Spiritual warfare

But unfortunately for Gabriel, Gabriel did not have enough rank to bind the prince of Persia.

Because the law of spiritual warfare is that only a prince can bind a prince.

And Gabriel was not a prince.

Gabriel was an archangel, not a principal angel.

This is really important.

We're in a spiritual warfare series, and we're not battling against flesh and blood, but against spirits and principalities.

Some of you in this room have a unique makeup, the way the Lord made you in your spirit to speak to demonic forces that only you can speak to and only can be cast out through your consecration.

So I want to talk.

So I, I mean, I was like, I got to get into a counselor.

I'm like, am I going into, am I needing to go into like a clinic? Like what's happening? So I'm, find this um christian counselor in burleson and i was like okay i'm just gonna go straight off the plane no sleep four days looking like a hot mess and i remember being in the airport like feeling people's almost like their i don't know aura spirit i don't know and i was like or hey or i just didn't want to be anywhere around certain people and i was like i've never felt like that before i'm always like what's up you know so i go into her counseling office and i'm like hi so this is what happened just she's like okay take a deep breath it's normal it's spiritual warfare it's a real thing and i was like but not for me you know my first thought was like i'm i'm not into porn i don't do drugs my kids will tell you i'm like what are you watching what are you listening to since they were little and then my friend was like well he's preparing you for battle that's why he's coming after you And I was like, well, that's opposite of what I would think.

You'd think he'd come for someone that's hiding in, you know, in darkness.

And, you know, so that was like my first thought was like, you need to tell people about this because I've heard people say, oh, if he leaves you alone in the dark and you're battling by yourself, it's isolation.

There's no reason why I would all of a sudden have this type of thing, sudden rush of intrusive thoughts.

And so, um, you know, I go to my church, which is my small group at the coffee shop and they're praying over me and I've never done really the oil thing.

And, uh, you know, it's like spiritual warfare guys, like it's real.

And so I was like, okay this is great you know okay Lord that is one time I would tell you for sure if I did not have the Lord I don't know where I would be right now but this was only a year ago you know so I was like and I was talking to my youngest he's like mom I've had those intrusive thoughts since I was 12 and I was like and you never told me you know he's like you just got to chuck it up silly mind yeah it just let it go and I was like really? And that's, but he gave me so much peace even in that conversation.

That it's an Exodus three, five year, a year of holy ground where you choose your daily encounter, but God chooses your holy visitation.

We are currently in a spiritual warfare series.

Anybody felt spiritual warfare while we're in the spiritual warfare series? I'm like, devil, you're a liar.

You're not getting us to stop teaching on this with your intimidation or fear.

We're gonna lean and double down, amen? Ephesians 6, 12 says this, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Is it a God dream? Is it a soul dream? Is it a fleshly dream? And then I give practical advice around it.

So I would go back and listen to that.

But this morning, we're gonna take it a step deeper into the spiritual warfare series Because I believe many of us are having intense dreams or what I would even say encounters with the Holy Spirit or demons as we're sleeping.

When there's a shift in emphasis, eventually what gets taken away.

The emphasis is no longer on spiritual warfare.

The emphasis is no longer on the fact that there is a church militant.

There is a battle.

This should not be perceived as something that is uncomfortable or scary.

You know, some people will say, well, I don't want to talk about demons.

I don't want to talk about spiritual warfare.

Well, first, let me make a couple of principles or articulate a couple of principles.

We bless his going out and his coming in, and we thank you, Father, that your angels encompass him around and about to deliver him always.

Thank you for listening to Daily Warfare Prayers.

Today, we are praying for our son's deliverance.

We are coming against every form of bondage, every stronghold, every chain, every form of captivity, and we are declaring his freedom, his restoration, and his liberty.

Father, we thank You, and it's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen.

Thank you for listening to Daily Warfare Prayers.

This is a prayer for your son, for the influences that are in his life for the bad and not for the good.

And according to reports, the interruptions led to fistfights.

One of the ways violence gets encouraged is through framing the election as spiritual warfare, where the Democrats are not simply your neighbors who have a different perspective on economics and healthcare, but are actually being controlled by literal demons.

We've covered a number of stories this year about worship events that turn violent when leaders yell at their neighbors as if they are demons.

And what many people once thought was a way of processing a spiritual dimension in life, or the principalities and powers of an unseen realm, has actually turned out to have extremely dangerous implications for our democracy.

Also, on that note, David Gushy interviewed me about my book, Weapons of Worship, How the Songs of Evangelicalism Form the Soundtrack of Extremism, in a piece today over at Baptist News Global.

And my book isn't the only one out there discussing spiritual warfare, demons, and U.S. politics this election season.

Michael E. Heyes is the author of Devils of Democracy, America's Love Affair with Political Demons from the Revolution to Today.

So I sat down with Hayes to discuss how this conflation of politics and the demonic realm is affecting our democracy.