THE BLOOD THE FIRE AND THE SWORD

After the offering was collected, a man and a woman joined the Minister and each person stood on either side of him. The lady next to him held a small bottle in her hands, which I later found out contained olive oil. The other gentleman stood a little distance apart, speaking quietly to himself. The man then invited people seated in the pews to approach him, and form a line with those needing to return to work being allowed to be prayed for first. My friend Barbara hastily pushed me forward, telling me to hurry up, and I actually ended up being first in the queue. I soon realised that the Minister was staring at me, and I felt a little uncomfortable, and began to smile nervously. I was asked to move forward, and nearer to him so that I was standing directly in front of him. All the while the man refused to take his eyes off me, and he made me feel as if he was looking straight through me. “Hello my sister, how are you?” “Oh I’m fine thank you!” The man kept staring at me, as I became increasingly uncomfortable. “My sister, I can see that you are carrying a very heavy load! I can see that you love the Lord, but you are being prevented from serving him as you need to be-cause you are carrying a very heavy load!” I smiled at the man sheepishly, thinking that he was referring to my husband, and the marital difficulties that we were having, so I told him that he was right. He then replied that he was going to pray for me, so that The Lord would release me from the suffering and bondage which I was experiencing and so I closed my eyes and bowed my head in agreement, as the Minister took my hand. The man then proceeded to pray in a very strong and authoritative voice, and as he did so, he gently squeezed my hand. I remember that he specifically said that he was coming against all demonic activity and generational curses which had come into my life. The man prayed and asked the Lord to close all doorways in my life that had allowed the demonic infestation to take place, and he also asked the Lord to bind up the strong man on my behalf. During this time, I was wondering what was going on, because the grip on my hand became increasingly firm. “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, come out of her now! I command you devil, to loose your hold on this woman right now, let her go”! Well up to that point I thought that things were a little odd, but I kept my eyes closed anyway, and tried to concentrate on being prayed for. However, nothing could have prepared me for what happened next. The man’s voice became increasingly fervent, and his grip on my hand tightened even more and I experienced a very strange sensation. All of a sudden, I felt weak at the knees about the same time that I was touched on the forehead with oil from the bottle which the lady standing next to the Minister held in her hand. As soon as I was touched on the forehead, my knees buckled underneath me and I collapsed to the floor falling into a semi-conscious state. I felt myself on the floor, and I was aware that people were near me. I could not open my eyes because they felt as if they were glued shut. At first I was unable to move, but then after a while I felt my body begin to jerk in different directions. I began to writhe and twist on the floor, and then I felt someone pinning my legs and my arms to the ground. “In the name of Jesus, get out of her!” Is this me? I wondered if they were talking to me, who are these people? What is happening, and what are they doing? Why am I on the floor, and why am I shaking like this? I want to go back to my office I thought to myself and I was clueless about the length of time that I actually spent on the floor. After a while, I realised that I stopped shaking and I was able to open my eyes. I noticed that there were two ladies kneeling right next to me. One of the ladies kindly helped me to my feet and smoothed out my ruffled hair so that it didn’t look as though I had just woken up. I looked around and I noticed that most of the people that were in the congregation had already left. I must have been on the ground for well over an hour, and I sat down on a nearby bench wondering about what had just taken place. My friend Barbara must have already left to return to her office, and I had now become very late for work. As I sat on the bench, I tried to compose myself as best that I could but I knew that something very peculiar had just happened to me, and I had to find out what it was. As I walked out of the church, I noticed that there was something physically different about me. I felt as though a part of me was gone, I felt empty, and even light headed. To be honest, I really didn’t know what to think. I felt totally confused, and still slightly dazed. I wondered why I had fallen on the floor like that, and also why I couldn’t get up when I wanted to. As I returned to my office and sat at my desk, there were lots of questions going round and round in my head, and I now had to search for someone to give me the answers. I picked up the phone directory, and I searched the yellow pages for the listing of Churches. A chord of excitement flowed through me when my eyes saw the entry that I was searching for.