PRAISE FOR SHIFTING ATMOSPHERES
Two things have become priorities for me in life and ministry: making sure we (the Bethel family) are living by the principles of the Kingdom of God and are giving ourselves to caring for and valuing the atmosphere of the King. At the end of the day, it’s all about the presence of God and His purposes in our lives. That’s why I’m so happy about this book, Shifting Atmospheres. Author Dawna De Silva does a great job of instructing us how to change the atmosphere in any situation. She is a trusted voice in our environment here at Bethel Church. She speaks and writes with great authority and insight because this is how she lives. I strongly recommend this wonderful book, as it will equip you with insight, inspiration, and the courage needed to profoundly impact the world you live in.
BILL JOHNSON
Bethel Church, Redding, CA Author of God is Good
I have known Dawna De Silva for many years and it’s been an honor to watch her step into her calling and teach others to shift spiritual atmospheres. Her new book, Shifting Atmospheres, sheds light on the spiritual realm in a way that is clear and easy to understand. I believe that the revelation in this book will dispel any fear that you may have when approaching the mysteries of the unseen realm. Using Jesus as the ultimate role model and biblical foundation of truth, Dawna will empower you to take authority over spiritual atmospheres through discernment, gaining insight, and using Kingdom weapons like peace, joy, and worship. I highly recommend this book to anyone who operates in the gift of discernment and wants to live an empowered, victorious, and free life!
KRIS VALLOTTON
Leader, Bethel Church, Redding, CA Co-founder of Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry
Author of eleven books including The Supernatural Ways of Royalty and Spirit Wars
There is a very real spirit world all around us. Just beyond the veil of what we can see with natural eyes, there is a realm that’s even more real than what we can experience with our senses.
We as Christians should not be ignorant of this realm. It’s a realm where angels and demons dwell, and this realm lives among us. For many believers, this world of the spirit remains invisible to the natural senses. Some are given opportunities to catch glimpses of how this unseen realm operates. For most, it remains invisible, but just because it’s invisible doesn’t mean it doesn’t have influence and impact.
I believe the Lord is raising up voices that remind the Body of Christ that this spiritual realm is very real, very present among us, and a very real source of conflict. And yet, these voices don’t just point to the activities of darkness—they provide strategies for how you and I, people filled with the Holy Spirit, can and should establish the spiritual atmospheres around us.
Dawna De Silva understands much about this realm. In her book Shifting Atmospheres, she does an excellent job of breaking it down and giving us behind-the-scenes understanding into this realm. She explains how we can operate in victorious spiritual warfare and stand in our God-given right to take authority over the spiritual atmospheres for our families, homes, and cities.
BENI JOHNSON
Bethel Church
Best-selling author of The Happy Intercessor, Healthy and Free, and 40 Days to Wholeness
There is a current flurry of activity in the ministries of deliverance and inner healing that arguably has not been seen since the Jesus Movement of the 1970s. I believe the Lord is bringing this ministry back to the forefront.
Hosea 4:6 says that people perish or are destroyed for lack of knowledge. The church has been wandering in the wilderness in this area of ministry for much too long. It’s time to see God’s people set free.
Dawna’s new book unpacks the weapons of our warfare, which are indeed mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. She does it in a simple and realistic way.
Be informed and be equipped. I highly recommend this work.
DR. WILLIAM (BILL) SUDDUTH
President, International Society of Deliverance Ministers
In her book Shifting Atmospheres, Dawna De Silva provides refreshing insight into the realms and dimensions of the spirit while equipping the reader to conquer the attacks of the enemy. Just when I thought there was not another creative way to write about spiritual warfare, Dawna surprised me and beautifully articulated Kingdom truths on this vital subject. I am passionate about the education of believers in the area of spiritual warfare and personal freedom; that is why I am excited about this book!
RYAN LESTRANGE
Founder, Tribe Network/Ryan LeStrange Ministries Author, Overcoming Spiritual Attack and Supernatural Access
I just read Dawna De Silva’s new book, Shifting Atmospheres, and I have one word that can describe it—balanced! It takes on one of the toughest subjects and injects some spiritual intelligence as well as some well-thought-out reworking of some very touchy subjects. If we are going to shift atmospheres in culture, we have to have tools like this to give us a modern understanding while not sacrificing the power of the Gospel. This book will be quoted by many in the future and has set a new benchmark in our focus on both the strategy of the enemy but ultimately our focus on Jesus and His Kingdom that never ends.
SHAWN BOLZ
TV Host and author of God Secrets, Translating God, and Keys to Heaven’s Economy www.bolzministries.com
At a time when many wear rose-colored glasses and pretend that the devil doesn’t exist, Dawna De Silva gives a refreshing reminder: True victory isn’t in the denial of evil, but it’s in the defeat of evil. In Shifting Atmospheres, she carefully uncovers the realities of our enemy and his tactics. But she doesn’t dwell there. Instead, Dawna passionately focuses on Christ and reveals step by step how to activate an atmosphere of His power over yourself, your home, and your region. Truly, Shifting Atmospheres is a profound resource that moves you from the trappings of fighting a devil who’s defeated to living in the victory of the One who defeated him.
KYLE WINKLER
Author of Activating the Power of God’s Word and creator of the Shut Up, Devil! app www.kylewinkler.org
Dawna De Silva has written a book that is necessary for all in the Body of Christ. Shifting Atmospheres is a unique, excellent resource to help every believer understand how to activate faith to impact the environments around them. Faith is believing when not seeing. Faith works in time and space. Dawna has an incredible ability to capture how to see into your time and space to discern your atmosphere and to see what you can’t see. I believe this book will break the “Thomas Syndrome” off the Body of Christ. Thomas had to see to believe. Shifting Atmospheres explains how to see the invisible around you. These are days when the atmospheres of Heaven and earth are aligning. This book is a must for now!
DR. CHUCK D. PIERCE
Best-selling author of Worship Warrior, Protecting Your Home from Spiritual Darkness, and A Time to Triumph President, Global Spheres Inc. President, Glory of Zion Intl.
God has given us authority to heal the sick, cast out devils, raise the dead—and shift atmospheres. Often, we sense with our spirits what we don’t see with our eyes, and we can shift it with Spirit-led words in the name of Jesus and spiritual weapons like peace, home, and worship.
In Shifting Atmospheres, Dawna De Silva teaches us how to discern spiritual atmospheres everywhere we go so we can release the Kingdom and dispel powers of darkness for God’s glory. With scriptural backing and practical examples, Dawna inspires us to partner with Holy Spirit to boldly take authority over demon powers that defy the will of God in our lives, our homes, and our cities. I highly recommend this book to Christ-centered spiritual warriors!
JENNIFER LECLAIRE
Senior Editor of Charisma Magazine Best-selling author of Waging Prophetic Warfare and The Spiritual Warri
or’s Guide to Defeating Jezebel
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Sozo: Saved, Healed, Delivered (with Teresa Liebscher)
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I dedicate this book to the warriors in God’s Kingdom:
those who have gone before,
those who are still fighting today,
and those who will carry the seeds of freedom into the future.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book would never have made it to the press without my son, Cory, lifting the heaviest weights. I am so grateful for his time and energy spent researching, outlining, and creating endless rough drafts for me to revise.
Thanks also to my good friend, Susan Anderson, for her insight on shifting atmospheres through hope and peace as well as her numerous read-throughs during our flights this past year.
I also want to thank Stuart Gregg for his valuable scriptural insight and probably missing a few of his dear Dr. Who episodes to help us make our deadline.
I thank my husband, Stephen, profusely for allowing me to use some of his personal revelations in this book—a true benefit of “one flesh.”
And thanks to all my friends, family, and Sozo peeps around the world who have been faithful to walk this path with me in learning how to discern, describe, and shift atmospheres.
CONTENTS
Introduction
CHAPTER ONE The Spiritual Realm
CHAPTER TWO Spiritual Strategies
CHAPTER THREE Tactics of the Enemy
CHAPTER FOUR Weapons of Warfare
CHAPTER FIVE Spiritual Authority
CHAPTER SIX Spiritual Atmospheres
CHAPTER SEVEN Finding Your Normal
CHAPTER EIGHT Discerning Atmospheres
CHAPTER NINE Shifting Atmospheres
CHAPTER TEN Shifting Atmospheres over Yourself and Your Home
CHAPTER ELEVEN Shifting Atmospheres over Regions
CHAPTER TWELVE Assignments
Final Thoughts
INTRODUCTION
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
—EPHESIANS 6:12
Whether we like it or not, we humans have been born into a war, one that pits darkness against light—Satan, the accuser of the brethren, against God the Most High (see Rev. 12:10). While Scripture makes it clear this battle is unevenly matched, we sons and daughters of the King still find ourselves in the enemy’s crosshairs from time to time. In his book The Three Battlegrounds, author Francis Frangipane writes, “Some of us may never actually initiate spiritual warfare but all of us must face the fact that the devil has initiated a war against us.”1 As followers of Christ, it is important that we acknowledge the sovereignty of God but also accept the fact that Satan has launched a violent campaign against us.
Each of us has experienced occasional sickness, discouragement, and other unexplained phenomena. While I do not think every issue we face is caused by demons, I do want to open your eyes to the fact that there is an enemy out there focused on bringing you to destruction.
Succeeding in spiritual warfare does not solely come through acknowledging its presence. We must take possession of the truths presented in Scripture and arm ourselves like valiant warriors. The Bible says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hos. 4:6). God wants us to be educated so we can defend ourselves against the lofty ideas Satan raises up against the will of God (see 2 Cor. 10:5).
When we are ignorant of the enemy’s designs, we leave ourselves open to attack. Knowing this, we must prepare ourselves for spiritual battle so that we are not sideswiped by the enemy. This, however, does not mean we steward an unhealthy obsession with the demonic, for that is not helpful in any way. Instead, we must keep our eyes focused on God and wield strength from His perspective. As we focus on Christ, we discover His heavenly strategies and learn how to implement them to destroy the devil’s plans.
As a deliverance minister for over twenty years, I have witnessed God bring personal and corporate breakthrough to tens of thousands of believers. Though spiritual warfare can seem intense, those committed to Christ are more than overcomers. I encourage you to study this book and read each chapter presented. Your victory—whether gaining new ground, resisting the enemy, or receiving a long-desired healing—might be just one page away.
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16).
NOTE
1. Francis Frangipane, The Three Battlegrounds (Cedar Rapids, IA: Arrow Publications, 2006).
THE SPIRITUAL REALM
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
—COLOSSIANS 1:16
It was about three in the afternoon when the demon first appeared. My oldest son, Cory, stood in the living room, shocked. This shaded figure, as real as any stranger standing on a street corner, stood silent and watching. Cory backed away and asked Holy Spirit what was going on.
This is a demon that represents an assignment against you, the Holy Spirit said. Its job is to make sure you do not fulfill your destiny in Los Angeles.
Filled with the Holy Spirit, Cory took stock of the phantom and strode up like a gunslinger out of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. He declared, “Get out in Jesus’s name!”
Without lingering, the spirit vanished. My son looked about the room—in awe of his own spiritual authority.
Many believers are surprised to find that issues they face are caused by demonic activity. Be it a sickness or financial crisis, partnership with sin, or an outright attack, believer
s can be just as harassed by demons as non-believers. While I do not believe Christians can be possessed (because the Holy Spirit lives inside us), I do believe unclean spirits can attach themselves to us in various ways. I do not say this to imply the devil carries more power than Christ inside of us. Again, there is no equal to God. However, when Christians lack the tools necessary for identifying and rejecting the devil’s schemes, they leave themselves open to demonic influence and attack.
Many Christians have no idea how much the spiritual realm affects their health, thought processes, or daily lives. Demonic forces of various levels vie for control. These cohabiters of earth, bound to the unseen realm, include rulers, authorities, dominions, principalities, and powers (see Eph. 6:12). As followers of Christ, our job is to reduce and remove the impact of these evil beings and replace their influence with God’s Kingdom.
The first step to becoming victorious in the spiritual realm is to admit it exists. Jim Daly from Focus on the Family writes:
There is a lack of understanding about the spiritual realm and the influence that it has on the physical realm. The spiritual precedes, influences and, to many degrees, determines the physical realm. The better we understand the spiritual and how it relates to the physical, the better we are able to operate as Christians.1
Humanity is made in God’s image. However wrecked or broken we may be, we still reflect our Creator. God is Spirit, so we too are spiritual beings (see John 4:24). We are not just flesh and blood. A biblical Hebraic reading of Scripture makes it clear that we humans share biological, physiological, and spiritual realities. We are more than just skin and emotions.
OUR JOB IS TO REDUCE AND REMOVE THE IMPACT OF THESE EVIL BEINGS AND REPLACE THEIR INFLUENCE WITH GOD’S KINGDOM.
Just as God spoke and the light came into being, we physical beings have an anchoring in the spirit. This is why Christ tells us:
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:19-21).
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