Hey everybody, I’m Anne-Marie Michaelis, a Christian author and coach. Welcome to the Hidden Battles Podcast, a weekly podcast about the hidden battles of spiritual warfare and the struggles that go on in our minds and hearts, and the truth to overcoming these hidden battles. My life was radically transformed during a supernatural encounter with Jesus.

God allowed my eyes to be spiritually opened long enough to see the truth of these hidden battles and to scare the rebellion against him right out of me. In each episode, I share a true story about a real life experience, a teaching, and a final takeaway. This podcast will reveal the hidden battles that lurk in our minds and hearts, and the way out.

Hidden Battles, revealing what the enemy does not want you to know. Please take a moment to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and subscribe to my channel on YouTube, at GodDesign LLC. Podcasts are available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

For a free download of my memoir, visit my website at goddesign.org.”

Today in this episode called “The Shadow Man”, I’ll share one of the demonic attacks from my memoir in which, to my surprise, I have over the last year learned that many other people have seen and experienced this exact same demonic entity.  Over the last year, I’ve had numerous people share with me, having seen and some even experienced, nearly identical attacks from what I am calling “The Shadow Man”.  They have admitted they did not think they would ever tell anyone about their experience until to their shock they read my story “The Shadow Man” in my memoir. Although, not ready to openly share with the world their experiences, I hope my sharing will empower them to take a step in faith and also share the truth of these hidden battles when they are ready as well. 

So, what’s my story of “The Shadow Man?”

I had a couple of encounters with what I call the shadow man, in which I saw this same entity. The first was in a dream. I was dreaming that I was in a room, and someone was at the door. I opened the door and saw a tall man with long arms, a trench coat, and a brimmed hat in the doorway. I could not see a face. I moved back away from the door in the dream and went to the other side of the couch as he entered. I woke up, and nothing happened. That next night I started feeling body vibrations. At first, I thought the washing machine was shaking the house or something. I went downstairs to check if it was on and possibly jumbled up with a load of laundry too large, causing it to vibrate massively. It was not. Every time I’d lay down in bed, my entire body would vibrate. It wasn’t like it was shaking. It was like when something is vibrating at a rapid pace that it runs through your whole body, and your body starts to vibrate. It was also not something I could stop or control. I physically had to get up and move to stop it. I was beyond frightened and decided to dust my Bible off, read it, and pray to God to keep me safe through the night. But even with my praying, I had another encounter which was more of an attack.

I was lying in bed, trying to sleep. I was not sleeping, though, because I kept feeling the vibrations and was petrified at what was happening. This time, the demonic entity was visible when I was fully awake. It did not have a whole body, however. It was almost like Aladdin from Aladdin’s lamp (where the body was not fully formed). It flew up in a circular motion directly into my body. I screamed, but no sound came out. I was somehow muted as I was screaming. It was inside my body, and I could not move at all. So, here I was, unable to scream or move. Thankfully, I could still think clearly, unlike last time, with God’s warm bubble.

I am unsure how exactly I did this, but I pushed with everything I had inside myself, and it flew out of me. I popped straight up in bed, petrified. I did not sleep till the morning when the sun was finally out. I was utterly exhausted from praying the “Our Father” and talking to God all night. I was to the point that I thought I was losing my mind. How could this be happening? Then a few days later, when my nemesis stayed overnight with his little ones, it was clear that what was happening was real. I was lying in bed reading my Bible and praying for peace and protection. It was maybe eight o’clock in the evening. One of my nemesis’ little ones came upstairs from the basement. Midway up the stairs, I heard a scream. I jumped from the bed and ran into the hallway to see if they were ok. The little one was pale white and trembling, looking in the bedroom across from the staircase, quivering, and said, “I saw a tall, dark thing in the bedroom. It was pacing back and forth and stopped when it turned its face toward me and saw that I saw it, and it had red eyes.” Then, described this demonic entity as having a hat with a rim around it and long arms with a trench coat. It was slumped slightly forward. This was the exact figure I had been seeing for days that I had not told anyone about. I calmed the kids and put them in another room so I could talk to my nemesis (for those of you who don’t know who this is I explain in other episodes that this was the last severely toxic relationship I was in before being rescued by Jesus and therefore I call this person “nemesis”). Anyways, I explained to my nemesis that I had seen this demonic entity several times, identical to what had just been seen. He did not seem surprised by anything that happened. I was confused, and all I knew then was that my faith was in God and Jesus to keep me safe. I knew it must be there for me since no one else was having things attack them.

• Revelation 2:10 (NIV) Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.

This has taught me – never stop praying and never give up.

What does God’s Word say about demonic oppression and why is this important?

It’s important to understand that the Bible speaks about this hidden battle of spiritual warfare and demonization openly, often, and seriously.  We have plenty of examples to allow us insight into how this hidden battle appears.  It was absolutely mind boggling to me, after having experienced all these attacks to learn how the New Testament is story after story of demonized people being rescued by Jesus and soon after when Jesus gave authority to His disciples to be able to cast out these demons (or as they are also called unclean or evil spirits).

I quickly want to point out how the Bible demonstrates the manifestation of people who were being demonized.  Demonic oppression in the Bible in some cases looked like what we call mental illness, basically psychological manifestations. But when the demons were cast out by Jesus himself or His disciples, the psychological manifestations were no longer.  They were, as we call it, delivered from demonic oppression.  In some cases demonic oppression manifested biologically (disease, pain, deformities, paralysis, seizures, blindness, deafness).  Again, when the demonic spirit  or spirts came out, that person was healed. 

We note in scripture that Jesus and His disciples did not cast demons “away” or “off” of people. They were cast “out” of people.  In my christian coaching workbook “The Truth to Overcoming Hidden Battles” I go through a long list of “spiritual warfare clues” as well as a deep-dive exploration of how we open doors (footholds) to allowing these evil beings to even enter us.  Basically, we partner with them and don’t even realize we are partnering with them.

1 Corinthians 10:21 (AMP) You cannot drink [both] the Lord’s cup and the cup of demons. You cannot share in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons [thereby becoming partners with them].

We’re warned about false teachings which creates in us erroneous beliefs.  I fell prey to twisted up ungodly teachings so much before my eyes were spiritually opened.  Here is one of my favorite scriptures regarding this. 

1 John 4:5-6 (AMP) They [who teach twisted doctrine] are of the world and belong to it; therefore they speak from the [viewpoint of the] world [with its immoral freedom and baseless theories—demanding compliance with their opinions and ridiculing the values of the upright], and the [gullible one of the] world listens closely and pays attention to them. We [who teach God’s word] are from God [energized by the Holy Spirit], and whoever knows God [through personal experience] listens to us [and has a deeper understanding of Him]. Whoever is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know [without any doubt] the spirit of truth [motivated by God] and the spirit of error [motivated by Satan].

How can you know God through personal experience?  Well, as you can tell from my story, I did NOT know God from personal experience – yet.  But, He was letting my eyes become open to the spiritual realm and all the twisted beliefs from the world and all the immoral freedom I was participating in. I also, did as this scripture states, I would ridicule those that spoke of God and who were clearly being energized by the Holy Spirit.  I was basically ANNOYED by them!  But, for some reason I was blessed to start to see the truth.  Not in a “nice” way either.  Because these experiences were beyond frightening. 

I challenge you to genuinely, pray for God to allow you to see what is in you feeding your worldly desires.  Evil spirits, unclean spirits, demons (whichever you choose to call them) get fed through motivating us to function in sin.  Be it sexual sins, visual things like watching violence and horror movies, fear is huge, so is arrogance, pride, addiction, and confusion. 

So when you think to yourself “this is crazy – I am good” ask yourself.  Am I addicted to anything (drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, shopping, food, technology, etc)?  Am I involved in any kind of sexual immorality?  Am I loving watching scary movies or violence?  Am I arrogant and think [my “you know what does not stink”]?  It’s all sin in God’s eyes and by God’s law. 

So, now that we know we are all sinners and all prey to demonization that can manifest in all sorts of ways and ways we probably have not even mentioned here.  What do we do about it?

I’m going to break this down like it was for me.  Not taught to me by man but taught to me by God. 

• Surrender yourself to God (stop running and playing games because you’re running out of time as I say quite often). Simply surrender and tell God … I don’t have it all figure out and I need your help. 
• Obey what you know God is asking you to do or not do!
• Accept, Believe, Declare God’s son Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior (believe in your heart and declare unashamedly) (I’ll have a prayer of salvation at the end for us to pray together to start your relationship with Jesus if you’re ready).  If you have an allergy to God like I did or maybe an allergy to Jesus specifically.  The likeliness that you are oppressed with demonic spirits is high. We naturally should feel like flocking to God and Jesus, not be annoyed. Being annoyed with an allergy is probably the biggest tell tale sign and it was for me before I saw the truth.  I was totally annoyed.

Romans 10:8-10 (AMP)  But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word [the message, the basis] of faith which we preach—because if you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes [in Christ as Savior] resulting in his justification [that is, being made righteous—being freed of the guilt of sin and made acceptable to God]; and with the mouth he acknowledges and confesses [his faith openly], resulting in and confirming [his] salvation.

But not only that … you become new.  Yes, actually brand new!

2 Corinthians 5:17 (AMP) Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].

Now just so we aren’t running around thinking that because I say “I’m a Christian” or “I volunteer for xyz …” or “I’ve been baptized as a baby” or “I went to catechism” or whatever man made thing we come up with to try and make ourselves feel better thinking we’re saved like I did.  God’s Word is clear … saying you’re a Christian does not mean your following Jesus and saved.  Volunteering for xyz does not mean your following Jesus and saved.  Assuming you’re an adult, having been baptized as a baby, having done your communion, and confirmation, does not mean your following Jesus and saved. Adults are to “choose” Jesus.  Believe, declare, and follow Jesus.  I was Catholic and baptized as a baby, did my communion, confirmation, and thought I had my “golden ticket” because of these things.  I’m good to go and now let’s go live life.  You can be sitting in church each week and even have head knowledge of the Bible.  That doesn’t mean you know Jesus and are walking with Him and saved.  It is a relationship and Jesus gives us our marching orders.

Jesus, left specific instructions on what He expects from His followers (all believers or Christians).  First and foremost, He clearly says we are to “follow Him.”  Scripture has His message with exclamation marks – repeated twice in John 21:19, and 22 (follow me)!   So that is the first question.  Are we following Jesus?  Well, we can say, yes certainly I am.  I am a nice person and do good things. Are any of us really “good” people?  Compared to what do we measure “good” … compared to other people or compared to Jesus? So, then let’s look at Jesus’ second command.

Second, He commands all believers to “go make disciples by telling everyone (all nations) about Jesus” – in Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, and Acts 10:42.  If you’re not hell bent on telling everyone you know about Jesus because you love them and want them to know the truth and be saved, I would question if you truly believe what you say you believe.  Jesus does not want even one person to perish and neither should a true believer in Christ.  Every single person is just as important as the next.  So self-check yourself, all who call themselves “Christian” because if we are not listening the marching orders, then are we truly “believers” or are we hypocrites that don’t really know Jesus and thereby not truly saved.  That is our second question.  Are we openly talking about Jesus?  Or are your lips sealed tight and you are muting the mention of Christ Jesus even in your own homes with your own family and your own friends, let alone “nations” which is basically every person we meet!

Now that we got that out of the way!

Surrender – Obey – Accept/Believe/Declare (now what about this demonic oppression issue)

Okay, well, first, it’s not a one and done.  It’s a lifelong battle on this earth with spiritual warfare.  But don’t worry, because if you are in Christ, He gives authority for you to cast out and trample on the enemy in Jesus name!

If you truly have surrendered, obeyed, and accepted Jesus into your heart He may deliver you on the spot.  I have heard of this happening many times.  For me, I was not so fortunate. He kept me in what I call a holding pattern for about a year (surrendered, obeying, and accepting – fighting my flesh) with some relief but still oppressed with demonic spirits as I shared in my memoir and I’m sure I’ll share in this podcast.

I did not know this till awhile later about our authority from Jesus when we truly surrender and become followers of Christ.  I didn’t take up my authority through Jesus to “deliver” myself from this oppression.  I prayed and prayed and begged God and prayed. One day he finally probably got annoyed at my repetitive prayer, because I vowed to pray nonstop all night for relief and that is another podcast for my story of Jesus delivering me.  Now, I know I could have delivered myself which would have been pretty helpful and saved many many many days of head pain (yes I had pain around my forehead daily) and all sorts of mind and heart battles I was beating down daily.

Now for reflections – Jesus saves and He delivers.

If you are ready to surrender, obey, accept Jesus into your life, and repent of your sins, only then would I advise praying a deliverance prayer.  We are warned in Matthew 12:43-45 of how you can be worse off than before if you don’t fill the vacancy inside you after casting out demonic entities, with God’s Word and the Holy Spirit. I believe this scripture and have seen this happen to people who have received deliverance and went back to their old ways.  If you’re not serious and not ready, pray to God to help prepare you to a full surrendering and full obedience.  I recently heard that 99% surrender and 99% obedience is 100% non-surrender and 100% disobedience.  Deliverance without repentance and change can make you much worse and deeper into spiritual warfare than prior.  You have to close those open doors and stop partnering with the demonic. 

If you’re ready to surrender to Christ, let’s pray a prayer of salvation and begin your commitment to walk with Jesus and accept Him into your mind, heart, and every facet of your life!

Heavenly Father, I come to you as a sinner in need of Your grace. I repent of my sins and confess openly with my lips that Jesus is my Lord and Savior. I believe in my heart that He died and rose from the grave for my sins. Lord Jesus, I invite you into my life and ask for the Holy Spirit to dwell in my heart; to be my teacher, counselor, comforter, and helper in all areas of my life. May Your will be done in my life. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.   

If you prayed this prayer of salvation, this is the first step and a very important and good step in beginning your walk with Jesus.  Relationships take effort and communication, keep the communication channel open with Jesus so you can start building your relationship and hear what He has in store for you. 

If you’re ready and committed to closing open doors and believe you’re ready for deliverance, you can pray a prayer of deliverance out loud over yourself (or seek a solid bible based church that does not shy away from deliverance – like the one I go to). 

Assuming you already have given your life to Christ and are surrendered, you can start with something simple like this.

First, I like to write down any areas that I am aware of that I may have given the devil a foothold into my life (ex. addiction to toxic relationships <<< this was a big one for me and believe me I had such a long list when I first did this, but that was okay)

Second, repent and renounce (meaning commit to not repeat) your sins and ask for forgiveness including any of the specific sins that you wrote down.

Third, cast out and command demons (or if you prefer unclean spirits or evil spirits) to go out of you in the name of Jesus.  You are a child of the most high God, covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. All unclean spirits must go out of you. If you know specifically a characteristic (ex. spirit of anxiety, spirit of depression, spirit of heaviness, spirit of addiction, spirit of fear, etc) you can call it out specifically by the characteristic.

Two things to remember:  First, speak out loud or if you are unable to speak write it down.  Demonic entities are not “all knowing” meaning they cannot read your mind.  Two, have faith and belief in what you pray over yourself (or what is being prayed over you) will come to fruition.  Without belief and faith one cannot receive. So, believe to receive! 

I wish abundance and blessings to each of you as you grow closer in your relationship with Jesus!

Hey, friends, that wraps up today’s Hidden Battles Podcast. A transcript along with additional devotionals for this week’s podcast, as well as my memoir, are available for free download on my website at goddesign.org, or check out some of my other books that you may find helpful. If you liked this episode, please share with others.

Hidden Battles, revealing what the enemy does not want you to know. Never stop praying, never give up, and I’ll see you next week.