Fear Hath Torment
All of us have experienced dealing with fear in some aspect of our lives. Also, many of us may not have known we had any fear until we were confronted in an uncomfortable situation which turned to torment. Therefore, we may conclude that we are not perfected in God's love, because I John 4:18 states:
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: Because fear hath torment. He that feareth not is made perfect in love.
Love is perfected in our hearts by obeying Jesus' word.(John 14:23) Even though we were born again, baptized in water, and baptized in the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in other tongues, our house was no exception.
When Candace was born, Kathy and I were excited that God had blessed us with a child to be raised by the Spirit in the kingdom of God. She was an easy baby with minimal natural difficulties. However, at about 10 months of age, we began to notice it was harder to get her to go to bed at night. We prayed, played worship music or Doyle's teaching tapes, laid down with her, or combined all of the above to no avail. In fact, the situation grew worse over the next two years. Finally, after fasting and prayer many days, Kathy and I were praying in Candace's room at 1:30 a.m. one night, and she was crying and sobbing uncontrollably. The power of God filled my heart, and jointly, Kathy and I began to resist this spirit of torment. All of a sudden in the corner of the darkened room, I saw a shadow of what appeared to an image of a person. Kathy noticed it simultaneously, and we set our hearts to command that spirit out of the house in Jesus name. The shadow actually moved from the bedroom to the hall, and I found myself pursuing it until I reached the front door. I literally opened the door and commanded that spirit of torment out of our house. Thank God, I didn't think about what I was doing, but I continued to yield to the power of God in my heart. The results were astounding! We returned to Candace's bedroom to find her sound asleep, and she has never been bothered again. Glory to God!
In another experience, Ashley, born in 1986, was also an excellent baby and no problem to put to sleep. We would put her in bed, turn on a worship or teaching tape, turn out the light, and shut the door. We never heard a peep out of her except for one time. For some reason this night, the devil, who doesn't need a reason, decided to torment Ashley. She had been upset all evening, which was highly unusual. So, when I put her to bed, I continued to pray for her, and God revealed to me about this spirit that was tormenting her. As I began to command the spirit to turn her loose, the devil spoke to me, "You can't get this spirit off of her." Without even hesitating, I retorted, "You're right! I can't, but the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead and dwells in me can! In the name of Jesus, I command you to turn my baby loose!" Immediately, Ashley's countenance changed, she stopped crying, smiled, rolled over, and went to sleep. My mind was astonished, but my heart knew she had been delivered by the power of God!
To continue with Ashley at about the age of 2, she came under a severe attack that appeared to be an allergic reaction. Almost her entire body was covered with red splotches enhanced by tremendous itching, which is horrendous torment. We couldn't discern what spirit was attacking her, and I saw the more anxious I was, the more tormented Ashley became. "Anxiety" is "fear", you know. Finally, I decided to get her some relief somehow until we could determine what spirit this was coming against her. We called the doctor, and he prescribed something over the counter to relieve the itching. She got somewhat better, but I knew this was not the true answer. The next day, Kathy and I fasted according to Isaiah 58:6,
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
We prayed all day loosing her from 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation curses on all sides of each family, loosing us, or anything that we thought could cause this problem. At one point, Doyle came to exhort me not to be afraid to loose ourselves from curses through him or any of his family, which we had already begun to do. However, it was encouraging to have confirmed what we were doing was the right thing. At the end of the day, we could see little change, and I could see the medicine was not really working. However, the Spirit of God inside of me had strengthened me in prayer, and I was no longer afraid for Ashley. The power of God filled my heart, and I cried out, " I know this medicine is not the answer, and you are, Jesus! I don't care what generation curse this is or where it came from! I just command this curse to be loosed off her body in Jesus name!" Within a matter of seconds, Ashley quit crying because of the torment from the itching. The itching subsided, and within minutes, the redness began to disappear. The curse had been broken, and there has been no reoccurrence since. Praise God!
Rachel, our third daughter, was born in 1990, and she was the easiest birth Kathy experienced with the three girls. Rachel was born 17.5 minutes after we arrived at the hospital. It was really a miraculous experience, and I guess made the devil mad. When I took Rachel to the nursery, everything was fine except I could tell she was tormented. Even the nurses commented that they did not understand because all was normal. Well, I went back to Kathy's room, and we discovered both of us were somewhat apprehensive (fear) about the birth because of what had happened when Ashley was born. That did not last long, however, as we prayed, and God set us free from that fear. I went back to the nursery and found Rachel had completely calmed down and had gone to sleep. Praise the Lord!
Jesus said in John 14:27,
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
In Isaiah 53:5,
But he was wounded (tormented) for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
If we will believe what he did through the death, burial, and resurrection, we will triumph over all fear and all torment. God Bless!