She Testifies

@Lilyflower1603: How God revealed himself to me during a week of fasting

To begin, let me go back to the beginning of my teen years. That's when the battle started. Ever since that time, I have struggled with debilitating anxiety, OCD, obsessive thoughts, and depression. The struggle grew so bad that it would take me over two hours to do something that could easily be done in 10 minutes. I had to do it over and over again until I got it right. I didn't know what to do. My parents didn't know what to do. All I knew was that I was trapped in a cage with no way out.

It wasn't until we began to seek God that we realized that all these things were really demonic strongholds. Over time, I began to learn how to combat these demons through the name of Jesus. The attacks became easier to handle, but eventually I got to a point where I just gave up fighting. With each episode, my faith lessened and I lost all hope of finding complete freedom from it. I was not trusting God at all.

You see, every time an attack came, I would come against the demons in Jesus' name, but deep down inside, I didn't believe that they would really leave. I would fight them successfully in one area only to succumb to the obsessions in another. I felt trapped. My life was ruled by these obsessions and OCD. But, the sad part was that I let them. I allowed these demons to torment me and use me as their plaything by doing very little to combat their lies.

This was my life leading up to the fast. When Etty sent out the announcement about fasting, something inside me urged me to join. I did. I had never fasted for more than a day before so I knew it would be a challenge but I accepted it anyway.

I spent a lot of time in the Psalms during that week. Especially Psalms 91-100. I listened to worship music and Christian inspirational videos on YouTube instead of my usual music. God really spoke powerfully through them. I also spent more time in prayer. At first, it didn't feel like much was happening, but after several days of praying and some encouraging messages from friends, I began to feel and see what had happened. GOD BROKE THE CHAINS OF MY ANXIETY AND OCD! As I really came against the strongholds in my life and fought in the power of Jesus, I felt like a heavy weight was lifting from me. I felt like shackles had broken from my wrists!

But not only did God do this, he also showed me several other areas I needed to deal with. He also showed me how much unbelief, doubt, and selfishness I had in my heart. When I asked him to take that unbelief and doubt and turn it into faith, HE DID! I asked for faith stronger than I'd ever had before and he gave it to me! I thanked him with tears in my eyes.

After the fast was over, this experience made me wonder why I hadn't fasted sooner. But the truth that I didn't want to face made itself very clear. I really didn't want to be free. My flesh didn't want to give up what it had held on to for so long. My own stubborn pride and selfishness kept me from knowing the freedom that I know now.

I thank God for what he has done for me and I pray that he continues to use me mightily in any way he desires!

Lily