MAMA'S EXPLANATION & PRAYER REQUEST REGARDING TECHI'S BATTLES!
(For Adults Only)
Maria #123 DO 2630
6/90
1. (Editor's note: After Techi had undergone 2 or 3 weeks of frequently recurring battles with bad thoughts and pictures, Mama wanted to personally explain to the Staff exactly what Techi was going through, and to ask them to unitedly pray for Techi. Not only were many of the Devil's devices exposed in this talk, but some very good lessons were shared that helped everyone have a lot more understanding for Techi during this time of trial and testing, battles & victories.)
2. SOME OF YOU HAVE BEEN HELPING TECHI THROUGH HER TRIALS FOR QUITE AWHILE NOW, but others of you are not too aware of all that's been going on, so I thought it would be helpful to explain it to you all. It's been a continuing ongoing battle, and last night I was just asking the Lord, "What MORE can we do for her this particular day?"--Each day we have to continue to seek the Lord for His answers for that day. But last night when I was seeking the Lord & asking Him, "What can we do?", one of the things that came to me was, "Call for the elders of the church" (Jam.5:14), & have a united Prayer of Deliverance for Techi.
3. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT SATANIC ATTACK SHE'S GOING THROUGH RIGHT NOW IS WITH BAD PICTURES & BAD THOUGHTS. I wouldn't even say that's the worst problem, really, because getting victories over her personal NWOs is a very difficult ongoing battle too. Of course, those are something that SHE, in a way, is more responsible for, whereas these bad thoughts & pictures are outside attacks of the ENEMY.--Which, as Dad said, the Lord is allowing, to help her become a real FIGHTER.
4. ALTHOUGH TECHI'S PERSONAL PROBLEMS & WEAKNESSES--HER NWOS--ARE ALSO SERIOUS, BECAUSE WE'RE MORE ACCUSTOMED TO HANDLING SUCH PROBLEMS, we know more about how to help her with these kinds of battles. After all, sensitivity, pride, independence, a critical spirit etc. are very common problems with many of us, so we know a little more about how to help her overcome these things. We basically know how to help her with such NWOs, but with these bad thoughts that keep coming & keep coming, we're still seeking the Lord for ways to help her overcome them.
5. So I was praying, "Well, Lord, what more can we do to help her?", & I got that verse, "Call for the elders of the church!" Well, we've already had a deliverance prayer recently for her other problems & NWOs, but she wasn't having this problem with bad thoughts at that time. So the Lord reminded me to call for united prayer over this problem too.
6. WHENEVER SOMETHING FAIRLY MAJOR COMES UP, WE TRY TO MAKE IT A POLICY TO HAVE A UNITED PRAYER OF DELIVERANCE FOR IT. So that is one step of faith that we can take, we can all unite together in prayer for her. But when we come together for a united Prayer of Deliverance, we need to know what the PROBLEM is! So I figured if we're going to do what the Lord reminded me that we should do, then you all need to know a little bit more about the problem so you can pray knowledgeably for it.
DISCOURAGEMENT WHEN THE LORD DOESN'T ANSWER IMMEDIATELY!
7. I NEED TO PREPARE TECHI & MAKE SURE SHE UNDERSTANDS that just because she's going to have a big Prayer of Deliverance, it doesn't mean that everything is going to automatically be fine IMMEDIATELY afterwards. She & we have been praying for days now against this thing, & I'm sure the Lord has heard us, but the negative thoughts are still a problem.
8. We're so used to instant answers on so many things! The Lord often answers us immediately on all kinds of things. So when we hit a real tough need or request that the Lord takes a little longer to answer, it can sometimes be a little bit of a shock to our faith, a test of our faith.--Especially for a child.
9. AS ADULTS, AT LEAST WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH EXPERIENCE TO KNOW, "WELL, LOOK, IN THIS CASE & THAT CASE & THIS OTHER CASE, IT DID TAKE LONGER, but then the Lord DID answer." We have all this experience chalked up from all these years in the Family & all the different faith-building things we've heard & read & personally experienced. But the children DON'T have that wide experience. From the time they were babies they've been taught, "Ask Jesus & He'll answer you," & He so often does it immediately that when some problem seems to go on & on & on, to their simple way of looking at things, Jesus ISN'T answering. They don't see any results, & it can hurt their faith.
10. IN TECHI'S CASE, SHE HAS NOT ONLY BEEN PRAYING & REALLY FIGHTING & BATTLING AGAINST THESE BAD THOUGHTS, but she's also been praying against continual headaches for months now, & resisting & fighting those. She's also had a bad ankle that she's been praying that the Lord would heal. She's also had all of her personal NWOs that she's just recently made a major commitment to fight against & try to get the victory over, & she feels like she hasn't made much progress in those either.
11. NOW WE ALL KNOW & CAN SEE THAT SHE HAS MADE LOTS OF PROGRESS. It's phenomenal! From the time she had her NWO Prayer of Deliverance & really made a commitment to do something about it, her progress has been tremendous! But like most of us, when we look at OURSELVES, we just see what a terrible mess we are, & we don't see improvements in our own lives as much as others do. That's why it's so important that we TELL her that we can SEE her progress.
12. SHE HASN'T SAID THIS, BUT WHEN I PUT MYSELF IN HER PLACE, I can easily see how she could feel, "Look, the Lord seems to answer everybody else's prayers BUT mine, & I have this long list of things--SERIOUS THINGS, physical & spiritual--that Jesus isn't answering me on, so He must not be HEARING me. So these doubts that I've had about Jesus being alive or the Word being true & real, maybe they're right.--Because, look, Jesus ISN'T answering my prayers. So either He doesn't CARE about me, or maybe He really DOESN'T exist!"
13. It may seem incredible to you that she could ever think such things, but this kind of attack is actually not that unusual at all. The Devil will try it on anyone, to see if he can disturb them & get them to listen to him further. He even brought similar thoughts & doubts to me one time, but I knew right away how ridiculous they were, & I refused to spend any time on them. However, such doubts could be very real & serious for children. After all, they have to take things much more by faith than we do.
14. OUR CHILDREN WHO HAVE BEEN BROUGHT UP COMPLETELY IN THE FAMILY DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ELSE BUT THE FAMILY.--And it's possible that they could sometimes wonder if maybe the Family is just some kind of a little sci-fi fantasy that they've become part of. But we ADULTS have another story entirely!--We've BEEN out in the World! We KNOW how rotten it is!--And when we found the Family, we KNEW it was real! We KNOW this Work is supernatural! We know it couldn't be anything BUT Jesus! We've experienced the World & all of its horrors & the terrible ungodly, Satanic way things are WITHOUT the Lord, & now we've experienced what it's like WITH the Lord! So there's no doubt in OUR minds that He & His Word are real & true!
15. We have the benefit of the comparison. We know that what's happened in our lives has to be Jesus! We know that we're only alive by God's grace, & that only He can make such wonderful changes in our lives! We can look back at the Hell of a World that we've come from, & we know what we've now got is real!
16. But for our kids who have been brought up in the Family all of their lives & have not known anything else about the World & its evils & how life is without Jesus, you can see how easily the Devil could say, "Well, Jesus isn't real. He doesn't exist, the Word is not true." How do they know? They have to take it all much more by faith than we do, just blind faith. Whereas we see the evidence. We know Jesus is real because we know firsthand what life is like without Jesus!
17. ANYWAY, WITH THE DEVIL ATTACKING HER THE WAY HE IS, HE COULD EASILY HIT HER WITH THAT KIND OF DISCOURAGEMENT, THINKING THAT THE LORD IS NOT ANSWERING HER PRAYERS. So that's why any kind of encouragement from OTHERS' experience is very very important!--To help her see & know that the Lord DOES hear & DOES care & IS going to answer, & that there IS a happy ending. Even though sometimes the Lord may not answer IMMEDIATELY & some problems may go on for what seems like eternity, things WILL get easier & the victory WILL come. The Lord has PROMISED, & He NEVER fails!
18. IT'S LIKE PAUL PAPERS SAID WHEN HE HAD HIS NERVOUS BREAKDOWN; the worst thing for him was to think that his weak & confused state of mind was going to go on FOREVER. He had no way of knowing at the time if the state that he was in was ever going to come to an end.
19. It's now like that with Techi: She prays & prays & prays & it looks to her like, "I've fought my very hardest, I've made my most valiant attempt, & everybody else has too. Everybody else is praying & giving me all this input every day, & I'm listening to the Word all day long & I'm rebuking those thoughts & I'm singing songs & I've been yielded & I'm being a good girl & I'm trying as hard as I can & I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do, but the Lord's not answering my prayers!"
20. EVEN FOR AN ADULT, THIS WOULD BE A HEAVY ARRAY OF VERY SERIOUS PHYSICAL & SPIRITUAL ATTACKS or afflictions, & NONE of her prayers regarding them seem like they're really getting answered!--At least not in HER eyes. So put yourself in HER place. It must be very very discouraging. But despite it all, she's tried to keep really cheerful & she's manifested a tremendous fighting spirit.--And that's what Dad said, that the REASON the Lord was putting her through all these things was to make her a real FIGHTER, which she definitely wasn't before.
21. IT'S AMAZING HOW SOMEBODY CAN CHANGE! Her general attitude previously was so passive, & it was very difficult to get her to FIGHT to make needed changes in her life. But it seems like there was almost an immediate transformation when all of these trials came upon her. She's really been FIGHTING!
22. THESE ATTACKS HAVE HELPED HER TO FIGHT HARDER THAN SHE EVER HAS BEFORE. But as I say, she needs encouragement to keep going & to keep up the fight. I know that I have trials sometimes when it seems like a battle is prolonged & it just keeps going on & on. If I have a headache one day & it continues overnight, the next day I almost feel a little panicked! I think, "Oh my, am I NEVER going to get rid of this headache?" Even if it lasts for more than a few hours, I start worrying, "My goodness, am I going to be sick FOREVER?"
23. I know it sounds silly, but it illustrates the point. If I even have that little nagging thought just over a headache the next morning, what do people feel like when a serious battle goes on & on & on, & they've prayed & prayed & prayed against it?--Especially a child! During such times they have a very great need for encouragement, & particularly encouragement that the trial is not going to go on forever. Such "tryings of our faith" certainly do "work patience," as His Word says.--Jam.1:3.
24. SO TECHI IS SOMEWHAT BATTLE-WEARY NOW, & she's physically run-down as well. These afflictions make her physically weak, so that she can't even get much exercise. If she runs she gets a headache, & now with her weak ankle, she can't even walk very much. So her general physical condition isn't very strong or healthy. She's physically weak, & when you get physically weak, you can get mentally wearied too. You're just tired--in your mind, in your spirit & in your body.
25. BUT AS FAR AS SPIRITUAL STRENGTH, I'd say that quote, "When you're weakest in the flesh you can be strongest in the (LORD'S) Spirit," has come to life in her case. She may be weakened from the battle & from her physical ailments, but she's certainly much stronger in the SPIRIT.--Yielded to the Lord & fighting to get the victory & letting the Lord come through, & truly depending on HIM.
26. Even though she's weaker in her own strength, she is now much stronger in the Lord's strength than she was before. But we must support her in prayer, in real desperate prayer, that the Lord will continue to give her the strength. None of us can fight battles like these on our own & in our own strength. When we talk about strength to win spiritual victories, we're talking about the Lord's strength. It's only the Lord's strength that has enabled her to make such phenomenal progress in such a short time, in just the few weeks that she's fought against this multitude of problems.
27. SOMEONE SAID THAT IN THE PAST FEW DAYS TECHI'S SHOWN A FEW SIGNS OF MURMURING, a little bit of resentment at correction, a little bit of rebelliousness, & they were wondering if maybe it's because she's battle-weary. Well, that could certainly be the case. Don't YOU get cranky when YOU'RE tired?
28. HOWEVER, I THINK ANOTHER REASON, AS I'VE JUST EXPLAINED, COULD BE DUE TO DISCOURAGEMENT. She probably just feels, "Well, I guess the Lord doesn't care about me after all. I've done all that I can & He's not answering my prayers." Last night she told me, "I'm just not very happy, I'm not making much progress." I replied, "Well, Honey, you're a SOLDIER in a BATTLE.--And I don't think you'd describe most soldiers on the battlefield as `happy', at least not the way we usually think about happiness--carefree, smiling & feeling on top of the World." I believe her definition of how she ought to be feeling is not too realistic, because she's in the middle of a big FIGHT.
29. She just needs the Lord's strength, & we need to do all we can to help her & encourage her. Don't only tell her that you've noticed she's doing so well, but also encourage her by the Word & by your testimonies that these battles & times of testing aren't going to last forever. Like Dad says, personal testimonies are very powerful, & showing her how similar things that you've gone through did finally come to an end, will mean a lot to her. "Even if you can't see it, the victory's there by faith!" Encourage her that the Lord doesn't allow these things to be mean to us or because He doesn't love us, but to test our faith & draw us closer to Him & to strengthen us & make us good soldiers. (--Amen?)
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MENE'S & TECHI'S SITUATIONS
30. THE OTHER THING I WANTED TO MAKE CLEAR--& TECHI needs to know this too--is the big difference between Mene's situation & Techi's situation. Even though some of the demonic attacks of violent & weird thoughts that Techi has experienced seem to be very similar to what Mene had, there's a great difference in the two girls' SPIRITUAL conditions. But it's amazing to me how the Devil seems to be so LIMITED in the different tricks that he can pull out of his dirty bag!
31. EVEN WHEN SARA WAS AT THE HEAVENLY CITY SCHOOL, ONE OF THE GIRLS THERE HAD SOME REAL DEMONIC ATTACKS of evil thoughts & pictures, & Sara said, "When I first heard about the violent pictures this dear girl was having, I thought, `Oh my!--We must have somehow left some detailed descriptions of the actual thoughts & pictures that Mene had, in the Mene Letters!'"--Because this girl at the Heavenly City School had exactly the SAME pictures! So Sara searched through the Mene Letters & found those details were never PUBLISHED. And now TECHI, who also had never heard of these things before, has had some of the same pictures. So evidently in this kind of mind attack, the Devil uses the same sort of thing with everybody. I guess there are only so many things that he can pull out of his bag, & he just uses the same old thing as much as he can with WHOEVER he's attacking.
32. His evil thoughts & pictures always seem to more or less depict the same thing: Either doing damage to others or doing damage to yourself. What more could he try to get you to do than that? And then he starts making everything seem crazy, twisting your thoughts around & making everything strange & weird & bizarre. There's nothing much more he can do than that.
33. BUT WHAT WE NEED TO EXPLAIN TO THE FAMILY, WHAT THEY NEED TO UNDERSTAND, & WHAT WE'VE REALISED SINCE MENE'S CASE, is that evil thoughts & pictures can happen to ANYONE, & you can't automatically equate them with any one thing. Of course, MENE'S thoughts & pictures were probably in some ways a JUDGEMENT of the Lord on her, not only for her long-standing problems with extreme pride, her exalted picture of herself & her resentment of correction, but also for her long history of purposely yielding to fantasy & living in her own fantasy world & ultimately desiring spiritual powers, wishing harm on others & becoming fascinated with evil & deliberately INVITING it into her mind.
34. So we could say in Mene's case that her attacks of evil & violent thoughts & pictures were the Lord's judgement on her. Or we could almost say that in her particular case, they were the natural consequence of her living in her own little perverted & make-believe world for so long, where she so highly exalted herself & even thought & wished evil & harm on those who challenged or corrected her.
35. However, Techi's thoughts & pictures are definitely not related to any kind of bad, rebellious or unyielded spirit, because she's been very yielded & very willing to fight all these things, & she's had a very sweet spirit through it all. In other words, they were not the result of what Techi was doing at all. They've been a completely independent outside attack. This is something that we didn't realise so clearly before, that virtually anybody could be hit with such attacks or battles.
36. THERE ARE TWO ENTIRELY DIFFERENT WAYS TO LOOK AT SUCH ATTACKS. One, YOU can open up the door to the Enemy through your own rebellious or unyielded behaviour or attitude--through yielding to extreme jealousy, selfishness, pride, bitterness, a critical spirit, etc. YOU can open yourself up to the Devil through that sort of thing, & thus leave yourself much more vulnerable to such attacks.
37. Your own weaknesses or unyieldedness can be a chink in your armour & a hole in your wall of defense. For example, if you are harbouring bad feelings towards someone because they corrected you & you didn't receive it, or you're jealous of them or bitter towards them about something, the Enemy can come in on that wave length of your already negative thought patterns, & can amplify & aggravate your ill feelings towards them.--And if you're susceptible enough, he can then cause evil, hurtful or violent thoughts or pictures against them to formulate in your mind.
38. But on the other hand, even if you're doing the best you know how & you're completely yielded & you're living for the Lord 100% & you're on the right track, the right channel, the Devil can still throw his fiery darts at you. He can still cause things you hadn't even previously thought before to materialise in your mind, & bring up ghastly pictures or weird thoughts.
39. BUT IF YOU KNOW YOU'RE DOING WHAT THE LORD WANTS YOU TO & YOU'RE YIELDED & IN HIS WILL, YOU HAVE MUCH MORE RESISTANCE. You can then have much more FAITH that the Lord's going to take care of you & deliver you than if such attacks came as a result of YOUR being OUT of the Will of the Lord or on the wrong spiritual channel because of a wilfully murmuring, critical, bitter, jealous, or exalted attitude. If THAT'S your case, then the first thing to do is to get back IN God's Will & get your heart & attitude YIELDED & SUBMITTED to the Lord!
40. TO EFFECTIVELY FIGHT SUCH ATTACKS YOU'VE GOT TO GO BACK & SEE WHERE YOU'VE GOTTEN OUT OF THE LORD'S WILL or where you're off the track, & get that straightened out. THEN you can have much greater faith to deal with the attacks of the Enemy. The FIRST step in getting rid of the Devil is to "SUBMIT yourself to GOD."--THEN you'll have the strength to "RESIST the Devil, & he will FLEE from you!"--Jam.4:7.
41. But if, as in Techi's case, you're in the Lord's Will, then you don't have to worry that it's a judgement because you're out of God's Will or that your other problems are in some way the cause of the attacks or are making you more susceptible to it. But it can still be a very serious attack on you, & as I said, the Devil often uses the same tactics in both cases.
42. I THINK WE NEED TO SHARE THIS WITH THE FAMILY & open their eyes to the fact that such Satanic attacks & doubts & pictures & thoughts are very COMMON, & they can hit you at ANY time, no matter WHO you are or WHAT you are or what you're DOING or how GOOD you're doing or how BAD you're doing. Of course, you'll do a lot better at resisting & fighting them if you're already IN the Lord's Will & on His channel. You can be doing your best & you can be a shining example of a wonderful soldier for the Lord, yet still have such attacks. But thank God, He has PROMISED that if you will do your part & truly RESIST the Devil & KEEP resisting him, he WILL flee from you! PTL!
43. AT LEAST KNOWING YOU'RE YIELDED & IN GOD'S WILL GIVES YOU MORE FAITH TO KNOW THAT THE ATTACKS ARE PERSECUTION FROM THE DEVIL. It's "persecution FOR righteousness' sake."--Mat.5:10. It's a hindrance, it's an annoyance, it's persecution, it's the Devil trying to discourage us.--And not only discourage us, but condemn us, annoy us, bother us, hinder us, make us lose sleep over it, all kinds of things.
THE DEVIL'S DESTRUCTIVE & DISCOURAGING DEVICES!
44. OF COURSE, THE ENEMY'S TRYING, IF IT WERE POSSIBLE, TO GET US TO DO THOSE THINGS THAT HE PUTS INTO OUR MIND & INTO OUR THOUGHTS. But thank God, most Christians--especially those who are in God's Will & staying close to the Lord--have got the RESISTANCE, the "shield of faith" to deflect such fiery darts (Eph.6:16), & most of them would never come to the point of actually carrying out the evil or destructive thoughts the Devil attacks them with.
45. THE DEVIL IS A "MURDERER FROM THE BEGINNING" (JN.8:44), AS JESUS SAID, & HE'S TRYING TO GET US TO DESTROY OTHERS OR OURSELVES THROUGH SUCH ATTACKS. But with most Christians, & especially with STRONG Christians such as we have in the FAMILY, the Lord PROTECTS us & DELIVERS us before it gets anywhere near that point. But the Enemy tries it nevertheless, because even if he can't get you to kill yourself or someone else, there is other lesser damage that he tries to inflict on us through such attacks on our minds.
46. THE NEXT MAJOR THING THAT THE DEVIL WOULD LIKE TO DO IF HE CAN'T GET YOU TO KILL OR INJURE YOURSELF OR SOMEONE ELSE, IS TO DRIVE YOU INSANE. But again, we don't have too many cases of this in the Family because the Lord punches through & keeps us safe, TTL! Then there is the whole range of OTHER things that he will try to do as a result of such evil thoughts or pictures, more minor things that he's usually more successful with--causing fear, condemnation, discouragement, the feeling of hopelessness & causing you to doubt the Lord & the Word. Of course, even THESE aren't so MINOR, since he is able to use such "devices" to render so many of the Lord's people useless.--Especially those who don't know how to FIGHT & RESIST him.
47. If the Enemy doesn't get you with one thing, he will try to get you with something else. So it's a pretty smart trick of the Devil to bring those thoughts & bad pictures to your mind, because he knows it will usually bother you in some way.
48. WHEN WE KNOW WHAT THE DEVIL'S UP TO, WE DON'T HAVE TO FEAR, & WE CAN DEAL WITH IT. We have weapons MUCH more powerful than anything the Devil can muster. We have the WORD & we have faith in the LORD, & we can FIGHT! All we have to do is learn how to USE these weapons effectively in our warfare against him.
49. So I believe it's going to help the Family tremendously to know that just because somebody has an attack of evil thoughts or pictures, it does not necessarily mean that they're a so-called "hopeless" case or in nearly as bad a condition as dear Mene was. It's just a common device of the Enemy. The more we find out about the Devil's devices & his workings & wiles & attacks that he tries to pull in our own midst, the more we can deal with it through the Word, & the more we can tell others & free them from any hold the Devil may have on them through fear. So, praise the Lord!
CLOSING & PRAYER
50. WELL, NOW I NEED TO GO & HAVE MY LITTLE EVENING REPORT TIME WITH TECHI. But what I've shared here should help give you a real burden to PRAY for Techi. The Lord's doing this not only to make Techi a fighter, but also to help US to understand better what's going on, & also to enable us to help the REST of the children & Teens in the Family & help THEM to fight these problems, which I'm sure a lot of them may be encountering at one time or another.
51. So PTL! TYJ! Lord, do help us in these things. You be our Guide & be our Stay, & be our Strong Tower & Refuge that we can run into & be safe, Lord!--Pro.18:10. Deliver us from any fear that the Enemy would try to instil in our hearts! We're exposing & bringing his devices out into Your Light, Lord, so we know he's just going to flee! Like You've said through Your Prophet, "Let the Light in, & the darkness will flee!" Thy Light will chase the darkness away. We can't do it, Lord, but the Light of Thy Word, the Light of Thy Spirit will chase it all away! PTL!
52. So You do it, Lord! Help us to be desperate with You about it! Help us to realise the seriousness of this, Lord, & how she is now fighting for her spiritual life. Help us to be an encouragement to her & an uplift, especially in our desperate prayers for her & our fighting in the Spirit with her. Help us, Lord, to be faithful & not to sin in ceasing to pray for her. (1Sam.12:23) Help us, Lord, in Jesus' name! Amen.
53. (Immediately following the above talk, Mama left to be with Techi, while the Staff had desperate united prayer for Techi, pouring out their hearts & claiming God's promises, asking Him to deliver her from every snare & device of the Enemy! Afterwards, the Lord gave some very comforting & encouraging verses.)
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family