Luís Alberto Alves
The forces of darkness are defeated through prayer. In other words, it is when the Christian enters into battle against demons. But to destroy these evil works, one must know how to pray. It is like an elite soldier who hits the target without wasting much ammunition. In one of the verses of Psalm 121, it is written that the light of the sun will not bother us, nor will the light of the moon torment us.
This means that the offerings given to demons during the day will lose their effect when you pray saying: “In the Name of Jesus Christ, every work of Satan, done against me in the light of the sun, will lose its effect now, and everything that was taken from me will be returned from now on, just like the offerings given during the night, under the light of the moon.”
In Psalm 91, it is written in verses 4 and 5 that the servants of the Lord “shall not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that destroys at noonday.” What God is saying through these two verses is that we should not be afraid of the terror imposed by demons during the night, nor the arrow that flies by day (situations created by darkness to try to destabilize us, such as arguments over insignificant matters to take away the peace of the Christian).
Darkness
In this prayer of intercession, the Christian needs to pray this word firmly, because there are spells that strike people through arrows and through diseases, which are the pestilences that stalk in darkness (spirits of infirmity), and also the spirits of death that attack through the offerings delivered at noonday. The war against demons takes place in the heavenly realms, as written in Ephesians 6:12, where Paul describes that the fight is against the hosts of evil that inhabit the heavenly realms.
These realms are spiritual dimensions where demons and the angels of the Lord circulate. It is there that the attacks against demons occur. In Daniel 10/13, this context is very clear, when an angel tells Daniel that since the first day, the Lord had heard his prayers, but the prince of the kingdom of Persia (a demon with the rank of principality to act over a certain region of a country) resisted for 21 days, but the archangel Michael came to the rescue to help the other angels of the Lord who were in this war and defeated the forces of darkness.
Christians need to understand that Satan and his demons will always be defeated through prayer, but they need to know how to put this reaction into practice. To do so, it is essential to know the Word of God. One must pray the correct words that will transform into bombs over the kingdom of darkness. There is a prayer of thanksgiving, which we should say when we go to bed and wake up, or when God has granted us a long-awaited victory. It is necessary to separate these two types of prayers.
Evil
In Psalm 35, verses 4 to 6, it is described how Christians should pray when they are in the midst of terrible battle against demons. Remember that Satan and his demons will use people or situations to harm you. The fight is against evil spirits, do not turn the people used by him into targets. Be discerning about this. In the verses quoted above it is written: “Let those be ashamed and put to shame who seek my life; let those who plot against me be turned back and put to shame. Let them be like chaff before the wind; the angel of the Lord will make them flee. Let their way be dark and slippery, and the angel of the Lord will pursue them.”
God is saying that the forces of Satan who are using someone to attack your life will be ashamed and put to shame. These demons, through that person, will be put to shame, because the angel of the Lord (in this case Jesus Christ himself) will make them flee, making their way dark and slippery during this persecution.
Do not forget that demons act in a certain hierarchy. If it is a spirit of misery, the angel of the Lord will pursue it; if it is a spirit of intrigue, addiction, theft, confusion, perversion (demons that act on people's psychology, inverting their values by attacking their thoughts, their way of behaving and acting), or sickness, then it is necessary to name the specific evil spirit that is acting in that situation. This is called knowing how to pray the Word correctly.
Crying Out
All types of offerings to demons are delivered in certain places: riverbanks or beaches, crossroads of streets and avenues, gardens in squares (for demons who pretend to behave like children), forests, near waterfalls, high mountains, cemetery gates, on top of tombs, places where a lot of garbage is thrown (when the aim is to turn someone into a wretch). The serum to kill this poison of darkness is through the prayer written in Jeremiah 22/29.
In this text it is written: “O earth, earth, earth hear the Word of the Lord”. It is God Himself ordering the earth to hear the cry of someone who is praying the Word of the Lord. This is when one should pray crying out that all types of offerings that the demons received on the beaches and riverbanks to destroy someone's life and everything they stole through these spells be returned in the Name of Jesus Christ.
Through this prayer, the servant of God, covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, is giving orders for the demons to restore everything that was taken away through that spell, which materialized through the offerings given there. This same prayer should be made in relation to streets and avenues, crossroads, squares and gardens, waterfalls, forests, mountaintops, cemetery gates, tombs, etc.
Church
Another example of a prayer of war is Psalm 142/7, where one asks that someone's soul be freed from prison so that they may praise the Lord. In this case, one must pray like this: "In the Name of Jesus Christ, free from prison (name the problem, be it addiction, illness, bankruptcy, destruction of marriage, prostitution, confusion, perversion, etc.) the soul of so-and-so so that he may praise the Lord. The secret of the spell is to immobilize the person, which is why someone who is bewitched loses their spirit, no longer has the desire to fight, to go to church, to pray, to fast, feels very sleepy, loses their appetite, tries to bathe less often, starts wearing dirty clothes, stops shaving, leaves their hair very long and does not comb it; in the case of women, they no longer worry about personal hygiene.
By immobilizing the soul, one soon dies spiritually, opening the door to physical death. That is why it is necessary to pray for the soul of this person to be freed from this prison. However, always taking care to mention that God's will prevails so that the intercessor does not enter into a war that is not His, it is something that the Lord allowed so that this person may awaken.
Burden
In 1 Timothy 5/22 the Lord warns us not to lay hands hastily on someone's head, nor to participate in the sins of others, but that we should talk to each other in purity. God is warning us that there are cases in which we must carefully evaluate the situation. So as not to take someone else's burden and bring it onto our shoulders.
As described in chapter 1 of Job, the devil was ordered by God to attack Job and take away all his possessions, but he was prevented from killing him. In other words, Satan's strength is limited by God. He does not have total control of the situation. In this specific case, God allowed this attack. But as described in chapter 42, everything that the devil took away he had to give back seven times more.
In this context of warfare prayers, we cannot forget to pray thanking the Lord at bedtime: “I will both lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety,” Psalm 4/8.
If you get up in the morning for another day of work or study, pray Psalm 90/17. "May the Lord our God be gracious to us; may he establish the work of our hands upon us, yes, establish the work of our hands." In this case, you will be presenting to God what you are going to do today. It is so that the Lord may keep you in everything you do. This is a long subject, and I will write more about it later.
Luis Alberto Alves, pastor at the Evangelical Prayer Ministry.
