LAURA: [laughs] And that’s what’s behind so many times we try to fix someone else. You know I was telling my children the other day okay, so we’ve known a lot of people who get married and then 6 years, 7 years later they got divorced. It’s like the seven year itch or something. I said opposites attract! God gave you to each other for a reason.    

DAWNA: Yeah. Yeah.

LAURA: And then all those things that you absolutely loved suddenly you want to change them. But that’s not our responsibility. So I love that and I pray that that really ministered to somebody! All right. Now let me ask you this one other thing. When you see someone who comes in and they are bound up like that. You said that it happens quickly, even quicker – somebody who’s been in therapy a very long time. Have you ever dealt with people who are on the brink of committing suicide they were so desperate?

DAWNA: Oh absolutely!

LAURA: Yeah. I imagine.

DAWNA: Absolutely! Many times. We have people come in that are so desperate that they’re just like you know this is my last chance. Or speaking of husbands and wives, it was my wife sent me. We’re going to get a divorce if this doesn’t work. I’m like oh, no pressure at all! But any of those situations you know God is faithful and He’s able to answer! I think really the issue is connection to the Holy Spirit. So we are paying attention to the Holy Spirit. They are paying attention to the Holy Spirit and He knows what’s going on inside.    

LAURA: Yeah, He does.

DAWNA: It’s not a surprise to God what you think. It’s not a surprise to God what you feel. And I have a friend that said you know feelings aren’t truth but they are true.

LAURA: Right.

DAWNA: You know it’s like but they’re not telling you the truth so it’s interesting to see what are the feelings down inside? And so if you want to commit suicide there’s a reason for that.

LAURA: Yeah.

DAWNA: And it could be the atmosphere telling you. It could be an assignment over the area. Or it could be that you’re just discouraged so much. Things aren’t working out the way you planned. Yeah. 

LAURA: All right! Great! I want us to wait right there and then after the break [music begins] we’re going to touch on that more again. So stay with us! There’s something more on Something More! I’m Laura Harris Smith and we’re here today with author Dawna De Silva.

LAURA: Hi everyone! Welcome back to Something More! Before the break we were talking with our friend Dawna De Silva. And she was describing just some different ministry situations that she has encountered in Bethel Sozo, her ministry. De Silva Ministries. And you know we touched on the fact that there was somebody we felt like that maybe they were thinking about committing suicide. Sometimes it’s not that drastic. Maybe for you it’s just hopelessness. I just kept seeing darkness all around someone. You’re watching television and you don’t even quite know why you tuned in today. We’re not asking you for anything. We are just saying that God can deliver you! He is the light! And I want to give you hope that He has a hope and a future for you! So stay in with us here? Okay? Don’t check out cause we want to help you get out of that dark place! And Dawna, you and I have talked about this before and it is so important. It’s on the top of my list to you. We have to be careful what we consume media-wise. That includes the music on our playlists.

DAWNA: Uh-huh.

LAURA: That includes the movies that we watch! I would imagine it includes everything from what we eat, what’s in our refrigerator, what we drink! Come on, let me have it!

DAWNA: [laughs]

LAURA: I mean I know this is big on your heart too! What we do and engage in and watch affects our spirits!

LISA: But because he believed that about me I wanted to grow into all of that for him. And everybody grows in the really the example of the way they’re loved. And so nobody grows through criticism. People grow through nurture! And so John knew how to nurture certain things in my life that caused me to rise up. And I think too many couples they’re experts in one another’s weaknesses rather than experts in one another’s strengths. I personally thought like

JOHN: Or has the vision

LISA: if I could humble John

JOHN: Or, or

LISA: Pardon?

JOHN: Or has the vision to be able to see where that person can go. You know when you say

LISA: Right.

JOHN: weakness and strength, then that means, that means you might not see that strength right now but you look for the potential in that person to grow into that.

SID: Is that what the scripture means where it says without a vision the people or the marriages perish?

LISA: Absolutely!

SID: And it looks like the institution of marriage is being destroyed in every strata of society. Why?

JOHN: Lisa?

LISA: Okay. Well first and foremost I think this has been a long-term thing. I mean Jesus is talking to His disciples and when you know He had this confrontation with the Pharisees and the Pharisees are trying to find the legal outs for getting you know divorced and then Jesus is talking to His disciples in private and He says hey, you know, listen, you know I’m going to hold you liable to the original plan and they’re like wait a minute, wait, that means we’re stuck! And so I think there’s been a problem about people feeling like they’re stuck and they don’t really understand the purpose of marriage and we haven’t done it well. I mean there’s a lot of marriages right now where people are just not loving one another well. And so they’re either the man is strong and the woman is oppressed or the woman is strong and the man is oppressed. And, and there’s young couples coming up right now that are highly educated, have purpose on their lives and they’re saying we do not want to do marriage the way you’re doing it. It’s too small. It’s too limiting. It’s too oppressive. We want to do it together. And because they’re not seeing people do it well together they’re just saying then we’re just not going to get married. I’m want to be independent. We have some young girls, we have, we have, we have such a collection of amazing young women that work for us and one of them in particular is so independent, so gifted, so talented. She said I am never getting married! I’m not going to have some man squash my life! I’m not going to have them shut down my dreams! I’m not going to have them do that. And then when John and I did this taping she sat in there and she was crying the whole time and she said I’m now going to get married because she found out that marriages are not a power struggle where one person wins and the other one loses. Marriages are a power union. Both people become more of who they were created to be in God than less than.

SID: All right, John

LISA: And we haven’t done this well.

JENNIFER: I take authority over those demons and I command them to leave you in the name of Jesus Christ! And I just decree your liberty! I decree your freedom! Whom the Son sets free is free indeed! This is your day of liberation! This is your day of freedom! This is a new day for you and God is doing a new thing! Now I want you to get it on the inside of you that this is a done thing! This is a done deal! And don’t ever let those spirits push you around! They’ve been bullying you. They’ve been intimidating you. Now you intimidate them with the blood of Jesus! You intimidate them with the word of God and don’t let them manifest anymore in your zone! And let me tell you what’s going to happen. As you see this thing through God’s going to give you a ministry and you’re going to authorize freedom in the lives of others! It always works that way because Revelations 2:26 says those who overcome they will rule! In other words you will manifest what you have just stepped into rulership over! And that’s right now your own world, your own life in this regard! And so I’m going to leave that with you and I know that God is doing a work of freedom in your life!

ROY: That’s powerful!

JENNIFER: Amen! Amen!

ROY: And there’s so many of you that need this right now! You know I think – again I think of my mother.

JENNIFER: Yeah.

ROY: A single parent. Sitting at home with you know a little boy and she’s all by herself and she goes to bed at night after her job and she’s laying there in the bedroom and she feels alone. She feels like God’s not there. 

JENNIFER: Uh-huh.

ROY: But He’s always there!

JENNIFER: He’s always there! He said I’ll never leave you. I’ll never forsake you!

ROY: That’s awesome!

JENNIFER: And even if we don’t have the feeling we can trust the word! And then He also said that you draw near to Him, He draws near to you! It’s automatic! And so His presence is definitely there!

ROY: So it’s really been a journey for you!

JENNIFER: Quite a journey! And you know it actually causes you to live your life within certain parameters. Honestly I don’t have the liberty that other Christians do [laughing] to just you know – they can do things and go out and go here and there and they don’t pray as much. Because of what I’m called to do I have a very disciplined life. The Apostle Paul said I buffet my body.

ROY: Yeah. It sounds like you’re carrying the burden for this.

JENNIFER: Yeah. He says I gotta run my race to win.

ROY: Yeah, that’s right.