By Steve Long
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. Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)
Our world is in a spiritual battle right now like never before. Most of us are clueless that this is the case. Instead, we are battling people who hold other opinions on Covid-19, lockdown measures, vaccinations, etc. We are treating people whom we disagree with as if they are the enemy. People are not the problem. They never are.
Paul, the apostle, says the real enemy is demonic spirits. When we feel that a person or group is the enemy, we step into Satan’s plan. We miss the opportunity to be a solution. We’ve been duped! I’ve been asking Christian leaders to help me with this blog. I’m hoping to identify what spirits we are up against and then how do we battle them? Some of the ideas I’m presenting aren’t original to me. Hopefully, my thoughts will be beneficial.
Let me back up a bit. I heard through a friend that a very anointed and intellectual leader was having breakthroughs in seeing people instantly healed of Covid-19. His name is Ken Fish (https://orbisministries.org). Ken has a history in signs and wonders, having been mentored by John Wimber. Ken is a deliverance specialist, among other things.
The story as I heard it was as Ken was reading Psalm 91, he was drawn to verse 6.
Nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. (NIV)
Ken went to a Hebrew Lexicon and found that the Hebrew word “destroys” is qeteb. It is the name of a Canaanite god. The passage tells us the name of the spirit that organizes plagues and pestilence, and the name of that spirit is Qeteb.
Note how the Passion translates this verse.
Don’t fear a thing! Whether by night or by day, demonic danger will not trouble you, nor will the powers of evil be launched against you.
As Ken and others pray this spirit off of people, Covid-19 is being healed and instantly eradicated. Wow! They weren’t praying specifically for Covid, instead got rid of a spirit, and the result was healing.
So that got me thinking about what other demonic spirits are at work in our society. What are we battling in the spirit world and how do we pray for freedom for ourselves and others?
When George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis, a spirit rode in. I felt the Lord saying to me that it was the spirit of anarchy. What we saw was the rise of anarchist organizations and thinking. We saw friends turn on each other. We saw followers of Jesus preaching and advocating defunding police, deconstructing the church, revoking laws, impeaching civic leaders, etc.
That spirit of anarchy has subsided a bit, but it is still very current. It is actively working, causing rebellion. I fear that some of the pastors of churches who are challenging laws may have come under this spirit. Their view is that they are right, and every other pastor/priest who isn’t opposing lockdown rules has given in to government control. Heaven knows.
Mark Hardy, (deeperthanwar.com) one of our former youth leaders in Toronto and now a tattoo artist in the UK, shared this with me. “I believe that the more profound crisis affecting us right now as a body is one of polarization and division, and maybe that’s the spirit that’s really behind all this.”
I call this the political spirit.
The political spirit is what Jesus was up against with the Pharisees; a political party. You will remember what Jesus said of them; “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.” Mark 8:15
From Bethel Church, Redding, California, Kris Vallotton (krisvallotton.com) shares the following insights to watch for and self-diagnose to know if we are under the influence of a political spirit.
The political spirit always needs an enemy! This spirit is more concerned with winning than with solving a problem.
The political spirit demonizes anyone who disagrees with them. In other words, we don’t just see them as wrong on an issue; we view them as evil.
The political spirit imprisons our minds and reduces us to partisan opinions. This spirit separates people into two categories; winners and losers.
Along with her husband Dan, Caroline Smith, (facebook.com/carolina.smith.18) who leads LifeBridge Church in Ontario, shares the same opinion. “The political spirit is taking hold of this season more than ever with all the conflicts and corruption. Still, Covid has accentuated the political spirit’s need for control, as world leaders seize the opportunities that Covid presents to hold onto power, take freedoms away from people through fear and legalism. I am not an anti-vaxxer. I believe there is a virus, and I believe we need some protocols to follow to stop the spread. But fear, contention, control, disputes, and divisions are taking hold in the church because of listening to the political spirit.”
Jacob Murphy, (jacobandcarolyn.blogspot.com) the pastor of Catch The Fire Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, shares this: “I believe there is a victim spirit at work. Both sides of any argument these days show victimization tendencies and have a clear human enemy. I believe that is a spirit working hard to divide people and obscure the real source of the division. People are looking around at each other as the enemy, getting angrier and angrier at each other. I can’t recall anyone lately who called out across the chasm of difference of opinion and invited those on the other side to join in prayer and warfare in the Spirit. I think the victim spirit is at work.”
One other spirit is always seeking to take captives, and that is fear. Supposedly there are about 4000 different fears; all of them are bad for us. Having written a book about Faith (The Faith Zone), I think I have a good understanding of how fear works. If faith is acting on revelation from God’s Spirit to get a breakthrough, fear is its evil brother. Fear is the result of acting on a revelation from Satan. Its reward is bondage and blame.
The difference is we believe or don’t believe when God speaks to us. If we agree and act on the revelation, we move forward; we see miracles, healings, and breakthroughs. Fear is what we reap when we say no to what God speaks. Satan and his spirits jump in immediately, and we find ourselves on the wrong side of breakthroughs. Fear steals our joy, our hope, our love for one another, our compassion, etc. The fruit is all bad with the spirit of fear. So, how do we know if we are under the influence of one of these spirits?
First, if you feel angry with people who disagree with you, you may be under one? Remember the passage we began with from Ephesians 6? If you blame me or one of the other Christian leaders who shared their opinions, you have aligned yourself with blaming the wrong being. I’m not the problem, a spirit is, and it wants to distract you by blaming others.
Second, we need the Spirit of God to give us revelation. Paul the apostle, when he wrote to the Galatians, tells them, You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Galatians 3:1
He calls out this church for coming under a demonic spirit that is taking them away from the truth. We need to humble ourselves to ask the Holy Spirit to speak to us on this topic. Have I come under a spell?
Third, we ask the Spirit of God to cleanse us from every and all spirits! If you’d like to pray a cleansing prayer, read this with me:
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sins. Psalm 51:1-2
If I confess my sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive my sins and purify me from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
No weapon forged against me will prevail, and I will refute every tongue that accuses me. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,” declares the Lord. Isaiah 54:17
Father, we lift off every demonic spirit that is affecting our lives. We tell the spirit of anarchy, qeteb, the political spirit, the victim spirit, and the spirit of fear to leave us now. We cleanse ourselves from these spirits and speak to our bodies to receive full healing now in Jesus name.
Fourth, if you’d like the promises of Psalm 91 to be over your life, you and I need to fulfill the qualifying prerequisites.
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1 NIV
My responsibility to protect myself from plagues, pestilence, demons, evil spirits, etc., is to dwell in the shelter or the presence of God. We hide as close as we can to Father God. We position ourselves away from spirits that bring negative consequences, such as what this blog has covered.
Friends, let’s take this week to proactively not partner with Satan by yielding to these spirits and their destructive plans. Conversely, let’s welcome God’s very Holy Spirit that is pure and brings beautiful benefits to us.
Steve Long is the Senior Leader of Catch The Fire Church (Toronto). He is the author of several books including The Faith Zone and My Healing Belongs to Me. Steve and his wife Sandra serve on two apostolic teams; one for the City of Toronto as well as Catch The Fire World. They live in Oakville, Ontario, Canada.
