Children and Deliverance – Part 3

Scary Things

When I was a kid, my grandmother owned a two-story house.  When we spent the night at her house, the kids had to sleep upstairs.  The upstairs was one large room with a fairly large closet and in the closet was a door to the attic space around the room.  My grandmother used to tell us that if we didn’t behave, the boogey-man would come out of that door at night and “get us.”  That knowledge did not help our sleep patterns when we stayed at grandma’s.  Kid’s have great imaginations and sometimes imagine the “monster under the bed.”

However, I’m also convinced that many children see into the spiritual realm and often report seeing “scary” things to their parents that are written off as simple imagination.  I’m somewhat convinced that all children see into the spiritual realm until we teach them to ignore what they are seeing by calling it “imaginary.”  So…when our children come to us reporting such things, how should we respond? 

Seth Dahl is a good resource for such questions.  I probably don’t agree with everything Seth says, but I don’t even agree with everything I say six months after I say it.  However, I do agree with much of what he says.  regarding this question. He says, “When we see things that are scary or demonic, we must keep in mind that the enemy’s first goal is to make us afraid.  Why? Because fear is agreement with the enemy and is permission for the demonic to keep on visiting. Once fear enters our hearts, we have opened a door for the enemy’s second goal to be fulfilled: control…Fear is like an open door in the spirit world through which the demonic can enter.  If we do not fear, their access is stopped…Imagine that your child calls you to his or her room in the middle of the night and tells you there are three weird creatures near the wall…giving into fear is the first thing to avoid.  The second thing we do not want to do is to act as if the spiritual battle is not going on. Too many parents tell their kids that what they are seeing is not real or that it is just their imagination. There are, of course, times when kids make things up, but we need to approach each situation as if this is not happening. When we discount what our children experience, they begin to discount their own ability to trust themselves and what they are seeing.  Simply because we do not see it, does not mean what they are seeing is not real.”  

Dahl goes on in his book, Raising Spirit Led Kids, to suggest that we ask our children questions about what they are seeing.  We might ask if they also see Jesus or an angel in their room.  If so, then we can ask what Jesus or the angel is doing or what Jesus or the angel is asking them to do. The key is that we direct our children from a focus on the threat to a focus on the solution or the protection that Jesus provides.  We direct them from fear to faith. In those moments, we can also show them the power of the name of Jesus to command spirits to leave.  Even if the moment turns out to be a moment of imagination, we can direct our children to imagine Jesus defeating the creature or sending it away.  Those moments can be practice sets for the real thing.

Spirits are a reality.  Many of us cannot see into the spiritual realm because we were taught to ignore what we were seeing and to give credibility only to the natural realm.  The ability to see into the spiritual realm is a gift of discernment that should be developed rather than quenched. 

Secondly, when we as parents model faith rather than fear, our children will take on the same perspective.  Our reaction should not be one of fear ourselves or dismissal of what our child is seeing, but rather a confident reaction that “Jesus has got this!”  Even our attempts to deny the reality of something our children are seeing or think they are seeing is an expression of fear.  We tend deny what we think we cannot cope with.  We must always choose faith.

The enemy is very active in the world right now and as we move closer to the return of Christ, we can anticipate that he will be even more active.  If we try to convince our children that what they are seeing or even feeling in their room is not real, we risk teaching them by implication that the unseen or spiritual realm is not real.  These are opportunities to equip our children for the fight that lies before them because our struggle is not against flesh and blood (Eph. 6).  The key is for us and our children to know who we are to Christ and to know who he is to us: King of Kings and Lord of Lords who has all authority in heaven and on earth.  The earlier our children learn those truths, the more able they will be to fulfill their destiny in Christ.

This is the last blog of three on Children and Deliverance, I’m sure I have not answered every question, but hopefully have pointed you in a good direction regarding this topic.  Blessings in Him