Well, it's about 1:00 AM here, and I find myself unable to sleep again. But I'm happy to report that this restlessness has not been the norm in the recent past. Although, it hasn't been completely unfamiliar to me either. Let me catch you up a bit on some of what has been happening with this.
After my first round of restless nights, I began seeking some spiritual answers to what was going on. So, at night I would take some time to rebuke any unclean spirits that may have been in my apartment. Not much change. Then Rick and I took some olive oil that he had, asked God's blessing on it, and we anointed the walls, floor and ceiling of my bedroom. I began to notice a difference after this. Most nights since then have been pretty pleasant dreams.
Let me say, though, that this is all unfamiliar territory to me. I'm not sure what anointing is supposed to look like. I'm not sure what is the extent of its blessing power. I'm not sure what are the right steps to use for it. Did we make some mistakes? Possibly. But considering how well my sleep has been in the recent past, I feel like we must be at least partially on the right path to understanding things in a deeper sense. You see, Rick and I are doing our best to grow our faith by entering into some uncomfortable parts of serving Him. Particularly, we are trying things we have not previously done in our walks, but perhaps we have heard that these have been effective in other parts of Christendom.
Of course, our efforts are not without difficulties. Two nights after the anointing, I awoke in the early morning in a cold sweat, feeling a heaviness very close to me. So close, I would say it was laying beside me on the other side of the bed. In fact, I could basically sense that it was there. As I looked at the empty side of my bed, a nasty voice growled at me. Without much thought, and with a lot of disgust, I growled back at it. Ha. I didn't notice the humor of the situation at first, but later I had a good chuckle. Anyway, I was angry because things were going so well after the anointing process that I really felt the enemy had no grounds to be back in my apartment. So, I rebuked him and told him that by Christ's authority he had to leave. And it seems he did, as I was able to finish the rest of my sleep without interruption.
Next up on our list, Rick and I are planning to do a fast this next weekend. We have both felt God pushing us to trust Him more by giving up our realm of control and letting Him lead a lot of what is happening. Seems like a wise thing, albeit a scary thing. But we both agreed that if we are going to seek His face with such abandon, we both need to draw closer to Him now. Thus, a fast seems like a good thing. This will be a dietary fast combined with a restriction of computer access. I'm not sure where it will lead, but I'm excited to see His faithfulness to us in a deeper way. Please pray for us to be held up and drawn near to our Lord during this next weekend. And please pray for rest!
Hope you all are well.
