I Give You Power!
And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over
unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all
kinds of disease. Matthew 10:1
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a
sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
A paradox of modern day Christianity is that it has become a religion of
words by men who have a form of godliness and deny its power rather than a
demonstration of power by a mighty God! Yet God's word is unchanging:
Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them.
And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip,
hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying
with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were
paralyzed and lame were healed. Acts 8:5-7
"how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who
went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for
God was with Him. Acts 10:38
We see in these passage of scriptures the sickness and diseases are
oppressions by the devil whom anointed ones like Philip and Jesus healed!
And modern day Christianity knows very little about demons and casting them
out? God's word is unchanging:
'Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to
be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 19:31
'And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute
himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off
from his people. Leviticus 20:16
"Familiar spirits"[1] is the designation of a specific type of evil spirit.
It is so classified because of its chief characteristic: namely,
familiarity. It is a relationship, a familiarity, with a person or
personality. For example, a woman, whom Paul encountered in Macedonia, had a
familiar spirit which gave her powers of divination and Paul dealt with it.
God's word is true:
Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed
with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by
fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying,
"These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way
of salvation." And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed,
turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to
come out of her." And he came out that very hour. Acts 16:16-18
Familiar spirits are common amid the practices of spiritism and witchcraft,
but their activity is by no means limited to persons and practices so
obviously occult. Evil spirits are personalities. They can reason, decide,
express emotions and communicate. Personalities have the capacity to relate
to one another. Two human personalities can form a relationship; and,
through communication and communion, that relationship can be enhanced.
Likewise, a person can form and develop a close relationship with an evil
spirit. When a person forms a relationship with an evil spirit (which can be
done either willfully or through ignorance), he then has a familiar spirit.
Satan assigns one of these spirits to an individual or family. The basic
idea is to determine whether or not a particular party is susceptible to
spiritual things. If the person is the least bit susceptible, the demon
spirit starts watching the individual closely from the outside spiritual
realm. The spirit "starts a file", you might say, and watches the intimate
things that an individual does, making notes on everything. The spirit may
not have the legal right to demonize the individual, but it accumulates
detailed information as to everything personal and intimate that takes place
in their life and their family. After a while, the demon spirit learns
exactly how the victim will respond to various stimuli. The spirit can
actually determine patterns of thought by using the power of suggestion.
In this file the familiar spirit collects details of things like: the
person's talents, habits, neighbors, resources, friends, enemies, mental
abilities, educational abilities, responses to many varied situations, etc..
He becomes "familiar" with everything in that individuals life, without
being noticed, because he is in the spiritual realm. Once the familiar
spirit becomes very familiar with the "do's" and "don'ts" of a person, he
works the best he can to manipulate that person and to influence him in
certain situations.
Communication is the chief characteristic of a familiar spirit. The spirit
responds quickly to the summons of the medium. A medium, such as the witch
of Endor whom Saul consulted (I Sam. 28:7), is a go-between which forms a
communication link between the earthly world and the demonic realm. Thus,
anyone who becomes a channel of communication for an evil spirit is a
medium. He has a familiar spirit.
A familiar spirit is something that a person has, because it is a
personality identified with a certain individual. In the same sense that one
has a book, a friend or a cold, one can be personally identified with a
demon spirit.
When a person yields to a familiar spirit he becomes a medium for the spirit
to speak through her/him! But what many of God's people are not aware that
there are many sincere Christian folks who are unknowingly yield to familiar
spirit who cause them to say and do foolish things and even prophesy things
that come from a familiar spirit, not God. Under "the anointing" on a TV
program on 12/31/89 Healing Evangelist Benny Hinn made several prophecies of
things the Lord was showing him were to take place in the 1990s: "The
Spirit of God tells me an earthquake will hit the east coast of America and
destroy much in the 90s." "The Spirit tells me Fidel Castro will die in the
90's. . . Oooh! Holy Spirit just said to me it'll be worse than any death
you can imagine." "The Lord also tells me to tell you in the mid-90s --
about '94 or '95, no later than that -- God will destroy the homosexual
community of America . . . He will destroy it with fire." As a matter of
fact none of Benny Hinn's prophecies have come to pass because Benny Hinn
doesn't have discernment of the gift of discerning of spirits (1 Corinthians
12:10). It's a fact that familiar and unclean spirit plays all kinds of
games with many Christians and they don't discern what is going on!
Frank and Ida Mae Hammond of Childrens' Bread Ministry, pioneers in the
field of deliverance, setting the captives free from the oppression of evil
spirits, author of the book 'Pigs in the Parlor' have written an excellent
article 'Confronting Familiar Spirits'[2] where they have brought out the
following points
Deception is one of the great tools of the devil that he uses on all people
including Christians. Deception is always present in one's relationship with
a familiar spirit. Usually, the one having a familiar spirit believes that
his spirit-companion is good rather than evil, or thinks that something
beneficial will come out of that relationship. He erroneously believes that
the spirit is a true benefactor who will provide him with helpful
information. He may even believe that the familiar spirit is the Holy
Spirit. He will; therefore, be reluctant to part with something he believes
is beneficial or that is of God.
The person having a familiar spirit may not recognize that it is a spirit
entity with whom he is having a relationship. He may think that his
experiences are only within his imaginations and fantasies or part of his
personality. Or, he may believe that he has contacted God's spiritual realm
through his mind rather than through his spirit. Thus, he may be ensnared,
not because he is seeking something evil, but because he is seeking
something good in a wrong way. A familiar spirit can also work within a
person giving them the impression that a god or God is talking to them or
even making them believe that they have lived past lives.
Necromancy, a supposed communication with the dead, is a facet of the
familiar spirit's operation. Necromancy is an outright deception. Rather
than communicating with a particular person, the medium is in contact with a
spirit which is familiar with that dead person. The spirit is able to give
information and produce manifestations which lead the necromancer to suppose
that he has contacted the spirit of a certain dead person.
There are many avenues through which familiar spirits can be acquired.
1) Divination -Through divination, an attempt to discern future events or to
discover that which cannot be known by normal methods, a familiar spirit is
sought to assist a person in his quest for hidden knowledge, guidance and
power. There are many expressions of divination. Divination includes the
practices of occultists, spiritist mediums, witches, Haitian voodoo priests,
American medicine men and Siberian shamans and the Ouija Board.
2) Transcendental Meditation -Through Transcendental Meditation passive
meditation coupled with trance-producing techniques and the chanting of a
mantra, opens a person directly to the demonic realm. In his attempt to
discover true enlightenment, the TM practitioner empties himself of all
self-identity and will-power. He opens himself to deceiving spirits who
impersonate Deity and divulge false revelations of secret and hidden
mysteries. It is not unusual to find a child who has an imaginary playmate.
3) Imaginary Playmates - The invisible companion is very real to the child.
In fact, the playmate may be invisible to others but appear visibly to the
child. The imaginary playmate becomes a companion and a teacher of the
child. What begins, in the child's imagination, as a technique to offset
loneliness, evolves into a relationship with a familiar spirit which brings
about a change in the child's personality and behavior.
4) Visualization - Visualization is a method used for centuries by sorcerers
to contact demonic powers. Visualization which is a counterfeit of faith is
an attempt to see, by the function of the natural mind, that which can only
be seen by the spiritual eye of faith. Faith has spiritual eyes which enable
one to see the invisible. "Faith is the evidence of things not seen" Heb.
11:1.
5) Drugs - Drugs, especially the hallucinatory drugs, provide a straight
corridor into the demonic realm. This is true of all sorts of drugs ranging
from the ancient peyote to modern drugs known as LSD and PCP. Such drugs
alter the function of brain cells, and pave the way for an infinite variety
of supposed revelations which are fostered by familiar spirits that were
contacted via the drug-induced hallucinations.
6) Necromancy - God's Word clearly forbids communication with spirits of the
dead. "There shall not be found among you anyone who...calls up the dead"
Deut. 18:10,11. Some, whose loved ones have died, are tempted to communicate
with them. Instead of contacting the spirit of their loved ones, they come
into contact with familiar spirits who impersonate deceased friends or
relatives. Sometimes, displayed pictures of deceased parents, brothers,
sisters, grandparents or other dead persons can attract familiar spirits. At
one time, a friend of ours kept pictures of her deceased parents and other
family members in our bedroom. It gave her a sense of their continued
presence in her life. The Holy Spirit convicted her that her dead parents
were not her source of comfort, security or help. The pictures were put
away.
There are some people; however, who have been taught to pray to Mary, the
mother of Jesus, or to other departed saints, as mediators. When men pray to
the spirits of the dead, they are practicing necromancy and courting
familiar spirits. Therefore, it is easy to understand why there are so many
reported visitations by these forbidden mediators. For example, there is the
"Virgin of Guadalupe" and the "Virgin of Medjugore", because familiar
spirits manifested themselves when people prayed to Mary, the mother of
Jesus.
7) Games and toys and rock music - Games and toys and music are a powerful
influence in the training of children but the devil has used many of these
things to introduce them to or seduce them by familiar spirits and people
get influence by them without knowing it. They develop quirks and behavior
patters that become part of their personality. A five-year-old-boy, was
emotionally attached to the hideous looking little creature known as E.T.,
an extra-terrestrial being. E.T. had ceased to be a mere fictional character
in this young boy's experience. E.T. had become a living companion and
friend who visited his bedroom and talked with him. He was conversing with a
demon: a familiar spirit. In such ways the devil is conditioning children to
relate to demons as friends. The child becomes accustomed to these demonic
creatures to the extent that he is even comfortable with them when they
materialize. Tom, a young man in his late teens, was controlled by a false
personality. The alter ego was acquired through his involvement with the
game "Dungeons & Dragons." The game requires role playing, and the player
becomes totally identified with a fictional character. Often, the players
dress in identifying costumes which portray the character they are to
represent. Tom had gradually lost his own identity and had taken on the
identity of his familiar spirit. God's word is unchanging:
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the
faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 1 Timothy
4:1
8) Great Crisis - When a person goes through a devastating trama or
situation like a loss of a family member, a loss of a job, a loss of a home
or a loss of other things, he or she becomes very wounded and open to the
operations of familiar spirits who come in through the disguise of sympathy,
wishful thinking or a suggestion such as committing suicide! When demons
gain entrance to the physical body, they work singly or in numbers. Demons
will attempt to evade detection, or to call reinforcements. (Matt. 12:43-45)
Jesus pointed out that even after being cast out, if the person does not
fortify His life with the full armor of God, a demon can enter with others
more wicked than itself. Jesus therefore warned: Sin no more lest a worse
thing come upon you. (John 5:14)
9) Sexual Promiscuity- Yes, unclean familiar spirits are found to have been
acquired through sexual promiscuity. Fornication, adultery, pornography and
any sort of sexual deviation will give opportunity to spirits of sexual
lust. Some familiar spirits come to people when they are sleeping and
interact with them through vivid sexual dreams or fantasies to carry out
different evil and wicked desires for the mind is a gateway the enemy uses
to influence many people. God's word is unchanging:
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you
once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of
disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts
of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were
by nature children of wrath, just as the others. Ephesians 2:1-3
9) Spirit of Infirmity - This is a spirit that deceives many people that
they have an infirmity because of old age or because this kind of sickness
has been in their family! The spirit of infirmity creates a weakness in the
physical body, or comes to reinforce weakness in the body. There is nothing
in scripture which indicates that this spirit limits its influence to that
of bodily weakness. But in operating in the physical realm, it can and does
work in conjunction with other disease causing spirits. Many forms of
disease such as cancers, diabetes, etc. come in this way. As disease has a
gateway or an entrance to the body, the "spirit of infirmity" then is the
initial "life giving spirit" of many a disease. Jesus illustrates in the
gospels that "the spirit of infirmity" is a demonic spirit working even in
the lives of those people of God who have faith, when Jesus said: Shall not
this daughter of Abraham whom Satan has bound, lo, these 18 years; be loosed
from this bond on the sabbath day? (Luke 13:16)
Observe that Jesus in no way condemns this child of God, but rather He
commends her, calling her a "daughter of Abraham." We notice here, that this
demon as some do, resided within the body for many years, and in this case
occupied this person's physical body for 18 long years, the woman bent over
so that she was unable to lift herself up.
Many people are bound by the spirit of infirmity and demons even today. Only
our gracious Lord Jesus Christ can deliver them from such spirit of
infirmity. Irrespective of the nature of our infirmities and the number of
years we suffer from, only our Almighty God can grant us complete
deliverance from such infirmities.
Solution - God's people need to repent and renounce all familiar spirits
that have entered their lives through whatever means possible and be
delivered from all the lies and deceptions of familiar spirits by the power
and anointing of God. Here is a suggested prayer.
Satan, I renounce you, and I take back all the ground that I ever yielded to
you. God is my source of wisdom, knowledge, guidance, strength and power.
You familiar spirit, leave me, in the name of Jesus. Lord Jesus, I belong to
You. You have saved me and redeemed me by Your blood. I have need of no
spirit other than The Holy Spirit. Forgive me for having sought from other
spirits that which should only come from You. I renounce and separate myself
from all familiar spirits, however acquired. I call upon You, Lord, to
deliver me from the lies and deceptions of familiar spirits and heal me of
all their works. Teach me Your truth and Your ways. It is my earnest desire
to walk in Your will and to glorify Your name. Amen.
Father God, You are the wonder-working God. I come boldly before Your throne
of mercy and grace seeking healing for my body and blessings in my finances.
Deliver me from every bondage. Heal me from every infirmity. Guard me from
all forces of darkness. Cleanse me from all unrighteousness by Your precious
blood. Remove every fear from my heart and let Your divine light shine in my
heart. Grant me the strength of Your divine spirit and strengthen me. Lord
Your word says that You are the God that heals us of all our diseases, all
our sickness, redeem us from destruction and satisfy us with good things.
You said that You would take my sickness away from me and bless me coming in
and going out. Your word says that You desire above all things that we
prosper and be in good health. Therefore I know that it is Your will for me
to be in good health. Therefore, in the name of Jesus, I come against this
spirit of infirmity and spirit of poverty that is trying to overtake me, and
render it helpless in the mighty name of Jesus. Father in the name of
Jesus, I bind every spirit of sickness and disease, every spirit of
infirmity, and every other demonic spirit that the enemy is trying to use
against my life in any way. By the authority of Jesus Christ, I pull down
every stronghold of the adversary against my body, and command him to flee
from every area of my body, as well as my life and my finances, in the name
of Jesus. Satan I render You helpless, powerless, and ineffective against
my body and my finances in the name of Jesus. For greater is He that is in
me that he that is in the world, therefore You will not overcome me, for I
have overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of my testimony, and I
say to You " BY THE STRIPES OF JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH I AM HEALED, BLESSED
AND MADE PERFECT, WHOLE AND COMPLETE!
Heavenly Father, we come in faith believing that Jesus Christ is healer. We
are created in your image and we speak as you speak. We command bones in the
feet and legs to be strengthened so that the lame may walk. We speak to
sores, cankers, diseases, infirmities, cancers, growths and tumors and
decree by the shed blood of Jesus Christ that they are healed! We praise you
Lord God that is so. Amen.
Father, You said if we had faith the grain of a mustard seed, we could speak
to the mountain and it would be removed. So I speak to my mountain of
sickness, poverty and lack in my life and in the name of Jesus Christ, I
command it to be removed, uprooted, and cast into the sea. In the name of
Jesus, I command it to die at the root, and never to spring up again. By
the authority of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I claim total restoration of
every organ, every cell, every part of my body, and in the name of Jesus my
body will function in perfection, the way God made it to and for my finances
that my storehouse be filled to the brim and be overflowing . I loose great
and wonderful miracles of healing and restoration and blessing of every kind
spiritual, physical and financial for me my family my loved ones my special
friends and for your people in Jesus name.
Father, I thank You for hearing my prayer. I thank You for interceding for
me, and not letting Your word return void. I thank You that You watch over
Your word to perform it, and that Your word will always accomplish that
which You sent it to do. Father in the name of Jesus, I receive my
healing, my deliverance, my blessing and prosperity this day and I praise
the name of Jesus for all of it. In Jesus name, I pray all this and give you
all the praise and glory and honor for what You have done, are doing and
shall do! Amen and amen!
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[1] Frank and Ida Mae Hammond, 'Confronting Familiar Spirits',
[2] Frank and Ida Mae Hammond, 'Confronting Familiar Spirits',
Victory Ministries
Sandra and Walter Kambulow
