CAUTION regarding prayer for countries and cities during critical times like the present

1 Timothy 2:1 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
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When in Scripture Paul teaches to pray for kings and those in authority that there may be peace, he is not teaching us to engage the high-level territorial spirits controlling our countries and leaders in direct combat. He is not encouraging us to address them directly by rebuking them in the name of Jesus Christ, and commanding them to leave.
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Such a practice is called “strategic-level spiritual warfare” and is the very opposite of prayer. Prayer is to God above. Rebuking territorial spirits is not directed to God, but rather to powerful enemies in the heavenlies. Prayer to God of course is generally safe. Our Father is gracious, and prayers directed to Him which are not in accord in His will He might simply not answer, and that will be the end of the matter. But when we followers of Jesus attack powerful territorial spirits in the heavenlies unauthorized, we might stir up their fury and thus suffer painful retaliation from them. The Lord does not necessarily protect us from their counterattacks since we have disobeyed His orders by presumptuously attacking them—something the Lord never commands us to do in Scripture.
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In Scripture the Lord does not command us to rebuke, attack, or attempt to drive out such principalities. Rather our responsibilities in terms of offense are all at ground level: we heal sick people on earth, we cast demons out of people on earth, we preach the gospel to people on earth, and we make disciples of believers on earth. Once we go beyond the written word of God, all bets are off.
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If we are concerned that a territorial spirit is influencing our government leaders to make bad decisions, then we should pray to God and ask God to change his or her mind or heart. Let the Lord take action according to His will. This approximates the situation in Daniel Chapter 10 where the prophet, burdened in his spirit, fasts for twenty-one days. The very first day, the angel—presumably Gabriel—was sent from God to appear before Daniel. But on his way he was detained by the prince of Persia, a powerful territorial entity. It was not until twenty-one days later that the angel emerged from the struggle to appear before Daniel.
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During those twenty-one days Daniel had no idea of the titanic struggle which was taking place above him in the heavenlies. He was only fasting, and presumably praying as well.
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Believers must clearly differentiate between prayer directed to God, and commands directed to territorial spirits and principalities. The former is encouraged and even commanded. The latter is generally an unsanctioned practice which could result in unnecessary suffering for a disciple and his or her loved ones. When we go beyond the written word, the Lord’s wonderful promise “nothing by any means will harm you” (Luke 10:19) is no longer valid.
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Luke 10:19 is valid only when we limit our warfare at ground level: healing the sick, casting out demons, preaching the gospel, and making disciples.
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“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing by any means will harm you.”
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“Snakes and scorpions” are only found crawling on the ground. Therefore when we limit our warfare against the enemy to ground-level actions, “nothing by any means will harm us”.
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We must follow Scripture closely when it comes to the invisible realm of the spirit where grave potential danger lurks when we go beyond the commands of our Lord.
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Testimony: An “overwhelming” experience with Strategic-Level Spiritual Warfare that shook up a servant of God

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By Elijah Challenge Co-Worker Mark M.
August 7, 2020
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“I was ministering [deliverance] to a very oppressed lady by Skype, and somewhat in frustration, I commanded the ‘superiors of the chief demon’ oppressing the lady to not give any more assignments against her.
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In other words, I was addressing spirits of higher rank OUTSIDE of the lady, outside of those demons inhabiting her from which she personally needed to get free.
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All of a sudden the air got incredibly thick, I felt an increasing weight on my chest, and a sense of great danger and foreboding. It quickly became overwhelming. I had to mute the screen while I took a moment to cancel my words just spoken and plead the protection of the blood. I did this several times over the next minute or so until I felt the evil and dread receding. I remained shaken up for several minutes afterwards.
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Wow – what a lesson. As you can see, my actions/words were akin to what they call ‘strategic level spiritual warfare’. Of course, you [The Elijah Challenge] have warned the body against this.
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Speaking theologically, it is not that we are not in a position superior to these higher spirits, and even Satan himself (‘resist the devil and he will flee from you’) since we are in Christ at the right hand of God. We have power and authority over them based on our position.
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The problem is this: WE HAVE NOT BEEN GIVEN THIS REMIT (OR ORDERS) FROM OUR COMMANDING OFFICER, TO USE OUR POWER AND AUTHORITY TO ENGAGE THESE HIGHER SPIRITS AT THIS TIME. Therefore, we are operating rogue when we do this, and we have no cover from our forces. And that is serious danger.
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Jesus dealt with personal deliverance. Period. This is why we should use prayers in front of an abortion clinic or other dark places, or over cities, not commands, or at least not commands to spirits whereby we engage them.”
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