consistently attack us. His statement made it clear that not all evil spirits are of the same rank or on the same level, and they must be handled differently.
Jesus made this statement while advising His disciples, who were baffled as to why Jesus could cast an evil spirit out of a particular person when they could not do the same:
"Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting." (Matthew 17:21)
The Torment of Panic and Anxiety
Today, I want to talk about a set of evil spirits typical among all humans: the tormenting spirits of panic and anxiety attacks. I have suffered from such attacks and eventually became very frustrated after several attempts to rid myself of them, but they would still visit me. For some, the experience comes as a sudden and overwhelming fear, an abnormal fear of dying, a fear of enclosed environments, or an abnormal fear of speaking in public. Any setting that creates abnormal, unexplained fear falls under panic or anxiety attacks.
What Medication Cannot Reach
I am confident that many of you have seen your local doctors. They, of course, would have prescribed Medication such as Xanax, Ativan, Klonopin, or other antidepressants meant to either prevent the attacks or lessen their frequency. I am also confident that those who took this Medication would say, for the most part, that it made them sluggish and sleepy. Yet, inevitably, you still had your bouts with the unbearable, disgusting feeling of anxiety and panic.
As in so many of my articles, my knowledge of the spiritual realm and my firm belief in it led me to a different conclusion. I found that panic and anxiety attacks, in their original state, are spiritual. I am suggesting that they are actual spirits, a legion of demonic spirits that systematically launch an attack on their victims to disable them, particularly in an area of progress or potential development. The victim feels a sense of overwhelming fear, their mind racing with the worst possible thoughts regarding the area they are being attacked in, accompanied in most cases by profuse sweating, fatigue, confusion, and a sense of being immobile. As a result, the victim shuts down and is discouraged from progressing in whatever area they were attempting to advance.
The Boy Who Threw Himself Into the Fire
Matthew 17:14-21 records that a certain man came kneeling before Jesus, begging Him to have mercy on his son:
"Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water." (Matthew 17:15)
Just as in today's world, we see and observe such occurrences as something purely physical, and dismiss or never entertain the thought that what is actually happening is spiritual.
The man explained to Jesus that he had already brought his son to Jesus' disciples, who also failed to help the boy. Jesus eventually healed him, to the amazement of the disciples, so much so that they asked Him privately how He had been able to heal the young man when they could not.
"This Kind Goeth Not Out But by Prayer and Fasting"
Jesus' response teaches us, the readers of this story, just as it taught His disciples in that moment, that the young man's physical behavior was the result of what had been orchestrated by evil spirits. As long as his symptoms were addressed only from a physical standpoint, failure was inevitable for anyone attempting to secure relief for him.
Jesus wrapped up the entire ordeal with the phrase "this kind." In essence, He was speaking of a presence, an entity, that is very much real but invisible to the human eye. Its purpose is to mislead us into focusing on the visible instead of the invisible force operating behind and influencing human behavior.
Kevin L A Ewing
ewinglakevin@icloud.com
kevinlaewing.blogspot.com
www.kevinlaewing.com
