Prayer Investigator: Confronting Demons and Finding Hope—Kim M. Clark

In this powerful episode of 'The Prayer Investigator,' host Linda Evans Shepherd interviews inspirational speaker and best-selling author Kim M. Clark. Kim shares her incredible experiences with spiritual warfare while working with incarcerated women in maximum security jails. From casting out demons to the importance of forgiveness, this episode covers intense and uplifting stories. Kim also emphasizes the power of prayer and the name of Jesus in overcoming spiritual battles. Don't miss this eye-opening and faith-strengthening conversation, and learn more about Kim's work through her nonprofit Lift Your Gaze.

00:00 Introduction: Encountering Demons and Spiritual Warfare

00:11 Meet Kim M. Clark: Inspirational Speaker and Author

00:34 Kim's Jail Experience: Spiritual Warfare in Maximum Security

02:05 The Power of Jesus' Name: Casting Out Demons

04:48 Personal Stories: Spiritual Warfare and Divine Protection

07:52 Practical Advice: Praying and Forgiving

Linda Evans Shepherd is an international speaker and a best-selling author of 38 books including Praying Through the Hard Times. She is the CEO and founder of Right to the Heart Ministries which includes the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Arise Esther Movement, Leading Hearts Magazine, and the Arise Daily Devotionals.
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Transcript

  What should you do if you should encounter a demon or deep spiritual warfare? My friend Kim knows. Wait till you hear her story. Stay tuned. Welcome to the Prayer Investigator. I'm Linda Evans Shepherd. My friend Kim M. Clark is an inspirational speaker and best selling author, but she sometimes finds herself in maximum security jails. 

Kim, you have some explaining to do. Welcome to the show. Thank you, Linda. It's so good to be here. Thank you very much. And we have a very interesting topic to discuss today, and it's about the time that you were in jail and you had a little problem with spiritual warfare. Tell us about that. Thank you very much for that segment.

Yes, I have a large non profit called Lift Your Gaze, where I go into jails and prisons about once a week, sometimes several times a week, depending on the facility. And also chaplains teach out of my books, which they are using as trauma healing curriculum, which still blows my mind. But once I was there, In jail, and I was waiting for my ladies to come out in maximum security, maximum security.

They have to be shackled. They have to be handcuffed with their hands and then they have to be chained on their feet and the chain runs from their feet to their hands. They have a shuffle and sometimes they're shackled to each other. So it's a process to have them come out. So I'm waiting for them standing outside my classroom and I'm waiting for them to come to my left from my right is lockdown or solitary confinement as most people know about it.

And I, there's this, the whole time I'm waiting and there's a correctional officer standing on the other side of that, kind of that floor hallway, outside that door of lock, lockdown dorm. And the woman, there was a woman incarcerated in there that was in lockdown and she was screaming. And the sound of her screeching was, it was not human.

It was feral. It was demonic. It was just, it was horrible. And both the correctional officer and I were, we're trying not to twitch too much because it was really, it was worse than nails down the chalkboard. It was horrible. And over the screeching, the correctional officer looks at me and she says, You have to know the name of the demon to cast it out.

She didn't know I was there to teach out a Bible or anything, but she just said that. And I told her, I said, no, you don't.  The name is Legion. I held my hand up where the scream was coming from. I said, be gone in Jesus's name. And the woman started screaming. I don't know how long she's been screaming, but the woman was like, Legion, huh?

And I told her, Hey, look, if it's good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me. He said, we do greater work than him. So I'm calling on that and it's gone and was quiet and I didn't see the woman again. It was behind a locked door. In, in their very small cells, the solitary confinement cells. So I didn't see her, I didn't see, but she, and the woman, the correctional officer kept looking at me as I was teaching out of my books and was like, who is she?

And I was like, look, it's Jesus. And I gave her a signed copy of my book that I used that day to share hope to these incarcerated women. Oh my goodness. I'm just imagining that poor lady just so tormented and locked in that confining cell and screaming and. Even the name of Jesus and telling the legion to leap through the wall.

I'm not even sure the woman could hear you. Do you think she could hear you? No, I don't know you it's really hard to hear through because it's a double concrete wall. So for her to even But the demon heard yeah, the demons they heard that's what I was talking to and that's a really interesting point She didn't need to hear you, but the demon heard you.

I mean, I don't even like talking to him I you're not of my moving on. Yeah, Legion as we know like that's right a thousand or ten thousand So it's quite a few so I was like, I don't even want to know your name. We're not friends You  That's right. That's right. I mean, we don't have to get so caught up in all of that.

I think what we need to get caught up in though is the fact that you called out in the name of Jesus and that thing obeyed. Amen. Amen. And the power that we have. As daughters of Christ and that power, and there's so much going on. I know a lot of times we can struggle with just with individual interactions and we can just be so just stuck in that going, Oh, I'm just struggling with a lot of times are spiritual warfare.

I don't think we should discount that either. And sometimes it's praying with the blood of Jesus. That's the most powerful substance in all the universe that covers us.  It can just provide you peace, even though the war is still going on. I think what it tells us is that. We need to be bringing in the name of Jesus into so many of our situations, our heartaches, our problems, our troubles, our troubled family members.

What do you think? I believe that 100%. I'll give you a quick little story about, oh gosh, about 20, 15 years ago, my family was experiencing just a really. difficult trial. And one of the ladies in my Bible study I was leading,  it's demonic warfare, it's demonic, it's spiritual warfare. You have to know the name of the demon to cast it out.

And I had no idea what she was talking about. I was like, what?  And she said, Oh yeah, you have to know the name of the demon. And I was like, how do you find that out? You pray and they reveal themselves to you. I'm like, okay. So that night before bed, I was like, whatever your name is, I need to know whatever in Jesus's name.

I went to bed, I had this dream that I was being stabbed. Down to the darkest part of the earth and out I come out and there's evil the most evil voice I've ever heard to be says I hear you want to know my name. Oh, and I was like, it was so I can't even mimic It was so evil that I was terrified and I remember my dream going.

I don't need to know your name I'm covered by the blood of Jesus and I started spouting scripture and all of a sudden I was transported from this really evil This horrible atmosphere to this beautiful white sandy beach with the water, with the blue water and Jesus on the shore. And I was like, and another big demon and you're Jesus.

And I hear it. I just see him going, well done my good and faithful servant. And I was like, and that just told me like several things. Number one, the power that we have  as sons and daughters of Christ and the power of the name of Jesus. That the blood of Jesus covers us as followers and those who trust in Jesus for their salvation.

We don't even understand the power that we have. We're like sitting on this Sherman tank going, you know, we have no idea the power that we have with the blood of Jesus over our enemies and over those, over just situations and because we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. I'm gonna tell a story I don't usually tell and I was speaking in another country and that night when I crawled into bed A demon walked out of the wall, and he began to tell me his name, and he had a message he was going to say to me, and I could not believe my eyes.

I saw him, and I said, Get out of here in the name of Jesus. I'm not talking to you. Oof, he was gone.  He was gone. He was a major regional demon.  He was gone just for me calling out the name of Jesus. And I remember I, it scared me so I had a few tears and then there was Jesus with me. And he said, it's gonna be okay now. 

And it turned out that there was someone who was jealous of me because I had written several books. And they were downstairs in the hotel going, How come I haven't written that many books? And then she realized in that moment that she was jealous and that jealousy was not correct. And she repented. And that was the moment that Jesus appeared to me.

Mind blowing. I just mind how interconnected we all are. If we let in any of those emotions that are sin, how that, it's like that access point. They just need one little pinhole in. I love it. And then, you know, everything's blowing apart and then travel impacts. We just need to be aware of who we are in Christ, but who Jesus is, and we need to be able to, what?

How do we pray against these things? Now, having that discernment, God, give me that discernment. To know how to best pray in this situation. Holy Spirit, guide my prayers that I can best pray and cast out anything that is not of you. I think also there's a lot of binding prayers where you bind, but I don't even know their name.

Just bind whoever's there, cast them out, and I'm putting the blood of Jesus. That's where I go. I'm cast in blood.  Yeah, we don't have to play around with these things. We can just say, get out of here in the name of Jesus, just like I did, and they will. And they will. I love that so much. And I love that you're writing a book about this.

And I know that there are people going, okay, you know what? I got family members. I know they got something attached to them. And when they come over, we have to fight. I don't know what to do. What would you say to those folks? That's a great question. And yet sometimes it's so It's sometimes it's just there.

Sometimes there's fasting and prayer. Like a lot of times I have family members like that too, and I'll fast before I have a meeting with them. I pray. I get other people to pray. No. And sometimes they just pop up and they're like, it's an unannounced visit. You don't get that prep time. Pastor once told me like, if that's a difficult situation, your family, treat it like a mission field.

You're fasting. You're praying. Get other people to pray for you. That's what I encourage other people to do. It doesn't mean you're not going to still have conflict. And issues, but I think walking in a way and praying for them. So I feel like You've had a conflict here, this has gotten off on the bad foot, and can I pray out loud?

And a lot of times they won't let you. And no, that's okay, maybe it's time just to go to visit the restroom and pray for them right there. Yeah. Because the demons can hear you through the wall. They can't. Concrete walls. Concrete walls.  That's amazing. And so, I like the idea that you pray up, you pray in advance, and then you pray your way through, and you get other people to pray, and you keep on praying.

And I have seen the enemy come after family members, and when I've consistently prayed, I've seen them have to let go of them.  It is. It's absolutely true. And a lot of times, it's funny, I had a pastor I spoke to in Uganda who talked about casting out demons. He says, well, the demons have to be ready to go.

And I was like, you know what, I'm playing the blood of Jesus, whether they're ready to go or not. I mean, some people think I prayed and nothing happened and God's divine, his ways are bigger than our ways. And sometimes he's using. That to protect us from something so just because there's a roadblock up if you've prayed it's still there my opinion God might be using that Obstacle or conflict to prevent you from going in that direction or having interaction right now Maybe he's doing his work that we need to get out of the way  And I think another thing that helps with family members that are troubled is to forgive them.

Oh, absolutely. Right. So for me, I actually wrote that in one of my books in this chapter on spiritual warfare is forgiving the unforgivable in our society. I don't believe we know how to forgive the unforgivable. We don't understand the great price that's been, that we've been forgiven of. And we hold onto unforgiveness, which turns into bitterness, which which can be a hook for the enemy to get into our lives.

And forgiving the unforgivable means that you never repeat the offense.  You don't bring it up to the other person. You don't gossip about it. You don't let it play over and over again in your mind, and you don't hold it against in the future. And those things are only available through the blood of Christ, only through believers.

As Christians, we're the only ones who get to have forgiving that unforgiveness and have that relief. I mean, because we understand the great price has been paid for us. And I really feel like that in spiritual warfare, if you're struggling with something, look if there's any area of unforgiveness. Every time I pray those prayers.

I, there's another person I'm like, Oh, I have to forgive them. I thought I did. But you know what? God's bringing them up again. The Holy Spirit's bringing them up and I need to really  forgive them completely.  Yeah. It can be tough. I mean, the enemy can come and go, Yeah, remember that? Remember that? Remember that?

How do you break free so that you can forgive through the power of the blood of Jesus? I have several prayers that I do. And I also, I think remembering that, what the great price I was. Forgiven for so I okay lord. I this keeps coming up.  It's either lord. I need to forgive them So help me forgive them help me cast them in the sea of forgetfulness Just like you've done to me you cast all my sins in the sea of forgetfulness Help me forgive them and help me never bring it up again So actually praying those like those points help me not gossip about it Help me not replay it over and over again in my mind help it not Come into my mind hold it in future conversations And i've had people who I've forgiven have done pretty heinous things and they've said They've kept wanting to bring it up.

I've forgiven you. I don't even want to talk about it. I don't want to discuss it anymore. It's gone. And they're, they don't, they have no framework for that. I'm like, it's gone. It's in the sea of forgetfulness. I don't know what you're talking about. And they're like, what? I'm like, I'm not going there. It's done.

It's covered. And even at the end, like my mind will start, I'm like,  it's gone in the sea of forgetfulness. Lord Jesus, I've cast it out. Help me not bring it up again in Jesus's name. What strikes me is. That Jesus himself said that if we are not willing to forgive others for the little that they've done against us  That he won't be willing to forgive us.

So I think that this forgiveness thing is no Small matter and I know that there are people tuning in listening right now going. Oh  Wait a minute. I thought it was my right to be angry and bitter, yet it's time that they let go.  It's time that they released it to Jesus. Would you lead them in a prayer so that they could do just that?

And it'd be my pleasure. Lord Jesus, I pray for those of us who are struggling with bitterness and unforgiveness.  And I unknowingly let just the enemy into their hearts. I pray, Lord Jesus, that you would reach down and touch their heart right now as they're hearing this prayer. And they would say, oh my goodness, I haven't forgiven so and so all these years and it's affected me physically.

It's affected my, I see now. So I pray, Lord, you would lift the scales from their eyes, drop those scales, and they would see where they have their harboring unforgiveness and it's turned into bitterness and they would repent. And they would come to you understanding the great price because they don't want to be like the unforgiving servant.

They don't want to not forgive for a small offense when they've been forgiven for millions and millions of dollars Let's say in offenses. So please lord help them never bring up the offense anymore Not replay it over and over again their mind help them not gossip about it to others and help them not hold it against you The person that sinned against them in the future, even though they bring them up, say it's forgiveness in the sea of forgetfulness, they would be relieved.

I pray the Lord that chains would drop. I see chains dropping in Jesus name from bitterness over those who are watching this now or hearing this now that you would drop those chains that the enemy has shackled to them  for them to not have the joy, which is what the thief comes from is our joy. So in Jesus name, bring them their joy and just break those shackles and break those shackles in Jesus name.

Of any unforgiveness in their lives and I pray this all in christ's precious name. Amen Amen, and i'm going to add a little prayer to that. I just see people like this They're just like I can't get free. I can't let go of it This is where you need the strength of jesus and here's what we're going to pray lord Give me the strength  to let go And to give it to you to put it at the foot of the cross I don't own that It is not mine.

I cast it into the sea of forgetfulness and I declare your freedom over my soul to forgive. Your freedom over my mind to forget. Your freedom over my heart to love the one who hurt me because I do not want to be chained to them when I can have you instead. And really Lord, that's what we're looking at to just give that right up to be angry and hurt So that we can have you  That's what we choose and we choose it in your power because it's too big for us to do by ourselves We choose it in your power in the name of jesus and we say You are ours And all that stuff  is in the sea of forgetfulness  and we are Breathe  In Jesus name, amen.

Amen. Wow. Thank you. Wow. So I pray, I can't wait. Put comments in or whenever you're watching this, I love to hear what God's, God's done for that. Those are some powerful prayers. I'm excited. Wow. Yes. Those were powerful. And I know that you've got one more really great tip to share with us after all of that.

What do you say? I, I always just encourage people to lift their gaze. Just lift their gaze. I feel like there's a battle for our joy and that we have a choice. Where we focus on gets bigger. We want to focus on God. God gets bigger than our trials. We focus on our trials or perhaps unforgiveness, they get bigger than our God. 

So cast those aside,  repent from any unforgiveness and lift your gaze to your God who gives you his joy and peace that surpasses all understanding. I think if we would keep our focus on Jesus. And remember that He loves us and that He is with us. A lot of these troubles would just disappear. Kim, how can they get in touch with you?

Yes, I have my website, kimmclark. com, that's two Ms, or they can go to liftyourgaze. org. I'm a publisher as well as a Christian publisher, and we do deepwatersbooks.  com. But they can go find that all on my website, kimmclark.  com. Lift Your Gaze provides hope to over 625, 000 incarcerated people across the United States through our podcasts and our books, which are on electronically.

We're a matter, but we were always looking for a prayer partner, people to help us raise funds. So it's always an incredible. Just journey. So I've written five books on hope and my, and then my six I've written on AI. Wow. I just hope that people reach out and they grab copies of your books because you can continue this time with Kim by reading her books and knowing more about that and learning more about her Christian view on AI and what that could mean for you.

So grab her books and Kim, I just want to thank you for being here. I know that you touch lives and made a difference today. Thank you, thank you. Thank you so much for this opportunity, and thank you for all you do. You're awesome. Oh, thank you, . Aren't you glad that you were with us for that discussion? And if you enjoyed it, would you share, subscribe, comment?

We'd love to hear from you, and we have a free gift for you. It is a blessing. You can play, pray, and print. Just go to my prayer gift.com and remember, God loves you and he wants you to talk to him. See you next time.