Without the gifts of the Spirit, none of this would have happened. The woman with Tourette Syndrome would not have been healed and her daughter-in-law would not have had a baby girl.
I had another Holy Spirit experience over thirty-five years ago. It happened when I was preaching at a small house group. A woman showed up that night, suffering from muscular dystrophy. She used a cane and hobbled over to a chair and sat down.
When I finished my message, I walked over to her, reached out my hand and said, “Let’s dance.”
She took my hand and danced with me around the family room. After a minute or so, I stopped and looked at her. “What do you think?” I said.
Her eyes opened wide. “Oh Lord, I’m healed!” she proclaimed.
The woman carried her cane home, totally healed. The next day, she enrolled at a gym to get herself back in shape.
None of this was through my efforts. It was the manifestation of the Holy Spirit working in me.
If I could turn the gifts on when I wanted to, I would, but it doesn’t work that way. The Holy Spirit determines when He will manifest Himself in believers, and not us.
Here’s my thinking:
If we want to be used by the Lord to heal dementia sufferers, we need to eagerly pursue the spiritual gifts. All of them. I just don’t believe there is any other option.
Also, it’s my belief that dementia/Alzheimer’s is caused by demons. And I think these demons have built up strongholds in our minds so that very few believers are praying for dementia sufferers to be healed.
Thus, like Jesus said about casting out the demon in the young boy, “But this kind never comes out except by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17:21)
It will take the Spiritual gifts, faith, prayer and fasting.
Peter, James, John and Jesus walked back to the crowd after their transfiguration experience. A father approached Jesus and explained how His disciples could not cast a demon out of his son.
Jesus asked that the boy be brought to Him. He rebuked the demon and it came out of him. He was cured at once.
Later, the disciples asked why they were unsuccessful.
He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. But this kind never comes out except by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17:20-21 ESV)
Faith like a grain of mustard seed.
The mustard seed was the smallest seed in Israel. When germinated and under the proper growing conditions, the seed grew into a mature bush within three months’ time to an average height of seven feet tall.
Therefore, when Jesus used the mustard seed as a metaphor for His teaching here, he was talking about the seed’s one-sided genetic focus (or faith) to be the largest garden plant.
The seed never doubted or waivered in its faith to be all God called it to be. The seed could even lie dormant for over sixty years, but when the conditions were right, it would fulfill its genetic calling by growing into a mature plant.
Although the mustard seed is tiny, mustard-seed faith is not a small amount of faith. It is 100%, put-your-hand-to-the-plow-and-not-look-back, all-in faith. It is the pinnacle of faith and where we need to set our sights.
Prayer.
The word prayer, as used by Jesus, signifies the many different types of prayer, such as supplications, intercessions, thanksgivings, praises, worship and more. But no matter what type we believers use, we must draw near to God and believe He will reward our efforts.
Prayers depend upon our relationship with our Father. We must act little children and rush into His presence, knowing He loves us and desires to answer our prayers.
Fasting.
Fasting is probably the least popular of all of the spiritual disciplines. Starving for Jesus’ sake, right?
But as Paul discovered, God’s power works best in weakness. And the weakness God was referring to is our fleshly nature, especially our desire to eat and drink.
My experience on fasting is that we have to trust that God’s grace is truly sufficient, even when we don’t eat for a period of time.
So, what’s the plan of action for healing dementia?
In the midst of the auto sales drought, I felt the Lord wanted me to fast. How long? I had no idea. Why? I did not ask and had no clue. So, I began fasting by drinking only water and morning coffee, but eating no food.
Did things improve for me? Heavens no! My auto sales drought continued.
On the fourteenth evening of the fast, a former client’s wife phoned me. I had mentioned to her husband that the Lord could heal his wife of her long-term ailment.
“Larry, do you really believe the Lord can heal me?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“When can you pray for me?”
My pastor, her husband and I showed up at the woman’s house two days later. The sick woman’s daughter-in-law was also there to support the woman. We chatted a bit until I felt the presence of God descending upon us. I walked over and began praying for the woman.
I discerned a demon caused her ailment rather than being a physical issue. As my prayers increased in tempo, I felt an inner urge to command it to leave.
“Go!” I proclaimed.
Then, I spun around and looked at the daughter-in-law.
“You’re going to have a baby. Fix up a room for your new baby,” I prophesied.
The daughter-in-law broke down and cried. She eventually collected herself enough to tell us how she and her husband had just undergone extensive tests at a Sioux City hospital, discovering they could never have children.
That night, on the sixteenth day of the fast, I ate again.
The woman phoned two nights later.
“Larry, do you know what ailment I suffered from?” she asked.
“No.”
“I had Tourette Syndrome,” she said and explained how her tics and rants kept her housebound and away from public gatherings for years. “I’m totally healed. Thanks.”
A year later, I received a card from the daughter-in-law announcing the birth of their baby girl.
So, what is Tourette Syndrome?
Tourette Syndrome is a disorder that involves repetitive movements or unwanted sounds (tics) that can’t be easily controlled. For instance, you might repeatedly blink your eyes, shrug your shoulders or blurt out unusual sounds or offensive words.
Tics typically show up between ages 2 and 15, with the average being around 6 years of age. Males are about three to four times more likely than females to develop Tourette syndrome.
Although there’s no cure for Tourette syndrome, treatments are available. (Mayo Clinic)
So, how can this help with healing dementia sufferers?
I watched various students crisscrossing the Campanile Esplanade on their way to classes. They looked normal, wearing typical college apparel. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. My spiritual eyes then kicked in, and what appeared normal in the natural realm was not so normal in the spiritual one.
Have you ever seen pictures of a flying dinosaur known as a pterodactyl? It has a long, slender head with a mouth of sharp teeth, scaly-like body, web-like wings, and talons for feet. This sort of resembles the creatures I saw, sitting on the shoulders of almost every student walking below me. Each creature was the size of a large crow and had wolf hair on its body and a slender rat’s tail. They constantly whispered into the ears of students while holding a wing over the students’ other ears. The creatures also defecated and vomited on the students so that each person dripped with slop and sewage. It was ghastly and I yearned to warn the students.
“Follow those two over there,” said the angel, pointing toward two guys.
I focused on the two students. They continued talking to each other as they walked into a free speech area where a street evangelist preached the gospel of the kingdom of God. Both stopped and listened. I watched the pterodactyl-like creatures use their beaks to snatch the seeds of the gospel out of the twosome’s hearts with swift surgeon-like precision. The two students walked away after a few minutes, none the better for their experiences.
I wanted to shout and warn everyone. Someone needed to do it. Why not me?
The angel touched my shoulder again with his hand. I turned toward him.
“Now, it’s time for your spiritual ears to be opened.”
He reached up and touched both of my ears with his hands.
Wouldn’t you think it would be quiet in the spiritual realm over the University of California, Berkeley? Well, it is not. There is constant clamor, reverberating throughout the whole atmosphere, most of which comes from the ruling principality. But what really shocked me was the demonic principality’s words mirrored the liberal attitudes on the campus, from the deans down to the professors, and then, to the students. The religious principality constantly spewed out proclamations like:
“All white Americans are racists… All wars are immoral and wrong… Homosexuality is not a sin… Pro-choice is a woman’s right… Same-sex marriage is morally acceptable…Traditional Christianity is irrelevant, mean, hateful, judgmental, and dogmatic…Jesus never said anything about homosexuality…Jesus is the Way which is open to other ways, such as Hare Krishna, Buddha, and Mohammad…God is a God of love and not judgment… Satan and demons are fictional beings, thought up by fundamentalist nuts…The Bible contains no more authority than the Koran, Buddhist sutras, Veda, and other spiritual writings…Creating social justice is the main emphasis of the gospel…Global warming is a Christian stewardship concern…”
I stood there with my mouth open, drool running down my chin.
“Hey, many of these statements I agree with,” I muttered aloud, not realizing I had done so.
“And that’s why you are deceived.”
“Deceived? Me?”
“Yes, you and most liberal Christians who believe such garbage.”
“But, but –”
“Not only are you deceived, but your faith is dead when it agrees with Satan’s agenda. He’s always a liar, even when his words sound like truth. Your faith, in order to have life, must be based on what the Lord has stated in Scripture and is presently saying to His church.”
I kept quiet as his words ripped my theology apart.
He paused for a beat or two.
“Not only is this IOU collection day, but it is your deliverance day,” he said in an authoritative voice. “Your past deception, your dead faith, and your deliverance from all of it will give you an understanding of the spiritual battles taking place on America’s college campuses, beginning with the University of California, Berkeley.”
His eyes locked on mine.
“But how –” I stopped myself. How could I complain when I did not know what I was talking about?
The angel almost grinned.
“Now, you’re starting to learn.”
He pointed down again.
“Look.”
There just below us, was a student resembling a fluorescent light bulb walking across the esplanade. She lit up the whole area around her as she hurried on her way. Unlike the others, she did not have a creature sitting on her shoulder, but instead, one hovered around her head, trying to alight on her, but for some reason, the creature could not land. Deep frustration etched a gully in the creature’s face.
“Listen,” said the angel.
My ears adjusted themselves to only listening to the girl. Her footsteps and the movement of her arms came through loud and clear, but also something else.
“Dee, dee, bah, bah, hooka mah hundae,” she whispered over and over.
She spoke in tongues as she walked along.
“Your message to Christians on college campuses is very simple,” said the angel. “It’s the same one Paul gave to the believers in Ephesus when he said, ‘Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, with all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.” Then he added, “In case you have forgotten, these scriptures are located in Ephesians 6: 17-18.”
“I had a vision that showed a black river flowing out of America’s inner cities, filled with black apostles and prophets. Their moralcharacters were at a level never before witnessed in America.
“No longer would believers have to gaze back at John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, D. L. Moody, Billy Graham or whomever for examples of godly men because these black apostles and prophets would raise the bar of godliness to a level approaching the character of Jesus… This is the generation of men that America has been longing to see. (Excerpt from Chapter 13 of A Black River)
God is never late, but He sure misses lots of opportunities to be early. This is especially true for Black Americans who have suffered through four hundred years of oppression and discrimination while chasing the American dream. The years have all merged themselves together into long days of weary hopelessness.
But now at last, hope arises. The same God who looked upon Israel’s captivity in Egypt, is looking down on the Black Americans living in our nation’s inner cities and is preparing to act.
How? What? Why?
A Black River is one of the most important books published in 2021, especially for those believers hungering for revival.
Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad. (Proverbs 12:25 NKJ)
The foundation for anxiety and depression is fear.
Now, most Christians don’t have to be reminded that it’s wrong to be fearful because we have heard it over and over again. Yet, in our brokenness and our frailty, we fall short of trusting the Lord in all of our circumstances.
The “what if this happens or that happens, then what” scenarios continue to play over and over in our minds and drown out our trust in the Lord. Right?
The Apostle Paul underlined our struggles when he wrote:
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 7:24)
Many of us have memorized Romans 8:1, but how can we really walk in the truth of not allowing condemnation to derail our lives?
Yes, the Bible exhorts us to pray and study the word. But let’s be honest, this advice fails to move most of us, which brings us back to Paul’s question: “who will deliver us?”
If we’re thinking the answer is going to a church on Sunday, sitting in a pew with 300, 600, 1000 or 8000 other believers, listening to a sermon-lecture and a few prayers, and returning week after week for more of the same, then why aren’t we all delivered from our fear, anxiety and depression as yet?
The meetings are small in size and open to all. Everyone is allowed to share what’s on his heart. Success stories – even small successes – are celebrated as victories. There are intense discussions. Each member is paired up with a mentor who helps them through any struggles.
HELLO!
Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize. When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you. (1 Corinthians 14:26 NLT)
Alcoholic Anonymous modeled its meetings after the early home churches. And it works!
Thus, I believe the only way for us to overcome our fear, anxiety and depression is to have small home groups (or home churches) with open formats, allowing the Holy Spirit to move in our midst. Members can pray and use their spiritual gifts to help set others free.
The reason I use a bold font to emphasize “with open formats” is that many churches have home groups, but have rigid formats that they follow. This won’t work!
Why is this so important?
I believe America is about to enter into a period of extreme tribulation and confusion that has never been experienced before in our nation’s history. The number of people who suffer from fear, anxiety and depression will multiply off the charts almost over night.
I struggle with writing a series about fear, anxiety and depression because I don’t really suffer from these disorders. It’s not that I’m uncommonly brave or anything like that. It’s just that from my childhood until now, I’ve always had an attitude of “something good is about to happen to me.”
This becomes somewhat funny if you take the time to read my testimony because the Lord saved me on the day I was going to commit suicide. It’s not that I was depressed or anxious on May 20, 1985, it’s just that I had run out of options to save my home, car and family. My life insurance policy of $125,000 seemed to be my only hope. So I thought of it at the time as a business decision – nothing more.
Now, the only time I have ever truly suffered from depression was when a Christian friend with good intentions leant me his copy of Deliverance and Inner Healing by John and Mark Sandford. The book blends scripture with the teachings of Jung and Freud to supposedly rid believers of buried memories. The authors’ premise seems to be that Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Bible are not quite enough to set captives free.
I began reading the book on a Saturday afternoon. And after about a hundred and fifty pages, I became severely depressed and confused. The book had convinced me that my Bible studies and prayers were wasted efforts and that I needed the insights of inner healing, as outlined in this book.
I decided to go for a walk to clear my head.
As I walked down the sidewalk in a foggy daze, a Christian neighbor looked out his window and saw me. He felt I was in danger. He rushed outside and asked, “Larry, what’s your problem?”
“I’ve been reading a book entitled Deliverance and Inner Healing and it has really confused my faith,” I answered.
“Jesus is the way, truth and light. Period,” he said.
His words instantly set me free.
Thus, if my depression on that Saturday is a small example of what many suffer on a daily basis, wow! It makes me realize just how debilitating and tormenting fear, anxiety and depression must be for millions of people.
Two female riders on my ride-share travels this week inspired me to write this article. We will talk about them in the future.
“In two decades, I’ve lost a total of 789 pounds. I should be hanging from a charm bracelet.” (Erma Bombeck)
Since I graduated from college in 1968, I have struggled with my waistline. The only times I haven’t struggled was when I jogged five miles each day or was a painting contractor, climbing ladders. My times without struggling would amount to maybe six or seven years out of my fifty-one years since college.
My biggest problem has always been sweets — cookies, pies, cakes, donuts, ice cream, peanut butter, jams, jellies, ketchup, honey, muffins, cinnamon rolls, pastries, chocolate covered peanuts, M&Ms, Snickers, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and whatever else.
“Larry, would you like some ice cream with your pie?”
“Yes, ma’am, and could you pour some hot fudge syrup over it, too?”
After I gave my life to Jesus Christ in 1985, I became an avid reader of the Bible. This opened my eyes to some disturbing verses about gluttony and overeating.
Oh dear! What should I do with these verses?
In a way, I ignored them.
But what I really did was justified my bad eating habits to myself.
You see, my Christian walk has been one long trial after another. Marital separation. Divorce. Loss of friends. Fired from five consecutive sales jobs. Minimum wage jobs by the dozens with not enough money to pay bills. Marriage to a wonderful woman, but still not enough money to pay bills. Moving thirty-five times to nine different states and numerous cities. And so forth.
So, I allowed sweets to become one of my comforters.
“Well, you know, God knows my heart!”
Just so you know: the Holy Spirit has been working on my poor eating habits during my whole thirty-four years of walking with the Lord. And at the same time, I was crying out to Him for His help because sweets had a stranglehold on me.
Then, we moved to Gilbert, Arizona.
We moved without much money in the bank, but this wasn’t unusual because all of our other moves followed this same pattern. Our hope has always been in Him and for Him to speak to us and show us what to do.
After spending time in prayer, it seemed that we needed to sell an item on eBay. We listed the item and sold it for a great price. Both of us prayed over the item and shipped it off to the buyer.
But then disaster happened!
The item was damaged in shipment and the buyer refused it. Because of an eBay glitch, we did not purchase insurance for the product. The refund to the buyer drained our bank account.
We were devastated!
When something like this happens, I always seek the Lord on why He allowed it to occur. Hey, we prayed! Our faith was in Him! Satan is a weakling compared to God! So, what happened?
While waiting on the Lord, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart: “Your gluttony opened a door for Satan to rob you.”
The fear of the Lord came upon me. I repented and meant it this time with all of my heart for the first time ever.
The Holy Spirit eventually let me know that this was my last chance. If I didn’t change my eating habits, I would not be able to fulfill His destiny for my life because bad health would soon derail my walk with Him.
Can others learn from my testimony?
My advice for those who have longstanding issues, whether it’s gluttony, porn, drugs, alcohol, lust, pride or whatever: keep crying out to the Lord for Him to help you. Plus keep professing that you want Him to be Lord over every area of your life. Do both of these, not just one or the other.
I guarantee He will eventually show up and set you free. How He does it will be up to Him and not you.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom… (Proverbs 9:10)
I now eat lots of fruits and vegetables…and no sweets!
Father, we lift Nancy Pelosi before Your throne, asking You to open her heart to the love of the truth, so she would know You as her Savior and Lord. And that You would heal her of whatever malady she is suffering right now. We ask this is Jesus’ name. (Based on 2 Thessalonians 2:10)
What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you today?
Join with me on Thursdays to fast and pray for America.
We Evangelicals major on talking about “being born again,” but do you know how many times our Lord spoke on this issue? Just one time. Period.
Yet, there are more than thirty instances in the four Gospels where Jesus cast out demons, gave power to His disciples to cast out demons, or taught about casting out demons.
Now, how is it that we Evangelicals can talk for hours about the importance of being “born again,” but yet, we draw blanks when it comes to casting out demons?
So that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes. (2 Corinthians 2:11)
Paul wrote the above verse in reference to a man who had committed sexual immorality with his father’s wife. The apostle recommended that the man be delivered to Satan for the destruction of the man’s flesh. Then, the man repented and Paul recommended the man should be accepted back into the fellowship.
But the important point is this: Satan has schemes and plans to destroy the effectiveness of us believers.
Okay, who benefits the most by us believers not being able to cast out demons? The Kingdom of God? Or the kingdom of darkness?
But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. (Matthew 12:28)
It’s obvious that if we believers do not understand how to cast out demons, the kingdom of darkness rejoices at our ignorance. Why? Because our power and authority in Jesus’ name bows impotent before the god of this world: Satan.
Oh dear! What should we do?
(The above is taken from my 9-part series, “Do We Still Cast Out Demons,” which can be seen in its entirety here.)
Christians suffer many needless defeats because we do not know how to use our authority to defeat Satan and his horde of demons. We need to remember that Jesus won the victory at the cross, but we still must enforce it.
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith… (1 Peter 5:8-9)
As believers, it’s our responsibility to take authority over demons and cast them out. God will not do it for us because He has given us the tools to do it.
Mike Bickle has a great teaching on the authority of believers which can be seen as a video format or read in a PDF format here.
(Continued in Part 6…the full series to date can be read here.
Larry Who 
