Praying Against Ruling Spirits, Part Ten

As a friend and I get ready to do a retreat session on "Healthy Eating", I recall how healthy eating was much easier after I started recognizing when a "spirit of gluttony" was rearing its head. Recognizing when a spirit/energy that's not of God is present is the first step; combating that spirit through the Word of God and prayer is a good next step. (Confessing any sins and repenting is, of course, always good too.)

But perhaps familiar (and negative) spirits aren't always the problem. Sometimes we're just not claiming what God's given us. In the case of overeating, or eating the wrong things to excess, the problem might just be not claiming that Fruit of The Spirit: Self control. Self control is a great fruit! God gives it to us. We do have to say "no" to our sin nature, and "yes" to God's Holy Spirit, but, some battles are with ourselves and not against "ruling spirits".

Which brings me back to today's study on Praying Against Ruling Spirits. In alphabetical order, the next spirit on my list is "the spirit of infirmity". As mentioned in Part Nine, it's important to battle against the spirit of heaviness, which feeds on self-pity, despair and such. A person really has to get their praise on, and overcome that heaviness with the joy of the Lord. But where the heaviness has taken root, the spirit of infirmity can all the more easily thrive.

We need to remember that Paul did have a "thorn in his flesh"; even though he prayed, it never went away. So we don't need to beat ourselves up, convinced that some weakness in our character has led to whatever infirmity we might be stricken with on occasion. But we do need to search our spirit, making sure that we haven't at some point given in to hopelessness, rejection, dejection, etc. The wrong attitude can potentially open the door for a given condition.

I like this though, from the site, Answers to Prayer: "Generally, sickness is not the consequence of a particular sin that a person committed. Sickness is not the result of personal sin. It is the consequence from Adam's and Eve's original sin. It is a consequence of man's separation from God."

But, just so we can stay on guard, we ought to be aware of the following symptoms, which may be fruits of the spirit of infirmity. If any of it seems familiar, keep reading beyond the symptoms, to the Bible verses you can look up in standing against this.

The Spirit of Infirmity: Fruits
(Behavior revealing the activity of this spirit in a person's life)

• Bent body, spine
• Impotence, frailty, lameness
• Asthma, hay fever, allergies
• Colds, fungus, fever
• Arthritis
• Lingering disorders
• Weakness
• Cancer
• Oppression

Bind the Spirit of Infirmity: Bible References

• Bent body, spine: Luke 13:11
• Impotence, frailty, lameness: John 5:5, Acts 3:2; 4:9
• Asthma, hay fever, allergies: John 5:5
• Colds, fungus, fever: Psalm 103:2-3, Isaiah 53:5
• Arthritis: John 5:5
• Lingering disorders: Luke 13:11, John 5:5
• Weakness: Luke 13:11
• Cancer: Luke 13:11, John 5:4
• Oppression: Acts 10:38

Loose God's Spirit:

• According to Matthew 18:18: Bind the Spirit of Infirmity; Loose the Spirit of Life and Gifts of Healing (see Romans 8:2; Corinthians 12:9)

"And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death." Romans 8:2

Amen!

Scammers...

Just a quick note today, about scammers: Beware of any phone calls from "Cynthia", asking you to email "cynthia_scott28 @ yahoo.com". It may be a call to your local business, asking you to email her for an order. OR, "she" may be asking you to email her back because of an odor emitting from your place. Whatever the excuse, DO NOT RESPOND! It's a scam and some folks have actually lost out on this...
(See more confirmation about the scam here.)

More Favorite Desktop Backgrounds

I needed a little intermission from my bible study posts of late... Have to share my favorite-est latest desktop wallpaper. I'm using one version for my older monitor at work, and the longer version for my new, wider home monitor...

Perfect for fall! It includes a very uplifting scripture from Isaiah 55:12: "You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands."

Go to this page for the wide-monitor version, or this page for the square-ish monitor.

Oh, and here's a small sample of the background (but don't use THIS one for the background- it's not a big enough version...).

Praying Against Ruling Spirits, Part Nine

If you ever find yourself caught up in a pity party, bring on the praise and reclaim your joy! The Spirit of Heaviness seeks to weigh us down with feelings of sorrow, despair, dejection and hopelessness, but the sure cure for that is to start praising the Lord. Think of Paul and Silas stuck in jail: A perfect opportunity for a pity party. Paul could have easily said, "Wow, here I was, just trying to do God's will, just trying to tell people about Jesus, and now I'm being punished for that. I'm cold, I'm hungry... How can THIS be a blessing?!"

Of course Paul did not have that attitude. We know from scripture that he and Silas started singing praises to God, they were freed from jail when an earthquake struck, and the jailer was even saved. I suspect none of that would've happened if Paul had given in to the spirit of heaviness.

Beware of this nasty spirit! If it can manage to rob a person of their joy, it's often only a matter of time before a spirit of infirmity follows. The fruits of the spirit of heaviness make it easy for that infirmity to enter in next...

The following are the fruits of that spirit of heaviness, plus verses to read, and what to prayer for.

The Spirit of Heaviness: Fruits
(Behavior revealing the activity of this spirit in a person's life)

• Excessive Mourning
• Sorrow, Grief
• Broken-heartedness
• Suicidal Tendencies
• Insomnia
• Despair, dejection, hopelessness, rejection
• Self-pity
• Depression
• Heaviness, gluttony
• Inner hurts, Torn spirit

Bind the Spirit of Heaviness: Bible References

• Excessive Mourning: Isaiah 6:13
• Sorrow, Grief, Insomnia: Nehemiah 2:2
• Broken-heartedness: Psalm 69:20; Proverbs 12:18; 15:3, 13; 18:14; Luke 4:18
• Suicidal Tendencies: Mark 9
• Despair, dejection, hopelessness, rejection: 2 Corinthians 1:8,9
• Self-pity: Psalm 69:20
• Depression, heaviness, gluttony: Isaiah 61:3
• Inner hurts, Torn spirit: Luke 4:18, Proverbs 18:14; 26:22

Loose God's Spirit:

• According to Matthew 18:18: Bind the Spirit of Heaviness; Loose the Comforter, the Garment of Praise, the Oil of Joy (see John 15:26; Isaiah 61:3

A Deck of Cards

I didn't write this; just got it in an email. But I don't want to forget it, so I'm putting it here, about cards:
"The One in the deck reminds me that there is only one God.
The Two represents the two parts of the Bible, Old and New Testaments
The Three represents the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost.
The Four stands for the Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John .
The Five is for the five virgins there were ten but only five of them were glorified.
The Six is for the six days it took God to create the Heavens and Earth. The Seven is for the day God rested after ma king His Creation.
The Eight is for the family of Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives -- the eight people God spared from the flood that destroyed the Earth.
The Nine is for the lepers that Jesus cleansed of leprosy He cleansed ten, but nine never thanked Him.
The Ten represents the Ten Commandments that God handed down to Moses on tablets made of stone.
The Jack is a reminder of Satan, one of God's first angels, but he got kicked out of heaven for his sly and wicked ways and is now the joker of eternal hell. The Queen stands for the Virgin Mary.
The King stands for Jesus, for he is the King of all kings.
When I count the dots on all the cards, I come up with 365 total, one for every day of the year.
There are a total of 52 cards in a deck; each is a week - 52 weeks in a year.
The four suits represent the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Each suit has thirteen cards -- there are exactly thirteen weeks in a quarter.
So when I want to talk to God and thank Him, I just pull out this old deck of cards and they remind me of all that I have to be thankful for."

New Christian Desktop Wallpaper for Wide Monitors

Real quick update, between posts on spiritual warfare... Check the new Christian desktop wallpaper here!

Praying Against Ruling Spirits, Part Eight

Thank you, "virtual friends", for the encouragement I've received from previous comments during this study I've been sharing online ;)    It has encouraged me to continue on with the next spirit to pray against in some situations: The spirit of haughtiness.

I'll throw in a little review here, since it's been so long since I last posted...

As Christians we often pray for unsaved loved ones. Sometimes, a person may be so influenced by the devil's minions that the truth can hardly break through. OR, a fellow believer or we ourselves may even fall prey to certain spirits, having a tendency in our sin natures to fall for certain sins over others. If certain fruits are obvious, then a certain spirit connected to those fruits is probably operating.

It's not that a believer can be posessed by that spirit. (Although I suspect non-believers can.) But even a believer can be OPpressed by a spirit...

Of course the best fix is to be so full of God's Holy Spirit that there's no room for anything else. But if you're like me, you're not perfect all the time, sigh...

So we pray! I remember praying against this spirit of haughtiness over certain loved ones (and myself), and I have seen progress, thanks to the power of our God.

Here's the low-down for today's study: The eigth spirit (mentioned in alphabetical order) that we can pray against is the Spirit of Haughtiness.

The Spirit of Haughtiness: Fruits
(Behavior revealing the activity of this spirit in a person's life)

• Pride
• Scorn
• Stubborness
• Gossiping
• Self-righteousness
• Vanity
• Self-asserting
• Back troubles (from refusal to be humbled)

Bind the Spirit of Haughtiness: Bible References

• Pride: Proverbs 6:16-19; Proverbs 28:25; Isaiah 16:6
• Scorn: Proverbs 1:22, 3:34, 21:24, 29:8
• Arrogance: 2 Samuel 22:28; Jeremiah 48:29; Isaiah 2:11, 17, 5:15
• Obstinance/ Stubborness: Proverbs 29:1; Daniel 5:20
• Idleness: Ezekiel 16:49, 50
• Rebellion: 1 Samuel 15:23; Proverbs 29:1
• Contentiousness: Proverbs 13:10
• Strife: Proverbs 28:25
• Self-Righteousness: Luke 18:11, 12
• Self-Deception: Jeremiah 49:16; Obadiah 1:3
• Rejection of God: Psalm 10:4; Jeremiah 43:2

Loose God's Spirit:

• According to Matthew 18:18: Bind the Spirit of Haughtiness; Loose a humble and contrite spirit (Proverbs 16:19; Romans 1:4)