The spiritual realm frequently interacts with the natural realm. 0ne effects the other. Throughout scripture, we see the spiritual realms impacting the natural realm as demonic spirits clearly afflict humans through temptation and even “possession.” In the book of Daniel, we are told that demonic principalities sometime rule over nations. influencing them to follow the ways of Satan. Angels clearly impact the lives of individuals throughout the Bible…protecting them, delivering messages, leading them out of prisons, and executing God’s judgments at times. James even warns us to be careful how we treat strangers because some of those we interact with may be angels operating in the form of men. In the other direction, prayers, praise and commands in the natural realm move things in the spiritual realms.

More often than we are aware, we experience spiritual atmospheres in the natural realm that are generated by the presence of spiritual beings we cannot see. Christians often talk about feeling the “presence of God” or the “presence of the Holy Spirit” in a church service, conference, or small group setting. Angels often are present in churches during worship and contribute to an atmosphere of peace, praise and expectation. It is also true that demonic spirits can produce an atmosphere of fear, anger, heaviness, hopelessness, distrust, and oppression in other settings.

Several years ago, we received a request from a lady who attended another church asking us to pray for her and her family. She had remarried a good man and her teenage son from her previous marriage lived with them. He and his “stepfather” had gotten along well for the first year or two of their marriage, but after moving into a new home (new to them) the relationship became combative and even physically violent between the son and stepfather. The woman’s husband travelled with his job, so was gone from time to time. The atmosphere in the house was such that she had put a dead bolt on her bedroom door and kept it locked out of fear that her son would try to hurt her or even kill ear with the stepfather away.

She invited us over while the son was at a school event and her husband was out of town. As we asked about her experiences, she noted the agitation and anger had only become apparent after they moved into their current house. She also noted that if they were traveling as a family, the son and husband got along as they had in the beginning, but as soon as they pulled into the driveway, the anger and agitation erupted again. This woman did not attend a church that talked about the spiritual realm and certainly not about demons, so she made no connection between the anger and violence in her home and the spiritual realm.

Several of our team members had gifts of discernment so they immediately sensed the presence of a spirit of anger and violence in the house. We prayed over the house, commanded the spirit to leave and never return and went on our way. She said she never told her husband or son that we had prayed over the house, but their relationship quickly returned to what it had been in the beginning. In that case, prayer and commands in the authority of Jesus changed the spiritual atmosphere of the home.

There are times we will feel the atmosphere of a home, neighborhood, city, or church. Sometimes, these places will feel peaceful or full of life if the Spirit of God is present. If there is a strong demonic presence, it will feel dark, heavy, evil, foreboding, or angry. I have visited several cities where witchcraft was openly practiced and on a clear day, the sun seemed dim in those cities as if there were cloud cover when there was none. Those atmospheres affect not just the sky but the people who live there as well. The people themselves reflect the spiritual atmosphere of their city.

In Mark 4, Jesus told his disciples to get in a boat and head across the sea of Galilee to the region gf the Gadarenes. As they made their way across, a great storm suddenly blew up. Jesus was asleep in the boat while the disciples were in full panic mode. Remember, they were crossing the sea to encounter a totally demonized man who lived among the tombs, whom Jesus would set free. The disciples shook Jesus awake and announced that they were all about to die. Jesus rebuked the storm and it ceased immediately.

Many commentators believe that the storm had been stirred by demonic forces and, in essence, Jesus had commanded the demons to cease their activity. They were attempting to keep Jesus from setting the man who lived in the tombs free from demonic bondage. If this is true, Jesus discerned the demonic atmosphere charging the storm and by his commands, changed the atmosphere.

Other things can change the spiritual atmosphere of a location as well. We are told that when an evil spirit would torment King Saul, David would play a harp, and the spirit would stop the torment. Psalm 149:6 instructs God’s people to enter into battle with the praise of God in their mouths. We are also told that God inhabits the praises of his people. Praise attracts the presence of God and the presence of God disperses the enemy. Prayer also attracts his presence and praying out loud for the presence and power of the Lord to overcome the enemy can also shift the atmosphere of a home, room, church, business, etc.

Many people are affected by spiritual atmospheres without being aware of what is going on. They simply find themselves feeling hopeless, depressed, agitated, angry, or fearful for “no apparent reason.” There may be an atmosphere of conflict in a home or business where couples or kids or employees seem to fight incessantly for no good reason. These individuals or families should act intentionally to change the atmosphere of the home or business. Praying out loud, playing praise music in the background all day and night, an audio Bible being played, or direct commands for spirits to leave (or all the above) can change the atmosphere instantly or over a few weeks.

Paul told us that we should not be unaware of the devil’s schemes and negative or toxic spiritual atmospheres can certainly be one of those strategies to bring down individuals, families, businesses and even churches. When you feel the presence of God, stay there, When you feel or see the evidence of demonic activity, take action to change it.

Most of us are familiar with Paul’s declaration in Ephesians 6 that “… our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand (Eph. 6:12-13).

I believe we are about to experience a very ugly season in America with the 2024 election cycle coming up. There will, of course, be the politization of every event between now and the election to bolster someones platform for the election. Guns will be front and center. Wokeness or anti-wokeness will continue to be a selling point for each party. Abortion rights will again be put on the front burner along with parental rights versus school boards. The problem is not that these positions will be talked about, but rather that they won’t be talked about. They will simply declare their position as the moral position while calling anyone who disagrees with them a bigot, racist, or hater…thus dividing the nation even more.

Our first impulse will probably be to join in the dispute, at least on an emotional level, to judge and condemn one side or the other. It will seem fair game to call out political leaders and label them with some demeaning or derogatory term since they will be doing that to one another. The problem is when we do that Satan wins. Remember Paul’s declaration that our fight is much more against spiritual entities than human. It is the demonic realm that is pushing hatred, division, and violence and influencing those who participate. If we get caught up in the game, everyone loses.

It is not that we should be silent about political platforms. We need to speak the truth, but in love. Scripture declares over and over that we are to respond to curses with blessings. We are to overcome evil with good. We are to love our enemies when they would do us harm. We are to treat others with respect when they have no respect for us. So do we just let evil have its way?

No. We are to fight against evil, but how do we fight? First of all, we must fight against it in our own hearts by not getting drawn into the hatred, the name calling, and the political bigotry that Satan is pedaling. Secondly, we pray. In Ephesians 6, after speaking about spiritual warfare, Paul calls the believers to pray. Pray for the gospel. Pray for the nation. Pray for truth to come out and corruption to be exposed. Pray for leaders. When asked, share God’s perspective on political issues. but keep to the issue. Vote. Encourage other believers to vote. Vote according to God’s word which defines right and wrong rather than our flesh that tends to side with culture. Ask God to unseat the demonic principalities that are having their way in our nation right now. Be proactive in raising your children up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. If you don’t actively evangelize your children with God’s truth, the enemy will evangelize them through the cultural influence of media and education.

We cannot be passive in this coming season. The church needs to pray more and teach more on issues that believers will be voting on and influencing others to vote on. We need to know clearly what God says about these things. Finally, we need to stand on biblical truths. As we do, we will be called haters, homophobes, transphobes, racists, and everything else. We need to brace ourselves and respond with love and good works…even doing good to our enemies.

Paul said that we must “put on the armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, we can stand.” He didn’t say, “If it comes,” but “when it comes.” That day may come in the next 18-24 months as the rhetoric ramps up for elections and politician are looking for groups to blame and accuse for every failing of this nation. If Satan is behind the craziness in our country right now, and scripture says he is…then those he influences will be coming after Christians because we are the only real threat to his kingdom on earth. We should not be surprised and we should decide now how we will respond when the day of evil comes our way.

Blessings in Him…..tom

In my last blog, I shared that I was reading Jonathan Cahn’s latest book, The Return of the Gods. Very simply, his point is that when a person or culture has been demonized and then set free and the void is not filled by the presence of God, that spirit will return and bring other more wicked spirits with him. Ancient western cultures were filled with false gods which, according to scripture, represented actual demons until the dawn of the gospel changed that. As the gospel was preached and gained traction in the 3rd and 4th centuries, idol worship, human sacrifice, widespread sexual immorality of all kinds, and the great temples to those false Gods were destroyed and removed from western culture for nearly 2000 years.

However, beginning in the second half of the 20th century, these demonic principalities began to push their way back into western cultures through influential individuals and began to systematically remove God from our public schools, universities, stadiums, court rooms, and public morals. In the last seventy five years, we have redefined marriage and gender. We have aborted over 60 million children in America alone. We have declared what once was evil to be good and what once was was good to be evil. Truth has become a subjective concept rather than an objective reality and a clear war on Christianity has been launched by many segments of our society. All these changes were made in the name of social tolerance, but now anyone who does not agree with the “new morality” will no longer be tolerated.

In essence, Cahn argues that as we have rejected God in our culture, the old demonic principalities or “gods” of western cultures have once again established themselves and America has not become post-Christian as much as neo-pagan. If this continues, we can expect very dark days for those who follow Jesus or who hold to any traditional values. The question becomes, “What can we do and is it too late to do anything.?”

There are a couple of things that give us hope. First of all, the reversal by the Supreme Court of Roe vs. Wade exposed a subtle shift in the tide. This reversal did not make abortion illegal but left it up to states to determine what should be done about it. That is, at least, a step in the right direction. Another thing that gives me hope is that throughout the Old Testament history of Israel, wicked kings ruled generation after generation, but out of nowhere, God would raise up a righteous king who would rid the land of idolatry once again for a generation. Asa ruled over Judah for 41 years and brought revival (1 Kings 15). His son Jehoshaphat continued the revival for twenty five years. In 2 Kings 12, Joash became king and “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord” for forty one years. Along the way, kings like Hezekiah and Josiah would spring up out of a culture of wickedness and lead the nation back to seasons of righteousness and blessing. In the darkest of hours, God would raise uo a young king whose father had been wicked and light would shine in Israel once again. God did this as an act of mercy towards a nation he stilled loved and because of his promises to the patriarchs and his servant David. I believe God still loves America.

Historically, God intervened from time to time to raise up a righteous generation out of the ashes of wickedness. He might do the same for us. But for this to happen, we cannot be passive or depend on others to pray for us. We must be engaged in the spiritual battle as the church, the called out, and as individual followers of Jesus. Chan rightly points our that the same power that drove the gods from the ancient world still sits on the throne in heaven. His name is Jesus. He still has all authority in heaven and on earth. But like many things, he waits for us to join him in the battle. Gd could have drive the tribes out of Canaan before Israel even arrived on the scene. Instead, he ordained that they had to engage in the battle. He would with them, but they had to bear armor. The question becomes, how badly do we want righteousness restored to America and to our personal lives? How badly do we want America to continue as a nation? What future do we want for our children and grandchildren? A casual or ocassional commitment to the cause will not do.

This must begin with our own commitment to Jesus. Cahn writes, ” How then is one to live in the days when civilization around us has become a house of spirits? How can one stand against the darkness of the house, resist its intimidations, refuse its temptations, defy its powers? How can one stand against the gods? One cannot stand against the gods by serving them at the same time…And if we serve any of the gods we cannot stand against them. We must renounce any and all gods and any hold they have on our lives…We must take no part in their ways, have no communion with their spirits, leave no gap for their entrance, and pay no heed to their commandments.”

These are the days when we must all be Daniels, Shadrachs, Meshachs, and Abednegos. We must live in the culture but no be part of the culture and be willing to risk everything to be faithful to the true and living God. We cannot entrust out children to this culture for their education and moral upbringing because it will, in most cases, being anti-Christian and anti-biblical. We can no longer let our children indulge in the cultural media of America and hope it has no or little effect on them We can no longer be silent. Even Disney is pushing the culture of demons on our children.

Edmond Burke is often attributed with the words, ” All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” Those are probably not his exact words but the sentiment is self-evident. If we withdraw from the battle, if we sit quietly at home, if we silo in our small groups, if we fail to speak up or vote, then evil will triumph. It is never too late with God, but he waits on us. Perhaps, in our 2023 resolutions this year, we should resolve to engage in the battle…not with violence or name calling, but with love, prayer, the word of God, courage, and personal holiness. This could be a great year for America or it can be one of her last. The fate of America is ultimately not up to Congress or the White House or the Supreme court, but up to the church and each of us who follow Jesus as our King. We live in such a time as this and God has given our generation stewardship of a nation. What will we do with it?

Jonathan Cahn’s most recent book, The Return of the Gods, is an interesting read and, I think, one I would recommend for your consideration. The book rests on a parable Jesus told in the Gospel of Matthew.

When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation (Matthew 12:43-45).

The gist of this parable is that a man was demonized by an evil spirit and the spirit was cast out. After a season, the spirit returned to see if it could regain entrance to the man. Because the man had not filled the vacancy in his soul with the Holy Spirit and the things of God, the unclean spirit moved in again with seven other spirits more wicked than before. The man was then worse off at the end than he had been in the beginning.

The interesting twist in the parable is that Jesus concludes the condition of the man in the parable actually describes the condition of the generation that was about to reject Jesus. Chan’s conclusion is that evil spirits can possess or demonize not only individuals but entire nations or cultures. That seems to be confirmed by scripture when all of Israel, as well as other nations, would worship the same idols (evil spirits) for generations. In the ancient world, idols were worshipped in every home, under every spreading tree, and in temples, large and small, throughout the known world. Scripture says that behind each of these idols is a demonic spirit drawing worship away from God and unto itself. Behind each idol is a demon whose ultimate goal is to kill, steal and destroy a person or a nation. Any study of ancient history clearly reveals that entire cultures – religion, politics, art, architecture, and science were organized around the pagan beliefs, rituals, and sacrifices related to these demonic spirits.

The cultural norms in these ancient nations included gross sexual immorality promoted even by state religions. These were the fertility gods (Baal and Ashteroth) whose temples were funded by temple prostitutes (male and female) and public taxes, along with parades displaying public and rampant homosexuality, transsexuality and public orgies (Ashteroth or Ishtar) . In addition, the norms included child sacrifice to Molech or his equivalent, witchcraft, sorcery, violence, political corruption, and more. By the 3rd and 4th centuries, the gospel had pushed these practices out of western civilizations and with them the ancient gods were driven out or greatly weakened as well.

Now fast forward. The thing that kept these demonic principalities at bay for 2000 years was Christianity – its value for life, its concern for the poor and the vulnerable, and its righteousness. I’m not saying that western Europe and America were fully holy nations, but there was enough of God’s standards woven into the culture that these demonic principalities had little comparative power over the nations.

However, in the 1960’s, the “sexual revolution” took place in the west and in America. Sex outside of marriage had once been shameful or even illegal, but in the last 40 years of the 20th century, it became not only tolerated but celebrated. At the same time, prayer was removed from public schools, the Ten Commandments were removed from the public square, marriage and sexuality was redefined, and 60 million children were sacrificed in the back rooms of abortion clinics so that men and women would not be inconvenienced by the burden of raising a child. In the last half of the 20th century and the first two decades of the 21st century, those things that were once called evil have now been declared good and those things that were considered good are denigrated as evil.

Cahn’s point is that when a culture has once been free from the demonic, but then pushes God out of society, the demons come back and bring many others with them that are even more wicked than before. The culture then becomes possessed and paganize once again. Demonic spirits begin to rule and direct the culture. In that context, Christianity can expect to be persecuted, witchcraft will flourish, sexuality and sexual morality will be turned on its head, and life will be devalued. The unborn, the elderly, and the infirm will be discarded as a drag on society as they were in pagan cultures before the gospel. Those things that replaced God will become idols with a demon behind each one and the nation will become a target of God’s judgment as was true in ancient Israel. In the 21st century, public idols may or may not be erected in the public square but science. government, sex, power, media, and pop culture will become cultural god’s that dictate truth rather than the revelation of God.

America has been called post-Christian. What it is becoming is simply a high-tech pagan nation that will be possessed or repossessed by demons. That is why we see things in our culture, in our schools, in politics, and in the media push an ungodly agenda and push it on children who cannot reason their way through the values being sold to them. That is why, even now we keep shaking our heads in unbelief at what we see and hear every day on the news and the accelerating demise of Christian culture in America..

Cahn makes a case that the dark trinity of Baal, Molech, and Ashtoreth (Ishtar) have returned to America and have reestablished their principalities in the heavenly realms. As Paul declared, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph.6:12). Since this is true, America will not be saved by politicians, technology, or science because this is a spiritual battle. It must be won by the church through prayer, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the re-evangelization of America. The gospel that drove these spirits from nations in the first place and is the only thing that can do so again.

I think Cahn’s book is a worthwhile read, even if you don’t agree with everything in it. We have seen the results of the demonization of a nation in Nazi Germany, North Korea, Iran, Stalinist Russia, The Cultural Revolution of China, and even in America. We cannot win this war for our nation and our children with the weapons of the world, but only with divine weapons (2 Cor. 10:4-5). First of all, we need to be convinced that we are in a war and, secondly, that it is a spiritual war which can only be won when we give no quarter to the enemy. We must speak out in the public square, push back against ungodly cultural trends, and share the gospel with a pagan nation again. We must pray and we must embrace the power of the Holy Spirit in our churches and the truth that there is no other name by which men can be saved but Jesus. We cannot outsource our prayer and evangelism to a few pastors but this must become the business of every member of the bride of Christ. Lord…make is all warriors in the kingdom of heaven.

Blessings in Him who has all authority in heaven and on earth.

When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. Matthew 12:43-45

Jesus told this parable as a warning to each of us to constantly monitor the contents of our house…meaning our body, heart, mind, and our spirit. This individual had been demonized by one evil spirit. This was not possession, but one spirit that had been given a assignment against this man or woman. A single spirit typically works to undermine and distort one slice of our life through temptation and lies expressed in persistent or even obsessive thoughts and actions. The unrelenting nature of those thoughts is experienced as bondage. They will continue and typically get stronger until the spirit is cast out.

Deliverance or freedom is an amazing experience, but there is a danger that Jesus warns about. The “house” was vacated by the spirit and some semblance of balance and order returned to the persons life. However, the house was not filled with the word and the Spirit of God, so a spiritual vacuum was created. Because the spirit could not find rest outside of a body, he decided to go back and see if he might find a way back in.

To the demon’s delight, when he returned he found the house empty and the doors unlocked. So more entered in with him, and the person’s condition was worse in the end than in the beginning. I have seen that very thing happen to a few people who have come through our church and ministries. One young woman, especially, comes to mind. She was in her late twenties, sweet, attractive, accomplished and everyone loved her. On the outside everything looked in order, but on the onside she was tormented by insecurities and fear.

She decided to seek God and freedom from torment by going through Free Indeed, an 8-week class and a weekend of healing and deliverance. On the weekend she had some extreme manifestations, but was set free and found a peace she had never known. One of the things she had confessed to her group leaders was that she was in an intimate relationship with a man who was not a believer. She made a commitment to break off the relationship and seek God.

Eight months later she returned to attend Free indeed again. She had gone back to the relationship she had promised to leave and was now more demonized than before. Again, she experienced severe manifestations during deliverance, but was set free. Once more she promised to break off the relationship and serve God. Her group leaders tried to keep in contact with her but found she had gone back to the same man again. This time, however, when they did contact her, she was hostile and no longer had any interest in talking about the things of God. We have not seen her since. As her demonization increased, her desire for godly things decreased. Each time we fail to press into God after deliverance, the enemy gains more access than before.

When a spirit or spirits leave, we must fill our lives, our hearts, and our minds up with the things of God – worship, word, fellowship with other believers, service, etc., or we risk walking around around with an empty house or, at least a vacant room, where the enemy is glad to set up residence. Each time we fail to surrender parts of our lives to Jesus, the enemy gains a greater legal right to afflict us.

In the realm of spiritual warfare, half-heartedness or double-mindedness is a dangerous thing. As we try to stand with one foot in the kingdom of light and the other foot in the kingdom of darkness, we are at risk. There is a wide chasm between the two, so a person cannot keep their balance for long. Eventually he or she will fall. Jesus warns us over and over that divided loyalties are unacceptable. He demands every part of our lives too be surrendered to him. But, when we do surrender, he fills our rooms with the blessings of God’s kingdom.

We need to be cautious when ministering deliverance or receiving deliverance. It is not a game and a great deal is at stake. Sometimes people want to get rid of the torment a demon provides, but not the sin that gives them pleasure. The sin, however, is the open door through which the enemy enters.

Remember the incident in Acts 16 where a young woman with a spirit of divination kept following Paul around Philippi shouting that they were servants of the Most High God. Apparently, the whole thing was very distracting and was, perhaps, an attempt by the spirit to associate itself with Paul and Jesus.

At any rate, the text says that after many days, Paul turned and cast out the demon. Why would he not do that as soon as he encountered the woman? My guess is that he knew the woman might not surrender to Jesus and would then become a person with a vacancy that would be filled with many more spirits, so he restrained himself as long as he could, out of concern for her. We may need to use the same discernment when our first impulse is to set someone free.

So…if you are ministering deliverance, take time to explain the necessity of filling the vacancy with the things of God. Make sure the individual knows what that looks like and the risk of returning to a sin or a relationship that opened the door in the first place. Sometimes our desire to free someone from the enemy makes us rush to deliverance rather than preparing the person to maintain their freedom after they have received it.

Curses are a spiritual reality. Certainly, not everyone has a curse operating against them. In this life we all have tragedies, failures, and losses. It is the nature of living in a fallen world. But more of us than you think have curses operating in our lives and are unaware of it. The curse and the negative outcomes it produces will not go away on its own and has no shelf life. So…determining whether a curse may be operating so that we can nullify the curse is a prudent thing to do.

There are indicators that a curse is operating in the life of an in individual or family. Let me list some of those indicators briefly. You can find all of these in Deuteronomy 28-30.

• When a family or individual continually suffers business failures or financial lack, even though they are working hard and making reasonably good decisions, a curse may be operating. When you can never seem to get out of debt because another financial demand occurs each time you get close to your goals, you may be dealing with a curse. If you see the same pattern in your family line, it is a very strong indicator.
• If you experience patterns of chronic, lingering health issues that are difficult to diagnose, keep recurring, or that proven treatments don’t seem to manage, you may be looking at a curse. Again…if there is a history of such things in your bloodline, this can be a strong indicator.
• If you or your parents or grandparents struggle with depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, despair, confusion, etc. when you have prayed, counseled, and taken treatments, there may be demonic influences operating through a curse.
• When there is a history of an inability to get pregnant or multiple miscarriages, this may also indicate a curse.
• When you see patterns of victimization in your life or family where you have been defrauded, passed over for promotions, taken advantage of, harassed, and so forth when you have acted with integrity and done the right things, a curse may be operating.

In general, when you recognize a repeating history of negative outcomes in your life or family line, that are not clearly results of your bad decisions or rebellion, you may need to address the possibility of demonic activity enforcing a curse.

To break or nullify a curse requires a legal transaction in the spiritual realm. The cause of the curse must be removed and then the enemy must be commanded to discontinue the harassment or oppression in your life. Proverbs declares, “Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest” (Prov. 26:2). The cause of a curse can ultimately be nullified through the the blood of Christ. However, we have to take several steps before the blood can be applied.

The basis of any curse being established against us is sin…either our own or the sins of our fathers. That sin must be submitted to the blood of Christ to remove it, so that the enemy cannot use it against us. For sin to be forgiven, it must be recognized, acknowledged, confessed, repented of, and renounced.

I continue to be concerned about how many “believers” are ignorant of God’s word and so are ignorant of their sins. Many believers let culture determine what is right or wrong and simply assume that God will agree with cultural norms. I’m often surprised at how many young couples in church are unmarried, but living together and have no idea that God would have an issue with that. Many believing men think that indulging in porn is not an issue as long as they don’t “act on it.” Believers are prone to make promises or commitments and then ditch them at the last minute because they got a “better offer” and think that breaking commitments or promises is not an issue with the Lord. We make judgments against others and feel no conviction because we feel justified in what we said or thought. We believe the cultural lie that same sex marriage is moral because it is tolerant and so we go along with the moral trend.

I could go on, but we need to be more biblically informed and train our consciences around the word of God rather than cultural values. We may also need to ask the Holy Spirit to inform us of issues we don’t recognize that are giving Satan a legal right to afflict us. King David prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psm. 139:23-24) We need to pray the same prayer on a regular basis. Even if we are unaware that we are sinning, the sin still gives Satan a right to oppress us.

Once we become aware of something in our lives that is not aligned with God’s will, we need to acknowledge that it is sin and that we are responsible for our choices. Too many of us seek to excuse or rationalize what we are doing or blame others rather than simply owning it and confessing it. Any attempt on our part have “our sin” excused, gives the enemy an open door to attack us.

In conjunction with owning the sin, we must confess it…to God and, sometimes to others. If we have wronged others, we may need to confess that to them and ask their forgiveness. The key is found in 1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The cleansing takes away the legal right of the enemy to attack us on the basis of that sin. However, unconfessed sin isa weapon the enemy will use against us.

There is also the heart-matter of repentance. Am I just saying the words or do I truly have godly sorrow for my failings and do I intend to do it God’s way from that point forward? Genuine repentance is required before forgiveness is released. In addition, Proverbs declares, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Prov. 28:13).To renounce means to declare publicly that you no longer support, agree, or have a connection with something or someone…in this case, the sin and the one who promotes sin. Publicly does not typically mean that we must renounce it in front of the church, but I do need to declare it out loud to God and to the spiritual realm if to no one else.

Once we have recognized, acknowledged, confessed, repented, and renounced a sin in our life or in our bloodline, we can declare verbally that the curse is cancelled and nullified by the blood of Christ and by his authority. We can then cancel the assignment of any unclean spirit that has been afflicting us and command it to leave.

The question remains, what if I don’t know the specific sins of my “fathers” or may still be unaware of my own sin? When Nehemiah was informed of the state of Jerusalem during his exile, he prayed to God that he would be given favor to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall. He prayed, “I confess the sins we Israelites , including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees, and laws you gave your servant Moses…(Neh.1:6-7). He then went on to ask for forgiveness and favor in accomplishing God’s purposes for his people. Daniel also prayed this way regarding the sins of Israel. He said, “we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws…Lord, in keeping with your righteous acts turn away your anger and your wrath…hear the prayers and petitions of your servant” (Dan. 9:5,16,17).

If we specifically know our sin or the sins of our fathers, then confess them specifically. Repent on behalf of your bloodlines and renounce the sins. If not, pray as Nehemiah and Daniel prayed. They were essentially asking God to lift the curse that had been established against them for their sins and to bless Israel once again. We can pray in a similar way for ourselves, our family, and our nation.

In closing, we need to be aware of curses and take them seriously. The blood of Christ has more than enough power to nullify any curse. Indeed, Christ became a curse for us that we might be blessed. But curses aren’t dismissed automatically. We have our part to play through our own repentance and confession and even when the legal right of the enemy has been removed, you will still need to command these rebellious spirits to leave.

So there is the basic reality about curse and how to deal with them. Now that you know, get busy!

One of the most illuminating passages in scripture regarding spirituawarfare is found in the Book of Daniel.  In chapter 10, Daniel had a disturbing dream that he did not understand but could not shake.  He was confident that it was a prophetic dream from the Lord but had the wisdom not to venture the interpretation on his own.  Instead, he asked the Lord for the meaning of the dream and began to fast while he waited for his answer.  After twenty-one days of continued prayer and fasting, David was visited by an angel.

The angel spoke to him saying, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince ofthe Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come” (Dan. 10:12-14).

In summary, the first day that Daniel prayed, God dispatched a powerful angel with the interpretation of the dream. However, a demonic prince assigned to the nation of Persia intercepted the angel and opposed him in the heavenly realm for twenty-one days.  The angel sent by God could not have completed his mission unless Michael the archangel had come to take up the battle.  What we see in this passage is that there is often demonic resistance to the answers to our prayers.  Part of me doesn’t like the notion that demons may work so that my prayers are hindered or side-tracked altogether, but it is a biblical theme.

I sense that most of us want to believe that once we lift up a prayer, there is nothing left to do.  Our sense is that Elohim (God Almighty) will command and everything will immediately fall into place.  But scripture suggests otherwise…at least in some circumstances. Sometimes, there is still a battle to be fought. As Israel was taking the promised land from enemy tribes, there were times that they simply watched and saw God route the enemy.  Sometimes in a moment of confusion and fear, enemy soldiers would turn on one another and kill each other.  At other times, God would convince an enemy army that another army was bearing down on them and they would flee. Later on in Israel’s history, God sent an angel among an army at night to slay thousands so that in the morning, those that remained alive would simply flee.  But most of the time, Israel had to wade into battle and trust that as they fought God would give them the victory.  Sometimes the battle lasted all day and into the night until Israel’s troops were exhausted.

In the same way that God limits his own sovereignty on the earth and chooses not to control every aspect of life here (free will),  he apparently has done the same in the spiritual realm.  There he also allows free will for the angels.  Satan and a third of the heavenly hosts exercised that free will as they rebelled against the King of Heaven and were banished to earth. Apparently, he also allows the enemy to resist his will and our prayers on earth. Typically, our part the battle is to persevere in prayer and faith as Daniel did until the answer manifests.

If I’m honest, I like instant.  I want to pray for healing and see cancer disappear overnight.  I want to pray for a marriage and see a supernatural change of heart before I meet with the couple the next week.  I want to pray for a job for a friend and hear that the phone rang the next day with an amazing offer.  And sometimes, I see an instant answer to prayer.  Bur at other times, I see nothing for days,  weeks,  months and maybe years.  

Here is the question. When I don’t see immediate answers do I assume that God is not going to say “yes” to that prayer or do I continue to pray, believing that I am partnering with heaven in overcoming demonic opposition? I believe that if Daniel had ceased to pray and fast after a few days, Michael would not have been sent to the battle and the other angel would not have delivered the interpretation of the dream.  

Sometimes there is war In heaven that has been activated by our prayers.  Sometimes, the war is in our hearts as Satan whispers unbelief and discouragement so that our prayers will cease before the victory is won.  Sometimes the battle is in the courts of heaven where “the accuser of the brethren” finds charges that he can bring against us in opposition to our prayers.  Those charges might be found in us when we have not forgiven those who have wronged is or have not repented of some persistent sin in our lives.  Sometimes, sin or a curse may exist in the life of the one we are praying for so that Satan has the right to oppose our prayers for the other.  

As we pray, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to show us what is giving Satan the right to oppose our prayers and then deal with those issues through the cross.  When we minister deliverance to people, we often encounter a spirit that is highly resistant to our commands. Typically, he is resistant because something in the life of the demonized person is still giving him a legal right to afflict him/her.   When the person or the Holy Spirit reveals the issue and it is dealt with through the cross the demon is then easily driven out.  

There are times when our prayers are quickly answered, but there are many times when we will have to contend for the answers.  We are not contending with God but with the enemy who wants to thwart God’s will on earth and wreck our destinies. I think we often give up too soon when prayers aren’t quickly answered.  In Matthew 7, Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  In the original language, the verbs tell us to keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking in order to receive those things.  In Luke 18, we are told that Jesus imparted a parable so that his disciples would always pray and never give up.   Endurance is a key to spiritual warfare and victory.

If you have quit praying for something that you are confident is God’s will, pick it up again and begin to pray, declare, and command.  If you are just beginning to pray for something, know that you may see the instant answer, but you may also be required to wage war in your prayers for weeks to come.