A Warning Against Aggressive "Spiritual Warfare" Prayers

Some believe that spiritual warfare is praying aggressive prayers of punishment and judgment against evil spirits and principalities. For a while, years ago, I dabbled in prayers like this written by a minister until he was exposed by people involved in his ministry for engaging in witchcraft. Since then, the Lord showed me from His word that spiritual warfare is something else entirely and those who make a habit of praying aggressive, anti-demonic prayers have gone astray from God's ways.

This article is a warning to Christians who engage in this practice. You need to stop. I'm going to show from the Scriptures why it is wrong and what spiritual warfare really is.

Following are a couple excerpts of aggressive "spiritual warfare" prayers. The first prayer comes from someone who posts end-times prophecies on a website and video channel, and the second is from the aforementioned minister. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THESE PRAYERS:

Example 1: 

"I break you, all evil spirits and ask for the Holy Spirit to destroy you by fire and bring you to ashes. Every power declaring dominion over me, you are a LIAR! Break and be brought to ashes in Yahushua's mighty name. Serpent of death and every strong man, break and be brought to ashes in Yahushua's mighty name."

Example 2: 

"I pray that every human spirit, fallen angelic spirit, or otherwise malevolent spirit attempting to come against me or my household would be apprehended by your heavenly hosts, such that they cannot so much as set foot upon this property. I pray that they would be escorted out to wherever the Lord Jesus sends them, pierced through with many arrows, and discomfited by Your lightning in the process, that they would know that Jesus is Lord."    

God's Protection is Automatic When We Abide in Him

People may pray these prayers because they think they have to in order to be protected from all the evil in the world. But look at what Psalm 91 says about God's protection:

"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.'" - Psalm 91:1-2

When we dwell in the secret place with Him (draw near to Him, hear and respond to His voice) and trust that He is our fortress, God protects us automatically. He protects us from everything - terror, arrows, pestilence, plague, etc. We don't have to constantly pray elaborate protection prayers that attack every evil spirit and name every form of evil that might present itself. God's protection is complete. We can rest in that.

Moreover, what motivates people to pray these elaborate, aggressive prayers? Is it simple faith in God that He will protect us according to His word, or is it a desire to control everything in our life and circumstance? The fleshly desire for control is the root of witchcraft. Deuteronomy 18:10-12 lists various forms of witchcraft: Passing a child through the fire, divination, charming, consulting familiar spirits, observing times, wizardry, necromancy. (For more details, see Spiritual Warfare Is Not Just AttackingDemons in the Spiritual Realm.) Witchcraft is an attempt to gain favorable outcomes by spiritual powers other than the Holy Spirit. I have noticed that people who engage in aggressive spiritual warfare prayers tend to fall into witchcraft, especially divination and consulting familiar spirits, although they may be fooled into thinking the spirit they are communing with is God's Spirit. God does not contradict his own written word, though. That is an important test.

We must also remember that suffering and tribulation are part of following in the footsteps of Christ. We can pray the enemy cannot touch us beyond His will for us, but we need to be okay with suffering too. God intends it for our spiritual growth and for glorifying God. "He who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin."  - 1 Peter 4:1

Spiritual Warfare Is Practicing the Christian Fundamentals

According to Ephesians 6 and 2 Corinthians 10, spiritual warfare is practicing the Christian fundamentals:

"This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. In every situation take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word. Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints." - Ephesians 6:13-18, Holman

"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." - 2 Corinthians 10:4-5

Ephesians 6 says spiritual warfare is seeking and loving the truth, walking in God's righteousness, standing on the gospel of peace, having faith and hope, actively using God's word and praying at all times, especially intercessory prayer for the saints. Notice it does not say railing against demonic powers; it emphasizes praying for people - intercessory prayer. 2 Corinthians adds the practice of challenging people with the truth. You want to tear down demonic strongholds? Preach the truth!

Growing in these practices enables us to stand against evil in this world and have victories over the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms. This is how we become effective agents of Christ.

Sadly, for some, acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with our God (Micah 6:8) is not enough. They want something more exciting, more advanced, that makes them feel powerful and elite. So they turn to supercharged, anti-demon, anti-fallen angel warfare prayers. And where does that take them? The Scriptures say it leads to ruin.

Speaking Evil of Angelic Authorities Brings Ruin

The book of Jude is a warning about ungodly people and apostasy. This passage focuses on their practice of speaking evil of angelic authorities:

"Nevertheless, these dreamers likewise defile their flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme glorious ones. Yet Michael the archangel, when he was disputing with the Devil in a debate about Moses’ body, did not dare bring an abusive condemnation against him but said, 'The Lord rebuke you!' But these people blaspheme anything they don’t understand. What they know by instinct like unreasoning animals—they destroy themselves with these things." - Jude 1:8-10, Holman

Where it says "blaspheme glorious ones," it's talking about angelic beings and their authorities and principalities. Other Bible translations say "heap abuse on celestial beings" (NIV), "revile angelic majesties" (NASB), and "speak evil of dignities" (KJV).

The positive example is Michael the archangel, who in a dispute with Satan simply said, "The Lord rebuke you." Michael did not say, "Satan, you are a liar and a thief! Be destroyed by fire and brought to ashes!" He did not say, "Be judged right now, pierced through with arrows and discomfited by lightning!"

If Satan is the enemy of our souls, why must we be careful how we speak to him or any other fallen angelic being? Because God has established the authorities and principalities of the angels, even the fallen ones. These authorities still exist until judgment day when God will remove them. God has appointed a specific time for this, and the saints will even participate in that judgment. But it is not our right to judge and condemn angels before the appointed time or to disrespect the authorities God has established.

If someone does speak evil of angelic authorities, what is the consequence? The passage says it will bring destruction on the person. Other translations say they will "corrupt themselves." In other words, it will bring ruin.

After Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness, Satan showed up and tempted Him three times. Each time, Jesus countered Satan with a verse from the Bible. This is the account of the last temptation:

"Again, the Devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And he said to Him, 'I will give You all these things if You will fall down and worship me.' Then Jesus told him, 'Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him.' Then the Devil left Him, and immediately angels came and began to serve Him." - Matthew 4:8-11

Jesus responded with a verse and said, "Go away!" And Satan left. Notice what Jesus did not do. He did not accuse, rail against or condemn Satan. He did not bind him or discomfit him with lightning or cast him into the abyss. Jesus certainly could have, but He understood that would be outside the will of the Father. If you have read the book of Revelation, you know Satan will be bound and locked in the abyss for 1,000 years during Jesus' reign on earth.  After that, he will be cast into the lake of fire for eternity. Satan's reckoning is coming! However, Jesus respected the Father's timing for judgment and Satan's current dominion. He simply told him to leave.

Now look at the account when Jesus encountered the two demon-possessed men:

"When He had come to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met Him as they came out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. Suddenly they shouted, 'What do You have to do with us, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?' Now a long way off from them, a large herd of pigs was feeding. 'If You drive us out,' the demons begged Him, 'send us into the herd of pigs.' 'Go!' He told them. So when they had come out, they entered the pigs. And suddenly the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water." - Matthew 8:28-32

Demons are the spirit of deceased Nephilim. Since they were born of the earth, God condemned them to wander the earth until judgment day. They are evil, just like Satan is evil. The demons clearly understood their judgment day is coming, which is why they asked Jesus if He was going to torment them before the appointed time. In a way, it was a temptation because Jesus could have done something to torment them. They deserved it. However, He knew that would be against the Father's will. Jesus only told them to go. That's all. I even wonder if He showed mercy by allowing them to go into the pigs. I'm not sure - it's possible.

Do you see the picture here? If the Son of God does not dare judge and condemn evil spirits before their time, then who are you, O mortal son of Adam, to do such a thing?

Yes, Jesus did say we have power over the enemy:

"Look, I have given you the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy; nothing will ever harm you." - Luke 10:19

He spoke that in the context of the disciples casting out demons. We certainly have Jesus' authority to cast out demons and require them to leave - even Satan himself. Anything beyond that, though, be sure you are not railing against evil spirits or judging and condemning them before the appointed day.

After the person published the first warfare prayer quoted above and encouraged people to pray it, some months later her daughter was tragically burned over a portion of her body in a campfire accident that required surgery and a hospital stay. That's horrible and I'm sorry that happened. We don't always know why bad things happen, but the question needs to be asked: Are those events connected?

The Scriptures say speaking evil of angelic majesties will bring ruin upon us. We should not be doing it. If we are, repent and ask Jesus' for forgiveness.

Conclusion

This aggressive, unscriptural form of spiritual warfare is really a trap of the enemy. Satan would love it if we railed against him like that, then he can watch us fall by the wayside and no longer be a threat.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to defeat the forces of evil. We just have to do it God's way. Do you want to actually fight the enemy in battle? Then walk in faith and righteousness and pray you are found worthy to escape all the things coming upon the world (Luke 21:36) and to join Jesus Christ for the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19). Then you will ride on a horse in His heavenly army for the battle of Armageddon. The King of kings will be victorious that day!

"The Lord will rescue me from every evil work and will bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever! Amen." - 2 Timothy 4:18

Discernment and Separation in a Time of Judgment

 
"Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins or receive any of her plagues." - Revelation 17:4, Holman

On the surface, my family and I live a pretty normal American life. We live in the suburbs and have two daughters, two bunnies and a cat. My wife organizes a book club for our daughters' friends and plays tennis on a league. I help coach soccer and enjoy training in martial arts. 

The difference is that we know it is the end of the age and Jesus is coming back very soon. We know America has come under God's judgment for its bloodshed and immorality. The final, irrevocable phase began last summer with the noontime solar eclipse, followed by three destructive hurricanes and the mass shooting in Las Vegas. Please see these posts for more details:

A Basket of Summer Fruit for the Season of the End
Hurricane Harvey Is a Judgment from the Lord, and More Is Coming

More is coming, growing waves of calamity that will culminate in the nation's destruction in World War III. There is no pleasure in saying it, but this is the reality. Particularly watch this summer because of the prophesy in Amos 8.

What gives us hope is that there will be a great harvest for the kingdom of God. The pressures of judgment will break people down, some in a good way and they will repent and believe in Jesus Christ and find the love of God. We get to be a part of this movement and that motivates us. Life is short, but eternity is forever. 

God has been shouting this message from the rooftops for years, even decades. No one will be able to say God didn't tell them, because He has.

Separating from the Mainstream Church

A few years ago when I began to understand how late the hour is, it became hard to continue sitting in church. What my wife and I heard from the Lord did not match what we heard there. We truly believed those things and the Lord confirmed them in so many ways. Our lives changed radically. I saw there were other people around the world who heard these messages too, a small and vocal remnant. Yet at church it was like the sound of crickets.

We reached out to church leaders and pastors, but they were not interested in talking about judgment. I naively thought lots of other people would hear and receive this message and we would come together around it and prepare. I even wrote an article explaining why I believed America is under judgment and sent it to most of the pastors in my area. Few responded and those that did mostly disagreed. What was the disconnect?

I remembered what Jesus said to the religious people who opposed him:

"You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, yet they testify about Me. And you are not willing to come to Me so that you may have life." - John 5:39-40, Holman

The Pharisees and Sadducees read their Bibles and went to "church," but did not recognize the Messiah standing in front of them. Their hearts were hard. Only a small minority, a remnant, received Him. Hundreds of years before Christ, prophets in Israel like Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel warned about God's judgment and the need for repentance, yet only a minority received the message. The religious and political establishment rejected it and instead persecuted the prophets. They threw Jeremiah in a cistern and sawed Isaiah in half.

I realized something similar is happening in America today. Mainstream churches and Christian leaders are rejecting God's message of judgment and repentance and not telling their congregations. Only a remnant is hearing it.

I felt strongly that I could not continue to participate in this church system. It wasn't a neutral proposition to sit in a church whose leaders were not hearing and speaking God's message to America for this hour. If they are not listening to God, then who are they listening to? Jesus said His sheep hear his voice and they follow Him. There was something anesthetizing or hypnotic about being in a group of religious people who acted like everything is normal. They were put to sleep spiritually and being there might do the same to us.

We stopped attending and have our own family "church" at home. God continues to speak loudly and powerfully to us. It's not that we're perfect or special, but we are willing to hear and believe an uncomfortable message and embrace God's mission for us.

Other Spirits Coming In

As Christian churches and leaders have rejected the voice of the Holy Spirit, other spirits, unholy religious spirits, have come in to fill the void.

One of the spiritual gifts the Lord gave me is discernment. I can discern true and false based on God's word, and sometimes can discern spirits, which is telling what kinds of spirits are operating in or through a person or a place.

The Bible talks a lot about the influence of spirits on people:

"For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it way too easily." - 2 Corinthians 11:4, Berean Study Bible

The Apostle Paul warned that false spirits can come in and speak false messages and false gospels. It is possible for people to receive these spirits, instead of the Holy Spirit of God, and be influenced by their messages and desires. People become vehicles for these spirits' agendas. These unholy spirits are from Satan and part of how he deceives the world.

Christians are supposed to be alert to this reality and carefully test the spirits:

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." - 1 John 4:1, Holman

Once I was visiting a conservative Baptist church and felt a spiritual presence of confusion and joylessness so strong I wanted to run out the back door. Honestly I could hardly think straight in that place and had to pray afterwards to the darkness off of me. I have had similar experiences around religious people, even while they are talking about God! As Christians have rejected the voice of the Holy Spirit, they are being infiltrated right and left with unholy religious spirits. It is toxic and spiritually dangerous.

I need to warn you. These religious spirits will one day animate people to persecute God's true remnant. Jesus said persecution will intensify in the end times:

"You will even be betrayed by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will kill some of you. You will be hated by everyone because of My name." - Luke 21:1-17, Holman

For Jesus, the greatest persecution came from the religious establishment. The Pharisees and Sadducees harassed and opposed Jesus more than anyone else, and it was the Sanhendrin, the council of priests and rabbis, who consigned Him to death. Fast forward to the future portrayed in Revelation 13. There you see the second beast, the false prophet, will force everyone to worship the image of the beast and take his mark or be killed. The second beast represents the one-world religion that will align with the Antichrist during the final years of this age. The Vatican is the center and it will include all the Christian denominations and other religions that align with it. This is the real 

meaning and ultimate intention of the popular symbol "COEXIST." In the end it will mean "assimilate or else." All real Christians they get their hands on will be put to death and everyone else will receive the mark of the beast which alters their DNA and turns them into humanoid biological robots under control of the beast system. This is what it means in 2 Thessalonians 2 where it say the man of lawlessness "sits in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God." Human bodies are the temple and the mark is seat of control for Satan and the Antichrist.

My point is that we need the Holy Spirit's discernment about who to associate with and who to avoid, because the times are becoming more dangerous. Like Jesus said, be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. God will protect us if we draw near, hear his voice and do what He says.

Separation for God's Protection

In a previous post, I wrote about an unexpected conflict with a group I was fellowshipping with. The conflict was about a woman prophesying by a false spirit that others believed was of God. After a period of expressing concerns and confronting this spirit, the Lord used a curious passage in 1 Kings 13 to let me know that I needed to break fellowship.

The story is about a man of God from Judah who traveled to the Northern Kingdom of Israel to pronounce a judgment from the Lord because of its idolatry. God told the man to go straight there, return by a different route and not to "eat bread or drink water in this place." However, an old prophet deceived him by saying an angel said the man should come back to his house to eat and drink. The man of God did, and then the old prophet prophesied for real and said that because he did not keep the Lord's command, his life would be forfeit. On the way home the man was killed by a lion.

A strange story indeed. Note that eating and drinking at the prophet's house was fellowship. The Lord impressed on me that I too needed to break fellowship or would suffer a judgment, like the man of God. I don't know what the equivalent of being killed by a lion would be for me, but I didn't want to find out.

The man of God was to sent proclaim a message during a time of judgment. God wanted him to get in, deliver the message and get out. It seems there are special requirements for separation during a time of judgment. As another example, during Korah's rebellion against Moses in Numbers 16, Moses told the people, "Get away now from the tents of these wicked men. Don't touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins."

Looking back, there were two occasions while confronting the issue of the false spirit when I became persistently ill for weeks. I heard of others involved in the group who also experienced health problems and one a financial problem. That spirit was a curser! Fellowship was an open door for spiritual attack. Separation was God's way of protecting me, as well as pressuring the people involved in the spirit to repent:

"Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions you were taught, either by our message or by our letter... And if anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take note of that person; don’t associate with him, so that he may be ashamed. Yet don’t treat him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother." - 2 Thessalonians 2:15, 3:14-15

Conclusion

I believe the Lord has a handful of missions or battles He wants each of us to engage in. Discernment and separation are important tools for making sure we don't run into harm, fall into traps or expend our energy unnecessarily. Otherwise we won't have the strength for the missions that are His will for us. 

The only way to do this is to stay in a close relationship with God - praying, worshiping, studying His Word - and following His instructions only.