Sharing some experiences

Christoffer · #1 (**permalink**) 02-24-2009, 03:05 AM

I believe I was attacked demonically for a period of about two - three years. It started shortly after I became a christian and ended maybe 8-9 months ago.

During the night, I would enter into a state between sleeping and waking. I was aware of my surroundings and could see things just as they were when I went to bed. There were no dream-like elements to the experience at all except for the fact that It didn't take place physically (so I'd like to believe anyway)

One night I "awoke" because the sheets were constantly falling off of me. I kept pulling them back but then I raised my head and noticed a small man-shaped shadow pulling at the sheets. I said leave in Jesus' name and it left.

I had similar experiences about once every week. Most often it was this small guy attacking me and disturbing my sleep. Always equally hard to tell dream from reality.

Coupled with the experiences was a suffocating almost paralyzing feeling of fear.

I could tell beforehand if I was going to be attacked or not. A creeping fear slowly came upon me during the evening and I tried to pray. Sometimes I could pray, sometimes if felt like my chest was being compressed so I couldn't get "air" in order to pray. But the attacks came no matter what.

The nature of the attacks changed however. Sometimes I would wrestle "the guy". About 8 months ago, I had it in a firm grip on the floor. It slipped away, left through the door and I yelled "never come back again".

Since that day, I have been sleeping like a baby during the night.

What was worst about this is that my faith was affected. I really started believing that there are two forces of equal power at work and that God perhaps cannot control the devil all of the time. Sometimes at work I was feeling depressed thinking about the night before and of course I was sometimes very tired because of lack of sleep.

I actually confess that I haven't really come to terms with it yet. Thinking about it, and other stories about for example haunted houses, still rocks my faith somewhat. The emotional side gets the better of me. It is hard not to subject Scripture to experience. I confess this.

It also demonstrates how weak I really am. What I experienced was relatively minor. Still it rocked my faith. And once one starts doubting the sovereignity of God all becomes hopeless.

Has someone got similar experiences? It can really mess with your mind. How does one cope with it and come to terms with it?

sis · #2 (**permalink**) 02-24-2009, 05:36 AM

Yes, when younger I had similar experiences. Over the years I concluded that Satan tries such pranks on youths (whether young in years or in the faith) because he knows their vulnerability. I think that some impressions in our minds can come from TV or movies, and these can be exploited in the half-wake, half-asleep state. Or, you may have had some occult experiences that need to be put away, even very small ones. Also, physical habits such as diet, nicotine etc, can affect our emotional state.

Perhaps, too, God has given you a creative mind that naturally wanders to the unknown and curious; of course, this can be good, too, but this nature can be exploited by demons. Definitely, Satan will try to undermine your confidence in the Lord and disturb your sleep. The best thing to do is to pray. In time the Lord will release you from all this and make your firm in the faith, but it can last a little while. Satan is real, but he is no match for God.

Have you read War on the Saints by Jessie Penn Lewis? There are other good books too that explain how Satan works on those who seek a deeper walk with Christ, and acknowledge that Satan does have powers. I (like you) eventually came to understand that my salvation gave me the right to say to the evil forces, "Out! in the name of Jesus!"

I have seen references to the godrules.net website on this forum, but noted there some articles in the NeuroSemantics area that qualify as encouragement toward the occult, so beware, and be a Berean!

In time you will be a stronger Christian for suffering these attacks and challenges. God bless you and keep you.

Leslie · #3 (**permalink**) 02-24-2009, 08:03 AM

Thanks for writing of your experience. You are not alone. However, the manner of attacks is highly variable from person to person. If there were more freedom to share experiences like this, I suspect the subject would dominate the blog.

LawrenceU · #4 (**permalink**) 02-24-2009, 08:12 AM

You are not alone in experiencing such things. As a pastor I've had to deal with such things several times in the lives of others.

Pergamum · #5 (**permalink**) 02-24-2009, 08:24 AM

Why doesn't this little man attack you when you are wide awake?

LeeJUk · #6 (**permalink**) 05-22-2009, 05:52 PM

Well actually what you experience is very very common. Across alllllll cultures, Christian and non-Christian's get things like this on a regular basis.

It happens when your body's sleep function doesn't work properly. sleep paralysis is the name of it or more extremes perhaps called sleep hallucinations.

Everyone always reports when it happens they feel someone near to them/see some dark figure or something similar.

I've had it several times and it is really quite scary. Though I think that the majority of it is simply your imagination + your body malfunctioning though I don't deny that it could be truly demonic in some cases.

I found the solution online, was to sleep on your side instead of sleeping facing the roof and it's practically not happened since then.

Take Care.