My parents were saved during the Jesus Movement shortly after my dad returned home from the Vietnam War. He came home and announced to my family and I that we were no longer Catholic and that we would be going to a new church. I received Jesus as my savior when I was about 6 or 7 years of age. Shortly after that the Pastor asked for those who wanted to receive the Holy Baptism to come up front. I remember hearing the Lord call me. I was reluctant to go, but I could not deny his call. I told my dad that Jesus was calling me and I needed to go. As a child the Lord would talk to me. I would ask him questions and he would talk to me like a friend. Our relationship was very real for me.

Since childhood I have always been more aware of things around me. I knew when I was in danger. I knew things about people. I could see demonic in people’s eyes. I never questioned how I knew it – I just did. I remember having a dream when I was about 7 years of age. I saw my entire family in a tornado. A few years later my family fell apart. My dad who had been on fire for Jesus fell back into old lifestyle habits. Our home became unstable. My parents divorced and we stopped going to church. Our lifestyle changed. My family and I no longer attended church or visited our church friends. The hard part for me was that I still would see, know, and feel things. I had a lot of revelation, but I did not have any wisdom or understanding of my authority. I suffered 20+ years with tormenting dreams. I did not realize I was “seeing” into the spiritual realm. I had a hard time being in certain places or around certain people. My feelings and emotions would change depending on where I was or who I was around. I felt like I was always under attack – even in sleep I did not rest.

In my 30s I started to go back to church. At 41 years of age I met a group of people from the Ventura Healing Rooms. I went in for prayer and as I sat down, the woman asked me how the Lord speaks to me. She asked if I saw, felt, tasted, knew, or heard. I was silent until she said they love all of that. They were plugged into Bethel teachings. They started to give me a language for the way I “saw” life. It was the first time in my life I met other people who saw life the way I saw life. They gave me Bethel teachings and shared what they had learned. I finally had words to describe the way I saw life. They taught me about identity, authority, acceptance, and grace. It has been a process learning to steward the prophetic. It is wonderful to live in a place of hope and victory.

By Sheryl Sena