PERSONAL EXPERIENCES WITH TERRITORIAL SPIRITS – 2
(Thirty plus years ago God put Don Rogers in my life. He trained and mentored me in spiritual ministry. When he was no longer able to minister, I had the privilege of taking over his “Spiritual Warfare Ministries”. He wrote the following articles in 1999. I have edited and added to his work for this blog.)
In Mark 5, Jesus met a man who had demons and lived among the tombs. These spirits in him were called “Legion,” for they were many. “The spirits begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.” (5:10) They had a lot of power that particular area, because many raised pigs, contrary to the commands of the Lord. They tried to bargain with Jesus to send them into a herd of pigs, so that they might remain in the area. We must not think that Jesus complied with their wishes. He used this incident to show us that demons are real entities, not someone’s overactive imagination or cultural superstition. Only real entities could affect a herd of two thousand pigs enough to drive them into a frenzy down a steep bank on the run into a lake and drown. Ironically, the spirits ended up without a place to dwell and probably had to go where the Lord sent them.
Another scriptural example of territorial spirits is provided in Daniel 10. The angel messenger told Daniel that the answer he had been bringing in answer to his prayer had been delayed for three weeks because a demonic prince over Persia had detained him. The messenger said the angel Michael had come to his aid (10:13). The angel also said that he would have to fight against the demonic princes of Persia and Greece on his return and that he would have only Michael to help him (10:20-21).
I remember on one occasion that I had been called in to minister to a man who had been involved in healing witchcraft. It had been a practice in his family for generations. His friends knew that it would be a battle, so there were a number of prayer partners there encircling the room for support. Shortly after I had bound the territorial spirit and the other spirits that were in this man, a presence manifested itself in the room. He identified himself as a prince from the East that had been summoned to resist us. I commanded in the name of Jesus Christ for him to be bound and to release the man. My command had no affect whatsoever. I continued to command him, but nothing was happening. The spirit had enormous power derived from the large number of people he had in bondage in the East. Suddenly, the Lord showed me that we must all begin to pray. So we prayed at great length for the Lord’s intervention and for His will to be done. As quickly as he had appeared the spirit was gone, and we continued our ministry.
Some high ranking spirits actually thrive on the battle and often we are led to switch course and pray against them. There are some territorial spirits that are extremely powerful, that require a lot of prayer support to contend with them. It is foolhardy for anyone to think they have carte blanche power and authority to come against these spirits any time they please. We are always dependent on the Lord. These types of encounters remind us of that. (Continued in next blog)
COMMENT BY JERRY: Remember Satan uses fear as one of his best weapons, so don’t let these things put fear into you. Instead, pray faithfully and actively as God leads you. Pray for your location and the churches there, that they would be free from anything the enemy is doing.
Please let me know if there are topics you would like to see addressed in a blog. I really welcome your suggestions! jerry@schmoyer.net
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