “When this happens, you sit up in bed immediately and start praying OUT LOUD and command the evil to leave your room immediately by the power and the blood of Jesus.” I told her to say it over and over. (I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to leave my room.) 

She has learned to fight the enemy with her words and prayers. Let's be clear here. My daughter KNOWS Jesus. It is critical that we and our kids are connected with Jesus through a personal relationship.

Today, she is equipped to pray the devil out of her life and she rarely has this kind of thing happen anymore. It’s still scary to her when it does but she knows what to do instead of panic and hide under the covers hoping the shaking will stop, to afraid to run to her parent's room for help. 

Now, I don’t have this whole "fighting the battle with the devil thing" all figured out. He has been up to his diabolical acts for centuries. He knows just how to use our weaknesses. 

BUT, we have the truth. 

1 John 4:4 (New International Version) You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.  

Even our children have the power to defeat the enemy. But we need to teach them. 

We need to have our battle armor on and be ready ourselves so we can help our kids. Seriously consider what training have you gifted your children with so they can overcome their fears of the night and of the enemy. The name of Jesus brings enormous comfort and protection to those who claim Him as their Lord. 

Praying with Power here in California. Be blessed, Lynn