Binding Demons Preventing a Person's Salvation

The devil binds and blinds the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel and so get saved; and they may not even realize that they are bound and blinded by demons. They may only be aware that they are unable to pray to give their lives to Jesus. For example, they may say, “I’m not ready yet, stop pushing me,” or “I’ll do it when I’m old,” or “Whenever I consider doing it, I become anxious.” 

Paul the apostle speaks about this in Scripture, when he writes:

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2Co 4:4)

Therefore, when you are with such a person, whom you have previously shared the Lord with, but who has made an excuse or other excuses why they can’t get saved now, you may simply say to the demons in them, 

"Now, you demons who are binding and blinding _____, I bind you right now in the name of Jesus, you may no longer operate in his/her life!"

Afterward you could even change the subject immediately and talk about something else for ten minutes. After doing so, you could then mention that you have invited them in the past to pray with you to receive Jesus Christ into their heart as their Lord and Savior, and ask them if they are now ready to do that with you.

Rebecca Brown talks about this in her book, He Came to Set the Captives Free. In one example she gave, she did this with a coworker, and then when she offered afterward to pray with the person to receive Christ, the coworker was ready to do so, and got saved; whereas previously she said that whenever she thought about getting saved, it made her feel anxious unexplainably, as if she hit a brick wall.

I have seen this happen before in my own life. One time in 1991, I was sharing Jesus with a man in the Upper Room in New York City, which is a ministry of Times Square Church. I was there as part of my training in the New York School of Urban Ministry, as a summer ministry during my Bible school training. I asked this man, whose name may have been Freddy, if he was ready to pray and ask Jesus into his heart, but he wasn't ready. So I asked if I could pray with him to remove any barrier that may be preventing him from giving his life to Jesus. He was willing to let me pray for that, so I did. I prayed that the Lord would remove any barriers keeping him from giving his life to Jesus. Afterward, I asked again if he was ready now to give his life to Jesus, and he said he was ready. So we prayed together and he gave his life to the Lord at that very moment on that day. Praise the Lord.

I hope this has given you another tool in your spiritual "tool belt" to help you in your soul winning efforts to bring people to Christ. As Scripture says, "He who wins souls is wise."

Attribution notice: Scripture quotatio taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright 2011 Zondervan, used by permission. Quotation of prayer also taken from He Came to Set the Captives Free: A Guide to Recognizing and Fighting the Attacks of Satan, Witches, and the Occult, by Rebecca Brown, MD, copyright 1986, Whitaker House. Photo taken by Tony Rojas, tonyrojasstudio, Unsplash.com, Barcelona, Spain, Published on August 3, 2017, used by permission per the Unsplash License.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the Home page for this blog, and you can also find my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God

Our enemy is spiritual and invisible. The apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Eph 6:12).

There's no question we are in a struggle, but how do we fight? Are we supposed to bind the principalities and powers? Are we supposed to tear down regional strongholds? I heard of one Christian leader, who climbed one of the world's highest mountains to do this. That's a valiant effort. But is this kind of behavior true spiritual warfare according to Scripture? Let's get our Bibles out and see.

Armor of God
Let's continue with the passage I've just cited, which is Paul's most explicit teaching on spiritual warfare. He went on to write, "Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Eph 6:13-17). God has given us this armor of light as a highly effective protection from darkness when used properly. Now let's review each piece of armor.

The six pieces of armor are the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the preparation of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. 

The Armor of God is Literal, Spiritual Armor

The armor of God is God's actual armor of light, and is not figurative or symbolic. It comes down from Him in heaven, and it goes on your spirit body. We each have a physical body made of flesh and blood, as well as a spirit body (1 Cor 15:44b). The armor of God is spiritual armor to wear on our spirit bodies.

How to Put On the Armor of God

You may be wondering how to put on the full armor of God, as Scripture instructs us to do. Here is how to do it. Pray like this: "Father, would you please put your complete armor on me now, I ask and thank you for it, in the name of Jesus."

This is what Dr. Rebecca Brown, MD was shown by her guardian angel, as she wrote in her book called, He Came to Set the Captives Free: A Guide to Recognizing and Fighting the Attacks of Satan, Witches, and the Occult. I highly recommend reading this book, which is available from Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, and other major retail outlets, as well as used book retailers online.

How Often Must You Armor Up

In Rebecca Brown's book, regarding the frequency with which we must put on the armor, she wrote: "Father says that once every 24 hours will be sufficient. Even as the Lord Jesus told you when He was here on earth that you must take up your cross daily, so must you put on the armor and prepare for battle daily. You must understand that this is very important. Don't forget to ask for it each day. If you don't have the armor on you will get hurt." 

Pray in the Spirit
Lastly, Paul taught that with our armor on we should pray in the Spirit. He wrote: "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints." (Eph 6:18). He clarified for the Corinthians, in his teaching about tongues, what it means to pray in the spirit. "Therefore let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also." (1Co 14:13-15). When you pray in an unknown language, your spirit prays.

Resisting the devil
One way to combat the enemy is to resist him. Paul wrote: "Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm." (Eph 6:13) When you take up the full armor, you are able to resist the devil.

James put it like this, "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." (Jam 4:7) To resist is to not back down. Don’t give up to the enemy. Don’t give yourself over to the enemy. Don’t give in to the enemy. No matter what tactics he uses, he will be unable to move you off your ground. Stand your ground. The devil will be unable to take control of any area of your life, which is God's territory.

One way to resist the devil is to act in the opposite spirit. This displaces the enemy. What do I mean by displace? When a ship is put into the water, it displaces water. Likewise, if you fill a tub with water all the way to the top, and then get into the tub, you will displace the water, and it will spill out. Where there is a stronghold of pride, walk in humility. This is real warfare. There may be pride all around you, yet in the place where you are standing there is only humility. Your life, which is God's territory, remains under the control of the Holy Spirit. When you act this way, you effectively displace the enemy. You don't have to worry about the enemy reducing you to nothing when you already know you are nothing apart from Christ. It's only possible by the power of the Holy Spirit, because only the Holy Spirit can bring forth this fruit in our lives. We cannot do it in our own strength.

Likewise, where there is a stronghold of envy, walk in kindness and share with others. In place of hatred, walk in love. As Jesus said, bless those who curse you. Love your enemies.  

Pray in the Spirit

Paul the apostle taught us to pray in the Spirit on all occasions for all the Lord's people. He wrote: "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." (Eph 6:18). Notice that we must be alert, too! 

Putting it All Together
Spiritual warfare is more than just casting out demons. It's not just confronting demonic entities that seek to harm, hinder, intimidate, deceive or tempt you. That's just one aspect of it.

You need to make sure that you put on the complete armor of God once per day by asking the Father to put His complete armor on you at that moment, asking for it in the name of Jesus, and thanking Him for doing so. Then walk in confidence. It's very important to do so once every 24 hours, in order to protect yourself from getting hurt. You need not be afraid of the enemy when you are wearing your armor. Pray in the spirit, especially for all the saints.

Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee. Don't back down. Stand your ground and don’t give in to the enemy. And be sure to stay alert, praying in the Spirit on all occasions for all the saints.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Quotations also taken from He Came to Set the Captives Free: A Guide to Recognizing and Fighting the Attacks of Satan, Witches, and the Occult, by Rebecca Brown, MD, copyright 1986, Whitaker House.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the Home page for this blog, and you can also find my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.