This one came out of left field. I love questions like this:
Q1: When I speak to a family member, I hear the demons speaking to them during our conversation. Is that normal?
A: No. That’s not normal. There’s nothing wrong with you, you have a very active gift of discernment, or you’re certifiably crazy. The friend I know with this question is the former. She is very spiritually sensitive.
Q2: What can I do about it?
A: You can bind spirits and shut them down for as long as you are a part of the conversation. Here is why:
- You are a child of God
- But if you don’t know it and act like it, the world won’t respond appropriately.
- You have authority over evil spirits, through the blood and the name of Jesus Christ.
- But if you do not practice it and actively “destroy the works of the devil”, don’t expect immediate results.
- You are to “be a light” and to affect the atmosphere- “on earth as it is in Heaven”.
- But if you partner with darkness, how dim will your light be?
So let’s say I am in jail, ministering to someone with a spirit of anger, and I myself harbor anger and rage toward someone else? When I walk into jail, I say out loud: “Father, fill me with your Holy Spirit, fill me with your power, strengthen your angels to defend me and carry out your will, put your words in my mouth as I go without any agenda of my own, to do your work.” Then I speak out: “Spirits of anger, rage, malice, confusion, distraction, distortion, murder, gossip, division, false authority, false humility, or any other spirit that opposes the cross of Jesus Christ or his work through me, I BIND YOU, I SHUT YOUR MOUTH, TIE YOUR HANDS, and FORBID YOU TO OPERATE WITHIN 1000 FEET OF ME WHILE I AM IN THIS PLACE.” Then I pray in the Spirit while walking in to give the Spirit of Jesus a chance to creatively speak through my mouth to change the atmosphere, and do kingdom business (of which I know little).
If I carry in my own anger, I seem to have victory in all ministry areas except for the area of anger. This is called a familiar spirit. It’s like having a spy of the enemy in your camp, giving away all your battle secrets before you take action. The mature Christian realizes that through that wonderful gift of choice, if I choose to entertain sinful thoughts or actions, and not have them rightly dealt with and agreements with the underlying spirits broken, then I am giving up my victory in that part of the fight.
This is precisely why the one who comes to steal, kill and destroy sends temptations and trials. That fight in the car on the way to church, that flirtatious work situation on the day you intended to get your wife flowers… the emotional stress just before your husband walks in the door…. The enemy loves to see us disqualified, emasculated, stripped of all confidence and playing on his home turf. So what’s the answer?
Jesus is the answer. Since we can never be sinless, we need to trust in his righteousness, and not in our own. This is not a cop-out. OF COURSE, we are to be Holy, as He is Holy, and OF COURSE we are to not participate in sinful attitudes and actions. IN FACT, failure of choice (when we willfully choose to sin) seems to be directly related to my “results” in ministry, but that has to do with MY FAITH (in and of myself), rather than in the true power of Jesus to overcome all sickness, disease and evil. To the extent that we realize the forgiveness of our own sin, we can operate in the authority of the sinless one who overcame the world.
The REALITY of our own imperfection, along with the PERFECTION of Jesus’ own REALITY is what gives hope to every sinner and saint out there, who continue to struggle with this world of flesh. The more we focus on the reality of Jesus, His power in us, and the authority he has given us, the more “successful” we will be in our prayers and ministry to others.