12.28.06

Please Make It Go

Posted in Uncategorized at 9:55 am by John Dobbs

by John Dobbs

Dorothy has called me three to four times a day for months now. I first met her about two months after Katrina when she came to our facility. She was a large black woman with braided hair. Someone told me she wanted to see the preacher. Her eyes are bloodshot and her face lets me know that she is in significant pain. She reeks of a combination of bad hygiene and strong cigarrettes. Her request was the first of it’s kind for me.

"I have a demon inside me, and I need you to pray over me and cast it out." My mind immediately went to that move … The Exorcist. She wasn’t floating or spewing green goo from her mouth. But it’s too easy for me to find humor in this situation. This lady is in pain. I asked her to tell me about her troubles. It was a long list, but her description of the physical manifestations of the demon were identical to acid reflux disease. When asked, she told me that no doctor could help her. It had to be a spiritual warfare.

So, I prayed over her and asked God to cast the demon out, and fill her with His Spirit. There were no shrieks, no herd of pigs going into the gulf, and no one writhed on the ground. I actually doubt that there is a demon. Maybe that’s my problem.

When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. "Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him." "O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me." Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn’t we drive it out?" He replied, "Because you have so little faith…" (Matthew 17:14-20a)

Dorothy’s phone messages are similar in content every time. They are a mixture of a request for prayer, a quotation of a Scripture, or repetitive use of a mantra picked up on TBN or Benny Hinn. She tells me the demon hangs up the phone or makes it impossible to call out. It eats her food while she’s trying to eat. She insists that it breaks things in her apartment and moves the furniture around. Her simple plea really does break my heart, "Please make it go. Go now. Go completely. Never return."

The truth? I think she lives in a cloudy world and the "demon" is her way of conceptualizing her inability to function on her own. I do know that this woman has been terrorized by either her own imagination, a demon, a sickness, or unsound mental health. Since my prayers (and there have been many) have been ineffectual in her behalf, she now calls television evangelists and requests prayer. They have given her a variety of answers and suggestions. I feel sure they are asking for money also, but she hasn’t told me this.

"Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us." "Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me." (Mark 8:38-39)

Recently I sat at a table with some people, including Dorothy. We had prayer together and I asked her if she would like to say a prayer also. She smiled slightly and said, "I’m trying to learn how to pray … but I have memorized the Lord’s prayer." So she led us in the Lord’s prayer. To me, this was a moment of grace. A prayer given to a troubled woman by our comforting savior.

My heart breaks for this lady who lives under the darkness that I cannot dispell. The only thing I know I can do is love her. I know Jesus loves her. And I do pray often for Jesus to please, make it go. Whatever it is.

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