I Only Saw Blackness But Now I Can See!

Q. I know vision is one of the four keys to hearing God's voice, but I just see blackness. What should I do?

A. There are actually 2 people in 100 who can't see anything on the screen inside their minds. When they try to imagine, they get nothing. It is now being suggested that this is a medical illness affecting 2.5% of the population which needs treatment by a doctor, if it is treatable at all.

I have polled congregations for years and found 2 in 100 say they can't see anything at all on the screen inside their minds. So, yes, my experience correlates with what the health profession is now claiming.

They can see at nighttime

I find it interesting that the folks who can't imagine during the day have no problem dreaming at night. So obviously, to me, it appears that their visionary apparatus works just fine when their conscious minds are not preventing it from functioning. However, during the daytime, when the conscious mind can control the faculty, it is shut off, thus no images appear. In these extreme cases, people cannot even picture their living room couch. 

What would cause that? My belief is that it is an unconscious decision made years ago to stop seeing, because the images they were seeing were so intense and so traumatic, they could not bear the pain. Therefore they said, "No more images" and effectively shut down this ability, at least during the daytime.

Of course, when you say, "I no longer want to see," I assume a demon of blindness comes along and attaches themselves to this ungodly thought, and says, "I can help you be blind."

Uta shares this testimony concerning nighttime dreams: Last week my class prayed for me that I would dream again. I haven’t remembered a dream in over 30 years. I guess I had shut off dreaming when I had nightmares. I renounced that vow and since then I have dreamed every night when I have awakened naturally (without an alarm).

To receive healing, I suggest several steps be taken:

1. I repent for believing that if I see, the images will be too painful to look at. That is a lie, for I now know that if I invite Jesus into the scene, He will appear and heal it by His presence and actions. "Jesus, NOW, I invite You to remind me what trauma in my past induced me to shut down the eyes of my heart." (Tune to flow and honor the event that bubbles up.) "Jesus, please show me where You were in this scene so the trauma can be healed." (Tune to flow and record what happens.) 
    
2. I forgive the people in the event, God for allowing the event, and myself for my reactions to the event. Picture each and say, "I forgive you, I honor you, I bless you." 
    
3. Cleanse the trauma from my cellular memory: "Lord, would You please sweep away all memory of this event which is stored in my cells?" (See Him doing this.)
    
4. I repent for speaking word curses: "Lord, I am sorry for speaking lies over myself, that I cannot see. You have given me eyes in my heart. I pray for the eyes of my heart to be enlightened (Eph. 1:17,18). I declare, I can see by the power of Your Holy Spirit!"
    
5. I rebuke the demon of blindness: "I command the demon of spiritual blindness to leave me. I will no longer give you a place. You are no longer welcome. Be gone, in Jesus' name, NOW!" Breathe out deeply a couple of times. Feel the release.
    
6. Lay on healing hands: "I lay my hands on my eyes and see them as the hands of Jesus, and I command my spiritual eyes to SEE, in Jesus' name. See now, in Jesus' name. See, in Jesus' name!"
    
7. Practice: Read Gospel stories and picture them as you read them. Start actively exercising this muscle so it grows strong and can be used by Jesus to give you not only dreams at night, but visions during the day.
    
8. Gratitude: "Thank You, Lord, for Your healing hand upon me. I receive Your healing. I embrace Your healing. I am healed. I imagine myself seeing. It FEELS so good." Gratitude is the state of 

Testimony of Rev. Arvid Moin - I Only Saw Blackness But Now I Can See!

All I could see was black! About 30 years ago I had the privilege of attending a conference in Buffalo, NY on church-centered Bible schools.  It was there that I met Dr. Mark Virkler who was teaching a class called Communion With God.  It was in that class that I began to learn how to hear God’s voice.  I had been in the ministry for almost 20 years to that point.  Little did I know how my spiritual life was about to dramatically change.

As I sat through the classes on Communion With God I experienced two opposite feelings, great joy and extreme frustration.  I was so moved by learning to be still, tuning to spontaneity, and journaling.  Trying to visualize was a whole other matter.

Every time I would close my eyes, all I saw was black.  Dr. Virkler and others would testify to what they were seeing and how wonderful it was.  All I could see was black.  I could not visualize anything.  They were seeing Jesus on a mountainside, next to a stream, walking with them in a meadow, sitting next to them in the class, and so much more.  All I saw was black.

I became so frustrated that I almost left.  And to make things worse, the two men I had come with were sharing how great it was to begin to see things in the spirit world with their inner eyes.  All I saw was black.  I left that conference so excited about hearing God’s voice and going back to Wisconsin ready to start a church-centered Bible college and yet feeling rejected by God in that I could not see with my inner eye.

I believed even though I was blind: Let me fast-forward over these past 30 years.  I have taught Communion With God, now named Four Keys to Hearing God’s Voice, all around the United States, in Mexico, France and Ecuador.  I have been on the Board of Directors of Communion With God Leaders Network for many years and function as the director of this part of Communion With God Ministries that licenses and ordains ministers.  I consider Mark Virkler to be one of my best friends, and I see him as one of the key people and mentors in my walk with God.

Because of learning how to hear God’s voice my ministry as a pastor, Bible teacher and counselor has dramatically changed.  I believe in hearing God’s voice.  I live by that.  I believe in the power of dreams.  I believe, with all of my heart, in the power of being able to see with your inner eye and yet, I still see black.

Why couldn't I see? Mark and I have talked about this a number of times, and I have prayed over and over the question… Why?  Let me share some of the things I have learned over the years. 

1. Never give up on what you know is the truth.  Just because you struggle with a part of something does not mean it is not truth.  I believe knowing the voice of God is one of the most important aspects of a Christian’s walk.  How can I follow Jesus as my Shepherd if I don’t know His voice?  The Word says, "His ways are not my ways and His thoughts are not my thoughts."  I need to know His voice. 
    
2. Find the keys: Like so many experiences that we maturing believers go through, there usually are some keys to hearing, seeing and receiving a new truth.   Instead of giving up, I have sought after those keys.  First of all, I began to ask the Lord for His insight and understanding.  I have asked those I trust to pray and record what they were sensing in the Spirit.  I would take what I was sensing from the Lord and what others were sensing from the Lord and began to see some key issues in my life.
   
   At the age of 14, my Dad and I were fishing on a stream when he had a heart attack and died. I was present. Because of some issues of not knowing what to do I blamed myself and felt that others were doing the same.  It was a traumatic experience that I would wish on no one.  For over 52 years I held that hurt and blame in my life.  Also, as a young boy and into adulthood, I struggled with a pornography problem that held me in a prison of trying to rid myself of a tainted imagination.
   
   I began to see those two areas, my Dad’s death and pornography, as major keys in my inner eye blindness. I had shut down the eyes of my heart so I would not replay the scenes of my dad’s death, or the pornographic pictures. I had chosen not to see. I have repented, and now choose to see.
    
3. Listen to your spouse: Even though my wife had urged me for years to go back to this scene of my dad's death, I was afraid to do so. So I continued to put it off. However when I finally went back to the hometown where I grew up and walked to the place where my dad died, waves of emotion overcome me, and I collapsed in prayer asking God to heal this pain buried deep in my heart. He did. I saw a vision of Jesus holding my dad, comforting him and comforting me. This is the day the dam broke in my life and I began to see.

Generational stuff: Over the past years I began to see how some of these problem areas were connected with generational sins that have come down through my ancestors to me.  Over time I saw the need to do spiritual warfare against the enemy and bring cleansing and forgiveness in my life.  Forgiveness is one of the most powerful aspects of our Christian walk.  Forgiveness brings cleansing, hope, freedom and His very presence.

Through Mark’s teaching on Seven Prayers that Heal the Heart, I began to experience freedom in many areas of my life.  I still struggle with blindness in my inner eye, but I am in the process of receiving my sight.  Every day I see more and more.  I am not giving up on my total healing.  Being in God’s presence is too important to let the enemy rob from me any more.

Now I see: For those of you who are struggling in this area, let me encourage you to never give up.  We might not be seeing things clearly, but as we surrender more to Him and walk in His presence, our inner vision will improve.  My word for my walk today is from a song we all know that says “I once was lost, but now I’m found; was blind, but now I see.”  As the Word says, keep seeking and you will find, asking and you will receive, knocking and the door will be opened to you.  

We are on an awesome journey with our Lord.  God bless you.

An update from one month after Arvid wrote the above testimony:  I have been seeing more and more each day.  It is slow but every step counts. 

Additional Resources

• Help! I Have Trouble Seeing Vision!
• How do I heal distorted pictures or visions?
• 4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice