T HE L ITTLE S KUNK

A CH ILD’ S INTRO DUCTIO N TO DELIVERANCE

BY SUE BANKS

KINDLE E-ISBN 10: 0-89228-304-1

KINDLE E-ISBN 13: 978-089228-304-0

Copy right © 1982, 2014

Impact Christian Books

IMPACT CHRISTIAN BOOKS, INC.

332 Leffingwell Ave., Suite 101
Kirkwood, MO 63122
(314) 822-3309

www.impactchristianbooks.com

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

 Contents
FOR PARENTS: THE LITTLE SKUNK INTRODUCTION

THE STORY BEGINS…

SUGGESTIONS FOR MINISTRY
SAMPLE PRAYERS
 FOR PARENTS:
THE LITTLE SKUNK INTRODUCTION

The Little Skunk (Children’s Introduction to Deliverance) is a very gentle introduction to the
Biblical subject of deliverance for children. There are no scary words in it at all. Neither deliverance,
nor demons, are even mentioned as such.

However, the important principle of parents pray ing with their children to free them from
tormenting bondages and fears is lovingly covered.

Sexually -abused children, emotionally abused and scarred children, a dy slexic child unable
to do math, a diagnosed schizophrenic and suicidal child, have all been set free and are functioning
normally today as a result of God’s power manifested to them through the truths revealed in this book
and its companion, Deliverance for Children and Teens.
 The Story Begins…

Mom was going to the store. “I’ll be back in a few

minutes,” she shouted as she backed the car down the
driveway.

“Be good and try not to get into any trouble.” she
warned.

How could they? After all since Billy and Susan moved
into their new house in the woods, they had been spending
endless hours in harmless play. First there was the tree house
they built with their new friend, Charlie. Charlie’s father was a
carpenter, and let the children borrow the tools and lumber for
the project. Their entire summer had been spent hammering and
sawing.

Of course, there had been one close call when Charlie had
accidentally gotten his foot caught in the rope which they had
used to pull themselves up into the tree house. He tripped, and
fell headlong off the platform. Fortunately the rope was not
long enough to reach the ground and he found himself unhurt,
but hanging upside down, just a few inches from the ground.
Hanging by his left foot, he began calling for help, softly at
first, and then yelling at the top of his lungs. “Help.” “HELP.”
“HELP ME!” “SOMEBODY, GET ME DOWN!!”
 “You’re so stupid!” Susan yelled back. “You are always
doing dumb things! Don’t tell me you were bungee-jumping
from the tree house,” she mocked. “I think we should leave you
there just to teach you a lesson.”

Charlie started to cry.

It seemed as if Susan always had a temper. Ever since she

was a little girl, something would snap inside her and she
would start yelling and screaming in anger. She was always
sorry afterwards, but she just couldn’t help herself. After it was
all over, she would have headaches and wouldn’t feel well at
all.

She knew that it bothered her friends, and hurt her parents
and her brother, but, honestly, it just happened.

“Darn it, Susan...” Billy shouted, “Quit yelling at Charlie.

It wasn’t his fault.”

“Well, if only he didn’t eat so much he wouldn’t be so fat

and clumsy” Susan snorted.
 “You stay with Charlie,” Billy said seriously, “And I’ll go
for help, and get Dad.”

“Oh okay” Susan said with a sigh.

As Billy ran down the wooded path toward the house, he

suddenly came face to face with a large black spider. He
skidded to a stop. The spider was resting in its web, right in
front of Billy’s face. Billy’s heart started pounding. He found
himself frozen with fear.
 How he hated this stupid fear of spiders!

But there was nothing he could do. He just could not

move.

“Billy, you slowpoke,” scolded Susan as she came

running down the path toward him.

“Charlie’s face is getting red ... Oh, No! A spider! You are
such a scaredy cat!” She mocked, as she picked up a stick and
broke the web, sending the frightened spider scampering up
the nearest tree.

Susan grabbed Billy’s shoulder and shook him hard. “I

have half a mind to sock you,” she threatened as her own face
began turning red.

By that time, Dad heard all the yelling and came to see
what was wrong. The two grateful children arrived with Dad at
the tree house where he quickly rescued the embarrassed
Charlie, carefully cutting him loose and lowering him safely to
the ground.
 “Thank you, sir!” Charlie said gratefully and politely.

Today, as Mom went to the store, the children were sure

Mom had been thinking of this scary tree house adventure
when she warned them today to be good, but this day would
be different…

Billy picked up the phone to invite Charlie over to play.

“Hello?” Charlie answered.

“Hey Charlie, come on over. Mom’s at the store and will

be back soon. Let’s have a picnic out in the tree house.”

“That’s great,” Charlie responded. “Let’s take lots of

cookies and cupcakes ... and I’ll bring some soda, too.”

“Terrific! Come as quick as you can!” Billy said eagerly.

After he hung up, Billy remembered how Charlie could

never seem to go very far without lots of food, especially
sweets. He was always being teased at school about his
weight. Mom said it was because Charlie’s mom and dad were
always at work and never seemed to have time for him at home.
She said he was lonely and ate because the food made him feel
better.
 The two boys loaded their backpacks. “Let’s not ask
Susan,” suggested Charlie. “She’ll probably get mad about
something and spoil our fun.”

Billy agreed.

Susan didn’t even see them leaving. She was sitting in the
front room watching cartoons on television.

The boys carefully climbed into the tree house and began
to enjoy the snacks. “Aren’t these woods pretty?” Charlie said
thoughtfully. “Look at all the wildflowers and the vines. It
makes me feel like Tarzan.”

“Yeah, the woods are beautiful.” Billy agreed, “but I don’t

like all the spiders.”

“Tarzan isn’t afraid of spiders,” laughed Charlie. “He just

swings on any old vine he chooses.”

“Don’t you try swinging on those vines until you lose

some weight.” Billy teased back.

“Well don’t you try either” answered Charlie, “there just

might be a spider waiting out there for you.”

“That’s not funny,” Billy snorted. He knew it wasn’t fun

being teased, but sometimes he would forget and tease others.

SUDDENLY, the peace of their woodland picnic was

broken by loud screams coming from the house.

“BILLY ... CHARLIE ... COME HERE!” As the boys swung

down from the tree house and began to run toward Susan, they
heard her yell, “You idiots left the back door open and there is
something TERRIBLE in the house.”

And then more screaming from Susan who by now had

run out the back door and was standing in the yard.
 “Uh, Oh.” Mumbled Charlie. “What do you think it is?”

“1 don’t know.” Gasped Billy, “and I-I-I don’t think I want

to know either!”

“What about Susan? She really sounds scared!”

“Oh, don’t worry, she’ll probably scare away whatever it

is with all her yelling.”

Charlie stopped to catch his breath. “My father says there

are all kinds of wild animals in these woods. What if it’s a
cougar?”

“Just so it isn’t a S-P-I-D-E-R,” answered Billy. “Maybe

we’d better go and find out what it is ... after all Mom will be
back soon and I promised not to cause any trouble this time.”

“Do we have to?” Charlie asked nervously.

“Susan is yelling so loudly, she’ll disturb the whole

neighborhood if we don’t.”

‘Well, okay.” Stammered Charlie, “but you go first.”

As they entered the house, they could still hear Susan

yelling, “I’m so mad at both of you for leaving the door open.”

“Phew!” Charlie whispered to Billy, “What is that smell?”

Billy drew a deep breath, “Oh, no! … I think it’s a skunk!”

“That’s right you pinheads ... you let a skunk into our
house!” Susan screamed angrily.

“I think Susan’s yelling is scaring it ... that makes it smell

worse ... that is, I mean if it’s afraid,” Charlie sniffed.

“Be quiet, Susan ... and we’ll find it. I’m going to open all
the doors and windows ... to let the smell out, and maybe the
skunk will leave., Billy said wisely.
 “Well you had better find it, and be sure that it leaves,”
Susan sneered.

“It surely doesn’t belong in the house,” offered Charlie.

“Your mom’s going to kill us!”

“You take the upstairs,” Billy ordered Charlie. “And I’ll

take the downstairs. Then we’ll both look in the basement ...
just in case there are any spiders down there.”

The boys began to search ... following their noses.

“Yipe!” whooped Charlie.

“What’s the matter? Did you find it?” shouted Billy,

scrambling upstairs.

“Charlie, where are you?”

“Shhh… I’m in the bedroom,” whispered Charlie. “lt’s

under your parent’s bed!”
 Billy saw Charlie lying on his stomach, peering under the
bed. Peering back at him from under the bottom of the
bedspread were two bright eyes.

“He’s just a baby,” Charlie observed.

“He sure smells like a big one!” Billy replied, holding his
nose.

Still whispering, Charlie said, “How can we get him out?”

Billy responded, “I’ve got a plan ... I’ll get on the other
side of the bed and then you move back ...”

Billy watched as Charlie quietly backed away from the bed

across the room. Then, putting his head under the other side of
the bed, Billy let out a big yell. The frightened little skunk came
shooting out from under the bed. Half running, and half
tumbling, the little creature made it down the stairs with the
boys in hot pursuit.

“Don’t get too close,” warned Charlie, “or you’ll really get
it!”

Cautiously peeking around the wall at the bottom of the

stairs, they were hoping to see the skunk scamper out the open
front door. But, no such luck. Instead, to their surprise, they
saw him crawl under the sofa in the living room.

“Now what will we do?” cried Charlie. “He just keeps

running under things ... we’ll never get him out!”

“How’s it going?” Susan shouted from the back yard.

“Just fine,” answered Billy, rolling his eyes and looking at

Charlie. “Now what are we going to do? He’s never going to
leave.”

“This is really impossible.” Charlie agreed. “Well, there is

one thing we can do” Billy

suggested.
 “What’s that?” asked Charlie hopefully.

“We can pray.”

“What?” asked Charlie.

“My Dad says that even soldiers pray in their foxholes

and we’re sure in for a battle here if this problem isn’t solved!”

“But, I don’t know how to pray” Charlie mumbled

apologetically.

“Well... Dad and I pray each night, so I think I know what

to do. At least, we can give it a try. Let’s kneel down and pray.”

“Dear Jesus, You know the trouble we are in .. that this little
skunk doesn’t want to leave our house ... and he’ll get a lot
bigger if we don’t get rid of him ... he’ll ruin our new home ...
and we’ll have to move away ... so ... please help us get him
out of our house. Amen.”
 It was really quite a scene. Charlie still sweating, with dirt
on his face ... two buttons torn from his old shirt. And Billy
kneeling ... with holes in his jeans ... laces missing from one
shoe, and dirt under his fingernails ... both kneeling down and
praying about the skunk in their house, all the while Susan kept
yelling and impatiently stomping her feet outside the back
door.

At first nothing seemed to happen. Then suddenly...

Snickers (their cat) lunged, seemingly from out of nowhere,
frantically trying to get out of the house, and away from the
smell.

The startled skunk bolted out from under the sofa and
joined the cat in a mad race for the open front door. It was hard
to tell which one was winning until they both cleared the front
step at the same time and each headed for opposite parts of the
woods in front of the house.
 “Wow,” Charlie stammered, “Prayer really works.”

“I’m just as surprised as you are” Billy admitted truthfully,

filled with awe. “Let’s try and straighten up the house now
before my Mom gets back ... and I think we’d better leave the
windows open for a while.”

That evening, after the house had been aired out, the
family was sitting around the dinner table. Susan and Billy had
been very quiet during supper.

“I’m really sorry,” sniffed Billy. “I promise to always shut

the door when I leave the house.”

“You’d better” snapped Susan.

“That’s enough,” Dad interrupted. “I want to see you

both upstairs in my study ... now!”

“Here comes the big one,” Billy whispered to Susan as he

put his hands to his throat and rolled his eyes.
 “We’d better go ... but I’m going to tell Dad that I had
nothing to do with all of this,” Susan growled.

As they entered the study, Dad motioned for them to sit

down. When they were settled, Dad began to speak, “You
know, Billy and Susan, there are some things that your Mom
and I have been learning from our study of the Bible.”

“What’s that got to do with a little skunk getting in our

house,” Billy wondered?

“And we have been seeing ways to help you and Susan

with your problems.”

“What problems?” Susan asked angrily

“Well for one thing ... your temper, Susan. You know that
you have not been able to control your temper for some time
now, and I know that this hurts you.”

Susan lowered her head.

 “And, Billy, I know that your fear of spiders has been
causing you trouble, too. Am I right?”

“You sure are, Dad.” Billy admitted.

Dad continued, “You know, Billy and Susan, God calls our
bodies houses ... sort of like this house we live in.”

Billy was surprised, and said, “Really?”

“Yes, in fact, the Apostle Paul calls our bodies temples.

And just like that little skunk didn’t belong in our house, your
temper, Susan, and your fear of spiders, Billy, do not belong in
your houses ... that is, in your bodies.”

“They really don’t, Dad. And what about Charlie’s

overeating?” Billy asked eagerly

“That doesn’t belong there either, Billy. What I want both

of you to know, is that I believe that there are ‘skunks’ inside
people which make them do things they don’t want to do and
to feel things they don’t want to feel.”
 “Such as fear?” said Billy, beginning to catch on.

“Yes ... and anger and overeating. In the Old Testament

they were called ‘the little foxes that ruin the vines,’ and Jesus
called them bad or evil spirits. These spirits can come into your
bodies just like the little skunk ran into our house. However
there is no reason for you to fear them any more than you did
the skunk. Because they, too, are very little. Even though they
make you feel bad, and sometimes do things that you don’t
want to do ... we can get them to leave us just as quickly as
that little skunk left our house.”

“Dad ...” Billy asked eagerly “ ... do you REALLY mean

that I can get rid of my fear of spiders?”

“Yes! And, Susan, you get rid of that temper problem that
seems to keep bothering you, and the people around you.”

“I would surely like to get rid of that,” Susan said, her face
brightening into a smile. “But I always thought that it was just
me ... and not some spirit, that made me get so angry.”
 “No, Susan, that is why I wanted to talk with both of you.
I wanted to give you a chance to pray with your Mom and me,
so you could both get free of those ‘skunks’ in your lives.”

“I’m coming right up,” Mom called from the kitchen.

“You’ll be just in time to pray with us,” Dad called back

with a laugh.

As Mom entered the room, Dad was explaining what the

children were to do. “First we need to remember that Jesus
taught us to forgive before we deal with our problems, so now
is the time to pray and forgive anyone that you are mad at.”

“Well ...” Billy began slowly. “I guess I forgive Susan for

always yelling and being mad, and my second grade teacher
Mrs. Jones ... for making fun of my arithmetic answers, and Mr.
Walters, the baseball coach ... for shouting at me when I struck
out ... and Jimmy Lakers for pushing me out of the lunch line all
the time ...”

“Anyone else?” Dad asked gently.

 “Well ... please don’t get mad ... but sometimes you make
me feel angry when you aren’t here on weekends... for my
games.”

“I know, Billy,” Dad said apologetically, “sometimes I

can’t help being gone. I have to go to work because that is
what allows us to keep eating three meals a day ... but I am
sorry ... I didn’t realize how much my not being there was
hurting you. Maybe I can change my work time around ... to be
here more on the weekends.”

“Wonderful!” Mom added, “I would like that too.”

“Anyone else you need to forgive?” Dad asked.

“No ... that’s all,” Billy answered.

“Now, how about you, Susan?”

“Well ... I think I need to forgive almost everyone I know. I

keep getting mad at so many people and there’s both you, Dad,
and Mom and…”
 “Hold on,” Dad interrupted, “ ... Maybe when you get rid
of all that anger, you won’t need to forgive so many people.”

“There’s one other thing before we pray,” Mom added.

“After we forgive people who have hurt us ... we need to be
honest and tell what we think our own faults are ... to get them
out into the open. Little skunks like to hide — under beds and
sofas — and when you confess your bad habits and faults
then they can’t hide any more. And don’t feel embarrassed…
everyone has problems ... we love you both and only want to
help you.”

“Okay,” Susan agreed. “I confess that I am mean and

angry a lot of the time.”

“And I am afraid of spiders,” whispered Billy.

“Anything else?” Dad asked.

“Not that I can think of…” answered Susan

“Me, neither” Billy said.

 “Okay, let’s pray.” Dad said eagerly.

Each child began to pray. First, each forgave their parents,

their friends and teachers —anyone they could think of who
had hurt them. Then they asked God to forgive them, and to
help them get rid of all the little skunks in their own lives.
 As the children bowed their heads in prayer, Dad and
Mom laid their hands on their heads ... and prayed for them.
Billy started to cry softly.

“That’s okay, Billy.” Mom said, “That just means that the
‘skunk’ is leaving.”

Then Susan got very red in the face, and looked very
angry for a little while ... but as Mom continued praying for her,
Susan’s expression changed and she started to smile a real
smile.

“I feel much better.” Susan sighed. “So do I, I think,” Billy

chimed in.

“Now children ...” Mom began, “It is important for you to

remember this time of prayer... and Susan... you need to learn to
forgive others quickly, and often... to keep the skunk of anger
away. And, you, Billy ... need to avoid watching so much
television ... especially the scary shows ... because they seem
to affect you more than they do Susan. Another thing,
children, don’t forget that just as it is important to keep our
front door closed to keep animals out of our house — so we
must keep the doors shut that let the little skunks into our
lives.”

“And always come to us,” Dad added, “whenever you

feel you need more help ... and, please, feel free to tell us about
anything ... we love you and want both of you to be happy.
The quicker you learn to ask for prayer when something starts
bothering you... the sooner the skunks will have to run away!”

“What about Charlie?” Billy asked. “How can he get rid of

his problems?”

“Well … maybe I can talk to his mother.” Dad said

thoughtfully. “I think that she might let us pray with Charlie
sometime. At least you can tell him about the ‘little skunk’
which bothered you.”

“I will” Billy said.

“Now, it’s time for bed.”

 “Okay, Mom. I’m really tired, anyway” Susan said
yawning.

“Me, too” Billy added.

As the children got ready for bed, Mom and Dad sat in
the study looking at each other in amazement. “It was not that
hard to help our children,” Mom observed.

Dad started to laugh and said, “No, and I’m glad this all
happened, even if it meant we had to have a skunk in our
house for a while.”

“Well, I think that we have two wonderful kids,” Mom

said.

“And I think…” Dad mused, “that Jesus is wonderful!”

THE END
SUGGESTIONS FOR
MINISTRY
 A MESSAGE FOR PARENTS

The purpose of this story is to help children understand and deal with their need for
deliverance. I definitely feel that God gave me the comparison between a demon and a little skunk.
The similarities are clear - and by using skunk imagery instead of demon imagery - the topic will be
less intimidating for the y oung reader.

The Sample Pray er which follows is for y ou to pray with y our child(ren) if a need for
deliverance should arise. However, it is strongly recommended that y ou first read the book,
Deliverance for Children and Teens in order to prepare y ourself for effectively ministering
deliverance to y our child. Many other kinds of evil spirits which may afflict children, are described in
that book while this story mentions only three.

In our experience children are far more receptive, and open, to the reality of demons than
are adults. Usually unless they have been given negative images, or teaching, concerning the subject
of deliverance, they will readily respond. Children want to be free of problems, and want to be happy,
just like any other normal human beings.

This story will provide a means of opening a dialog with y our child(ren) to discuss the things
that concern them. Some suggested questions are discussed below:

A good conversation starter, to put the child at ease: “Charlie hanging from the tree was really
funny, wasn’t it? What do y ou think was the funniest part of the story ?”

Then, y ou will want to use “door-opening” questions:

“In this story, Billy was afraid of spiders. What kind of things are you afraid of?”
 “Is there any thing that bothers you, the way Susan was bothered by her
temper?”

“Who is there that y ou might need to forgive?”

“Has any one at school bullied y ou, been mean to y ou, or hurt y ou?”

You will want to use the same kind of phraseology that y our child uses, (ask the questions in
their “language”) so as to make this simple, and meaningful for him or her.

As y ou can see, the opportunity is provided to lead y our child into a discussion of certain
emotional areas that he or she might not otherwise wish to discuss. Thus, y ou can approach these
matters in a non-frightening, and non-confrontational way by simply discussing their own emotional
issues in terms of what Billy, Susan and Charlie experienced.

May God anoint both y our pray ers for, and with, y our child!
Sue Banks
 Sample Prayers

“[Insert child’s name], pray this after me, ‘Dear Jesus, I forgive all these
people who have hurt me in any way, and ask that You forgive them, too.
[Now, list the names of all those people you want to forgive]

“I am very sorry for the things that I have done that hurt others ... and I need
Your help getting rid of these problems. Now, [child’s name], ... list all those
‘little skunks’ that have been bothering you ...”

“Now in the name of Jesus, and because He died on the Cross for my sins ...
and because He is my Savior ... I order these little skunks to leave me right
now ... and to never come back!”
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Sue Banks is a teacher both by training and by inclination. While attending Washington
University in St. Louis, Missouri during her training for a career in teaching, she was singled out by
the Education Department as an outstanding education candidate to participate in a special program to
study critical thinking in grade school students.

After a successful career teaching fifth and sixth grades, she left public education to help
raise two sons. Both she and her husband are Bible teachers. In addition to helping her husband with a
weekly pray er meeting, Sue has taught one or more weekly Bible study groups for women for nearly
twenty -five y ears. Drawing upon her experiences as a teacher and as a mother, Sue offered valuable
insights, contributing to her husband’s bestselling book, Deliverance for Children and Teens.