On my way to play Table Tennis one evening I came across a wall poster which announced a church program entitled “That witch must die”. I reckon the program will attract many participants because quite a large number live in the belief that their life is a continuous battle with enemies seen and unseen! Usually, the belief is that the attacks are of a non-physical nature hence the battle is regarded as spiritual warfare.
In addition to the aforementioned spiritual warfare terminology comes another popular phrase: “prayer warrior”. The prayer warrior is battle ready for the enemies, evil doers, witches and so on. The words of Ephesians 6:12 is the usual reference point: - For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].
Recently, a colleague shared with me on WhatsApp 40 prayer points given by a popular church in Nigeria. Many of the prayer points concern declaring war on enemies who are too strong, that the enemies be swallowed up, broken by rod of iron and that the hands of witchdoctors be broken to mention just a few.
Must we live in this way, dwelling on what enemies do or are capable of doing? Must we perpetually war against principalities and powers? Should this be our priority as believers of the Almighty?
Firstly, we need to balance the scripture earlier mentioned with other scripture and promises; and they abound. So in Psalms 91:1-16, for example we read: - He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. This shows that we are protected from evil provided we are loyal to the Almighty.
Secondly, you and I have direct access to the power from above which streams through all that exists! All we need do is use this power for the good and we are able to live our lives as jubilant victors. No doubt there are people who have succumbed to the temptation out of the darkness who use this same power in their intuition and thoughts to bring about evil. They can even form demons! We need not be afraid of these minions of the darkness because by their actions they have passed the power into impure channels which dims it and makes it impossible for them to overcome those who use the power for the good. They will also be held accountable for their malevolent use of the power from above.
Instead of focusing on the misguided ones, (which can even make it possible to attract them) let us direct our thoughts towards how to use the power from on high in a way pleasing to God. With a proper attitude towards this power, we can experience miracles upon miracles in our daily lives and we will no longer have to live in fear of the prince of darkness or his minions. Indeed, evil cannot approach us unless we call it.
Therefore, let us live our lives with childlike and calm confidence in God. The war we really need to wage is the one to conquer ourselves and our vanity and adhere to the Laws of God. Our greatest weapon in this regard is this: keeping our thoughts pure. That way, we will bring to ourselves nothing but peace and happiness!
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