Love is life’s fertilizer. It nourishes our response to life. If we love as Jesus loves, we will not be encumbered by, unforgiveness, jealousy, boastfulness, anger, greed, impatience, distrust, dishonesty, lust, laziness, lack of confidence or pride.
There are many doctrines that interpret the Bible to authenticate their belief structures. Therefore, there are different beliefs about spiritual welfare and anointing yourself, your family and your home. I believe God gave us the authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions. Luke wrote in 10:19,
“Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
We have the authority to overcome our enemies.
Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:12,
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Paul clearly stated that there are rulers of darkness that fight to keep us in darkness, harms way, and confusion.
David wrote in Psalm 34:7,
“The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him and delivers them.”
David said that the Lord encamps around us. His angels surround us and protect us. We are delivered from the forces of evil.
In Ephesians 6:10-18, we are told to put on all the Armor of God to protect our spirit from attacks of the evil one and his demons. We have the power to cover ourselves, our children, our family and our homes through the Word of God.
If we submit ourselves to God’s Word, we can resist the devil. We can command him to flee or depart from us, our family members, and our home. James wrote in 4:7,
“Submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
According to Strong’s Complete Expository Bible, to anoint in this instance means, to symbolically use the power of the Holy Spirit through the Word and the use of oil. I have witnessed and anointed my home and place of work, and family by touching them and the premises with oil and praying out loud. The Word of God is no match for evil spirits. They flee when they know you are a believer and will use the Word to ward them off. The Word gives us power. Declaring the Word of God, in prayer, is our weapon.
There was a time in my life when I did not believe in anointing as a method of protection against the evil one. I was skeptical of the power (Word) of God changing the atmosphere. But, as I studied, I began to understand what the term atmosphere means in the Bible. There are spiritual battles that take place in two atmospheres. One is physical, we can see, smell, hear, touch and taste. The other is spiritual. We cannot see it in the natural, we can not experience it with our natural senses. Ephesians 6:12 says, we do not wrestle with flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.
The atmosphere of holiness, purity, praise, worship, prayer, love, and unity attract the Holy Spirit – just as an atmosphere of lust, drunkenness, anger, and hatred attracts demonic spirits. (Monticello.com)
When I began to anoint my place of work, I could immediately see the atmosphere from one of tension to one of kindness. The same is true at home. If differing opinions created heated tempers, anointing the home would change the atmosphere. When attacks on a loved one occurred, anointing them provided a protective shield and the attacks no longer had power. This is especially important for children who are bullied and treated poorly by schoolmates.
It is important to choose when to anoint to cover long periods of time and when to pray out loud to immediately extinguish the evil surrounding you, your family, place of work or home. Praying out loud does not mean that you must yell, others do not need to know what you are doing. The same is true of anointing. You can pray in a quiet, whisper. You can anoint yourself and then place your hands on your cubical, office and halls while praying in a very non-obvious manner.
The important thing is to remember that you have power. The Word is your power and using it to ward off evil spirits is God’s promise to give us the authority to overcome evil. It is equally important to understand that when we pray the Word we to overcome the spiritual resistance that is desired to derail the plan that God has for our lives.
The battlefield exists in both atmospheres, we must always be aware and diligent to protect ourselves and others using prayer. “The danger on the battlefield is that we do not take the enemy seriously and therefore fail to put on all the Armor of God before we take another step. We should put on the armor before we anoint anyone or thing because at this point we have entered spiritual warfare. By faith, we put on the armor through prayer, which must be done at the beginning of each day. We can never underestimate the strategy and strength of the devil. ( Wiersbe, pp. 776.)
We must believe that evil exists, the devil (evil) lives in darkness, wherever there is spiritual darkness, there is evil operating through people. Satan’s sole purpose is to destroy our relationship with the Lord and doom us to hell. Through faith we are overcomers. Through faith, our prayers and symbolic oil, have the power to anoint our family, self, home, and place of work to change the atmosphere and ward off the evil of the day that affects us in the most uncanny ways.
How to Anoint Self:
Pray over your olive oil. Touch your fingertips to your head, mouth, eyes, nose, ears, hands and feet. Pray that you will be cleansed, and renew your commitment to God. If you are anointing yourself for a special occasion, reflect on the occasion and pray.
Prayer:
I anoint myself in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As I anoint myself with this oil, so too anoint my body, soul, spirit, and mind
with your grace, mercy, forgiveness, power, strength, wisdom, patience, authority, and light. Thank you, Father, for covering me in the Blood. Thank you for protecting me against the evil one as I pray and anoint say the person’s name, or place e.g., living room, kitchen, home, or office. In Jesus’ Name, I praise your Holy Name. Amen
How to Anoint Home:
How To Do A Prayer Walk Through Your Home. Faithfullycommitted.com, 04/12/2017 How to Anoint Your Home With Oil. kcm.org
Photo by Essow Kedelina on Pexels.com
Images – Google Images
Scriptures – Biblegateway.com, all scriptures in the Post are taken from the New King James Version (NKJV)
Resource/References – Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary; Prayers that Rout Demons, by John Eckhardt; Nelson’s Quick Reference by Warren Wiersbe; Monticelloyouth.com
Visit my Young Christian Warriors site. The earliest Posts were written to help parents guide and train their children to access the Word of God to direct their steps. Later Posts were written for everyone, though I believe the Posts to parents can serve as reminders for all ages.
Thank you for spending time on my sites, if you like what you are reading, follow me, dailyinspiration-lisasthoughts.com and receive the daily inspirations in your inbox, or visit my other site, youngchristianwarriors.com and subscribe.
I am finishing a devotional study, What Hinders Answers To Your Prayers. by Dr. Michael Youssef, YouVersion. Bible.com, and wanted to share the final days study. It aligns with my Post – Worshiping Idols. This devotional plan comes from Dr. Michael Youssef’s sermon entitled What Hinders Answers to Your Prayer.
In Psalm 66:18, the Psalmist says, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” What is “cherished sin”? The Psalmist is talking about the love of sin. He is talking about clinging to, reveling in, and rationalizing sin. That’s the kind of sin that hinders answers to our prayers.
1 Corinthians 5 describes the tragedy of an adulterous man among the church of Corinth who had come to cherish his sin. It had become precious to him – so much that it had completely hindered the Lord’s work in his life. His only hope was to be shocked back awake by facing the consequences of his sin.
A cherished sin does not have to be something as seedy as adultery. It can be something much less lurid, even seemingly respectable. Take, for instance, the rich young ruler who met Jesus. He asked the Lord what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus, knowing the man’s heart, told him, “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Mark 10:21). But the young ruler loved money more than God, and his love of money had become a cherished sin – a hindrance to following the Son of God.
So what is the remedy? Repentance. When we ask God to shine His light on our sin and then repent and confess those idols to Him, He promises to cleanse us from all guilt and unrighteousness (see 1 John 1:9), restoring full communion with Him.
Are there cherished sins in your life? If your prayers seem to be bouncing off the ceiling, come to Him now and confess, saying in the words of poet William Cowper: “The dearest idol I have known, whatever that idol be, help me to tear it from thy throne and worship only thee.”
Prayer: Lord, help me to face and tear down the idols in my life. I long to worship only You. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer” (Psalm 66:18-19).
For more resources and information from Leading The Way, please visit LTW.org.
Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received[a] it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:23,24 NIV
Mark 11:23 states that Jesus commands us to speak to our mountains. ‘Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and thrown into the sea’, clearly commands us to speak out loud. Jesus continually tells us we have power when we speak. We can use it to destroy or we can use it to remove mountains. The power of the tongue can be used for good and evil. When we pray, there are times we should pray out loud to God. Personally, I have found speaking to Him out loud is more effective. It cuts through the airwaves, like the sword of the Spirit. It empowers my faith like the shield of Faith, the two are activated.
There is a caveat to praying with the expectation that God will grant what you prayed, the caveat is, answers to prayer are not unconditional. God reserves the right to answer prayers when they promote advancement into the Kingdom. Sometimes God will immediately answer prayers, sometimes he will wait until other areas of growth have occurred, and then there are times when He deems our prayer requests unnecessary for growth.
Speaking out loud is a sign of spiritual authority, our prayers are often quietly timid when praying in silence. Speaking out loud breaks through the spiritual atmosphere like a hot butter knife. God does not require that all prayers are to be spoken out loud, but He does recommend that we speak to our mountains. Mountains are anything that stands in the way of our moving forward and becoming mature Christian warriors.
Images – Free Google Images
Scriptures – BibleStudy.com
Thank you for spending time on my sites, if you like what you are reading, follow me, lisasdailyinspirations.wordpress.com and receive the daily inspirations in your inbox, or visit my other site, youngchristianwarriors.com and subscribe.
Idols are anything you put before God. Do not raise up a temple of false stuff. There is only one God.
“Do not turn to idols or make metal gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.”
Leviticus 19:4
Idols, according to Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary are ideas or fancies, images that represent a false god. Paul referred to them as ‘vain things’.
Christians like most people get caught up in “things”. Our goal is to strive for things such as careers, lavish homes, furniture, and clothes. We want to be seen wearing the most fashionable clothes, attending the popular gatherings, and hanging around the ‘right’ people. These things only become the vain things when they are put before God. Vain things become more important than God and thus rival for His attention. When we begin to cling to those things that become our primary focus, we no longer focus on God’s love for us. Jonah 2:8 says,
“Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.” Worthless idols also include acts of the flesh,
“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Galatians 5:19-21
Social media is a vain thing. We have become obsessed with social media, we spend hours on social media. It supplants otherworldly things. It’s been reported that it can consume most of our waking hours and interferes with our other vain idols. Society has reached a point where it is easy to become addicted to social media and the fleshly things it advertises.
Advertising is pervasive and is in our face, so to speak. We cannot avoid seeing or hearing about the things of the flesh on television, the Internet, and all forms of the airways. Our desire to acquire them take on their own form. We will do anything to acquire them. We will sell our souls for the things of the flesh, the things that make us stand out above all others. We become driven and before we know it we displace our reverence and respect for God for these fleshly things.
“They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk!”
Revelations 9:20
We have no time to pray, no desire to go to church, no interest in learning the Word of God or establishing a relationship with Him, there is simply no time. God becomes our fire insurance, the only time we spend with Him is when a crisis occurs, most often a crisis created by striving for vain things.
If and when we reach this point, we need to pray to God for repentance, ask Him to give us strength in placing Him first in our lives and relegate the things of this world to their place. It is not wrong to want things or to strive for success. It is a sin when it becomes a hindrance to our prayer lives and becomes more important than our God.
Images – Google Images
Scripture – Biblegateway.com; BibleStudytools.com
Resource – Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary, page 316
Visit my Young Christian Warriors site. The earliest Posts were written to help parents guide and train their children to access the Word of God to direct their steps. Later Posts were written for everyone, though I believe the Posts to parents can serve as reminders for all ages.
Thank you for spending time on my sites, if you like what you are reading, follow me, dailyinspiration-lisasthoughts.com and receive the daily inspirations in your inbox, or visit my other site, youngchristianwarriors.com and subscribe.
Lisa’s Daily Inspirations 