We Struggle Not Against Flesh and Blood! Prayer Guidance!

 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12

 

Dear Saints, 

We've all heard the verse above and the ones that follow where the Apostle Paul describes the Armor of God. Yet how often do we really think in these terms when struggles come? Especially difficulties with other people?  In the past several months I've had many encounters with others that have left me either scratching my head, dropping my head into my hands to cry, or pounding my head against a brick wall. 

In these last days before the Lord calls us to "Come up Here!" we were more than warned in the Bible that things would get tough. We were told the road was going to be extremely narrow, yet we get depressed when we find ourselves the only one in our family who is on that road with us.

Yet Scripture tells us that some family members would turn on us, some would hate us, others dismiss us, and some would even go as far as to turn us into the authorities when the time comes. Yet, our hearts still break.

We were told many many believers would fall into apostasy by following false prophets and believing in false doctrines and would drift away from the truth, but watching it happen with friends and family is almost too much to bear. I'm going to list below six types of people I've come across among my own family and friends and how, I believe, the Lord would have us deal with them. See if you can find some of these types in your own family.

Angry Atheist - This person hates God, even though he doesn't believe in Him. He gets angry when you try to talk to him about Jesus. This family member is unhappy, arrogant, and argumentative. I recently had an encounter with this person and it was obvious after a few email exchanges that he was making no sense, hating me for no reason, no matter what Olive branch I held out. The Lord told me clearly that this person was filled with demons and I was only arguing with them, not with this person. In fact, any time you are speaking to someone, doing your best to be reasonable and kind and all you get in return is hatred and confusion, it's a real good sign this person is demon possessed. You can almost see the little buggers laughing at you from within the person's eyes. In this case, it's best to back away and instead of engaging this person, pray and fast regularly for them.

 

Happy Agnostic - This person thinks there might be a God and may even mention Him from time to time but doesn't care enough to seek God or find out if He exists and if so, what God may want from them. This family member drives me nuts. I've told them the Gospel, sent them countless Scriptures and sermons, told them my testimony, but they just smile and listen and then go on with their lives as usual. This person is generally non confrontational and believes everyone is entitled to their own views, but that this religious stuff is not for them. After doing all I can with this person, the Lord has told me to stop. Unless this person comes to me to ask about God, I am to just love them and be a good example to them. And, of course, keep praying.

Lukewarm Believer. This family member believes in Jesus, had a great supernatural salvation experience, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and spent the first several months of his salvation reading the Bible. Then slowly over the years, his zeal for the Lord died out. Now, as far as I can tell, he never picks up his Bible. I think he might still pray now and then, but he spends his spare time watching the news, looking at things online, or watching silly shows on TV. He never talks about the Lord or what He's doing in his life and he has no interest in discussing Biblical things. Though he steers away from willful sin, his main interest lies in things of this world. We are told in the Bible to warn this type of believer, to do our best to get them back on the narrow road, to encourage them to read the Bible and have a close walk with the Lord. This, I have done to the best of my ability. In this case, however, the person has a great deal of pride and takes great offense at being told he is doing something wrong, so I must be diplomatic. However, after several attempts, once again, the Lord has instructed me to love this person, be a good example, and pray. Unfortunately, the Lord tells us that He will vomit the Lukewarm believer out of His mouth. Not a lovely prospect.

 

Strong Believer but prefers to have her head in the sand  This person loves the Lord, reads her Bible, worships God, wants to follow Jesus and obey Him, but she has little to no interest in endtimes, prophecies coming true from the Bible, or warnings about vaccines. Whenever I have tried to tell her, she has asked me to stop. However, we do talk about the Lord and the things He is teaching us and how wonderful He is, so I know this person is on the narrow road and heading toward heaven. I just worry that, because she is not aware of the times in which we live, she will be easily deceived. In this case, I believe the Lord wants me to see what happens, wait on His signal, and if I see this person heading in the wrong direction, to warn her.  So I continue to pray for her and wait on the Lord. This person will be taken in the rapture.

 

Carnal Christians.  These family members got saved when they were young, seemed to love the Lord, but as they grew up, they got entangled in the world and the things of the world, and soon drifted so far from the Lord that He really isn't a part of their lives anymore. These types are often the Once Saved Always Saved believers who think that all they need to do is believe in Jesus and they can live anyway they want. They are often involved in sinful activities that are displeasing to the Lord, and they may even attend church on Sundays, fulfilling their perceived duties as Christians. Their thoughts, plans, and heart are on the pleasures of this world.  The Apostle Paul tells us to first warn these types of believers, and if they don't listen, to cast them from the church and stay away from them. This, of course, flies in the face of so many seeker-friendly churches today who allow homosexuals and others willfully living in sin to not only join the church but volunteer for service.  Anyway, if you have one of these in your family, do as Paul says, warn them once or twice, but otherwise stay out of their lives as much as is possible.

Deceived Believers who have fallen for False Doctrines.  I have an entire clan of my family stuck in this, and I have watched them go from being excited and in love with the Lord to being not only complacent but living in willful sin.  In my case, these people got sucked up into the Trump phenomena and QAnon. At first it seemed harmless and maybe even a little Christian since Q portrays himself as a believer and uses Scriptures all the time. I admit to even looking at some of his posts, but I found them weird and cryptic and riddled with strange codes that had to be deciphered.  (almost like a cult). Still, it seemed a patriotic endeavor to reclaim America for God. The weird thing about deception is that it's very deceptive! (Yes, you can quote me on that. LOL)  It creeps in and steals away truth bit by bit so that you hardly notice when it's gone. Not only that but once you take that first step, you are far more susceptible to more deception. Hence, this Q thing and Trump obsession, then led to NAR or the New Apostolic Reformation or Dominionism.  Now, these family members believe that Trump will return and "God will use him to save the world". That is a direct quote from said family member. In fact, all they talk about is this Great Awakening and Great Revival that is coming. They no longer believe in the rapture either. 

Yet the tell tale sign that this is not from God (beside the fact that it isn't Biblical) is that these family members no longer hardly mention the Lord. Not only that, but two of their grown kids are living in sin and they talk about it without a speck of shame or remorse. In fact, quite the opposite. In addition, they are all about parties, boating, vacations, and every time they send me a picture, it is of them with an alcoholic drink in hand. They are making plans for years in advance, and are completely in love with this world and the things of this world. How the devil must be rejoicing, for he was able to take a good Christian family and turn them into apostate, deceived, believers.  I have tried to talk to them but they just get angry and stop talking to me. It's sad. I have a good friend involved in this and when I tried to warn her, she because enraged with me and told me never to speak to her again. Interesting how the love of God for fellow believers seems to leave people who are deceived.

Now, for the battle. We all need to realize that in each case above, we are not battling these individuals but instead, we are fighting against demonic spirits and powers of darkness that have either possessed these people or lured them away from the truth. It is important to forgive them for any pain they've caused you and move ahead to battle accordingly. 

You first battle with the truth, and that's by speaking to them, telling them the Gospel, warning them, admonishing them, and encouraging them with the love of God. If they don't listen, then you do not retreat, but you get out the even bigger guns of prayer, fasting, and binding and rebuking. I will leave you with a few warfare prayers below, but I urge to pray as the Holy Spirit leads, and search the Bible for Scripture you can use as well. Remember that it may seem like your prayers are just drifting up and being swept away by the wind, but that's not true. We know that the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective! 

 

The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much when put into action and made effective by God—it is dynamic and can have tremendous power.  James 5:16 Amplified

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.  For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Before I go, I want to encourage those of you who have lost or wayward children to read this great post by my friend and excellent author, Jocelyn Andersen. I guarantee, it will bless your socks off!

Directions for battle prayers

I'm only going to give you some ideas, based on what I know and what I do, but I don't want to give you specific prayers or what ends up happening is people just repeat them without meaning. So, here goes. These are all based on Scriptures, though I didn't have time to look each one up.

 

In the name of Jesus, you can break the strongholds keeping them from knowing God and knowing the truth. You can pull down the strongholds and crush the fortresses the enemy has erected keeping them from God. 

 

In the name of Jesus and by the power of the blood of Jesus, you can bind and muzzle every evil spirit inside of them, outside of them, tormenting them, and in their homes. You can plead the blood of Jesus against every evil spirit and ruler of darkness attacking them. Note: You can't cast demons out of a person who doesn't want them gone, but you can muzzle them and forbid them to speak or lure the person into further darkness.

In the name of Jesus, you can remove the yolk of oppression from their shoulders, lift the veil of blindness from their eyes, and ask the Lord to transfer them from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God

Plead the blood of Jesus over them to remove any evil curses they've brought on themselves or that have been put on them. You can command those curses be lifted and the eyes of their hearts be opened to the knowledge of the truth. 

Pray for the Lord to break and dissolve any soul ties they have with people or things of this world that are keeping them from Him. Pray to remove any people from their lives who are leading them astray. Rebuke and command those people and things to leave this person's life and not return.

In the name of Jesus break any demonic influence over them brought on by substance abuse. Ask the Lord to make these substances distasteful to them or make them sick with it. 

Ask the Lord to bring Godly friends into their lives, mentors, people who will share the truth with them in love, plant seeds and water them. (the seeds, not the person)

Ask the Lord to make the things of this world distasteful to them, unfulfilling, boring, monotonous. 

Ask the Lord to confuse and confound the enemy's attempts to keep this person in darkness. In the name of Jesus, cancel all of Satan's plans for them and break every evil assignment against them. 

And if you can handle it, pray that the Lord causes calamity to strike them, but only enough that will turn them to Him. This is a hard prayer to say, but sometimes this is the only way. 

Remind the Lord that He doesn't wish any to perish and that the prayers of the righteous are powerful. If this is a child or grandchild you are praying for, remind the Lord of both the countless examples and the Scriptures in the Bible that say the descendants of the righteous will be delivered. 

If you can, fast at least one day a week, or skip one meal if that's all you can do while you are praying for this person. This will make your prayer missile hypersonic instead of just an ordinary missile. 

Most of all, end your prayers with praises to our Lord, sing songs, thank Him, tell Him how wonderful He is, how much you love Him!  There is much power in the praises of God's children.

Then Rest in the Lord and Trust Him.