If you have (been 'treading') ...
YOU HAVE BEEN FIGHTING IN THE FLESH...A NEEDLESS, POINTLESS WARFARE!
One initiated by the enemy to wear you down, to cause you to burnout. To get you in 'the wrong fight.'
(There is a LOT of ground to cover...so bear with me...)
I went to church for over 20 years-saved and 'full of the Holy Ghost.' I was what some folks call 'a prayer warrior.' For those of you not familiar with 'charismatic/pentecostal' lingo, a prayer warrior is someone who has been deemed (by other church folks, NOT by God) to be so effective and powerful in prayer that they are often 'sought out' to pray for the needs (and wants) of others.
I used to work as a prayer partner for the Daystar Network. Yep....I was the one you would reach when you would call the 800 number and ask for prayer. (Not quite sure HOW I was somehow 'transferred' to that department, when I started out doing data entry for Daystar! ) I also was the head of prayer teams in a few churches. So I am familiar with the term 'spiritual warfare,' as well as the whole mentality and fervor behind such thinking.
I watched church folks, church lingo, the actions and practices of church people for a long time. Yes, I judged, too. But by judging those around me, I was able (by the grace of God!) to finally GET OUT of a corrupted church system devoid of the Spirit of God.
And I am going to share with you the gross fallacy of what these people call 'spiritual warfare.'
You know, when you're in church, praying down the heavens, hollering in tongues, anointing EVERYTHING with cooking oil, olive oil, castor oil, maybe even baby oil, you really believe that you are conducting 'spiritual warfare.' You really believe that you are moving the heavens and 'casting down imaginations,' tearing down the gates of the enemy...'taking back what the enemy stole from me!'
But when you get OUT of churchanity - and search the scriptures for yourself - you come to realize it was ALL a farce!
Now, I'm not degrading the power of the prayer of a SAVED, RIGHTEOUS, BORN AGAIN believer. As a matter of fact, I concur that according to scripture, the effectual, fervent prayer of the RIGHTEOUS avails MUCH!
But what a LOT of people do NOT understand is that the effectiveness and the fervency of the prayer has absolutely NOTHING to do with how loud we pray, how many tongues are spoken, how much you sweat, roll in the floor, cry, wail, get slain in the spirit....it has NOTHING to do with ANY outward manifestation you may see or do.
The effectiveness and fervency of one's prayer is determined NOT on one's performance during prayer. It's NOT determined by how long one fast, or how many tongues they rattle off. It's NOT determined by any outward calisthenics one displays during a prayer meeting (like we have all seen in church prayer meetings). It has NOTHING to do with the outward display of emotion.
NO!
I just want to blast this LIE about there being ANY 'prayer warriors' among believers! This is not supported NOWHERE in the scriptures!
What you DO have invariably are SAVED folks who simply had the faith to believe God for what they prayed for...and God granted them the request!
Read James 5:15-17.
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
Do you see that? It is not 'because this person is so powerful, therefore THEIR prayer will be answered!' According to THIS passage of scripture, anyone with the faith to believe will see a healing...and if they are not saved, the Word says 'their sins SHALL be forgiven them.'
Then right before that scripture we ALL have misquoted and misapplied to mean something that it does not...'the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous avails much....,' the Word tells us HOW that prayer IS effective, fervent...
Confess your faults...one to another. Pray ..... for one another!
It seems like to me this fallacy in the church system that sets certain people aside as 'prayer warriors,' or those who have been deemed BY THE SPIRIT OF RELIGION as so powerful, so anointed, so effective in prayer, that now THEY are the only ones who can 'get a prayer through!'
THAT'S A LIE!
ANYONE WHO IS BORN AGAIN CAN 'GET A PRAYER THROUGH!'
This truth also blows apart the whole 'deliverance' ministry thing in the church, too.
I have written on the topic of deliverance before...but as I was sitting down one day, it occurred to me that - amidst all the buzz and hoopla on deliverance - that many still don't fully understand what IS deliverance.
When we hear of someone talking about deliverance, most church folks immediately revert back to the picture of folks up at a church altar, someone laying hands on them, someone puking up their guts, etc.
And I guess because of all the sensationalism and focus on the flesh this 'mode' of deliverance entails, most people become quite fixated and fascinated with it.
But the fact of the matter is that THAT is NOT necessary in most cases where someone is in need of 'deliverance.'
I think we should stop using the term 'deliverance' so much and think of it as 'a renewing of the mind.' Or 'an empowering of oneself to liberty.
The bondage is seldom an outward one...it mostly always entails an inner struggle. A faulty way of thinking or perceiving circumstances or people around you. A lie the enemy has planted in one's mind and that persistence of that lie (a stronghold).
When you find a person who cannot think or perceive correctly what's really going on, they have a stronghold. That whole mentality they have (i.e.'...everyone's always rejecting me or talking about me...,' '...this one's my enemy; that one's my enemy...') when that is not true, that represents a stronghold.
The Word says we are to 'cast DOWN imaginations,' and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. We are to bring into captivity, reign that (false) thought, that lie...whatever it is...unto the obedience of Christ.
Twice in the New Testament, the word 'deliverance' shows up. And in both instances, they speak to what Jesus Christ did for us at Calvary, the remission and forgiveness of sins.
Deliverance word in Hebrews 11:35
"apolytrÅsis"
a) a releasing effected by payment of ransom
b) redemption, deliverance
c) liberation procured by the payment of a ransom
Deliverance word in Luke 4:18
"aphesis"
a) release from bondage or imprisonment
b) forgiveness or pardon, of sins (letting them go as if they had never been committed), remission of the penalty
Calvary was the ultimate 'deliverance' session! Once and for ALL...for ALL mankind!
This whole focus on the outer and ignoring of the inner is the ultimate deception.
The teaching on deliverance, prayer warriors, and spiritual warfare that has spread like wildfire in the church is a lie sent from the enemy to get you on a wheel....spinning round and round. One where you will never stop until you jump OFF the (church) wheel.
Then when you look at that wheel from afar off, you will be able to see how the church has bamboozled you into believing yet another lie!
Plainly put...most, if not all, 'deliverance' has to take place in US. And it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the other person, or group of people, or enemies, or frienemies, or 'haters,' or the 'ites.'
All that type of thinking does is deceive and brings one to paranoia!
Fear and paranoia are the main elements the enemy uses to make CHURCH FOLKS and folks with church-like mentalities believe that the 'warfare' we are supposed to be in is based solely on THE OUTSIDE OF US.
This is what is behind the pushing of the spiritual warfare teaching in the church.
If the enemy can get YOU to believe that a demon tormenting you on the outside is the main reason for the way YOU think, or the way YOU perceive things, or the way YOU interpret certain truths...then he has done his job. He has 'effectively' deceived you into getting focused on an outward battle, getting you enthralled and engrossed on a battle on the outside, and caused you to lose focus on what's wrong IN YOU. What type of mentality, thinking, character flaws, strongholds IN YOU that has you believing what you believe.
That has you believing that demons are standing at your bedside, waiting to pounce on you...like you're so powerful and scary. Like ALL demons have to do is torment YOU.
It actually feeds into a narcissistic mindset that has permeated the organized church system. Now EVERYTHING that goes wrong is 'an attack' on the church! Smh.
(Maybe, just maybe, its just a fulfillment of prophecy, already written in scriptures!)
And just like the entire church system has got this ME-ISM mentality, its me and against the world, the enemy is attacking me on every hand...so I got to 'command my morning...'
That kind of teaching is faulty. It genders fear and paranoia. That can grow into mental illness!
And we wonder why more and more church folks are killing themselves? And others?
They have been feeding into fear and paranoia by believing this lie of 'spiritual warfare.' And have lost complete focus on TEARING DOWN FALSE BELIEF SYSTEMS, STRONGHOLDS, LIES, DECEPTIONS ingrained IN THEM.
Like I said earlier, the deliverance MOST need is INNER DELIVERANCE. INNER HEALING. They need their MINDS renewed.
- If a lust demon is always after you, maybe that just means you need to kill YOUR flesh!
- If an angry, rageful demon is always making you fight or want to hurt someone, maybe you need to CONTROL your emotions. Allow the Holy Spirit to KILL YOUR FLESH so that need to be right or to defend yourself is KILLED.
- If a spirit of poverty seems to plague you and your family, maybe you just need to get up off your face, go get you a plate of spaghetti, and then go look for a JOB. And live within your means!
- If depression seems to plague you, go visit a nursing home, or a hospital, or an hospice. Go see some folks who are about to take their last breaths. It brings a whole new perspective to feeling sorry for yourself and always blaming a demon for YOUR lack of courage and faith!
It's NOT your family. It's NOT your 'church.' It's NOT your husband or wife. It's NOT your co-worker. It's NOT Obama or the government. It's NOT that hottie that just strutted in front of you almost naked, or that dude with those speedos on. It's NOT your boss or supervisor. It's NOT the Illuminati. It's NOT your neighbor.
IT IS YOU!!!!!!!
Now...STOP treading on the forces of darkness. You are just spinning your wheels and the enemy is gaining an even stronger hold on YOUR thought processes.
So plainly put...(I promise; this is the end!), there IS no spiritual warfare, not for a born again believer anyways.
The Word says the weapons of our warfare are NOT carnal, but mighty - THRU GOD - how? To the PULLING DOWN OF STRONGHOLDS!
Strongholds are IN US. IN our thought processes. In our minds. Our souls. NOT lurking over the air over a certain region or country (remember that whole 'territorial spirits' teaching, made popular by that preacher in California, I think his name was Bernal?)
Yes, spiritual wickedness in high places, principalities, powers, (fallen angels) DO exist. But we don't FIGHT against them. Not like some fist fight, or wielding some (physical) sword. We CAN'T behead a SPIRIT! We cannot 'beat up' a demon! We cannot b***h slap a spiritual being!
Read 1 Corinthians 9:25-27.
Paul speaks of we don't fight 'as one that beats against the air.'
I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
If you read the ENTIRE chapter 9 of 1 Corinthians, Paul speaks of LIVING the gospel. The power is in living it...NOT in all this 'I'm more powerful than you, I can run faster than you, my prayer is more effective than you...' crap that is being taught in churches.
We are in a race...and then in verse 27, Paul speaks on HOW we are to live this thing.
Keeping our body IN SUBJECTION. Killing OUR FLESH. Casting DOWN imaginations. False religious teachings. Doctrines of devils. Enduring til the end.
That's how we 'fight.' By staying saved. By doing what we are supposed to be doing.
I am convinced the reason why most folks set up 'prayer warriors' and 'deliverance ministries' (within the church system) is because most of these folks are not saved...so they don't have a leg to stand on...you know, when the Word says in Ephesians 6:12-14.
WE ARE TO STAND. NOT FIGHT!
The good fight of faith Paul told Timothy about was NOT a physical one. According to 1 Timothy 6:1-11, the way to fight the good fight of faith is to flee GREED and COVETOUSNESS. AVOID seeking after prosperity. Not getting into debates over the scriptures.
Read it for yourself!
Everywhere in NEW TESTAMENT scripture, I don't see where a born again believer is supposed to be engaged in any type of 'warfare' in the natural. I don't see Paul mention one time 'cutting off the head of the enemy.' I don't read where Timothy or John the Revelator were 'prayer warriors' or 'deliverance' ministers.
ANYONE who was born again can pray, can expect to receive answer to prayer, and received 'the measure of faith.'
It's just high time you RENEW your minds....and USE YOUR FAITH the way GOD INTENDED you to use it.
If you would do that, your life will be a WHOLE lot more peaceful. You won't find yourself 'in warfare' every day. Satan WILL flee.
JUST STAND!
No comments:
Post a Comment