How to Discern the Unseen Realm Around You | Dawna DeSilva

Dawna De Silva and her husband, Stephen, have ministered out of Bethel Church in Redding, CA for over twenty years preaching, speaking internationally and authoring books. Whether training Sozo, preaching, shifting atmospheres or ministering prophetically, Dawna releases people, churches, and cities into new vision and freedom. Dawna ministers with authority and gentleness, imparting hope and healing.

Is there a
supernatural dimension?

A world beyond the one we know?

Is there life after death?

Do angels exist?

Can our dreams contain
messages from Heaven?

Can we tap into ancient
secrets of the supernatural?

Are healing miracles real?

Sid Roth has spent over 35 years
researching the strange world of

the supernatural.

Join Sid for this
edition of It’s Supernatural!

[Applause]

Sid Roth: Hello.

Sid Roth here.

Welcome to my world where
it’s naturally supernatural.

Do you know what sonar is?

Sonar, we didn’t have all
the time and big ships would

actually plow into icebergs.

Why would they
plow into an iceberg?

Because 90 percent of the
iceberg was under the water and

they couldn’t see it.

Sonar, you could see it, but
they didn’t have sonar and

they’d be destroyed.

That’s the same way it is with
the invisible world because in

this invisible world all around
us it’s alive and there is a way

to have something
better than sonar.

You not only can change
because it’s an invisible world,

it affects your thoughts,
it affects your marriage,

it affects your health and it’s
just radiating signals to you.

But there is a way to
not only be aware of it,

but destroy those evil signals.

Do you want to learn?

[Applause]

Dawna, explain to me why you say
the invisible world is filled

with all sorts of activity.

Dawna De Silva: Absolutely.

What I find is that we think
we are walking around and doing

what we think we
want to do on our own.

But actually we’re getting
input from a lot of places.

We’re getting
input from ourselves,

we’re getting input from the
Lord and we’re getting input

from the demonic realm, and
so there’s a spiritual realm

talking to us.

And as I was coming here I was
asking the Lord what’s going on,

and the whole think I kept
hearing was all of God’s

promises are yes and amen.

And I felt like if God is
speaking that then the enemy is

probably telling people
he’s forgotten about you.

He’s probably telling
people oh there’s no hope.

You know that promise
he told you years ago,

it’s not going to come to pass.

And I just wanted to speak,
I just want to turn off that

station right now, and we’re
just going to say no to that

station and yes
to God’s promise.

[Applause]

Sid: You know, it came out
of your mouth so smoothly.

But you know, it’s so true.

You’re listening
to another station,

you think it’s
you, but it isn’t.

You think that that wife or
that husband is just awful,

but that isn’t them.

You’re getting the
wrong transmission.

Start doing something about it.

Turn the channel.

[Applause]

It affects our moods, our tone.

Explain.

Dawna De Silva: Right.

So whatever it thinks there’s
demons just hanging around you

all the time, but actually it’s
a relationship between what you

believe what they’re telling
you and you acting it out.

So if you actually take that
station and you say yes to it

and you begin acting out,
let’s say rage is saying,

you need to just hit that person
over there and then you take a

swing at them.

The enemy can walk away
because you’ve now released an

atmosphere that he doesn’t
have to stir up anymore.

Sid: And you know, the picture
I have as you’re saying that is

all this road rage that’s going
on where people

are killing people.

I mean, and these are people
that would never think of this

type of rage.

Dawna De Silva: Absolutely.

Sid: But they’re being
egged on with that transmitter.

Dawna De Silva: Absolutely.

Egged on.

Sid: Okay.

What would you say is the first
step to having dominion over

these voices?

Dawna De Silva: Well you have
to actually believe it exists.

I mean, you have to, you know,
what happened in the church is

we had discerners that
made messes because it’s like

everything was a demon and we
were complaining about stuff.

And so the church swung
passed the truth that we’re in a

spiritual war all the
way over to it’s all good,

oh there’s no demonic,
no, there’s nothing.

And we forget
what’s shooting at us.

And so when my husband says
something that hurts my hurt,

I’m usually, throng, at him.

Oh wait a minute, that probably
was him speaking out of what the

enemy is telling him to say,
because he knows what’s going to

hurt my heart.

Sid: So it’s like
two against one.

Dawna De Silva: It is.

But we have the
triune nature of God.

Sid: Three against two.

Sounds good to me.

[Applause]

Okay.

You say we can
literally change atmospheres.

Is there a way for us to
discern what’s going on in that

invisible world
from the atmosphere?

Dawna De Silva: Absolutely,
but you have to practice.

I find that most people
already pick up or sense,

or discern that they don’t know
because they just are acting out

of it.

So once you start paying
attention to how is my normal,

what would that look like, then
anything that comes out from

that is actually
helping me to know,

oh I’m probably picking up and
responding to an atmosphere.

But you have to practice.

You’ve got to figure it out.

Sid: You know, I notice a
lot of people on diets,

I haven’t gotten
this far, by the way,

a lot of people on diets
they know when they’re full.

I don’t know when I’m full.

But they know when
they’re full and they stop.

But it came from practice.

Dawna De Silva:
Practice, yes, it has to.

You know, I get
asked all the time,

Dawna, how did you learn so
much about this discernment,

and I said hindsight.

And they’re like, no really, you
must have spent all this time.

No, hindsight.

I learned so much by getting
tripped by the enemy that I

finally realized, oh
you know, trick me once,

okay, trick me twice, you
don’t trick me a third time.

And so it’s hindsight.

It’s like practice this.

Find out.

Talk to people.

What are you sensing?

I was on a trip one
time and I was so grumpy,

and I’m thinking, oh
it’s just hormonal.

I like to say to women you
can’t be hormonal 365 days.

Okay, your husbands are
going to thank me for that.

But I’m grumpy
and I can’t change,

and I’m like, God,
what’s wrong with me.

And I think I have
the Holy Spirit,

but what’s wrong with me.

I finally decide I’d
better warn my team.

So I walk out on
my team and I say,

“God, I’m so sorry, but I’m
just feeling grumpy today.

And so if I hurt your
heart I’m so sorry.

Just know I’m not trying to.”

And I look at my team and
they’re all kind of grumpy

looking, and I’m like,
is anybody else grumpy,

and they’re like no.

I’m like, oh yeah, okay.

So I just said okay.

So we grabbed hands
and we said, you know,

we see your irritation.

We are not going to partner
with you and we send you back,

and instantly we
were all better.

Sid: How about
things like health?

How does the
invisible world affect that?

Dawna De Silva: Well you know,
the enemy is always throwing

arrows and darts, and he’s
just dong all this stuff at us.

And if the enemy says to
you, you don’t feel good,

and then you know,
someone coughs next to you,

and you’re like, oh,
I don’t feel good.

I mean, we actually can partner
with what he’s saying

about the atmosphere.

Sid: You know, speaking
of that, sometimes I hear,

I have a thought and the thought
is you’re not going to be able

to sleep tonight and
I do what you said,

no more though.

I partner with that thought.

Dawna De Silva: No.

It’s so important because the
enemy is trying to get you to

take the bait.

And so actually you say, well
the Word of God actually tells

me that he gives
his beloved rest.

And so you know, the thought,
whether it’s my thought or the

enemy’s thought, it still
defies the Word of God.

So it’s like,
okay, so I hear you,

restlessness, or I
hear you, whatever,

I’m not going to partner with
you because I’m the beloved of

God, and he gives
his beloved rest.

Sid: Now you have learned
how to discern the atmosphere,

and to be candid with you,
now that my eyes are open,

it’s really not that difficult.

But can anyone learn how
to discern the atmosphere?

Dawna De Silva:
Absolutely, but again,

it’s practice, and
it’s talking to people.

I mean, I would talk
to my friends and say,

hey, I’m feeling this,
what are you feeling.

And sometimes I would feel it
different than

they would feel it.

And so it’s like trying to learn
what is your tell or how do you

pick up something.

For me, if I’m in a place of the
spirit of control it

puts me to sleep.

I mean, I’ll be just
like I’m so tired.

My son and I were driving
and here we were all excited.

He was going to lead worship
and we’re going across the state

line to this other place, and
we both looked at each other and

start, oh, we’re
gonna fall asleep.

And we both looked
at each other and,

I see your control and I’m
not going to partner with you,

I’m going to send you back,
and instantly we were awake.

Sid: You know, that is
statement that’s so important.

I would like you to look in the
camera and say that statement

again, and I want you to
remember this and use it.

Dawna De Silva: Right.

It’s so easy.

It’s like, I see you, enemy.

I am not going to partner
with you and I send you back.

Sid: Here’s the truth.

[Applause]

Ignorance is not bliss.

We’ll be right back.

[Applause]

We’ll be right back
to It’s Supernatural!

We now return to
It’s Supernatural!

[Applause]

Sid: So I made the
statement and you’ve made it.

Ignorance is not bliss.

Comment on that.

Dawna De Silva: No, I find that
so many times that Christians

stick their head in the sand and
they wonder what’s hitting their

rear ends.

And it’s time for us to
start paying attention.

I mean, there are agendas, there
are atmospheres talking to us

all the time.

And you know, Christians need
to start actually funding things

that actually have an
agenda that we believe in,

instead of what we
do not believe in.

Passivity is not
going to help us,

so just saying, oh I’ll still
shop there when they believe in

certain agendas you don’t
believe in is not going to help.

Sid: Okay.

You talk about thin
and thick places.

Explain.

Dawna De Silva: Well you know,
a thin place for me is when you

just walk in and
there’s the Holy Spirit.

You can just feel
the presence of God.

It can happen in different
locations in the same building.

You might feel a thin
place where you’re like,

oh there must be an angel
standing here or the Holy Spirit

is right here.

And you know, our
pastor tells us,

run to the Anointing.

Run to where you feel that.

We’ve had Glory clouds
show up and it’s like,

what is that, but you
can feel the presence.

And a thick place is like almost
like when I walk into a thick

place it’s like where
did the Holy Spirit go?

I mean, I know he’s here, but
it’s so thick between me that

it’s hard to understand
that he’s even talking.

Sid: You talk about we can tune
in or switch off these channels.

So you walk into a thick place
where it’s just really tough to

hear God.

What do you do?

Dawna De Silva: Well I first
begin to speak in tongues and I

might do it under my breath or
people think I’m crazy if I do

it out loud sometimes.

But I find that speaking in
tongues actually disengages my

mind and engages my spirit.

And so what I’m trying to do is
I’m trying to fight the right

fight because I’m trying to
fight in the spirit realm and

not in my brain realm.

And so we begin to release the
Holy Spirit like

[speaking in tongues]

and you can
feel it start to happen.

And then you begin to release
the opposite of what you think

you’re feeling.

So if I’m feeling afraid
I’m just going to begin to,

and as I get my
spirit to give me courage,

because I’m disconnecting fear,
I’m actually going to begin to

release peace.

I’m going to release an attitude
of rest instead of an attitude

of fear.

Sid: You actually talk about a
weapon that works every time,

it’s called reject and replace.

Dawna De Silva Yes.

Because you want to
reject what’s coming at you.

It’s like I see, it’s
the whole I see you.

I’m not going to partner
with you and I send you back.

I’m rejecting the signal coming.

It’s like I’m turning
that radio station.

I have authority over the radio
stations that I listen to and I

think most of us
don’t know that.

I think the problem is most
of us think it’s ourselves,

but I tell people
when I pray for them,

hey, you can hear
three voices any time.

I said there’s Father God
and he’s talking to you,

the enemy is talking to you
and you’re talking to you.

So let’s figure out whose
voice you want to listen to.

Sid: Now you said that you
discern the atmosphere and you

can teach others to
discern the atmosphere.

Dawna De Silva: Absolutely.

Sid: Tell me about the time
you discerned

an atmosphere of suicide.

Dawna De Silva: Yes.

We were on a trip actually and
I was kind of given a heads up.

They said you’re going to
come into a region where they’re

having suicides have been
happening and we want you.

That’s one of the things we want
you to do when we put on this

conference, we want
you to stop this.

I’m like,
absolutely, let’s go do it.

And so we came…

Sid: How would you like to
be walking in a

conference and say, “We
have these suicide pacts and

everything, I want
you to stop it.”

Would you say that?

Absolutely, let’s do it.

I just didn’t want
that to pass over.

Dawna De Silva:
It’s like, come on.

And so we actually went
there and we did the conference.

And my son has a song that
actually breaks the Anointing

over suicide.

And so he was playing
it in the background,

and we got people
together and we began to pray.

And we repented before we ever
partnered with death or with

thoughts like
that, and we told it,

you don’t have
authority over it,

and we released
life into the region.

And we just began
having the whole,

everyone that came
was releasing life,

and they just began
speaking the opposite,

and it broke over the region.

Sid: You know, it’s so sad,
people hear these voices and

they don’t know they’re
tuned into someone else,

and they think it’s themselves.

Dawna De Silva: How
tortured that must be,

torment in the mind.

You know, I tell people, if
you are tired of taking God’s

captive, which we should do,
and you just can’t stop it,

I’m wondering if it’s not your
thought you’re trying to take

captive and you might need
to just change the channel.

[Applause]

Sid: Not only
change the channel,

when we come back, I want
you to talk about shifting

the atmosphere.

Be right back.

[Applause]

We’ll be right back
to It’s Supernatural!

We now return to
It’s Supernatural!

[Applause]

Sid: You know, one of the
tips you have for us is to start

paying attention
to how you feel.

Dawna De Silva: Yes.

The phrase I like to use is
“Check yourself at the door.”

And it’s like,
what does that mean?

It’s like every time I start
to go somewhere I check myself

before I enter the place.

How do I feel right now?

I check, do I feel
good, do I feel bad.

It’s kind of like a word
of knowledge in your body.

It’s like if you
check your body,

my body feels great.

I’ll say, my knee
hurts, oh my knee hurts.

Oh wait a minute,
someone must have a bad knee.

Let’s take care of that.

It’s the same in
the spirit realm.

I check myself at the door.

Am I happy?

Am I carrying the
fruit of the Spirit?

Okay, do I look
like Jesus right now?

Awesome.

Because when I walk through that
door anything that tempts me to

act differently is probably a
broadcast that

I get to turn off.

Sid: Tell me,
speaking of broadcasts,

there is a horrible epidemic
that seems to be

happening all over.

Little children are coming
home and they’re saying,

“Mommy, Daddy, am I a
boy or am I a girl?”

And they’re
getting it from school.

Tell me about your friend
that had that encounter.

Dawna De Silva: Yes.

One of the stores, a lot of
stores now have decided that you

get to choose which
bathroom you go to,

whether you think
you’re male or female.

It’s not even how
you’re dressed.

And so they went into one
of these stores

and she was shopping.

And she had her
five-year-old son in the cart,

and she’s shopping around,
and nobody is around her.

And all of a sudden her little
son stands up and says…

Boy: “I’m not a
girl, I’m a boy.”

Dawna De Silva: And
she looks and she goes,

“Well of course you are, honey.

You’re a man of God.”

And she looks around, and
there’s nobody around her.

And she realizes, my son is
picking up a broadcast of

confusion that has been allowed
because the store has decided

you get to choose who you are.

Sid: Well can every believer
be a walking transmitter?

Dawna De Silva: You know, we are
already a walking transmitter.

I just want us to be a
Godly walking transmitter,

so yes.

Sid: When you catch yourself
transmitting something you wish

you hadn’t been, what
do you do about it?

Dawna De Silva: Well yes,
hopefully we do it less and

less, but I still
find myself, I repent.

The first thing I
do is, I’m sorry,

Lord.

I’m sorry that I
partnered with the enemy.

You know, God told Cain that
“Sin is crouching at your door,

but you must master it.”

And so I’m like I
might have to say,

God I let that master me, I’m
so sorry that I bit into that

thought, and I spoke
wrong or I was mean.

And I just say, I
repent and I send it back.

Sid: Now you told me about you
and your son discerned

a sexual atmosphere.

Explain.

Dawna De Silva: Yes.

We were in a foreign country and
we were walking around the town.

It felt great.

I mean, it was a
little impoverished,

but it felt great.

And we went to bed, and he’s in
one room and I’m in the other.

And all night long I dreamt,
I had nightmares of waking up

right before being
raped, like over and over,

and over, and I
was like, get up.

So I was kind of tired.

So I go to my son’s room and I
knock on the door and he comes

out, and I’m like, oh.

And I said, “You got jet lag.”

And he’s like, “No
mom, it’s not that.”

He said, “All night long I
dreamt about rescuing women from

being raped.

Clue.

There’s the clue.

So we took it to the
church and we asked the church,

what do you want
to do about this.

And they said, we already are
walking the streets as street

pastors and you know, we have
signs that tell who we are.

And I said, “How about you
being shifting atmospheres.

How about you begin
releasing, instead of violence,

you start releasing that men
would actually protect the women

instead of violating.

You know, instead of lust there
would be love because lust takes

and loves gives.

[Applause]

Sid: Give us a tip on having
the right transmissions in our

homes, having
peace on our homes.

Dawna De Silva:
Having peace in our homes.

You know what the best thing is,
is you have a family meeting and

you say, hey family, what do
we want this transmission to be

from our home, because I
want a buy-in from everyone.

I don’t want to be the mom,
the spiritual mom who tells you,

oh don’t say
that, don’t say that.

I want them to be
able to say to me,

mom, don’t say that.

We had a time with Timmy
and I was really frustrated,

and I actually had
an outburst of anger,

and my little son
Timmy says, “Mommy,

where’s Jesus?”

Sid: Out of the mouth of a babe.

Okay.

Time to pray.

It’s time that we come to
our senses and we pray for a

supernatural increase of
sensitivity and discernment.

Dawna De Silva: Okay.

So what I want to do, I
want to start with this.

I just want to
have everyone say,

“Come Holy Spirit.”

Sid: Come Holy Spirit.

Dawna De Silva: [speaking in
tongues]

Because it’s the
Holy Spirit in you

that gives you
the power and the authority over

what is coming at you.

And so from that place of
standing in the Holy Spirit,

we just release you.

I just say to you that because
you are seated with Christ in

the Heavenlies above the
powers and principalities,

and authorities,

[speaking in tongues]

that you will now through
the understanding

of what you’re
hearing, maybe for

the first time, you
will actually take authority

over that.

That the Holy Spirit will
rise up in you and you’ll say,

hey, not on my watch.

I declare over you greater
discernment without fear of it’s

all going to be negative and
you’re going to pick it up,

and it’s going to scare you.

God did not give
you a spirit of fear,

but of power, love
and a sound mind.

Sid: Not on my watch!

Say it!

[Applause]

Dawna De Silva: My watch.

Amen.

Sid: Next week on
It’s Supernatural!

Every person that knows the Lord
has a God package inside of them

and you cannot accomplish your
destiny unless you know what God

has packaged inside of you.

And I am believing that everyone
is going to get

revelation right now.