The Testimony of Matt
 

A little back story and testimony.

Hi my name is Matt. I am a born again Christian and I know that Jesus is in control my destiny. I know that through Him, all things are possible. Recently, I was browsing the internet and came across something called sleep paralysis. I had never heard that term before, but immediately upon reading about it, knew what it was. This was very interesting to me as I believe I have experienced it and very similar experiences to those detailed by many others accounts. I was pleased to learn that I was not alone in this phenomenon. It's been very helpful to hear that there are others out there who know exactly what I was dealing with. I for one, never saw it as any thing less than evil unwanted spiritual attack. I grew up in the church and although it was not talked about very much, knew that people (Christians too) could become the target of demonic interest. I knew the first time it happened to me, exactly what it was that terrified me so much. The feeling of overwhelmingly malevolent evil in these sleep paralysis episodes is so strong it cant be confused for anything else. Also, it's interesting to me that I was able to identify it from the first time. I believe that as children of God, we are given the discernment to identify such happenings and subsequently armed with the love of Jesus can combat them. I can see how someone would come up with "alien abduction" as an explanation.. especially if that person was not a believer in God. I remember when I was very small, I was talking to my mom about aliens. And she told me that there was no such thing as aliens and that they were demons doing there part in disrupting the belief in God. My mother is a deeply spiritual woman and very in tune in her walk with Christ, so I took her explanation at face value. I think this also had something to do with my quick discernment in these sleep paralysis episodes. So that's my back story. Now I'll tell you about what I've experienced, but before I do, I want to make it clear that I do not do this for entertainment or for the sake of furthering any occultist beliefs. In fact I think obsessing on these things can be harmful to one's faith, but I'll get back to that. I do this only in the hopes that this may help to witness to non-Christians or help Christians experiencing these types of things understand what is happening to them and how to defend themselves.

when I was a child:

When I was very young (perhaps 6 or 7) I remember very often seeing one of these so called "shadow people" out of the corner of my eye in our house. It was the type that many people also describe as seeing with a fedora type hat on. Perhaps this is related.. perhaps it is not. I only bring it up cause it seems that these "shadow people" are often associated with the sleep paralysis experience. I cant help but think there is a correlation between that and the sleep paralysis episodes I suffered later on in life.

Late teens and twenties:

My first episode I remember included all of the normal sleep paralysis symptoms. I awoke in my bed.. staring at the ceiling and immediately knew there was a malicious evil in the room with me. I could not cry out. I could not move, but I immediately started to pray and it occurred to me to rebuke whatever it was that made me feel so utterly terrified so I said, "By the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, I command thee out!" I'm not sure if I said it out loud or not, but as soon as I did, I snapped out of it and found that I was indeed lying on my back with my arms crossed across my chest (much like the top of an Egyptian sarcophagus). I later told my friend about it and he described an eerily similar experience and he too woke up in the same exact position. That's what put it in my mind that there is more to this than just a dream. Many years later, I awoke to the same feeling and through slightly cracked eyes, could make out a very small gargoyle like creature going up the wall. He turned and looked down at me and threw out his hand in a clawing like motion. To give you a visual reference, the creature looked sort of like grey version of the baby version of Hellboy (if you've ever seen that movie) Although, when this happened that movie had not come out yet so I know my mind wasn't making that connection. I didn't have that source for imagery. Again, I immediately rebuked it in the name of Jesus and again, I immediately snapped out of it. This was the one occurrence that I ever recall seeing something and I'm still not sure if it was there or if my mind was just conjuring up images to try to make sense of this feeling of overwhelming evil and fear. I dont know. I've only had two more instances where this sort of thing happened. One I know I woke up gasping for air as if I was having it forced from my lungs, because it woke my girlfriend up. The other time, I again said the same words of, "By the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, I command thee out!" and it immediately stopped.

I dont know why these things happen. The only thing I can figure is that they seem to have all happened during times of my life that I was very separate from God. I was not living my life in the right way and I think these evil entities of satan were trying to exploit and torment me because of it. They hate God, His love, Jesus and all those that are His children. I know that they can do me no harm or possess me because I am God's servant and my body is already filled with the spirit of Jesus, but it's still very scary and always will be. I hope and pray.. yes, truly pray that this never happens to me again, but if it does I know exactly what to do and how to stop it. Now to tell you why your website is a blessing. As I stated before, I had been researching the sleep paralysis thing as well as the "shadow people" thing of my youth, and I was finding all of these very rational and scientific explanations of these events. In short, I was starting to question.. question if my previous assessments were correct.. question if I was just being superstitious.. even question my faith and belief in God. The more questioning I did, the more afraid I was that it was going to happen again. Then I found one of your shows "How To Stop Sleep Paralysis" on the internet. I listened to it and was immediately brought at peace and my belief system remains in tact. In fact, I'm feeling closer to God now because I know I'm not alone. I know that there are others who can relate to what has happened to me, and I know there are people out there trying to help people cope with it. I will pray for the others whom this has happened to and I will pray for your counseling and ministry. If these experiences help to bring people to Christ than so be it. I would hope it's not necessary to be attacked by demons to see the light, but some people need a little push I guess. Maybe it's part of God's plan to strengthen our faith. God created angels, demons and satan himself and ultimately He makes the call on what they are allowed to do. God bless you and keep up the good work.

-matt