About 10 or so years ago I joined a Life In the Spirit Seminar that was part of our church, it was teaching all about the holy spirit. I loved it, we prayed, studied scriptures. The course was about 6 to 8 weeks. Right towards the end while I was asleep one night a heavy presence was on my chest and it was hard to breathe. I remember starting to panic when I heard a voice tell me to deny Christ and the presence would leave. I know this is going to sound crazy but after hearing that I got very angry because here I was studying scriptures and becoming closer to my Lord and something was trying to get me to deny him. Well I screamed in the name of the word incarnate, Jesus leave me alone. When I opened my eyes I was afraid that I had woke up the kids and scared them. But only my husband stirred and asked me if I was ok. I thought it was probably a very vivid dream until I had come across a Nun, whom I can’t remember her name, I am thinking of Bridge McKenna, said the same thing had happened to her. The next week at the Seminar group I told the group what happened and they were not surprised. it seemed that those kind of things happened to people the closer they become with God.
Confession time: I had dabbled in the occult as a teen, including Ouija boards, horoscopes, Tarot cards and seeking psychic phenomena. I thought I had the second sight.
But, the Lord rescued me. The first step was, I read a book by Harry Houdini called “A Magician Among the Spirits,” debunking so many so-called psychic phenomena of the Spiritualist movement. I also read some CS Lewis books. My older brother became born again at college and invited me to go to his church, where I was saved.
However, I would still sometimes have those kind of dreams, and also ones where I was pulled out of my body and something would not let me go back.
I specifically repented and renounced anything I ever did or had to do wiht the occult and the dreams ended.
Years later we saw the movie “Passion of the Christ” and where Jesus trades glances with Barabbas, while I read something in the subtitles about the murderer, Barabbas, I mentally heard “the socceress, Clover.” I had not thought of the occult in years.
I am still a Houdini fan. I hope somehow someone witnessed to him or that he had a vision of the Lord before he died. I would love to see him in Heaven and say, “Hey, you remember that book ...? The Lord used in a wonderful way.”
That must have scared the heck out of you!