CONTROLLING YOUR ANGER
(This is blog 17 in the series “Names of Satan.”)
Satan is called Evil One (John 17:5), Wicked One (Ephesians 6:16), Lawless One (2 Thessalonians 2:8-10) and Man of Sin (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). He is just plain nasty. Sometimes he hides it outwardly to get what he wants, but he is rotten to the core. Perhaps you know someone like this. They are full of anger and bitterness. They hide it, but you know it is there and can come out at any time. Perhaps you struggle with anger yourself. Let’s look at having victory over anger.
Anger comes from mishandling hurt and pain. Instead of feeling it as hurt we turn it into anger. Demons are behind and use anger, too. They made Saul angry at David, so much so that he tried to kill David (1 Samuel 18:10-11; 19:9-10). Paul says there is a very close connection between anger and demonizing (Ephesians 4:27).
As I said before, anger comes from pain and hurt that is buried inside. You can’t bury something alive and think you are getting rid of it. The hurt must be dead – faced, admitted, healed, removed, forgiven. When a person buries hurt alive it keeps poising everything until it is dug out and destroyed.
While there is a legitimate use for anger (‘righteous indignation’) most of what we face is not right. Anger is a secondary emotion, unlike fear which is a basic emotion. Wrong anger is always the result of mishandling another, deeper emotional like fear or pain. Let’s take pain, first of all. When a person hits their finger with a hammer what do they do? Usually they get angry. What they feel is pain, but it comes out as anger because anger is a much easier emotion to handle than pain. When someone says something critical or threatening it hurts, but the natural response in many is to get angry. That way they don’t have to face the pain – but it stays and causes more and more anger. That’s where fear comes in. It’s not just pain that causes anger, but fear of pain. Fear is at the root of anger in other ways as well. To seek to manage our fears we try to control our lives and circumstances (thus the control emphasis part grows). We feel that is necessary to prevent pain and other things we fear. We use anger as a control tool. The adrenalin rush makes us feel in charge instead of a victim. We learn that people can be manipulated and controlled by our anger (or the threat of it) and we use that to control as well. This is another reason why it’s important to deal with and get victory over the fears down inside. When they go the anger and control issues will become much more manageable. A person can’t stop their anger as long as what causes it is still inside pushing it out. They must get the root cause out, and that is where dealing with the fear comes in.
One of the leading causes of demonizing is unconfessed anger. Anger includes any form of unforgiveness, bitterness, hate, jealousy, gossip, criticism, etc. Paul says these can “give the devil a foothold” (Ephesians 4:26-27). He tells the Corinthians that if they don’t forgive each other Satan will use that to “outwit” them (2 Corinthians 2:10-11). Jesus Himself said that those who don’t forgive others will be turned over to tormenting demons to bring them to repentance (Matthew 18:34). This anger includes anger toward others, parents’ self, or God. There can be no removing demons who have this access until all anger is truly confessed and put under the blood of Jesus. This is one of the first things that usually comes up when we counsel people and pray for their deliverance. Do NOT take this lightly!
PRAYER TO FORGIVE OTHERS
Thank You, Jesus, for dying that I might be forgiven. I thank you for forgiving me. It is my free will choice to forgive those who have hurt me. (Name the people) Forgive me for anything I may have thought or done to hurt them pack. I turn that pain over to You for you to heal. In Jesus’ name I take back any right I might feel I have to see them suffer for the pain they caused me. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen
Do you struggle with anger? Would those who live with you say you have an anger problem sometimes? What are you doing about it? If you aren’t being very successful, use the prayer above whenever you feel yourself getting angry. You can say it in your own words, this is just to help you have an idea of what to pray.
cto Rev. Dr. JERRY SCHMOYER
Christian Training Organization
Jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org
(India Outreach, Spiritual Warfare, Family Ministries, Counseling, World View)
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