Prayer: The Most Effective Spiritual Warfare And Deliverance Weapon And Tactic

First, you have to gain some level of control, awareness, or inventory of the thoughts and ideas that are in your head. If you have an “atom – smasher mind” that is totally chaotic with all sorts of different discordant thoughts running back and forth, your mind is literally ripe to becoming a demonic playpen. Not only that, but a person having such a mind will find it very difficult to be productive in many areas of his or her life: for instance such a person will have a hard time starting projects, finishing them, keeping appointments, etc. Such a person will either not pay much attention to detail, or pay entirely too much attention and lose perspective.

While in some respects a chaotic mind can seem familiar, calming, and even highly entertaining to people (especially if they allow themselves to get caught up into violent and/or sexual fantasies that resemble the music, video games, magazines, movies, TV shows, Internet content, etc. that they consume) in reality you are putting a lot of stress on your mind (and your body), and the result is burnout. Remember: God’s way is order, Satan’s way is chaos. So, if you are struggling with an out – of – control mind (as I once did) you MUST subdue it so that it will be suitable for God to be master of it.

Yes, one of the things that people who have problems in this area must do is A) take on fewer activities B) get more rest and C) limit external influences. Quit working and socializing yourself to death. Get not only more sleep, but more quiet and sitting down time when you are awake. (Getting into a light exercise routine helps too … it releases stress from your body AND your mind.) Reduce your TV, radio, and Internet time and increase your reading time. When you do consume TV, radio, and Internet, limit your activity to things that are soothing and edifying. Classical music, home improvement TV shows, why not?

Similar, your reading should be less oriented towards popular magazines and the newspaper, but the Bible, EDIFYING novels and such. One of the things that you should realize is that TV, Internet, video games, newspapers, and magazines have created minds that have short attention spans (which increases the chaos) and that are too lazy and untrained to exert the effort required to control it. But any Christian that is going to have any sort of real prayer life and Bible study habits, and who is going to have discernment is going to need to have control over his own mind.

Also, please realize that if YOU do not control your mind, OTHERS WILL. Right now it may be the government and corporate influences that bombard your mind through the media and culture, and the evil spirits that they empower. But make no mistake, in the future it WILL be the beast, the anti – Christ. And I know that Scientology, Buddhism, Hinduism, New Age, and even some strands of “Christianity” offer techniques for you to control your mind: auditing, “mind exercises”, contemplative prayer, meditation, chanting, yoga, etc. What you are actually doing with these is giving full control over your mind to evil spirits that allow you to THINK that you are in control when the truth is that THEY are calling the shots. Instead of messing around with witchcraft and finding yourself bewitched, just obey what the Bible says. Find a quiet place. Get into God’s rest. And yes, Sabbaths are GREAT for resting the mind and body.

After your mind is under control (or while you are learning how to control it) then you will have to learn discernment. Out of all the thoughts, voices, and images in your mind, you will have to learn which ones were put there by you, which ones were put there by God, and which ones are demonic. Now to be honest, the only things that you should trust, follow, and allow to linger are the ones from God. You might want to entertain vanities concerning your own virtue, especially if you are saved, but Christians themselves ought to know that the Bible says that the heart is desperately wicked and deceitful of all things; who can know it (Jeremiah 17:9)?

So telling your own thoughts from demonic thoughts is useful in learning the depths of your own depravity; to what extent that you are still being ruled by your flesh. That does two things. 1) It lets you know the doors that you are opening to allow demons to enter and afflict you. 2) It lets you know how much your mind needs to be renewed by the workings of the Holy Spirit (please know that you cannot renew your mind on your own with works; only faith in and submission to God will accomplish this). Also, if the thought is your own, spiritual deliverance will not work, but rather will not only be an unproductive waste of time but will also confuse and discourage you when it does not work.

While you are still learning how to spiritually monitor your own thoughts, an easy test can be applied: “Does this thought violate the Ten Commandments?” (In order for this to work, you must memorize the Ten Commandments, which a shocking percentage of Christians have not done.) There are other obvious things, such as whether it is a violent or sexual fantasy or thoughts of plotting harm or revenge to someone, but the Ten Commandments are more than good enough to start off until one’s knowledge of scripture is strong enough.

And once you are fully aware that a voice or image inside your head is NOT from God and NOT from you, then the only other option is demons. Even memories: demons have the ability to dredge up stuff to tempt or torment you. As a matter of fact, there is even a type of demon called a “memory recall demon.” So, you CANNOT entertain the thoughts or the demons that send them. You CANNOT try to justify, rationalize, figure out, etc. the thoughts. You MUST IMMEDIATELY RESIST THE DEMONS AND TELL THEM TO LEAVE YOUR MIND USING THE NAME AND POWER OF JESUS CHRIST. Now realize this: only people who have made Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior have this power. If you have not, take care of it right now so that you can begin reclaiming your mind.

You must speak to the demons out loud, even if only in a whisper (which helps if you are around other people). Say something after the effect of “Evil spirit, I know that’s you, and that you are nothing but a liar and a corrupter with no power, and no right to my mind because it is owned, protected, and covered by the One True God. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I command you to go from my mind, and in the Name of Jesus Christ I bind you from returning!” Now you do not have to repeat exactly that every single time. As a matter of fact, if you repeat something from memory, it will only be ritualistic legalism, not spiritually warring from your heart to make it real, and will block the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, coming up with something new and unique each time can be confusing, tiring, and time – consuming.

So just remember these five points: 1) tell the demon that you know that it is there, 2) tell the demon that it has no right to be there, 3) tell the demon to leave, 4) forbid it from coming back, and 5) back your command (it is not bargaining, a request, or demand but a COMMAND, as demons are to have no choice or say in the matter) with the Name, Blood, Power, and Authority of Jesus Christ.

This is how you resist demons that are attacking your mind, and the Bible says “resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Now do not be surprised if the demons (and the attacks on your mind) do not go away immediately. As a matter of fact, when you first start doing this they will fight back very hard in order to convince you that demons are not real, spiritual warfare is not real, and that you are grasping at straws following false doctrine.

Further, some demons that attack your mind are quite powerful (and those are the ones that come your way to hinder you from doing something that God wants you to do, from receiving a message from the Lord, or from being able to concentrate and comprehend when you are trying to read your Bible), and some are quite simply stubborn. So, you will have to keep saying it until they are gone. It also helps to quote scripture from memory, or read scripture until they are gone.

Now this point is often used as an accusatory point by Christians who do not believe in overt spiritual warfare, and teach you that at the moment of salvation you are forever freed from all evil spirits and demonic attack. Their point is that this and other techniques commonly used by charismatic Christians in spiritual warfare is highly repetitious, which not only is sinful but a way of dealing in witchcraft and evil spirits in and of itself. In a sense, they are actually correct, because a great many strands of false Christianity teach you to chant things (including the Name of Jesus Christ or some Bible verse) over and over again until you achieve some desired effect, including but not limited to speaking in tongues, shouting, etc. Look, as someone who came out of a witchcraft form of false “charismatic Christianity”, I am very much aware of these concerns.

But what these very sincere Christians – the vast majority of whom love God very much and are exceptionally aggrieved at their brothers and sisters in Christ being deceived by false doctrines and practices – are forgetting that the key element in demonic rituals is A LOSS OF MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL CONTROL. That is why Paul gave strict guidelines for charismatic activity in the church: following Paul’s guidelines means that a person is mentally and emotionally aware, conscious, and in control of his own actions (meaning that the “slain in the spirit” nonsense is precisely what Paul was commanding that we should avoid).

When engaging in spiritual warfare, you should NEVER surrender mental, emotional, or physical control at any time for any reason. (We were encouraged to “lose control” in the church that I grew up in; maintaining control was called “hindering the spirit” … they did not tell us that the only spirits that were being “hindered” were evil ones.) At all times you should be conscious of what you are doing, what you are saying, and why you are saying it.

That is why it does help to switch to a different Bible verse or change the words or sequence of words that you are using when you are commanding a demon to leave. You must remain calm and at ease, not getting nervous or pacing the floor, not allowing the lies or images that the demons will confront you with disturb you. This is where faith, patience, and unconditional love will reign supreme in order to keep you in control of the situation so that God will remain in control of YOU. Have faith that spiritual warfare is real; have faith that God has given you the power and authority to command all evil spirits to leave your body, mind, and presence.

Mark 16:17 says “And these signs shall follow them that believe: IN MY NAME shall they cast out devils.” The Word of God is not a liar, fellow Christians. Rather, it is false doctrines and false teaching from well – meaning Christians that causes you to disbelieve and not act against these evil spirits that are tormenting you.

*If you require prayer or assistance in this matter you may send an  email