While reading the book of Matthew in 1983 I noticed how frequently God ministered to people in dreams: 1:20, 2:12, 2:13, 2:19, 2:22. It occurred to me that, if I asked, God might minister to me in dreams as well. So I asked. The first night I did this I had a dream.

In the dream my father and brother were standing in front of me. My brother had a dog that was barking at something that I could not see. The sense in the dream was that it was very close behind me.

My father commanded the thing the dog was barking at to come out into the open. A black, blob-shaped thing came around from behind me and into view. My father asked it how long it had been there. It replied that it had been there for 13 years. My father commanded it to leave. It responded by climbing up the brick wall of a library with its fingernails and disappearing.

When I awoke I asked God to bring me the remembrance of the dream and he did. I asked him what it meant.

My father in the dream was God. My brother was Jesus. The black blob-shaped thing was an evil spirit that had been in my life for 13 years.

What had happened in my life 13 years before - in 1970? In 1970 I graduated from high school. Part of that process included taking ACT and SAT college entrance exams. To my surprise, I did very well on those exams. Not realizing what I was doing, I took pride in my intellectual ability - in my knowledge. This was symbolized in the dream by the library. When I took pride in my intellectual ability and knowledge I provided an opening for this spirit to take a place in my life.

In my dream God had commanded it to leave. Now that I was awake and realized that such a spirit had gained a place in my life I voiced my agreement in commanding it to leave. I thank God that I am free from whatever effect it had in my life.