Throwing Salt at the Devil

Recently, I had a dream in which I was fighting the devil. The fight was very basic: The devil stood in front of me while I threw salt at him.

The salt paralyzed him. He couldn’t fight back. He had started the fight, but once I started throwing salt, he was powerless to do anything. By the time the dream ended, he had slowly fallen to his knees, unable to move. 

Upon waking, I sensed that the salt was God’s people—my brothers and sisters in Christ—and I had just beaten the devil through them.

My family and I had recently gone through years of intense spiritual battles. There were times of reprieve and plenty of blessings along the way, but the period of 2012-2019 was marked by protracted battles. Early in 2019, by the time I realized that a lump in my neck could be something serious, I was already exhausted.

I sensed I was dealing with a spiritual attack, and would have to fight back with prayer and faith. But I told the Lord, “God, I’m tired. I just can’t find the will to fight this.” God answered me by giving me some prophetic encouragement.

The encouragement was this. God knows that we get battle-weary, and like any good king or general, he doesn’t expect us to fight weak and wounded. I was assured that God saw my condition, and was sending reinforcements!

A short time later, some people approached the company I was working for and said they were feeling led to pray for us. A team was formed just to cover our staff in prayer. Reinforcements!

They came just in time because at the end of that month, I received the diagnosis: papillary thyroid cancer.

I only had one affected lymph node, and one small spot on my thyroid. The doctors explained that my situation was not incredibly urgent because this type of cancer is slow-growing.

So we felt that God was giving us a few weeks to pray about everything. Having your thyroid completely removed is a very big decision. Also, this seemed like a good opportunity to fight with our faith.

But even after getting the diagnosis, my attempts to fight in prayer and faith felt forced. I was just tired. 

Fortunately, God’s reinforcements didn’t stop with that first prayer team. There was another group of people praying for our new book, so I asked them to intercede for my healing.

Then I started seeing that there were soldiers all around me. I filled out prayer cards at church and started going up for prayer ministry every Sunday.

I went twice to the North Georgia Revival, and many people there prayed over me. I attended other churches, events, and conferences. At each one, there were opportunities to have others pray for me, and I took full advantage. 

Even when I couldn’t muster the will to fight the battle in prayer, I had no problem asking others to pray about the situation.

After several weeks, I went back for my next scan. The results were devastating. There were now so many cysts that they didn’t even give me a number. It was like an explosion had gone off in my neck.

We felt completely beaten down. Shortly after that, some family members came from out of town. During their church service that day, their congregation had prayed for me and anointed a prayer cloth to send to me. God kept sending prayer warriors, and I kept seeking out prayer as well. 

In the end, God’s answer was to connect me with one of the world's top thyroid surgeons, Dr. Gary Clayman, who also happens to be a strong Christian. He was in-network for my insurance, and God also provided the exact amount we needed to cover out of pocket costs.

Dr. Clayman also happens to have a large prayer team. They had already been praying over me for several weeks by the time I went in for the surgery.

The team at Clayman Thyroid Center removed 64 lymph nodes from my neck, and 29 of them tested positive for cancer. Prayer warriors all over the world were lifting me and the medical professionals before God’s throne that day.

After the surgery, this world-class thyroid surgeon declared me surgically cured, and I had total peace. God had worked through the medical professionals to save my life. 

Then I had the dream, and I realized it needed to be shared with others. If you are battle weary, be encouraged. God has already provided the soldiers to fight the battle while you recover in the field hospital. Your part is to ask them so that they know how to pray.

By doing that, you’ll be throwing salt at the devil. He will be rendered powerless while you and your loved ones enjoy the victory!

Copyright © December 2019 Chris McKinney, used with permission.