Category Archives: Spiritual warfare
Courts of Heaven – Where Justice Prevails
Have you been to the courts of heaven yet?
Wait – what? There’s a courtroom in heaven? What does that mean?
Yes, there’s a courtroom in heaven. I’ve heard there are several. It’s a great way to make sure Justice prevails in your life and in the life of your family.
So how does it work?
We all know that God is the Judge of all the earth. The Bible says,
“For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; he will save us.” Isaiah 33:22 ESV
“The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.” Psalm 7:8, 11 ESV
“Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” Genesis 18:25 ESV
So imagine a courtroom where God is sitting in the judge’s seat. We already know He is righteous and perfect – that means that justice is what He desires. He wants GOOD to triumph over evil.
Just like we are encouraged to come boldly before the throne of grace to find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16), we can also come boldly before the court of heaven to find justice to help in time of need.
It’s a very powerful thing to do – to go to the Court of Heaven, present your case and ask God to make a ruling in your favor – for your good and His glory. He loves to do this and He would love to hear your case!
You may have heard the illustration of going before God as the judge and the devil accuses you of sin (breaking the law of God). Then Jesus steps in to advocate for you. You confess your sins and ask the Lord to forgive you. God then makes a ruling in your case that you are “not guilty” because Jesus took your sin on the cross. This is a common sermon illustration I’ve heard many times, especially around Easter.
But what if you could go back to the Court of Heaven regarding specific issues in your life that are not working out in your favor? What would that look like?
There are many books written about the Courts of Heaven – Robert Henderson is a popular author on this topic. I try to keep it simple – the way the Lord taught me. In fact, many of us learned how to go to the court of heaven without having a clue about what we were doing. So you don’t have to know much for it to be effective in your life.
Here are the basic concepts – ask Holy Spirit to highlight to you what you need to know for your individual case.
- There is a court in heaven.
- You can get justice there.
- You can approach the Judge and ask for justice on your case. He already knows about your case, but it can help if you explain it to Him because it gets the issue clear in your own mind what you are asking for.
- You can’t use this for selfish reasons. It’s based on your integrity – the righteousness of your cause.
- It’s a matter of the heart. It’s your trust in God’s goodness and His ability to respond to your needs that enables this process to have effect in your life on earth.
So what does this look like? Obviously it will be different for each person based on their individual case. It’s very hard to generalize. Justice is very personal, isn’t it?
I’ll give you an example to get your imagination started.
Recently someone I know was being targeted by witchcraft. She received a death threat from a powerful person who knew how to travel in the spirit realm. It scared her when this person’s spirit (or soul) showed up in her house and said, “I’m going to kill you.” 😲
She had enough courage to reply, “No, you’re NOT!” and the other person left. But it was still very unnerving.
A short while later she had an accident that caused her a lot of pain. She felt that this accident was tied to that person’s threat. It didn’t kill her but it felt life threatening.
We decided to go to the Court of Heaven to get help. If you can get a restraining order in a natural, earthly court when someone threatens you, then why not ask for the same thing in a heavenly court? So we simply said, “Lord, we would like to go before you in court please.”
As we stood in the Court of Heaven, she could feel the oppression of this threat and felt that this person somehow had access to her. I reminded her that “the curse causeless cannot come” (Proverbs 26:2).
So we asked Holy Spirit, “Is there any legal right or open door that is allowing this?”
Immediately she sensed an agreement she had made with this person when they had worked together in the past. So she said out loud, “I break all agreements that I have made with this person – I no longer want them to have access to my life. I close the door.”
We also prayed some other things regarding the injury she had and she forgave the person who threatened her.
We both sensed a breakthrough and she told me, “Whew! I don’t feel that oppression anymore – it’s lifted! It’s gone! There’s no more access – I feel free!” 🙂
“Going to the court of heaven” is just a way of saying you are willing to deal with any legal ground the enemy has in your life. Someone broke God’s law of love and now you want to deal with it.
The primary issue is Justice. Whenever I see an injustice, it makes me think of the courts of heaven. So if there’s an issue of injustice in your life, please consider whether going there might help you. For instance, if you are working really hard at your job and you keep getting passed over for a promotion, I would ask Holy Spirit if there’s something that needs to be dealt with in the courts of heaven. Or if you have a legal case on earth that is not going well, you can take it there for God to be your judge. Perhaps someone has done you wrong on earth – stolen something from you or cheated you out of something. Go to the court of heaven and ask God what legal ground they have to do that to you. Then follow whatever He tells you – usually there’s something you need to repent of on behalf of yourself or your bloodline. You also generally have to release the other party from your judgement by forgiving them so that God can judge them directly. He honors your judgment and won’t interfere unless you ask Him to step in and take over (I Corinthians 6:2).
I have been to court many times to deal with generational curses. Often when an issue doesn’t go away even after you’ve prayed about it, repented of your part in it and asked God for help, it’s because there’s a deeper issue – someone in your generational bloodline opened a door or allowed something to have a legal right and now it’s been passed down to you. You can repent on behalf of yourself and your bloodline and ask God to break the curse passed down to you from your ancestors. He loves to do that!
Sometimes you really feel as though you are standing in a court room. I’ve had that experience many times. Sometimes you don’t feel or sense anything, but it is still true and the results become obvious in your life. It can help to imagine you are standing before the judge – it can make it feel more real in your heart and mind. Because in one sense you are literally standing before God as your Judge – whether you sense it or not.
Have you been to the courts of heaven yet? If so, what happened when you went? Please comment below – we learn from each other when we share our experiences with God. 🙂
Dealing with the Desperate
Last week we talked about dealing with the Spirit of Fear. This week we are talking about dealing with fearful people – when people are really very afraid, afraid for their lives.
When people are afraid of death and they feel threatened that they might die, they become desperate. Desperation motivates people to do desperate things, usually ugly things – things you would not normally do. Things you would not expect – even dangerous things.
I asked the Lord what to do – how do you deal with people who feel this way?
Desperation can give people a sense of power to act boldly, however the fear driving it means that logic or reasoning doesn’t work. Their thinking is skewed. You can’t “talk them down” from their desperation – they are usually too far gone for that. Sometimes their fear triggers an inner child – meaning that they start thinking and reasoning like a three year old. Have you ever tried to reason with a scared three year old? It doesn’t work very well, especially if they are terrified.
What the Lord showed me was this: Fearful people use fear to control others. They may try to threaten you with bodily harm or public humiliation. They may try to threaten your life or your livelihood. They will try to find your weakness and exploit it – to try and get you to do what they want. Remember whenever they tried to get Superman, they often used Lois Lane as bait – if her life was in danger, they could manipulate him to come to that location in order to try and capture him. They knew he cared for her and would be afraid of something happening to her.
However when you show no fear, they have no control over you! When you stand up to them, it makes THEM fearful – it crumbles the illusion of power they thought they had. As a result, they often crumble and flee or give up their threats and simply leave you alone.
They also can be affected by the Peace and Love you carry – it disarms them. They are so desperate it makes them vulnerable, like children. They long for safety and security, which Peace and Love offer by their very existence. So sometimes they will crumble in the face of that Love and Peace. Or they will run away because it doesn’t make sense to them and they fear it. Either way – you are no longer being threatened by them.
I wanted to share this with you to prepare you. World events are starting to create desperation in a lot of people. If you are faced with a desperate person, don’t show fear. Don’t let them manipulate you. Offer Peace and Love in exchange for their threats. Be kind and patient. You will see them crumble and leave you alone. Maybe you can help them – maybe you can’t, but at least they will not be a threat to you any more.
What do you think? How do you deal with the desperate?
Fear is afraid of you – did you know that?
Several years ago while on vacation, the Lord taught me some things about Fear. It was late at night and God’s presence filled the room suddenly. I pulled out my notebook because I sensed the Lord was going to teach me something. I write down what He says because if I don’t, I can’t remember it clearly the next day – then I can’t share it with anyone.
I was pondering the power that Fear has over people, myself included. It seems to influence our daily lives. Not only do we have the emotion of fear internally, we also have the Spirit of Fear externally making things worse. The emotion of fear might hold you back from taking action, but when the Spirit of Fear adds his influence to it, you can be suddenly paralyzed with Fear. It’s awful!!
I was asking the Lord about this when His presence intensified – a sudden clarity of awareness came and my mind opened to revelation from Him. He showed me the Spirit of Fear – it looked kind of like a large mosquito with flimsy wings and long, dark grey spindly arms and legs. It was about the size of a goose.
As I considered that we have authority over Fear, I suddenly felt its fear. The Spirit of Fear is AFRAID of us!! I started laughing at the irony. I asked the Lord why it was afraid and He showed me that Fear is all it has. That’s why it’s called the Spirit of Fear. It doesn’t have power or great intelligence or even craftiness – it’s just pure fear. And it is afraid of being controlled by us – our authority can take control of it’s freedom by binding it and telling it to leave. That’s what it fears – not being able to do what it has been assigned to do. So whenever it sees you (or me), it throws itself on you and wraps you in a smothering hug with those long arms and legs. Suddenly, you feel paralyzed by Fear. But you’re not – it’s just an illusion!
This revelation gave me SO MUCH courage! Any time I feel fear, I laugh – imagining this creature that is afraid of me. Before it can take over my sense of reality with it’s smothering hug, I bind it and command it to leave immediately! And it works – every single time!
I live in an area where mosquitoes are very common – they are very fragile and easy to kill. They are annoying, but they are not dangerous or scary. So thinking of the Spirit of Fear as just a big mosquito really makes sense to me – it completely disarms its power in my mind. I can slap away a mosquito and crush it easily – Fear no longer intimidates me.
I thought this would encourage you today – Fear is actually afraid of you! Isn’t that cool? 🙂
Want some help overcoming your fears? Try my short online course! In it I share the KEY that helped me overcome my fears of the unseen realm (and all my other fears too). 🙂
Deep Healing So You Can Rest
Many times we experience spiritual attacks because of wounds we have inside (emotional or spiritual). We are often unconscious that we have these wounds. We tend to move on with life without dealing with them, usually because we simply don’t know how. These wounds often bring curses or “open doors” to the realm of darkness.
A friend sent me this wonderful video that helps to deal with those hidden wounds. Jim Banks talks for a few minutes and then he does a “prayer process”, as he calls it. He covers several things in his prayer and you will be surprised by how many seem to impact you directly. Many people say listening to this helped them sleep better than they have in years!
He also does some specific things during this prayer that can help with spiritual attacks – he breaks curses and disconnects you from things that may be harassing or influencing you. He helps your body release anxiety and stress that you may not know you are carrying.
I recommend listening to it at a time that you can pay attention without distraction, just before bedtime. The video is a just under an hour. Listening to the prayer makes you very relaxed and sleepy (hence the suggestion to listen before bed).
Once you’ve listened to the whole thing, you can go back the next day and listen to just the prayer process. I’ve listened to it several times and I always get something new. He says on his blog that some people make it part of their “getting ready for bed” ritual, to help them relax and sleep peacefully. 🙂
The video is on YouTube – it’s called Effective Trauma Release — [deeper healing in the spirit]. Here it is:
There’s a copy of this “prayer process” in his book, The Effects of Trauma and How to Deal with It.
If you want more in-depth help, Jim and his wife offer individual prayer counseling sessions by phone, skype or Facebook messenger video call. They also offer 1-3 days intensives if you want to meet with them in person. They are currently located near Nashville, Tennessee. Here’s the details of how to make an appointment: https://jimandpatbanks.com/personal-ministry/
After you listen to the video, please come back to this blog and let me know how it helped you. Your testimony may encourage someone else!
Book Review: Remnants by Lisa Bergren
I just finished reading a 3-book supernatural fiction series by Lisa Bergren called Remnants. It is VERY good. I recommend it.
Book description: Our coming was foretold by the elders— Those who would change the future, just as the planet teetered on the edge of darkness. Born on the prophesied day with birthmarks in the form of a crescent moon, they knew us immediately. Swaddled and screaming, we were spirited away by those who hid us, trained us, and kept us safe until our time came. They poured their lives into us. Some died to save us.
And now we, the Remnants, protected by Knights of the Last Order, have gathered. Called until we breathe our last … to save the world. Amazon link
Although it is written for a young adult audience, the story, characters and plot line are much better than a lot of YA fiction I’ve seen. This has depth and some really good illustrations about the supernatural world that are worth reading.
I’ve been looking for this kind of fiction for the last twenty years – ever since I read Frank Peretti’s, This Present Darkness about angels and demons battling it out over the human affairs of life.
Remnants gives you an insider’s view of what it is like to discover you have supernatural gifts – particularly some of the gifts we talk about on this blog. Like being able to sense spirits – good ones or bad ones. Being able to sense another person’s soul or emotions. It also has a LOT of battle scenes between good and evil, using both natural elements like sword fighting as well as supernatural elements like prayer.
The story develops and unfolds over three books and it’s definitely worth reading. In fact, I appreciated that this was not a “preachy” Christian book. It dealt with some hard subjects like family conflict, reconciliation, betrayal, forgiveness, guarding your thoughts against negativity and avoiding sexual immorality. The main characters grew in their faith and in their gifting as they encountered and overcame many different kinds of obstacles to their mission. They also learn the power of being part of the community of faith and learning to follow the advice of their elders. It never mentions Jesus but instead refers to God as “Maker”. I think the author probably used that as a means to reach an audience that may or may not be Christians. I think it is very effective. The main theme is trusting God no matter what the circumstances look like – a good reminder to us all!
The author was asked about the spiritual aspect of the book – she replied:
Lisa: I believe there is an unseen realm that we humans spend little time considering, but should. Once you begin walking the road of faith, it’s like you put on glasses that allow you to see more and more of it. But I don’t get hung up on angels and demons, because my soul has already been won, and there’s enough to deal with here in our physical world. But are there battles? Yes. Every day, every hour. Given that the Remnants are all about fighting off the dark and leading others toward the light, angels and demons will logically take a bit more stage time with each book. But our human characters will remain the focus.
I could relate to the characters and their struggles – it made me stop and think a few times. It’s rare when a fiction book is that deep and carries such truth. Kudos to the author, Lisa Bergren! 🙂
(You can read more about the spiritual aspect of this series in the author’s online interview here, if you’re interested.)
Emergency Maneuvers in the Spirit
The other day around 5am, I woke up coughing. I realized I could hardly breathe – my chest was very “tight” and my nose was stuffed. I was surprised because I don’t have asthma or allergies and I didn’t have a cold. I had been deeply asleep when I suddenly sat up and started coughing. As I was struggling to clear my airways, I became aware that I was not alone in the room.
Freaky, right?
I could sense a presence next to me – as though someone (or something) was sitting on the bed next to me. I was focused on trying to clear my lungs but I kept glancing over, feeling very uncomfortable. I wasn’t afraid – just disturbed, like you would be if you woke up and a stranger was sitting on your bed.
I started praying and asking the Lord what was going on. The only impression I got was the Spirit of Death. But it was a faint impression – like an outline of a shadow. I tried to see if any legal ground for the Spirit of Death came to mind. Nothing.
I kept praying, trying to “clear the air”: First, I came out of agreement with the Spirit of Death. Then I commanded any spirit not sent there by Jesus to leave NOW. I closed any open doors to the enemy’s realm and sealed them with the blood of Jesus.
It felt a little “lighter” in my room, but that “thing” was still there. I didn’t feel threatened – it wasn’t that strong. I was just annoyed and wanted to go back to sleep.
I remembered some “emergency maneuvers” I had learned and implemented them. Finally, the air cleared completely! Whew! Thank goodness for my earlier training in spiritual warfare. I certainly didn’t want to go back to sleep with that spirit next to me in bed. Creepy!
As I was settling down to fall asleep, I thought, “I should share these Emergency Maneuvers on this blog in case anyone else finds themselves in a similar situation”. If you pray and rebuke and command and everything else you can think of and things aren’t shifting, then try some of these:
- Start talking about the Blood of Jesus. The enemy hates the blood of Jesus. Start thanking God for the blood OUT LOUD. Sing songs about the blood of Jesus. Read or quote scriptures about the blood out loud. Focus on it for a while & things will shift.
- Pray in tongues. This is always a good strategy – when you don’t know what else to do and you have no direction from the Holy Spirit, praying in tongues can do wonders. An elderly Sunday School teacher once told me, “Ask the Holy Spirit to pray through you the perfect prayer that is needed for the situation and then pray in tongues.” I always keep this one in mind if I ever feel too foggy mentally – sometimes you just can’t even think straight to pray.
- Worship and sing. Worship can be in spoken words or in song – it doesn’t matter. Singing songs can be comforting to your heart and mind, reminding you of God’s power and might. But in my experience, it also specifically increases my awareness of the presence of God. In other words, more of God’s presence fills the room, pushing out any other presence that doesn’t belong there.
I put some Vicks on my chest and was able to fall back to sleep, thankfully. That afternoon on my way home from an appointment, I saw a vehicle that made me stop and stare. Ahead of me in traffic was a white boxy sedan with a white casket attached to the top. The casket was decorated with plastic skulls. The back window said in large letters: DEATH. There was a statue attached to the casket that looked right down at you when you pulled up behind the vehicle – it was the spirit of death (a black hooded cape with no face and no hands – like an invisible being). I was shocked! I almost took a photo of it to post here, but then I thought, “That is so creepy – I don’t want to pass this on to anyone who views the photo!” Here’s an example – a black hood and cape. Imagine the arms stretched to either side in a menacing stance. That’s a pretty good depiction of that spirit (kind of like the grim reaper).
When my husband got home that night I told him about both events to see if he got any insight from the Lord as to why this was happening. He said he got two words “despair” and “suicide”. Since neither one of us felt that, I asked the Lord to show me who was feeling that way. That evening I baked some sweet bread and took a few slices to my neighbor. She answered the door in her robe and said, “Please pray for me – the depression is really bad right now.” I knew she had been suffering with a lot of pain and was counting down the days until she could have a procedure done that might bring relief.
I asked if I could pray for her right then; I took her hand when she said yes. I prayed against the depression, heaviness and any thoughts of despair or suicide. She agreed with me by saying, Amen.
As I walked back home, the Lord reminded me that about 2 weeks ago she had mentioned to me that she was in so much pain, she had considered ending her life. We talked about it and she made jokes about her husband looking good in all black – he happened to be walking behind us dressed in all black. I told her I would pray for her and I had. Later I looked up the condition she had and an article said it was called “the suicide disease” because so many people find the pain so unbearable that it drives them to consider suicide.
Wow, thank God He gave me a warning to be on the look out for this spirit of death. I’ve been checking on her every day since then – her procedure is in 3 days. Would you mind saying a prayer for her that she finds relief from the pain?
Let me know if you have any emergency maneuvers that you use when nothing else seems to work. Comment below – I’d love to hear them!
By the way, you see why I write this blog – you can’t make this stuff up! It’s just too unusual.
Spiritual Warfare 101: Battle at 3:30am
Yesterday on the way to the doctor, I heard this song in my head – it’s a worship song from the 1990’s.
The enemy whispered into my mind determined to wear me down. Alert in the Spirit I am not blind – my confession of faith has the enemy bound! I will rejoice; I will rejoice – I will rejoice for I’ve made my CHOICE to rejoice in the Lord! – Bob Fitts, I Will Rejoice, Maranatha Music
Odd. I haven’t heard that song in years. I wonder why that song would suddenly pop into my head. I even remembered the lyrics clearly. Hmm, maybe this is for a reason? The day was busy, life went on and before I knew it, it was bedtime and I fell asleep.
I awakened at 3:30am – time to empty my bladder. As I rolled back under the covers, I was immediately assaulted with all kinds of doubts and disturbing thoughts. One minute I was still in “sleepy-brain mode” and the next, I am wide awake and can’t sleep.
Earlier this week, I had sent out an email to our closest friends asking for prayer for my husband’s upcoming surgery. A few had responded, but many had not. No response – why?
My mind started churning, thinking about the email. I had specifically requested a response, especially since we all get inundated with so many emails. I wanted/needed to know they were supporting us in prayer.
I began to doubt myself – maybe my email wasn’t worded correctly. Maybe that’s why they didn’t respond. Maybe our friends just didn’t care enough to respond – some of our relationships didn’t feel as close as they used to. Could people have just stopped caring about us?
The more I experienced these thoughts, my emotions were being stirred up. I tried several times to quiet my mind and go back to sleep. Impossible!
I could feel this emotional pressure pushing on me. I felt small, vulnerable, unloved, insignificant, uncared for … basically invisible. All because a few friends didn’t reply to my email.
Wait – that didn’t add up for me. I’m not usually like that.
Suddenly a light-bulb went off – this is an ATTACK!
I was still feeling it, but now I knew this was more than just random thoughts. This was an assignment from the enemy to hurt me.
So I prayed – out loud. “Jesus, please help me. What’s going on? What IS this?”
It suddenly became obvious to me – this is Baal! (that’s the gift of discernment at work)
Baal Unveiled
Baal is a very common name mentioned in the Old Testament. You might remember the showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. Baal was this god that demanded human sacrifice – he was a very violent, bloody god associated with child abuse, rage, greed and lust.
I call him “the orphan maker”. All the fruit of his works leads people to believe they are orphans in this world – that no one really cares about them or will protect them from evil. In modern lingo, we refer to this as the “victim mentality”. Poor me, nobody knows what it’s like to be me, my life sucks, nobody cares, I’m all alone, etc.
We’ve all felt that way at one time or another. Probably more often than we are willing to admit.
Once I realized the pattern in the thoughts that were bombarding me at 3:30am (now it was 5am), I recognized this as the assignment of Baal. [By the way, that’s what I call it. You might have a different name for it – that’s okay. You get the main idea, right? Just stick to that for now.]
Now keep in mind – these were MY thoughts and MY emotions I was experiencing. They sounded like me – until something didn’t add up. I don’t usually get so worked up about whether or not someone responds to an email. I know everyone is busy – I would have just sent it again about a week later and said, “Hey, did you get this?” No big deal.
The devil overplayed his hand. When things didn’t add up – that’s when it occurred to me, “Hey, these are NOT my usual thoughts. Something’s not right here!” Maybe the sleepy-brain was interfering with my ability to distinguish this sooner, who knows? Either way, I got it – finally. After wasting an hour and half tossing and turning.
The Lord taught me a strategy for dealing with Baal (aka orphan thinking) in the past:
DON’T RESPOND. Don’t look at what he wants you to focus on. Look at God’s goodness instead. Pay attention to the love of God instead.
So that’s what I did. In my heart and mind, I immediately stopped obsessing about the email and started thinking about God’s goodness to me. I started thinking things like, “It doesn’t matter who responded. If we need prayer, God will stir people’s hearts to pray for us. I know he often stirs my heart to pray for our friends. I’m sure He will do that with them too. Of course, they love us – they’re just busy living life. I don’t have to worry about this because God’s got us. He’s a good father and He is taking very good care of us. God has given me peace about this surgery – I’m not worried. God’s good to us.”
Immediately all the mental and emotional distress I had been feeling literally VANISHED! Like instantly – as soon as I turned my mind and heart to focus on God’s care for me. It was amazing. The darkness dispersed – POW! No more negative emotions – no more emotional pressure. No more stress!
I felt light and peaceful inside. Whew! Yay, God!! YOU ARE AMAZING, JESUS!! ❤
I felt so peaceful I started to drift off to sleep – at 5:30am. Just as I’m nodding off, my husband got up to go to work. Now I was awake. I got up with him. He had a particularly hard morning and I’m glad I got up with him. I helped him get off to work.
The timing felt significant – it was important that I was awake when I was so I could help him. I was actually more alert than he was – sometimes he wonders about that, but what can I tell him? “I’m wide awake because I’ve been fighting with Baal for the last 2 hours?” I did tell him later but not then – he’s still had sleepy-brain. 🙂
As I headed back to bed, I thought about the fact that sons and daughters are led by the Spirit. That’s a hallmark of adoption. It may have felt like a sleepless night to me, but in reality it was just me being a daughter of God. Being led by Him to do battle with dark forces at 3:30am (which is actually a prime time for that).
When I got up a few hours later, I wanted to post this somewhere:
But I thought it might be too weird for some people. So instead I posted this:
If the enemy can get you to doubt the love and goodness of God toward you, he’s won. Don’t believe his lies for a second!
Now I know why that song was playing in my head yesterday! Those words turned out to be the exact strategy I needed to overcome!
Here they are again:
The enemy whispered into my mind determined to wear me down. Alert in the Spirit I am not blind – my confession of faith has the enemy bound! I will rejoice; I will rejoice – I will rejoice for I’ve made my CHOICE to rejoice in the Lord! – Bob Fitts, I Will Rejoice, Maranatha Music
Too weird, huh? Yeah, that’s why I write this blog. These things happen to me a lot. I don’t feel comfortable just casually sharing these kind of things. Can you imagine having this conversation with a friend:
“So, how was your day?”
“Well, pretty good. I spent 2 hours fighting demons and then realized that the battle strategy I needed was given to me earlier in the day in some song lyrics from the last century. I lost sleep but somehow God orchestrated it beautifully so that I could help my husband get off to work this morning. I now know a little bit more about the demonic assignment of Baal and I’m telling the world through my blog. So, how about you? What’s new?”
I certainly hope this article helps somebody somewhere. Please let me know if it does. Because I sure WISH I had this knowledge when I was a younger Christian. It can feel overwhelming when the enemy floods your mind like that and you don’t know what to do. Now I know and I’m telling you – SO GO BE DANGEROUS to the kingdom of darkness, okay?
Let me know what you think. I’d love to hear if this post helped you. Thanks 🙂
P.S. If you want to hear the original song I’m referring to, here’s the YouTube Link:
Confronting Intimidation
Jenny* called me on her drive home from work. She told me how her boss was not treating her well. He was humiliating her in front of other employees. Now the higher up boss was doing it too. She felt so embarrassed when they did this.
What made it even more infuriating was that she was filling in for 4 other people who had left the job. She was working really hard, really long hours trying to keep everything running in her department, but instead of being appreciated and thanked, she was being called out on every little mistake they were finding. She was exhausted, both mentally and emotionally.
When she first got this job, they had shown her a lot of respect. She had many years of experience in the industry and they were very happy she had joined their team. Now she felt intimidated daily by all their accusations and frustrated no one could see the good she was doing. She was angry, tired and feeling overwhelmed.
I listened and tried to empathize with her. I recognized a pattern – this was similar to the previous job she’d had. That boss had accused her and treated her badly as well. She justified his actions because she knew he had mental health issues and was on and off medication. This time there was no justification.
“You’ve got to deal with this in the unseen realm,” I told her.
“This is not normal. You’re right. What should I do?” She agreed.
“You need to take authority over this spirit of Intimidation so that it doesn’t harass you at work any more,” I said.
“But how can I? It’s my boss. I don’t have authority over him. I don’t want to be disrespectful of his position,” she replied.
“You’re right. You do want to respect his position. But you don’t deserve to be treated disrespectfully. That’s not right! I learned something that I believe will work for you. You cannot change his actions, but you can bind that spirit of Intimidation from manifesting in your presence. Then you’ll just be dealing with a normal human being – not one that is being influenced and empowered by an evil spirit,” I suggested.
She agreed to try it. I sent her some prayers to pray before work. I put them in an email so she could keep it easily accessible on her phone. Here’s the message I sent her:
Here are 3 specific prayers that will help you stand and take authority in your situation.
You don’t deserve to be treated with disrespect. You don’t deserve to work in an environment where you feel intimidated.
1. I come out of agreement with fear and intimidation. I release peace and trust in the Lord into my soul. (pause for a moment)
2. Spirit of Jenny, I call you to attention. Please come forward and lead. Soul, please go to the back and rest. (pause for a moment)
3. I take authority over Intimidation operating through (name of person). You do not have permission to manifest in my presence. I release the fear of the Lord, wisdom, humility and teamwork right now, in Jesus name! Thank you, Lord!Save this email. When you cannot think straight, say these 3 prayers in this order.
Also say them before any time you know you will speak to your boss, supervisor, etc. Any person who is not treating you right – say this prayer before you talk to them. I would encourage you to say these prayers each day before work.You WILL see this situation change – I promise!
The next morning I sent her a short text message reminding her – she said she got my message while driving to work and immediately pulled over so she could say those prayers.
At the end of the day, I got this message from her:
“I don’t have words enough to thank you for your time listening and your time writing this for me. Thank you for your prayers. Today was a good day at work. I haven’t had a good day like this in a very long time.”
Many times the issues we have with people are not about the people themselves. It is an attack against us by demonic forces. They want to see if you know who you are – your identity in Christ.
Paul said in Ephesians 6:12:
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood (human beings), but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Especially when you see the same pattern happening over and over in your life, it’s safe to assume there’s something spiritual going on. Ask the Lord for insight and understanding. Feel free to adapt these prayers to fit your own situation.
I hope this post will help someone today – it certainly helped Jennie! 🙂
Feel free to share below any specific prayers that you have found helpful so we can learn from each other. And if you try these 3 prayers – please let me know how it worked out for you. I expect you’ll see a shift in how people are treating you at your job too!
*name changed to protect privacy
For more information about prayer #2, follow these links: Spirit vs Soul Part 1 and Part 2
Battle Strategies in a Song
You gotta know when to hold ‘em
Know when to fold ‘em
Know when to walk away,
Know when to run!
These lyrics from the song, The Gambler, by Kenny Rogers came to mind today as I contemplated some principles of spiritual warfare that I teach.
When the enemy is invading your territory (i.e. your home, your relationships, your business), it is vitally important to know which action to take.
There are times when you are supposed to “hold ‘em” – that could be standing your ground, making declarations in the spirit realm or even confronting another person about the darkness they are bringing into your territory.
There are times when you need to “fold ‘em” – that made me think of folding your hands together to pray for the situation. Maybe the bulk of the warfare is just clearing out the emotional baggage in your own heart and mind. This usually requires repentance – your own, or on behalf of someone else, and often on behalf of someone in your bloodline or ancestry.
There are times when you need to walk away. Yes, this is hard. But sometimes the best thing to do is pray for the other person and then say, “This is not my problem. You need to figure this out.” You emotionally disconnect from the darkness they are bringing into your life. You still love them, but you just step back from being emotionally attached to their breakthrough. This is often the hardest step for most of us to take because it doesn’t feel like love – but it is. It’s called Tough Love. And it can be a critical step to surviving a battle.
Lastly, “know when to run” means to be very aware of backlash from the enemy after you have stood your ground. You don’t literally “run”, but you do make sure that every door of opportunity that he has used against you is slammed shut and sealed with the blood of Jesus. You don’t open it and check to make sure – you keep that door closed!! If alcohol has been a problem for you, you don’t take one sip at a party just to see if you’re still free of it. If a certain person has been removed from your life, you don’t send a birthday text just to make sure they know you remembered it was their birthday. Don’t do it!
Backlash Can Be Brutal
I think the hardest part of spiritual warfare is the surprising force with which Backlash hits you. Usually when you least expect it. You’ve done the hard part of standing your ground, cleaning out the emotional “garbage” from you and your bloodline, releasing your sense of responsibility for the breakthrough of the people involved and finally you rest. Ahhh, the breakthrough is coming – I can feel it. You may even begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Then, BAM! You get hit by something unexpected that is designed to shake you to your core. It is sent to rattle you – to cause you to question who you are and your basis for authority. It’s happened to me many times.
Yet all you can do is STAND. Just keep moving forward in faith. Even when it seems impossible and you are ready to give up. Just do it. (And having done all, stand. Ephesians 6:13)
One of the enemy’s main tactics is to get your eyes off of the Father’s goodness and blessing to you and instead turn your eyes onto the darkness he is attacking you with. Use all your strength to ignore him and turn your eyes to God. Stay in Peace – he hates that!
You will keep her in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because she trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3
Backlash can be brutal. It makes you wonder who you are and what you think you are doing. It can attack your body, your mind and/or your emotions. Sometimes it is so vile, you don’t even realize what is going on. You just know you are miserable!
THIS is when you need the body of Christ around you. THIS is when you need a stable prayer partner or someone you can call to help you. Having a person who is very prophetic and sees in the spirit clearly can really help you break the power of backlash – because you will think you are losing your mind. You need someone who can tell you, “Wait. This isn’t yours. This is backlash. Let me pray.” And when they do, suddenly all the effects of backlash disappear.
I didn’t know that the enemy could attack your emotions and suddenly make you feel depressed, overwhelmed, jealous, fearful, suicidal, [insert any negative emotion here] FOR NO REASON. I thought emotional attacks were related to your actions – for instance, if you focus on your problems, you can get depressed or feel overwhelmed. But when you are suddenly hit with deep, overwhelming emotions that are dark, it surprises you. You have no idea why they are there. You can’t “fix” ‘em because they are NOT yours! They are often so thick that it is hard to think clearly so it may take a while for you to figure this out. That’s why having a close relationship with another intercessor or prophetic person can really help – tell them how you are honestly feeling and then the Lord can give them insight for you.
So, remember,
You gotta know when to hold ‘em
Know when to fold ‘em
Know when to walk away,
Know when to run!
And how do I know when to do each of these in battle? , you might be thinking. Answer: ATL
That means Ask The Lord. He is the Commander-in-Chief and He is the only one who knows which step is needed when. You follow Him and everything will work itself out for your good.
Got any keys that help you in battle? Please feel free to comment below so we can learn from each other. 🙂
War Room – Great idea!
Rating: Inspirational, Educational
War Room was the #1 movie in America last week. It is about the power of prayer and how it directly, significantly changes the lives of those who are prayed for as well as the one who is praying! I loved the movie and have seen it twice. It is very inspirational! I encourage you to see it. Here’s the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIl-XY9t_Lw
In War Room, an older Christian woman, Clara, explains to a young wife and mother, Elizabeth, that instead of fighting with her husband, she should do her fighting on her knees in prayer. She explains that we are all in a battle and that we need a War Room – a place we can get alone with God and connect with Him as well as plan strategies against the forces of darkness. Clara shows Elizabeth her War Room – a small walk in closet with prayers and scriptures posted on the walls. The movie shows Clara in her War Room, praying for Elizabeth and others.
Many people have become inspired to create their own War Room. I saw one video of a man with 5 children who said they didn’t have any space in their house. However, after the entire family saw the movie, the kids (who were older) decided to turn their old playhouse into the family War Room. They put Christmas lights up and added floor cushions so that they could sit in there and pray. He showed how the children had written out their prayer requests and taped them up in the playhouse. This father was grinning from ear to ear, so proud of his children and their desire to pray. Oh, may we all be so passionate and childlike in our trust in Father God! ♥
Do you have a special place where you pray each day? If so, please feel free to leave a comment and tell us about it. I have heard that if you pray in the same place every day, that place starts to change. It becomes “charged” with a spiritual atmosphere that others can feel. They showed that in the movie too. 🙂
By the way, if you need some inspiration and/or training in prayer, there’s a special book released as part of this movie. It’s called The Battle Plan for Prayer. It looks good! There are more resources on their site: http://warroommovieresources.com/
Update: You can now watch the movie for $6 on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/1TFGseu
Discernment of the Supernatural Realm 