The spiritual realm is not something that can be perceived by natural senses.
We live in a physical world forgetting that first and foremost, life is spiritual. In the antient days spiritual life was an integral part of people’s lives. It’s not that it was different back then and now this spiritual world somehow diminished, but we have been desensitized to it throughout centuries by the systems, politics, constant religious fights and entertainment world. Some teachings hasn’t been passed on, some misinterpreted, some deliberately hidden…all that so we do not come to the full truth of God’s existence and our place in God’s eyes.
Those of you who read and know the Bible, know that the spiritual realm consist of many spiritual beings that have different roles. Those beings/angels that rebelled against God with Lucifer leading the rebellious act, lost their positions in heavenly realms by wanting to exalt themselves, being worshiped like God and calling themselves gods and therefore the world has been in a constant spiritual battle ever since. In Isaiah 14: 12-16 we read :
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!
For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.”
Notice how the scripture says: “For you have said in your heart”, meaning whatever lies in our hearts is known to God. The Bible also teaches us in Luke 6 “For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Therefore God knew Satan’s prideful thoughts and his willingness to rebel against God as he was hungry of the worship. Therefore the spiritual war is the war of worship. We have been created by God to worship God and not just for his pleasure but to have dominion on earth over all forms of life. That pleased God. In return, God wanted for us to worship Him and be grateful, however Satan hijacked that idea and placed himself above God convincing many people that he is greater than God. Lucifer became Satan and has many names as he will always masquerade himself and will never show himself as the devil.
The devil and his demons have been around before humanity and they know humans very well, they know how we work and how our brain works. They have been studying humans since the beginning and they have very specific, tested and powerful strategies against us. Jesus told us to not be ignorant of Satan’s devices but be diligent and watchful.
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.” 1 Peter 5:8
Demons can very easily deceive people! Many people believe that deception is coming and that it will come with some soft of fireworks and banners as this is how we have been conditioned through Hollywood movies, that the devil comes with two horns and so people look for obvious signs. In reality, he is covering himself as this nicest guy, talented, helpful and as someone you would never think that this would be the devil. The reality is that deception is here and have been here for a long, long time!
Unfortunately, Christians are blind to the spiritual realities around them and the church avoids this topic by only focusing on sugarcoated messages. I am not against the good news of salvation of course, however Jesus said to his followers to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves, meaning we need to know the enemy’s tactics!
“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves”. Matthew 10:6
The focus on the positives can only lead to complacency. This thinking that I am saved and I don’t have to do anything can quickly allow backsliding and spiritual laziness. It is good to be on your toes as Jesus advised in 1 Peter 5 to “be sober, be vigilant”. However, the sense of ease and not being aware of the enemy’s tactics can bring some complacence:
“Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice; you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech. In a year and some days you will be troubled, you complacent women; For the vintage will fail, the gathering will not come. Tremble, you women who are at ease; Be troubled, you complacent ones; Strip yourselves, make yourselves bare, and gird sackcloth on your waists.” Isaiah 32:9-12
The war is ongoing
When two opponents go to war, they send an inside man to find out what weapons their opponent have been using so they can prepare. In the same way we have to also equip ourselves with the knowledge of enemy’s tactics and to not be ignorant of their devices! Just because you are ignorant and you refuse to participate, you are still being part of the spiritual war whether you want it or not. The danger of being ignorant is that you can be used by the enemy unknowingly as I mentioned in my post about the blind witch.
“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.” 1 Corinthians 2:14
The truth is there are two camps: God’s and Satan’s only. There is nothing in between, regardless of what someone told you or you believe. The lack of participation does not exclude you from the spiritual war. In fact, this is one of Satan’s tactics – to desensitize people from spiritual matters, to distract, blind them with worldly matters and convince them that perhaps we have other lives so if this one doesn’t go to a plan, there is always another chance… or the better one – Satan is just a fairytale and doesn’t exist. If however, you are fully aware that there is in fact Satan and we are in a spiritual war, I would suggest you start taking it more seriously.
The difficulty for people is that we don’t see it, therefore it’s difficult to take it seriously, unless you have experienced some demonic attacks before. We would rather just binge on Netflix and chill and not think about it. Out of sight, out of mind type mentality. As someone who didn’t read the Bible before, I was very, very ignorant to spiritual world and enemy’s tactics. In fact, I was so busy living and enjoying my life that I didn’t even think about the consequences of my behavior or implications it would have on my spiritual life. After experiencing that, I now know that life is spiritual and everything we see and experience it’s just a consequence of something that happened spiritually first.
One of the areas of that ignorance is entertainment.
As a big fan of music and movies, this was my go to area for some fun and escape from every day life and I’m sure that is the case for many people. Music is everywhere and is being used everywhere. Music has abilities to take us back in time with nostalgia or invoke specific emotions. Music is also spiritual and one of the weapons of the enemy.
When we listen to music we not only enjoy the artist, their voice, visuals, but we also engage in the spirits that operate in that person. I think there has been a lot of controversy around some artists “selling their souls” and selling particular agenda. When you think about that aspect, your soul is your will, thoughts and emotions. Selling your souls doesn’t mean you go to the devil and bargain for it, but more you compromise on your moral compass, you allow to be used as his representative and promoting the culture and agenda that he wants. You become a puppet for the industry. This doesn’t happen very obviously though, you have to remember that the devil always masquerades itself as an angel of light. So it will be done very subtly: let’s change this about your appearance, let’s maybe do this to change it up, let’s shock them to bring more people… The artist might not be aware what is happening because they will be blinded by the events, money, clothes, glam and glitz. And then slowly, slowly their behavior and character will change.
This is not only within the music industry of course but also movies, business, fashion…any type of industry that tempts with money, fame and luxurious life. When you think about that tactic, it will take you to the story of Jesus and Satan, when Satan tempted Jesus and took him on a hill and asked him if he would worship him, all this would be his. All Satan wanted was to be worshiped… therefore worship is very important in the spiritual realm.
How then the enemy would use entertainment industry as a weapon? Spirits are attached to music and artists. Just like we see in the Bible
“Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him.” 2 Kings 3:15
Also in 1 Samuel we see that the spirit of Lord departed Saul and he was filled with a different spirit:
“But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him. And Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely, a distressing spirit from God is troubling you. Let our master now command your servants, who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp. And it shall be that he will play it with his hand when the distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well.” And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.” 1 Samuel 16:14-18
Music therefore is very important in a spiritual realm. It’s a way of traveling of the spirits through different waves of the music and the energy. Not only it can attract unwanted spirits that can then influence our behavior, but also music with words can bring on a different meaning – witchcraft. Of course I am not implying that all music is witchcraft, but it’s very much used as one of the weapons in satanic kingdom, therefore we have to be very selective of what we listen to and influence our thoughts and brains.
And how the enemy could use this seemingly innocent weapon which is music industry? We know that words have power and in witchcraft, spells and curses are used as a way to weaken believers. Through listening to specific music, not only you open doors to demons and give them legal rights, but you also allow curses to be spoken or sang over you and your family members. You might be singing the song with words like “I’m dying for you” or “I can’t breathe” because the song is catchy, without realizing that you are speaking curses over yourself. If you don’t renounce it or cancel it, you automatically agree with them and their consequences and give demons legal rights to your life.
Music concerts are in reality demonic altars where people worship not the artist, but the spirits behind the artist. These artists get their power from spirits and marine kingdom, which by the way it’s a real kingdom. However it’s not the artist that is receiving the worship but those demons. The artist we see it’s just the packaging.
Similarly in movies, actors that play the part will have spiritual implications and consequences from the role they are playing. It might be just “acting” but not in spiritual world. All words that come out of our mouth will shape our reality to some extent. Notice how movies like Aqua man, Avatar the water, Wakanda forever or Little Mermaid are all those innocent stories and fairytales that hold heavy spiritual truths and spirits behind. It is done in a way where no one would suspect anything and if anyone mentions it, it’s met with mockery and disbelieve. This is exactly how Satan wants to keep it – pretending it doesn’t exist and it’s only story for the movies.
Plans revealed through entertainment industry
We can find out a lot about Satan’s kingdom and his plans through movies or cartoons, the problem is no one is taking it seriously and only sees it as an entertainment. Notice the word “entertainment” – enter – you are allowing it to enter. The word tainment means- “to lead on; to bring along; to introduce.. (obsolete) To meet or encounter, as an enemy.. (obsolete)”. So in short – enter to meet as an enemy.
From my experience, after engaging in the spiritual warfare and taking it seriously, I have noticed that every time I allow myself and relax a bit, after listening to some artist or watching a movie that might have had some lusty undertones, I will experience night attacks pretty much always. I know I will have to pray more, perhaps fast to get rid of those spirits. It’s like if you go to an environment with some bacteria and viruses, there is a big chances you will catch something. We can’t see those viruses but that doesn’t mean they are not there. Once you get ill and have a fever, you know you must have been in the area or maybe engaged with someone who was ill. You don’t question it if it’s real just because you can’t see it. You believe it because you have a fever. In the same way it’s once you have been participating in spiritual warfare, you feel it when you have unclean spirits that entered your body. People should really start taking this more seriously. I can guarantee that if you just engage in the war, if you increase your prayer life, if you start fasting, the enemy will quickly show you that they are in fact real, because they will not like what you do!
So, what are those tactics that the enemy is using that we need to be aware of?
I call it triple F:
- Food – as a covenant but also addictions (alcohol, drugs, medication, junk food)
- Fame – can be also fame through knowledge, enlightenment, money, success, sport
- Faith – testing your faith, illusions, confusion, distractions, doubt, overload of information
The enemy knows you very well, knows your family very well and will be using people around you but also various devices to gather as much information about you and your whereabouts as possible in order to know how to attack. Be diligent in what you share and expose about your life, especially in the times of social media.
Emotions can also be used as a carnal weapon. Emotions based on human reasoning and impulsiveness can lead to actions that are not aligned with God’s will. This is why it is crucial to be able to control your emotions, your flesh and to be led by the Holy Spirit. Demons are skilled in exploiting our emotional vulnerabilities and without control and spiritual maturity we can easily fall into their traps. They know how to push our buttons and manipulate situations to their advantage.
Remember, we engage in a battle that cannot be won with human effort and with carnal weapons! It requires self-control, humbleness, fasting, praying, consistency and faith even if we don’t see immediate results! The enemy is always, always looking for an opportunity to exploit our weaknesses, to get us into our flesh and to put us into a covenant where curses can land. By remaining spiritually alert and discerning we can stand firm against the enemy. It’s a battle!
Few key points to remember when engaging in a spiritual battle prayers:
- You have authority over the enemy (Luke 10:19)
- You have the power of life and death in your tongue (Proverbs 18:21)
- No weapon formed against you shall prosper (Isaiah 54:17)
- You are fighting from the point of victory, not to obtain victory!
- You need to acknowledge that you have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ and created a new in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17)
- You have to proclaim that you have been established in righteousness in Christ (Isaiah 54:14)
- Through Jesus stripes you have been healed and set free (Isaiah 53:3)
- You are approaching the throne boldly as a righteous heir in Christ and you renounce any contract, covenant or agreement that the enemy has put you in unknowingly
- This is your right, take whatever enemy has stolen from you!
- You uproot and pull down anything that the enemy planted that is not of Heavenly Father (Matthew 15:13)
How to start spiritual warfare prayers?
- First you need to repent and have a clean heart, you can enter into a warfare prayer with any bitterness, pride or hidden secrets. This needs to be on a clean heart.
- After repentance, praise the Lord! Praise the Lord as he is mighty, merciful and awesome! Give him praise because he is the creator of everything and your maker.
- Put a full armor of God (Ephesians 6:13-19) you need this entering into a battle.
- Start praying by renouncing, denouncing, rebuking and declaring your authority. The enemy has no legal right to take this, the enemy has no legal rights to oppress you, however you need to speak it! They just hope you don’t know it…
- Remember, all this you can only do with a clean and repentant heart first. If you don’t repent and go into a spiritual battle prayer, your anger and pride might overtake you which will give more legal rights to the enemy.
- Spiritual battle begins in our minds, Satan works that we doubt in God and deny His existence
- We pray from the position of victory and righteousness, not to obtain victory!
By Dagmara Z.