There is an unclean spirit whose sole purpose is to convince us that he is God.He comes sounding very much like God and
plays on our weaknesses and on our sinful thoughts and desires. It is
sent to deceive those who have a strong gift of intercession, and it
seeks to gain access to our hearts and minds to use our prayers to bring harm to the Body of Christ. One of its goals is to cause ourmouths to come into agreement with the realms of darkness.
This demon may present himself as a gift of discernment or even a prophetic revelation.
It may begin by flattering you and try and convince you that you are
one of the few who really hear God's voice and speak for Him. It seeks
to elevate your opinion of yourself to raise you above those who would
be your teachers thereby making you unteachable. These are only a few of
the ways thisspirit operates.
This demon is known as the religious spirit.
But don't let his name fool you - he is subtle, but destructive.
He wants to gain access to your mouth to release hell's destructive
powers on the earth.And he seeks to gain access to your heart
through any areas of your heart and mind that are not yet yielded to
Christ, or any part of your heart that has been hardened by the presence
of cold love.
I have seen this spirit deceive many sincere, Godly people and use them to divide and destroy the church. They feel they have been given a "messagefrom God" that others in the Body of Christ are not right spiritually or have "secret sins."
They
may have had a disagreement with a church or an individual, but instead
of walking in true forgiveness, they become resentful toward them.
Instead of praying for them, they begin to pray against them,
asking God to bring judgment on them. They may even feel that they
"know" what God's judgment against them will be, and pray according to
what they feel it should be.
Believing
that they are warring against principalities, they war against their
brother or sister in the Lord. But in actuality, they are fighting
against Christ Himself.
I
have heard people say to me that "God" has told them that He is going
to destroy such and such a church, ministry or person. But instead of
them being genuinely terrified of that happening and praying against it,
I have gotten the sense that they would love nothing better than to see
that organization or individual destroyed.
Without
realizing it, these people have come into agreement with the powers of
darkness. Instead of standing in the gap for their brother or sister,
they view them as being out of God's reach. They have unconsciously put
them in the category of the "unredeemable." They may even feel that
these people are standing in God's way of really displaying
His power in the church, and in an attempt to "help" God, they pray for
their removal.
Instead
of believing for God's mercy to prevail in their brother's life, they
feel that he is not as "spiritual" as he should be, so they determine in
their heart that God must want to wipe him out. THIS IS NOT THE HEART
OFGOD!
Soulish Prayers
Prayers that are prayed outside of God's will and in accordance with the selfish desires of our own hearts
are called soulish prayers. And when we pray against others, we cause the powers of darkness to be released on them. This
can cause horrific warfare for them. This is witchcraft, and if we
dabble in it, we open up our own lives for these destructive spirits to
come back on us and wreak havoc in our own lives.
"Do
not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not
be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven" (Luke 6:37).
"For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Luke6:38).
It
is very dangerous to assume that we know God's will for others and then
pray for that to happen. We may find ourselves fighting against the
will of God fortheir lives. We should always confirm what we feel we
have heard in the spirit with the peace of God. If we do not have peace
about the word we have received,if it does not come from a heart full
of genuine love for our brother, then we should disregard it.
The Religious Spirit
The
religious spirit is the same spirit that drove Paul to persecute the
first church. As he harassed a small group called the Nazarenes, he
honestly felt that he was working for God. He killed and imprisoned
hundreds of the followers of Christ and felt right in doing so. He was
convinced in his heart that he was fulfilling
the will of God.
Paul
was positive that he knew what was right and that these Christians were
evil. Furthermore, he believed they must be destroyed and felt
commissioned by God to do so.
But
when the Lord revealed Himself to Paul on the road to Damascus, He
showed Paul that he was not fighting for truth, but for the realms of
darkness.
What agony Paul must have experienced when he learned the truth of his actions.He did so much want to fight for God, and yet he found himself fighting against Him.
How he must have agonized over his sin; his grief must have been
immeasurable. However, Paul repented and turned from being the greatest
persecutor of the early church to being its greatest defender.
We
too can turn away from praying for God's punishment to come on those we
do not approve of, and start praying for God's will and mercy to be
evident in their lives. We can be lead by the Spirit of Truth found in
God's word that says, "The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all
pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and
good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peace makers who sow in peace raise a
harvest of righteousness" (James 3:17-18).
It
is essential that we all seek to guard our hearts with the love of God
because "love covers over a multitude of sins" (1 Pet. 4:8). The Lord
has warned us in Mt. 24:12 that the love of many will grow cold because
of the increase of lawlessness, "but he who stands firm to the end will
be saved"(v. 13). The only way of guarding our hearts is for our hearts
to bebound to the Lord. Any places in our hearts that are not
yielded to the Lordare areas of vulnerability to the enemy.
We
must not pray for others out of a sense of frustration or anger. The
greatest and safest prayer we can pray for ourselves and others is "THY
will be done!" Not their will or our will, but pray earnestly for
God'swill to be accomplished in their life.
God Will Bless You
If
you feel you have been the victim of soulish prayers or witchcraft you
may at times feel a heaviness
or an ominous sense of failure. You may have an increase of strife in
your relationships, experience confusion or an overwhelming feeling of
self-loathing. But take heart, half the battle is knowing what is attacking you.
Like
it or not, you will need to pray for those who have prayed against
you.Pray that their words against you will be powerless and that they
will stop praying out of the will of God. Ask God to bless them with His
peace, love andmercy.
Above
all else, we must forgive them because they really do not realize
whatthey are doing. They are victims of this unclean spirit as much as
we are."We wrestle not against flesh and blood"(Eph. 6:12), meaning: we
donot fight each other, but we "wrestle" Satan and his demons. Theenemy
is our enemy. And we do not wrestle in the natural, but in the
supernatural realm.
Repent
of any unforgiveness you may be harboring against them or others and
ask God to give you His unconditional love for them. And, if possible,
be an encouragement to them - it will be very difficult for them to
continue to hate you if you respond to them in love. Note: It may take
time for the spiritual atmosphere around you to be cleared of all their
prayers, so continue to cover yourself in prayer often.
Finally,
be sure to watch how God will bless you through this, because in every
trial we face, there is a blessing in it for us if we yield to God. If
the enemy has targeted you, be encouraged by it because he must know of
something very powerful in your future or he wouldn't bother harassing
you.