Stir the Water users often write in and ask me about the frightening experiences they had as children. Some of them would see horrible things in their rooms at night. They would hear voices, threats, inexplicable sounds and other things that would terrify them. Many of them struggled with nightmares and what some people call “night terrors.”
The result was that some of these gifted people came to believe the gifting was actually a curse, and some begged God to make it stop or to take it away.
As a kid and teenager, I spent years sleeping with a blanket over my head because I was afraid of what I would see in my bedroom. My family attended a church that preached the Gospel, so I knew that demons couldn’t harm me and that the angels were present to do only good, but I was so frightened that for twelve years, I cursed my eyes, praying that I wouldn’t see anything.
It wasn’t until after I read Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness (Crossway Books, original printing 1986) that I felt comfortable facing the enemy. I stopped being afraid of him. I stopped being afraid of many things as I realized the authority God has given us.
Many of us are in various stages of taking back what was shut down in us as children. Perhaps you experienced spiritual activity as a child and had non-rational thoughts that seemed more real than rational thoughts. Perhaps now you need to come before God and repent for refusing the gifting He gave you. All giftings are from God. Satan can’t give us any type of gifting, which is why he goes after people who have them. He is intent upon using those giftings for his own purposes or for scaring us into submission to him.
How do we begin to come out of this fear? The key to not being afraid of what we’re experiencing isn’t knowing that our experiences are of God; the key is not being afraid either way – whether they’re of God or the enemy. This is important because it is difficult to discern anything accurately when we’re trembling in fear. We have to overcome our fear first, and then, as we do that, our discernment will increase. We’ll be able to tell the source of what we’re experiencing, and then we can get rid of what is from the enemy and welcome more of God.
As many of us have experienced, the moment of overcoming fear can be very, very hard. The only way I know how to make this mental transition is by becoming aggressive. If there’s something in our house or bedroom at night, we want to know about it, so we can deal with it. That’s a very intentional shift, and at the beginning, it can be difficult and frightening. But once we take that first step, it becomes easier.
Being afraid and running away is much more terrifying than facing our fears. If we determine to find out the source of what we’re experiencing, no matter what that may be, our intentionality will diminish our fear. Rampant fear comes not so much from being afraid as it does from running away, acting or panicking in fear. Therefore, if we run toward what we’re afraid of, the cycle will break, and we will find freedom. We will be able to use our giftings in peace.
God has given us authority over the enemy. It takes time to truly understand that, but as we begin to understand it, the fear leaves, because we realize there isn’t a reason for us to have it.
The How do you overcome fear of the seer gifting? by Jim Driscoll, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
This is the first time I’ve read the responses and all I can say is Wow! I’m relieved to know that so many others have seen and heard in the supernatural realm as I have. I’m 57 and I can remember as far back as 5yrs of age the torment I experienced EVERY night, only my torment was total demonic. Every night I saw the most gruesome, hideous demonic things. To me they looked like real live people and I’d try to show them to my family but they couldn’t see them. I could even see through the covers. It has been approx.15- 20 years since I last saw anything of a demonic nature. The last thing I saw I pleaded the blood of Jesus and commanded him to leave my home and he ran like a scolded dog! Many I see are talking about hearing God. When I gave my life to Jesus I started experiencing hearing His voice and I’ll never forget the first time. Many times I would know things that hadn’t even happened yet. Sometimes at home just sitting on my bed it seemed to run though my mind, spirit, (I don’t know) like I was watching a slide show and I saw people and myself, heard conversations; only to go into the office the next day and it all happened exactly and word for word, it was like I had a dress rehearsal if that makes any sense at all. Sometimes the instance I saw certain individuals; I’d hear every word they were going to say before they spoke. I tested it once because it was happening so frequently. I told them to wait in the waiting area and I sat at my desk and wrote just as fast as I could all that I heard. I then told the person, let me tell you why you came here today and commensed telling they everything and they were totally shocked and all they could say was “How did you know that?” over and over, and all I could say was I don’t know! I have had so many instances of this happening and ones that didn’t believe things I told them, they do now because it has happened often enough that they know if I tell them, It WILL BE exactly as I said it would happen. My father was also able to see in the spirit and all my life I’ve asked him “Why am I the only one out of 7 children that see these things? What is the purpose, and why do you see them too? He told me he didn’t know. Many of you have said people would think you’re crazy if you shared what you saw. All I can say to that is “Amen”. No one believes you and you can feel so alienated because there isn’t anyone you can talk to about it that won’t think you’re crazy. I also have dreams of spiritual nature. I dreamed jesus walked up to me, I bowed down on my knees and He placed his right hand on top of my head and I literally lit up like a light bulb, totally consumed by light!!! I could write a book about what I’ve seen. I still don’t understand today even why I was so tormented by demon spirits all my youthful life and was able to see them the way I did. Today, I’m not tormented by demons because I know I’m covered by the blood of Jesus and I belong to the Lord. I’m no longer living in fear of the enemy because I have taken my stand in Christ. Still praying for understanding and trusting God.
Thank you so much, I didnt know I am a seer untill early this year but I can identify with all you’re sharing. I have a 3 year old son who is always so fearful and sees some things which others dont (e.g. snakes). I usually identify with what he will be saying but I dont know how to assist him. Please help
when I read this article, the Holy Spirit took me back to when I was a child between age 10-12 and I used to see faces of people and faces of demons, it was so many demons the closet door would buldging at the seems, the only scripture I new was Psalms 23, and I would read that scripture so fast with the cover over my head. the Holy Sprit took me back to that time when I read your article and told me that the demons in that closet was more afraid of me then I was of them.
amen thank you
First time I hear about this. Totally shocked. I’m 43 now and I can say that I understand now what was wrong. As a young child I
cursed my eyes by saying to the Lord that I rather be blind than to see what I saw even in the people, I didn’t want to see. I was tormented to the point where I got really sick. Every day I dreaded going to bed ’cause the moment my parents went to bed shortly after I will start hearing things, seeing the dark shadows standing by my door or in the room passing by, diabolic laughs that will raise my hair it was horrifying. I as well covered myself completely with my blanket and couldn’t wait until it was 5:00am the time when my parents got up. My mom was trying to get me a psychiatrist because she thought I had problems. I have been seeing since last year these small sphere lights and lately more often. As well the change in temperatures, smell, visions but I have a long way to go. I have many questions and I don’t dare talk to anyone in my church about it.
what do you do when they hurt you, the bad ones.
Would like to just say thank you for this site. I just recently heard about it, and it’s helping to understand alot of things. Kinda bringing alot of clarity to many things. Praise God, finally somewhere that I can learn about things of God and the fear of this gift to be lifted.