I sincerely wish I had her picture . . .

She was a cute as a bug. Long brown hair with slight curl, 4 years old, but looked like 3. Held in her mother’s arms, she was holding on to mom stronger than mom was holding on to her. She only looked at me a few times, but she had the biggest brown eyes. Pretty face, angelic.

Her mother, Maria, had come forward when I’d invited anyone who wanted us to pray for or over them to stay after the service was over. This had been our last service and it had been outside. The day in Ubaúna had been just like the others, hot, humid, sweltering. The decision to hold the evenings service outside had been wise. A nice breeze had kicked up after sunset and it was almost pleasant. We’d had between 225 and 250 present. It’d been a good night. We’d had an amazing number of people wanting prayer. Maria was the next-to-last one that I got to and she’d been waiting for over 30 minutes.

I wasn’t prepared for the response to my inquiry to Natália’s mother. I’d simply asked her what her prayer request was. She informed me that it was for her daughter. She was continually seeing “sombras” or spirits. When she saw them, they would continually be visible for days. This would frighten Natália and she’d be unable to eat or sleep. She would cry, whimper and continuously want to be held in her mother’s arms. This had been going on for over a year and Natália was losing weight and developing health issues from the lack of sleep and constant anxiety.

How do you respond to a request like this?

Fortunately, after a week of intense spiritual clashes, I knew exactly what to do. And I did it.

Two passages immediately came to mind:

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. [Ephesians 6:12]

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. [1 John 4:4]

This child was innocent. She was being affected by someone around her. When I questioned the mother, it so happened that Maria was the friend of a “macumbista” — one who actively sought the spirits for solutions to her problems — and the friend lived next door. Often the friend would have spiritist activities occurring in her home and these acitivities coincided with little Natália’s “visitors.”

I urged the mother to accept the stronger power of the Jesus Lord, but she resisted. So I called upon the powers of heaven to protect and shelter little Natália. I thought of the story of Elisha’s servant, frightened of the King of Aram’s power. God opened his eyes and let him see the immensity of the army of heaven surrounding the enemy.

When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. “Oh, sir, what will we do now?” the young man cried to Elisha. “Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire. [2 Kings 6:15-17]

This was exactly what Natália needed. This was exactly what I prayed.

I would love to know what has happened. I continue to pray this power and blessing for Natália. I hope the Lord blesses me with the knowledge of how little Natália has fared. I would ask you to join your prayers with mine for her.