A mother called me one day and wanted to bring her daughter by for some counseling.  Everything seemed kosher because I had counseled this mother previously about some other issues, non-related to her children.  We made an appointment for the next day.  I was just hoping mom wouldn’t stay in the session the entire time so the daughter would open up and talk.

Little did I know this was actually an “ice cream” appointment.   Back when I worked at a psychiatric hospital, I had to handle “ice cream” admissions every now and then.  This happened when the parent told the child they were going out for some fun activity, like getting some ice cream, only to end up at the psych unit to be admitted.  For the record, young adolescents hate these types of deceptive arrangements.  This 15 year old was no different.  She was angry and arguing with her mother and I was frustrated because the mother didn’t inform me she was bringing her daughter for counseling under duress.  In a matter of moments I became the most hated man in the world.  The rapport I was hoping to build immediately vanished.

As they settled in for counseling, the mother began to relate her worries and concerns for her daughter.  The young girl kept telling us there was no need to worry because her issues were not real problems and the mother needed to stay out of her business.  The mother’s main concerns were boys, booze, drugs, and running away.  It may sound like a country song, but these are common concerns of parents, especially when there is a rebellious attitude or lifestyle manifesting.

Susan (not her name) was a beautiful girl and appeared far older than her age.  It was also apparent she had something “on” her as well, a dark foreboding spirit.  When I finally got her away from her mother, that spirit was less volatile.  I wondered where and how she had gotten this darkness on her.  As she gave me her recent history of activities, I could tell she was withholding certain information by the way she steered away from certain questions.  As I pressed, she became more honest and began to confess that some of her actions were neither Christ-like nor beneficial for her well-being.  She ultimately admitted she was a witch.  It caught me off guard.  I knew she was a carrying a dark presence, but I didn’t really buy in to her practicing the craft.  She admitted she hadn’t really practiced being a witch, she was choosing to be a witch because she was in a relationship with a warlock.  This warlock wanted her to be a witch and that is what she now wanted.  (I later met with this 21 year old man and he was a practicing warlock.)    I had counseled women who had practiced or dabbled in witchcraft, but I had never met or counseled a true practicing warlock.

I sensed the Lord revealing to me that the warlock was the spiritual open door for this evil spirit to get into Susan’s life.  I spent several minutes explaining what this relationship was doing to her and the impact her boyfriend and his spirit was having on her spiritual life.  She didn’t disagree with me and even agreed that the dark spirit now on her was beginning to control her life.  I thought this initial breakthrough would lead to Susan’s freedom.

The Lord began to teach me a valuable principle during this counseling session and I have made it the first and primary step to anyone who truly desires to find freedom from dark forces.  You have to want to be free in order to gain freedom and ultimately stay free.  No other person can want or gain your freedom for you.  This was Susan’s real problem.  Since she was “in love with this warlock”, she simply wouldn’t choose freedom.  She didn’t want any more darkness in her life, so she was willing to agree with me to a point.  But the bottom-line… she didn’t want full freedom.   Susan, like many others, didn’t wake-up one day and say, “I am going to find me a warlock and fall in love with him.”  No, she dabbled in risky behavior and now she found it irresistible and unable to leave.

In Susan’s case, what scared her were the demonic manifestations she had begun to experience.  She began to experience demonic nightmares, dark spirits were beginning to appear to her, and she was beginning to have urges and desires she had never had before this relationship.  I have always found it amazing what people will live with in their lives before making a course change.  It is a truism… you cannot help those who refuse to first help themselves.

In a side note, when the boyfriend attended a session with Susan, my wife met him.  Now I didn’t see a spirit on this young man, but my wife did.  She said it looked like the “grim-reaper.”  I thought this to be somewhat odd, since neither of us had seen the grim-reaper… thankfully!  She described what she saw, so I told her to tell young Susan.  She was shocked because her warlock boyfriend referred to himself as the grim-reaper.  Now, we all knew why.  He would dress up as the grim-reaper, talked and acted like this was his personality.  All this still didn’t sway Susan.

Unfortunately, Susan left our counseling sessions unchanged.  She was more than educated about her circumstances and knew the dilemma she faced.  Later she did choose to leave the relationship with the warlock.  She didn’t leave him for freedom, as I had suggested.  In the end, she left him because she simply didn’t want to be one of ten others girls in this man’s coven he was creating.  This guy had more than witchcraft on his mind and Susan eventually realized it and left it all before she was in complete bondage.

The Lord doesn’t want any of us to be ignorant about the schemes of evil.  Unfortunately, evil seeks to entrap us much earlier in life than we can imagine.  Young teenage girls shouldn’t have to worry about being seduced by warlocks with demonic presences on them.  The truth is all believers should wear their spiritual armor and be teaching their children to do the same.  How about you… are you protected?

Blessings,

Pastor