“My Word…that goes out from My mouth…shall not return to Me empty” (Isaiah 55:11). After visiting an Iranian parishioner in a mental facility in Hamburg yesterday, I was walking past a lady sitting on a bench. I was wearing my clerical collar. “Hello, hello…!” she called out after me. “Are you a pastor?” She looked at me very intensely with large, dark eyes. I could barely see her pupils. “Yes, I am,” I replied. “Can you help me? I am being persecuted…” “By whom?” I asked, sitting down on the bench.” “By Satan…in my head…” she stated matter-of-factly. For some reason, her answer did not surprise me. “Do you have a religion?” I asked. “Yes, I believe in Jesus.” “I’m glad to hear that. Do you have a pastor and a church?” “No,” she answered. “Jesus defeated sin, death, and the devil on the cross and in the empty tomb,” I explained. “Amen,” she replied. “I believe that.” “Also, Satan is mortally afraid of our Lord. Would you like me to read you some passages from Holy Scripture, in which Jesus defeats the devil? After that, we can pray if you wish.” “Yes, I would like that very much.” I read Mark 5:1-20, one of two passages in which Jesus casts demons named Legion out of a possessed man. Then I read the Whole Armor of God passage in Ephesians 6:10-18. She listened intently. “What is your name?” She told me. “Are you baptized?” “Yes,” she responded. “Good.” I placed my hand on her shoulder and prayed three times: “Depart, you unclean spirit, and make room for the Holy Spirit,” followed by a prayer for her, and then the Lord’s Prayer, which she recited with me. I traced a cross on her forehead. She let out a deep sigh. “Would you visit me again?” she asked. I gave her my card and told her the service times for Zion Lutheran (SELK), one of the churches in which I serve. “I hope you can worship here and, yes, I will visit you again.” “I already feel better,” she said. “Praise God,” I said. “Satan and his demons must flee when Jesus commands them to,” I said, shaking her hand. Sometimes there is a gray area between psychological problems and spiritual warfare. Who knows what her doctors diagnosed her with, but our Lord’s Word never returns to Him empty.
The Tiews in Germany 