How to Overcome Territorial Spirits, Part 2 of 2,Ep 2-41

Welcome Back! I am your host Dawn Simmons and in this episode of Conquering Our Unseen Enemies we are going to be discussing part 2 of How to Overcome Territorial Spirits. In part 1 we took a look at what the Bible tells us about the existence of spiritual entities, explained how Jesus overcame enabling us to overcome. We put together a general understanding of the demonic rank and order for territories. In this episode we are going to address how these spirits can affect you and your community, and how we are to enter into the territorial spiritual warfare that is occurring around us. What we do impacts our community and breaks years of satanic influence. So we have already laid the groundwork on this topic, now let’s put a plan together for how to do it effectively but simply in your own area using my own town as our example.

The idea of spiritual warfare can be unsettling to some. I want to take the fear out of it and instead talk about how we lay out a plan of how to pray, what are we praying against, and how can we support our prayer action. When you think of spiritual warfare in those terms, it becomes less about being unsettling and more about being directional, focus and strategic. We won’t be encountering strong winds, fiery darts, ominous unseen forces trying to tear us apart while we defiantly hold a Bible in one hand and a cross in the other forcefully in the air as we take a stand against evil. You can do some of that if you want to but then join us afterward for some less dramatic prayer time.

As we discussed in the last episode, the means with which we enter warfare is through prayer. Now we need to take an inventory of the weapons we will be using during our prayer.

Authority Understand your authority and from where it comes. Authority could be a whole book in and of itself, we need to know as a believer, we can do this, but we need to know why we can do it and then how we can do it. In Luke 10:19 Jesus tells us also, “

authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy;

I have given you

nothing will harm you.”

Binding and Loosing. Jesus gives us an understanding in Matthew 18, “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be[e] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[f] loosed in heaven. In Matthew 12, Jesus was responding to the pharisees when he was “accused” remember satan is the “accuser” of working with satan, “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.“Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.”

The Name of Jesus alone has power beyond what we can measure. Jesus left us with this understanding of the power of His name in Mark 11:24, “

The Blood of Jesus is priceless and we need to use it with the care with which it was given.

Find someone to come into agreement with you. Where two or more are gathered in my name, there I will be also. Matthew 18, “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” We see the same concept expressed to us in Ecclesiastes 4:12 tells us this, “ A

Scripture is incredibly important. Hebrews 4:12 tells us “the word of the Lord is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” sword of the spirit

Fasting: we just did an episode on fasting a few weeks ago. Go back and listen to that to better understand how fasting can produce breakthrough and break bondages. Jesus gave us an example that there are some demons that require fasting and deep prayer in order for us to overcome their strength, but we can overcome them and fasting is one of the ways we are able to do that.

for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” We can never forget our

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask

motivations need to be aligned with Him, but when we are working with Him, His plan of prayer

then we know that by His name we have the ability to change a circumstance. Jesus tells us that

himself in John 15:7, “If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish,

and it will be done for you.”

Though one may be overpowered,

two can defend themselves.

cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

Praise and Worship we know was something David used frequently in his prayer to the Lord. It is also something we can use as a weapon against anything that is against the Lord. The enemy already knows who God is, who Jesus is and is fully aware of the angelic forces that are able to come against it. The forces we need respond to praise and worship of our Lord, so we use that in our arsenal all along the way. That one you can do all day long, it can turn your day around.

5 Steps for Preparing a Battle Plan

1. Preparing for battle

The first thing we need to do in our plan is to pray to the Lord and seek His guidance in all that we are doing. This type of praying, where we are seeking the Lord for guidance on if we are to proceed and then how to proceed is not for someone who is not saved. If you are not saved, you have no authority and will not be able to prevail in anything we are discussing. If at any point the Lord tells you not to proceed, then simply stop. We don’t want to act on our own, we only have power when we are working with the Lord.

2. Repentance

3. Understand How to Engage

Before we move forward, we need to make sure our heart is right with the Lord. If we have any sin issue, it will not remain hidden during this time. The enemy will not like what you are doing and will use whatever he can against you to get you to stop. So make sure you are able to move forward in your prayer without having to look back at your past.

There are two ways to go about engagement. You can engage in prayer with the Lord and pray to Him to enable the angelic forces to move based on your authority and His guidance. Angelic forces respond to authority and His plan, but it does require us to engage that plan, or another way to say that is our prayer activates that plan. The other way is to engage with the enemy directly using your authority. Depending on what the Lord guides you and your spiritual maturity, I would say this tactic should be used less than the first method. Each of us has a level of authority based on our maturity, experience, understanding and faith and trust in the Lord. We are not all equipped to be commanding high level demons to do this or that and we need to know our limits by having the Lord tell us where those limits extend or end. There is a lot more that determines whether we engage with the enemy but for our purposes here, I would say the direct enemy engagement method should be used only as the Lord directs. We can accomplish quite a bit by praying and activating the angelic forces to respond as He directs.

4. Do your Research

Identify territorial spirits in your area. Let’s use my town as an example. What we are looking

for could include geographical territories, political territories, think about our school

administrative systems, the history of your area.

My town is on land that was inhabited by Chumash Indians for thousands of years until

Europeans arrived, Father Juniper Serra arrived from Spain and established missions along

California, which was a Mexican territory at the time, at the expense of the indigenous Indians,

known for his cruelty and turning Indians into slaves, bringing disease to the Chumash resulting

in hundreds of deaths, and then forcing their conversion to Catholicism. During that time, the

Chumash did believe in one God.

Spirits of Idolatry, death, persecution, pride,

Ancient Chumash, which is important to know because you want to go back as far as you can,

Ancient Chumash had a polytheism system, multiple gods, not as elaborate as the Greeks.

Town was founded by two brothers who established a ranch here, they established a catholic

church here and donated 100 acres for a seminary to be established, religious spirits, idolatrous

spirits, perfection, bitterness,

Area also known for a state mental hospital, 1936-1997, with several sad stories coming out of

that time period. Mental Health hospitals did not always operate under the best guidelines for

many years. The number of spirits that could have established a stronghold because of that is

exhausting, depression, schizophrenia, suicide, confusion, grief, bitterness, rebellion, addiction

Agriculture industry big here, large military influence dating back to WWII both are still strong

community influences

So what questions am I asking as I look at my town’s history? What am I trying to understand? As I research I am looking for the Lord to reveal to me the nature of the influences, the names of the spirits in authority. Here are some questions to consider when you look at your own town so you can discern and identify demonic influences:

1. Has the town had any involvement or influence in the history of the country? If so, how?

2. Was the area ever conquered such that a new culture, language or religion was imposed on those already in place?

3. What were the ancient religious practices or beliefs?

4. Did new religious practices emerge and why?

5. How, when and under what circumstances did Christianity, saved through belief in Jesus

   as our savior, enter the town?

6. Has the established government in the area ever collapsed? Why? How?

7. What is the governing nature of past governments? Oppressed?

8. Has there been any wars resulting in conquest, invasion, resistance, or civil unrest in the

   area?

9. Is there a battle site in the area of the town?

10. Are there any other names used for the town? If so, what is origin or meaning?

11. Why was the town established? What was its purpose? (Hershey, PA)

12. Who was the town founder? What was his intent?

13. As leaders have emerged, what were their intentions for the town?

14. Are there any or have there been any religious, economic, cultural or political groups or

    movements that have dominated the town? (movie industry in LA, Anaheim has

    Disneyland)

15. Have there been any traumatic events to the town? (Earthquake, hurricane, war)

16. Are there any or have there been any issues of racial tensions in the town?

17. Has there been any religious conflict?

18. Has there been a sudden event that changed the level of wealth in the town? (Example:

    gold rush, oil rush)

19. Was there any technology changes that birthed out of the area (silicon valley, industrial

    age)

5. Prioritize areas of prayer

Pray about all you have discovered through your research and put together a priority list of the prayer points to engage in prayer against. If you have multiple people praying in agreement with you, then split up the areas to cover more territory. You are all coming into agreement in all areas even if you are praying for 3 of 9 areas. Apply scriptures to each prayer point. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you if there are any areas that may require fasting or the pleading His

blood. Decide on how often you will pray, continue to seek the Lord for an understanding of any shifts as a result of prayer or changes needed in your prayer plan. You want to make sure you are staying connected in prayer to the Lord throughout the process so you are developing in this area and ask for revelation on what is changing as a result of your prayer. When we work with the Lord to accomplish what He needs us to do in His name, that’s when we can move mountains for the glory of God.

I hope this has been time that inspires you to want to learn how to identify territorial spirits that may be affecting your home and your community. We want to grow in Him and learn how to work with Him to build the Kingdom and Conquer Our Unseen Enemies. The more we grow the more our life will change, and you can help change the lives of anyone around you who is willing.

• This is part 2 of our discussion on How to Overcome Territorial Spirits

• Inventory of Weapons Used in Prayer
  o Our Authority: Luke 10:19
  o Binding & Loosing: Matthew 18, Matthew 12
  o Name of Jesus: Mark 11:24, John 15:7
  o Blood of Jesus
  o Come into agreement with others: Matthew 18, Ecclesiastes 4:12 o Scripture: Hebrews 4:12
  o Fasting
  o Praise and Worship

• 5 Steps for Preparing a Battle Plan

o Preparing for Battle: pray for guidance, do not act on our own
o Repentance: address and sin issues
o Understand How to Engage: Pray to God for Angelic Forces to Move, Commanding

the Enemy
o Do your research: 19 questions
o Prioritize areas of prayer: follow up with the Lord, ask for revelation to reveal

changes or outcomes

We encourage you:

·      To have an active Bible reading plan, it will be helpful in gaining wisdom and understanding and it is required for the gift of spiritual discernment

·      If you want to learn more about how to Hear God's Voice, take a look at my book, Loving Conversations: How to Pray and Hear God's Voice.  There is also a Study Guide available and two devotionals out based on the Loving Conversations Book.  One devotional is for women and one is for men.  Those are available on the website www.lovingconversationssalo.com.

·      Follow us in Instagram, @conqueringourunseenenemies

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I have enjoyed our time this week and look forward to spending time with you again next week!