How you ever missed it? Have you ever resisted God thinking it was the devil? 

Sometimes when our emotions get wrapped up in a thing, it’s more difficult to discern His leading—especially when the flesh or soul doesn’t like the way He is leading. Sometimes our flesh wars against the Spirit (Gal. 5:7). When we surrender ourselves to God’s will, it becomes far easier to discern His leading.

That said, there are ways Holy Spirit absolutely does not lead. Wrong teaching, ignorance of His ways, spiritual laziness and a failure of the five-fold to equip the saints for the work of the ministry have led many to follow the world, the flesh or the devil thinking it was Holy Spirit—and that has brought plenty of heartache into the lives of many. Here are four ways Holy Spirit does not lead—and one warning of a current danger.

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1. Holy Spirit doesn’t control, manipulate you or twist your arm.

An apostle I worked with once pressured everyone in his church to get into flipping houses. I personally lost about $100,000 under that controlling mandate. Another woman in the church went bankrupt. Many others lost small fortunes and saw their credit ruined. It wasn’t the will of God at play! That was man’s will hoping for the tithe that came off the flip!

John 16:13 says Holy Spirit will lead you and guide you. Leading and guiding is different than controlling, manipulating and browbeating. If God was going to manipulate and control people to do anything, it would be to join His family. But we have a choice. Now, the Spirit’s conviction may feel like pressure. Holy Spirit will stretch you. Holy Spirit may allow you to feel His grief, but ultimately He won’t force you to do anything.

2. Holy Spirit will not lead you into sin. 

I once heard of a man say God told him to divorce his wife and marry a younger woman. That’s a sin, according to Scripture. Holy Spirit leads us away from sin, not toward it. He convicts us of our sin rather than sanctioning it. 

Consider these verses: John 16:8—”When He comes, He will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.” Galatians 5:16—”I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” And James 1:13-16—”Let no man say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil; neither does He tempt anyone. But each man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. Then, when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin; and when sin is finished, it brings forth death.”

The church needs to stop blaming its sin on the devil—and on Holy Spirit. 

3. Holy Spirit does not lead us through fleeces.

In the Old Testament, people put out fleeces, but in the New Testament, God speaks to us through His Son (Heb. 1:2). There’s only one time in the New Testament we see believers putting out a fleece, of sorts, and it was before they were filled with Holy Spirit. We see the apostles cast lots in Acts 1:26 to determine who would take Judas’ place in the apostolic ministry Jesus commissioned. 

We shouldn’t follow signs; signs should follow us. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for asking for sign. God may answer fleeces from time to time in His mercy, especially for unbelievers. But even Gideon knew he was risking the Lord’s anger when he asked for a second fleece (Judg. 6:36-40). Again, God wants a relationship with you. The devil can confirm a fleece. 

4. Holy Spirit will not misuse Scripture.

When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, Satan twisted Scriptures to try to get Jesus to violate the Father’s will. He took Psalm 91 out of context, hoping Jesus would cast Himself down from the high place. But Jesus understood the whole counsel of God and responded rightly, “It is also written, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God'” (Matt. 4:7).

We need to be students of the Word so we don’t justify our wrong decisions based on a false leading from a false spirit or our own soulish desires and carnality. God does not contradict Himself.

5. Addressing the overdependence on prophets

Romans 8:14 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” Please notice it does not say that as many as are led by the prophets of God are the sons of God. I am not against personal prophecy. It is a valuable gift in the kingdom. But when we rely more on prophets than we do on God, we’re tapping into idolatry and perhaps spiritual laziness.

In the New Testament, prophets are to equip you (Eph. 4:11-12), not lead you and guide you. That’s the Holy Spirit’s job. If you could see the number of emails, Facebook messages and other letters I get demanding, begging and offering to pay for prophetic words, you’d understand where I am coming from. If you need a word from a prophet, God will send you a prophet with a word. But please seek Him. He wants to speak to you directly. You are your own best prophet.

Too many of God’s people are led by fear, doubt, man-pleasing, presumption, assumption, idols in their heart, false prophets and fleeces. Romans 8:14 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.”

Every believer has to make a decision in this hour: Who’s in charge? The Holy Spirit will lead you and guide you into all truth (John 16:13). He’ll also lead you through danger, difficult decisions, conflict resolutions and every matter of life great or small.

The key here is perceiving rightly, trusting wholeheartedly and obeying fully. If you are going to allow the Holy Spirit to lead you prophetically, you need to develop an ever-increasing sensitivity to His Spirit. Here are seven ways I’ve discovered in my pursuit of His heart.

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1. Pray in the Spirit. You may have read about my recent journey through Europe. My passport was stolen. My luggage was lost. About a month before I went to Europe, the Holy Spirit told me to pray in tongues more. I’m glad I did, because I’m sure it activated Jude 20—I built myself up in my most holy faith and walked through those trying times.

Remember, 1 Corinthians 14:2 says, “For he who speaks in an unknown tongue does not speak to men, but to God. For no one understands him, although in the spirit, he speaks mysteries.”

I am convinced I prayed out this journey before it happened. I am convinced the Holy Spirit prayed through me, combatting difficulties I could not have foreseen. Perhaps if I had prayed more, I would have avoided some of the drama. But at least I had a cool spirit through these difficult situations.

2. Ask God for that sensitivity to His heart. I pray this type of prayer every single day. I need, want and must have a greater and greater sensitivity to His heart. Many times, we have not because we ask not (James 4:3). If you’re on my Mornings With the Holy Spirit prayer calls, you’ll hear me pray this and other consecrating prayers frequently. This must be a constant pursuit as the spirit of the world works to distract us from His heart.

3. Spend time with Him. Any relationship demands a time investment. I arise early in the morning to seek His face—indeed, I rise at 4 a.m. Intimacy with God is a matter of priority. What do you value most in life? You may not even have to give anything up. You may just need to reorder your day, learn some time management skills, shut off your smartphone for periods of time, and determine to press in. You are responsible for your time and every change starts with a quality decision.

4. Practice the presence of God. Cultivate an awareness of His presence. Talk to Him throughout the day. Ask Him for guidance, grace and whatever else you need. Thank Him, praise Him, glorify Him in your heart. Think of Him before you take a step, before you open your mouth, and let Him shape your thoughts.

5. Pursue holiness. He is the Holy Spirit. If you want to attract the Holy Spirit into your life, you need to consecrate yourself more and more. Cut out the activities that don’t please Him or edify you. Don’t purposely do things that grieve Him. Be quick to repent.

6. Know Him as Helper, Intercessor, Advocate and Standby. Get to know the many attributes and operations of the Holy Spirit so you can put your faith on Him to be Who you need when you need Him. Check out my article: 5 Ways the Holy Spirit Can Help You Right Now.

7. Set your heart to do His will. Some people are scared of God’s will. I used to be worried about what I would have to give up, what people would think of me, what I would lose and more. True freedom came when I surrendered my will to His will. If you set your heart to do His will in daily life, you’ll be quick to obey when it matters most. Remember, slow obedience is just a form of disobedience.

Say this prayer if you want to walk more closely with the Spirit:

Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask you to give me a heart that is sensitive to Your heart. Help me develop an awareness of Christ in me, the hope of glory. Teach me to turn to You throughout the day and help me avoid the distractions and little foxes that spoil me vine. Let me hear your voice more and more clearly as I pursue Your heart with all of mine. {eoa}

Jezebel wants to rob your inheritance—either spiritual or natural. This spirit is a demonic con artist that will shimmy and shake and manipulate you out of what the Lord wants you to have, do and be.

Some of Jezebel’s con artists—people operating in a Jezebel spirit that the enemy has sent to work you over and out of God’s best for your life—launch spiritual attacks. If you have set your heart to advance spiritually, to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness according to Matthew 6:33, look for one of Jezebel’s con artists waiting in the wings to thwart your best-laid plans.

I remember when I decided to start getting up at 4 a.m. to seek the Lord. It was radically changing my life for the better. When one of Jezebel’s con artists got wind of my progress, she pulled out all the stops to hinder my bedtime so that I could not rise early in the morning to seek His face. There were unjustified emergencies, false alligator tears and plenty of guilt heaped on my head if I didn’t meet her needs.

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Jezebel’s con artists also work against your natural inheritance. People operating in this spirit will bleed you dry financially if you let them, taking advantage of your kindness to supply their needs when they should be looking to Christ and His glorious riches. Jezebel’s con artists will also work to put a wedge between you and your godly friends who might warn you of her stealth attack against you.

So how do you recognize Jezebel’s con artists and stop being one of Jezebel’s puppets?

1. Jezebel’s con artists use flattery. We all know Jezebel flatters her victims. People operating in this spirit will offer insincere compliments—and if you’re insecure you’ll fall for it. Remember, people only flatter you when they want something from you. Don’t let Jezebel butter you up and rob from you. Proverbs 29:5 says, “A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.”

2. Jezebel’s con artists offer false honor. Essentially another form of flattery, people operating in a Jezebel spirit will honor you with their lips but their heart is far from you (Matt. 15:8). They pretend to show honor where honor is due but they are biding their time to strike against you as soon as you don’t give them what they want.

3. Jezebel’s con artists guilt and shame you. Like a child who plays up the fact that you missed their baseball game to get special favors, people operating in a Jezebel spirit will use guilt to get you to perform the way they want. At best, this demonstrates an unforgiving spirit. Remember Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” Don’t take on the guilt and condemnation trip.

4. Jezebel’s con artists put undue pressure on you. People operating in a Jezebel spirit make you feel obligated to cater to their whimsical wishes. Like a bad car salesman, they apply pressure to force your hand—often with time-sensitive requests. If someone is putting pressure on you, let your quick answer be no. And don’t waiver. As Jesus said, “Let your no be no” (Matt. 5:37).

5. Jezebel’s con artists feign ignorance. If you confront someone operating in a Jezebel spirit, they will act like they have no idea what you are talking about. They’ll argue you’ve misunderstood them, wrongly judged their motives and the like. Don’t be fooled. They are pretending not to know but they know exactly what they are doing. Take David’s advice, “I do not sit with deceitful men, nor will I go with pretenders” (Ps. 26:4, NASB).

6. Jezebel’s con artists offer false concern for your needs. They may pretend to care about you but they really only care about what you can do for them or give them. In 2 Timothy 3:13, Paul warned Timothy, “But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” This description fits people operating in a Jezebel spirit perfectly. They are deceived and being deceived.

7. Jezebel’s con artists conveniently forget what they promised. Remember, Jezebel’s con men have no integrity. Know this: Jezebel is a perverse spirit that breathes lies. Proverbs 11:3 reminds, “The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perverseness of transgressors will destroy them” (MEV).

8. Jezebel’s con artists promise gifts and favors they don’t intend to deliver. They make big promises alright but don’t follow through. Solomon spoke of this type: “A person who promises a gift but doesn’t give it is like clouds and wind that bring no rain” (Prov. 25:14, NLT).

9. Jezebel’s con artists play on your emotions for greedy gain. That’s what con artists do, especially in the last days. The devil knows his time is running out. Paul warned in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (MEV), “Know this: In the last days perilous times will come. Men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, slanderers, unrestrained, fierce, despisers of those who are good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying its power. Turn away from such people.” It’s time to turn away from Jezebel.

10. Jezebel’s con artists assume and presume on you. They assume you’ll do what they want. They presume you’ll bow to their manipulation. What if you didn’t? {eoa}

What if you decided not to tolerate Jezebel’s con artists anymore? What if you stopped bending to Jezebel’s will? What if? What if you waged prophetic warfare against this spirit that’s waging demonic warfare against you? You would win.

Some of you are looking back, back, back when you should be looking up, up, up.

Those words rolled off my tongue on one of this week’s Mornings With the Holy Spirit prayer calls and it’s a right-now word for the body of Christ.

As the Jewish New Year gets underway, I sense the enemy is working overtime to keep people stuck in demonic cycles of the past. It’s time to rise up and break those vicious circles once and for all. God has not called you to live in the past. He has a future and a hope for you (Jer. 29:11). Eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into your heart the good things God has prepared for you (1 Cor. 2:9).

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Part of breaking vicious circles and demonic cycles means willfully choosing to forget those things that lie behind and pressing on toward the heavenly prize God has for us in Christ (Phil. 3:13-14).

Notice I said willfully choosing. Pressing past your past is largely a choice. Although you may have to break legitimate demonic oppression—and you may even need deliverance from devils or emotional healing—you have to choose to press. Nobody can press for you.

Looking Back While Moving Forward

I spend a lot of times traveling through airports. It seems everyone is in a hurry rushing from gate to gate—I know I often am. Once, in Atlanta-Hartsfield airport, I saw a man barreling toward me full speed ahead but he was looking backward as he was walking forward.

I did my best to stay out of his path—to avoid what I saw as a painful impending collision. But he was zigging and zagging erratically as he moved ever closer. He wasn’t walking in a straight line because he wasn’t looking where he was going. He was focused on something behind him, on where he had already walked.

Of course, ultimately he ran right into me, and boy did it hurt! You would think he would apologize and start watching where he was going, but he didn’t even stop long enough to see if I was OK. He just kept barreling forward while looking behind. There’s no telling how many others he ran into and hurt in his path.

The Holy Spirit showed me that’s the problem with many people in the body of Christ today. They are racing forward—they are trying to run their race in Christ—but they are looking backward. They can’t see where the Lord is trying to lead them because they are too concerned with what the enemy has done in the past season. Not only that, they are stumbling into things and bringing more hurt to themselves and others in the process.

Other past-dwellers are more like Lot’s wife—frozen as a pillar of salt. In other words, their past has paralyzed them and they can’t find a path forward. Still others seem to have a magnet on their back. They try to move forward in Christ but the enemy has something in them that pulls them into the past no matter how hard they try to press into the future and the hope God has for them.

There’s No Grace to Wallow in the Past

Some of you are looking back, back, back when you should be looking up, up, up. In other words, we need to keep our minds on the things above and not on the things of this earth (Col. 3:2)—and certainly not on our past. No matter what you’ve done or what’s been done to you, it’s in the past. It’s time to move on.

The Lord would say to you, “Do not remember the former things nor consider the things of old. See, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not be aware of it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert” (Is. 43:18-19).

If you feel like you’ve been stuck in the wilderness, lost in the desert, trapped in the past or trapped in the old, embrace this truth: God wants to give you beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Is. 61:3).

But you have to receive it. You have to decide to walk out of the wilderness at the appointed time, out of the desert in your kairos moment. You have to decide to give up your ashes, to tap into the joy of the Lord, to shake off the mourning, to intentionally praise and to reject the spirit of heaviness. His grace is sufficient to make this divine exchange.

It’s time to stop looking back, back, back and start looking up, up, up. There’s no grace to wallow in the past. Yesterday’s manna is rotten. The old has gone, the new is here! Embrace it. {eoa}

October has rolled around once again and spiritual warriors everywhere are standing strong against spiritual witchcraft. Every season—through every battle with this demonic power—I learn more about how to battle back.

I’ve long known idol worship—including Mary worship—can release witchcraft into a spiritual climate. I’ve understood that Wiccan activity can release witchcraft. I’ve recognized Voodoo and Santeria and other false religions can release witchcraft.

To sum it up, there are many different expressions of witchcraft just as there are many different flavors of ice cream. (I prefer the ice cream!)

The witchcraft that Jezebel releases often carries intimidation, imaginations and infirmities. Witch doctors in Africa have been blamed for hurricanes coming up the East Coast. Witchcraft in Voodoo rituals release spells and incantations that make people sick and even die.

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The Witchcraft We Battle

Witchcraft can be in the spiritual atmosphere due to demonic activity from those practicing its various expressions—but witchcraft can also be released directly at you as a spiritual attack. Because of the constant drip of persecution from unbelievers—and even believers in the church who don’t believe in the full gospel—I break word curses, hexes, vexes, incantations, spells and every form of witchcraft that I discern coming against me.

What is witchcraft? Merriam-Webster defines witchcraft as the use of magical powers obtained especially from evil spirits; the use of sorcery or magic; communication with the devil or the familiar. You might think of the Voodoo priests or the witch doctors, but as I’ve said before even Christians can release witchcraft at you with their thoughts and words.

Webster’s Dictionary defines witchcraft as an irresistible influence or fascination—and the Bible warns us not to be bewitched: “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth? Before your eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified” (Gal. 3:1).

Obviously, there is a spiritual force the Bible is warning us about. It causes us to take leave of the truth that sets us free. Hence, we come into a measure of bondage, whether it manifests as strong confusion in your mind, sickness in your body, unreasonable fatigue, wild imaginations, feeling like giving up and so on. We have a responsibility to know about this spiritual wickedness and guard ourselves against it. I speak more about these realities in my book, Satan’s Deadly Trio.

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If you discern a witchcraft attack against you, you must stand against it as quickly as possible. The longer you let the witchcraft’s residue settle on you, the harder it is to break free. Here are five practical ways to resist a witchcraft attack.

1. Be careful what you’re thinking about. First Peter 1:13 says, “Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

The battle really is in the mind—or at least it starts there. Witchcraft works in imaginations and illusions many times. Although a curse or vex can cause your body to manifest with symptoms, for example, it’s up to you whether you want to receive the attack or refuse to submit to the devil’s power. Don’t reason out in your mind where the physical symptoms are coming from. Ask the Holy Spirit what is going on and He will show you. Sickness is not the will of God, in any case.

2. Guard your heart from old temptations. The Amplified version of 1 Peter 1:13 says, “brace up your minds; be sober (circumspect, morally alert).” Jezebel and her witchcrafts work to draw you into sin. When you are under heavy attack, your soul gets weary. Jesus can offer rest to your soul, but Jezebel wants to provide you a different way of escape through sin. Jezebel works to seduce you into idolatry or immorality (see Rev. 2:20). When you feel like you are getting hit from every side, guard your heart. Don’t run into temptation when you are under attack, run for cover—run to Jesus.

3. Cast down vain, fearful imaginations. Imaginations don’t always work to push sickness on you or tempt you to sin. Sometimes the devil just wants to overwhelm you with witchcraft imaginations so you’ll give up and go hide in a cave with a bag of potato chips, a bowl of ice cream, a big pillow and the TV remote control. If the Holy Spirit dwells in you, then so does the fruit of self-control. You can choose by your will to “cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5, KJV).

4. Cast your cares on the Lord. Witchcraft imaginations totally skew your perspective—making monumental issues out of something God could fix with a wink. Cast your care on the Lord. Keep your eyes on Him. Pray for what you think you need—then believe He’s got your back. When you do, He promises to care for you and give you perfect peace (see Is. 26:3).

5. Speak the Word, use the Name and invoke the Blood. You have three powerful weapons at your disposal—spiritual weapons that are mighty through God to pull down strongholds. It’s hard to effectively wield those weapons when you are wallowing in condemnation, self-pity, fear or some other harmful emotion. Choose to snap out of it. Plead the blood against it. Declare the truth over your life, in the name of Jesus!

We all know the Holy Spirit is our Helper. We know He leads and guides us. We know He is our peace. We know He shows us things to come. We know He is faithful, trustworthy and He has our back.

I got a deeper revelation of all of these realities on a recent ministry trip to London and Spain. I was having the time of my life establishing a New Breed Revival Network field office in the United Kingdom with Ryan LeStrange. The glory of God was rich. The fire of God was falling—and in the midst of all this supernatural fun I got a check in my spirit.

It wasn’t a still small voice giving me an instruction. It was just an impression in my spirit—a knowing that something wasn’t quite right. I felt an urgency to check the safety of my passport. It wasn’t in the pocket in which I always secure it. It wasn’t in any of the other pockets either. Rather than panicking, I decided to embrace the glory in the meeting and deal with it later. After all, what could I do in that moment? So kept this to myself and jumped in the river of revival.

When I got back to the hotel, I searched through all my bags diligently. The passport was nowhere to be found. I looked under the bed, in every drawer and in places it couldn’t possibly be just in case—but to no avail. At that point, I texted one of my intercessors back in the States and asked her to pray and start researching my alternatives.

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When the Holy Spirit’s Foils the Enemy’s Plans

Not surprisingly, it wasn’t an easy road from there. I had to rush to Birmingham, about three hours away, the following day. Trains were late. Traffic was out of control. The night meeting ran over because the miracle healing power of God was flowing. We wound up finding a passport photo station around 11 p.m. and finally returned to the hotel sometime after 1 a.m. I had scheduled an appointment at the U.S. Embassy the next morning at 8:30 to get a new passport and printed out all the necessary documents but I would need to leave by 7:30 and navigate my way through the London Underground to make it happen.

Or so I thought. The Holy Spirit knew that despite the best advice given me, I would never get to my next assignment if I left the hotel at 7:30. He woke up me up with a sudden flash at 6:40 and an urgent unction to rush out. I showered as fast as I could and fled toward the Underground with five hours of sleep and no idea how to get where I was going—and no train tickets. But the Holy Spirit is faithful. Two men in the lobby gave me their payment cards with more than enough funds to get to the Embassy and back 10 times!

It took me over two hours on the Underground and on foot to get to the Embassy, where I learned I had to walk another several blocks and hire a service to store my laptop. I was late for my appointment and stood in a long line with confident expectation that somehow I’d get emergency travel documents in time to travel across London and catch my flight.

When God Does a Money Miracle

All was going well, until the credit card machines at the Embassy went down. I do not carry much cash, and was told I could not get the passport without hard money. I had counted my money the night before and it was about $100. I needed $135. I counted it that morning and it was $132. I was still short $3 but a man in the Embassy sowed $3 into my life and I was soon on my way to the airport. For all the bogus money miracles false prophets propagate, this one was genuine and had a purpose—provision in a pinch to deliver me from the enemy’s plans.

I ran into other obstacles at the airport with my luggage but thankfully a red-haired security worker showed me Father’s favor and allowed me to cut through the seemingly mile-long line of people moving through the checkpoint. I never would have made it otherwise. (I always say, we redheads have to stick together.) I walked onto the plane in just enough time to take my seat and make my flight to Amsterdam. Actually, we’re about to land there now as I write these words.

My host in London, Oscar Guobadia, was amazed the incident didn’t frazzle me. The peace of God that passes all understanding was guarding my heart and mind in Christ Jesus. After all, He gave me an unction to search for the passport two days before I headed to Spain. Clearly, He had a plan.

Remember, the Holy Ghost has a purpose in everything He does. He doesn’t reveal things to your heart or mind so that you can worry, fret or fear. He doesn’t show you what’s to come so you can stress out and stay up at night. In this case, He made sure I had ample time to get a new passport and make my flight. He is faithful to alert us. Our job is to stay sensitive enough to His Spirit to follow His lead. {eoa}

Discernment is ever so vital in this hour, but discernment can turn into a critical spirit if it’s not bound by love on both sides of the river banks. Indeed, whether you have a discerning heart or the gift of discerning of spirits, there’s always the danger of tapping into a faultfinding flow when you should be making intercession.

At Awakening House of Prayer—or when I travel as a conference speaker—I discern many things out of order in people’s lives. I recognize the spirit of rejection from a mile away and fear from even farther. I can see pride, poor attitudes and people imprisoned to any number of fleshly appetites or demon powers. I’ve discovered it’s easier to grumble and complain about people who behave wrongly than it is to hit my knees with a prayer burden and cry out to God for their freedom. But it’s not righteous, so I guard my heart from a critical spirit.

Listen to Jennifer’s podcast on criticism versus a prophetic spirit.

My spiritual father, Ken Malone, once told me, “People who walk in a high level of discernment need to walk in a higher level of humility. We all have issues and we don’t need people to point them out. Those who feel compelled to point out other peoples’ flaws constantly are elevating themselves and walking in pride. We need to strengthen people, not criticize and rebuke them as they struggle to gain freedom. There is a fine line between discernment and fault-finding. With discernment, we must walk in a high level of integrity so we don’t abuse the gift by always pointing out faults. We must temper our discernment with grace.”

What Discernment Is

Discernment is “the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure,” also “an act of perceiving or discerning something,” according to Merriam-Webster. Discerning means “able to see and understand people, things or situations clearly and intelligently.”

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The Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words reveals that the Greek words for “discern,” “discerner” and “discernment” come from several words. Anakrino means “to distinguish, or separate out so as to investigate by looking throughout objects or particulars,” hence it signifies “to examine, scrutinize, question, to hold a preliminary judicial examination preceding the trial proper.” Diakrino signifies “to separate, discriminate;” then, “to learn by discriminating, to determine, decide.” Dokiamazo signifies “to test, prove, scrutinize;” so as “to decide.”

Hebrews 4:12 tells us the Word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. We need to let the Lord deal with the hearts of people. He will bring people into your life, at times, so you can discern the spirits and help them break free—not so you can judge their hearts and avoid them like the plague because you have convinced yourself they can’t be helped. I’ve seen too many prophetic people with critical spirits who seek to crucify the very ones God has sent them to help deliver.

What Discernment Is Not

John tells us to test the spirits to see if they are from God (1 John 4:1). But some with discernment test hearts to see if they are from God, which is not godly. Nobody knows what’s really in someone else’s heart except God Himself. Judging someone’s heart is dangerous.

Presuming someone has a bad spirit based on a checklist and not direct revelation from God grieves the Lord. And even if they do have a bad spirit, we need to separate the principality from the personality, as it were. We need to love the people and hate the demons that hold them in bondage. We need to wage prophetic warfare against the devils!

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Remember what I said previously: Discernment is not a feeling. Discernment is a knowing. If you have a feeling, don’t act until the feeling is a knowing. Your emotions will betray your discernment. Likewise, a haughty heart will betray your discernment. A bitter and critical spirit will betray your discernment. You need to see people by the spirit, not by your soul.

Beware the critical spirit that masks as discernment. There’s a difference between a prophetic spirit and a critical spirit. A critical spirit is not looking for a solution. It just wants to criticize. This comes many times from spiritual pride. A critical spirit finds faults.

A prophetic spirit is filled with hope and redemption because this is the true heart of the Father. A critical spirit shows no hope, or little hope, of redemption. A critical spirit harps on people and creates a gang mentality, looking for agreement from others.

Determine in your heart today to ask God to give you more discernment—and to root any critical spirits out of your heart so He can use you to help set the captives free! 

For those whom God has given the desire to wage prophetic warfare, Jennifer LeClaire has a message: It’s not for the faint of heart.

The prophetic voice and teacher, also the senior editor of Charisma magazine, says those whom God has ordained with this special assignment can’t simply sit back and look for God to move in this area.

“Sometimes we’re waiting on God, but He is really waiting on us,” LeClaire said at a special event at Charisma Media Thursday night to launch her latest book, Waging Prophetic Warfare: Effective Prayer Strategies to Defeat the Enemy. “Sometimes He is waiting on us to put (decrees) into our holy mouths and begin to get into agreement with Him and begin to decree and declare a thing from our position as kings. Sometimes we are praying in our prayer lives as priests, which is good, but we need to come into that kingly anointing and begin to decree a thing. We need to give the angels something to partner with.”

The event, which was broadcast live worldwide and is now posted on Facebook, also featured apostolic leader and prophetic voice Ryan LeStrange, who launched his latest book titled, Overcoming Spiritual Attack. LeStrange reiterated LeClaire’s words and says the kingdom needs “less wimps and more warriors” to see awakening and transformation in America.

“Don’t ask for revival in a region if you’re afraid of the principalities in that region,” LeStrange says. “Hell is trying to knock you out of your assignment, and that’s why we need bold preachers in this hour. We don’t need lukewarm, watered down … I’m editing myself … jelly spine, wimp preachers. We need steel-spined radical warriors that will prophesy the word of the Lord. Many of God’s greatest warriors are under fierce attack right now. But God has raised up a remnant that will be the voice of the kingdom of God and break those attacks.”

Stand Your Ground and Be Persistent

LeClaire says the foundational scripture for her book can be found in 1 Timothy 1:18, which reads: “This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, so that [inspired and aided] by them you may fight the good fight [in contending with false teachers] …” (AMP).

“If you bring a prophecy from the spirit realm into the natural and you begin to walk in that prophecy, it glorifies God,” LeClaire says. “You need to wage war with the prophecy over your life.”

While waiting for their prophetic word to come to pass, LeClaire says that many believers forget that the devil “is doing everything he can to make you think that word wasn’t from God.” The devil brings many trials into our lives and tries to wear us out, but that’s where believers can lean on Galatians 6:9, which reads: “And let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not give up.”

Strong Endorsement

In the foreword for LeClaire’s book, prophetic voice Cindy Jacobs of Generals International wrote: “If you are new to the concepts of prophetic and spiritual warfare, this book will give you a firm foundation and grasp of the subjects as well as equip you to apply the principles to your everyday life. … Some of you might be feeling like wounded warriors, or just be plain burned out. I encourage you to read this book and allow the Holy Spirit to heal you, energize you and get you ready to lace up your spiritual combat boots once again!”

Overcoming Spiritual Attack

In overcoming spiritual attack, LeStrange says, you must first know exactly what it is.

“A spiritual attack is a coordinated series of attacks that come from the demonic realm to knock you out of your assignment,” he says. “It’s to knock you off course from your destiny. It’s not some random thing. The greatest lie the devil can get you to buy into is that he is not at work. Many false prophets would like to tell you that. They don’t talk about demons.

“A spiritual attack is a coordinated effort from hell. It’s not just one thing—your finances, your marriage or your body. Hell is trying to keep you from your destiny. But you have the victor on the inside of you called Jesus. He put the mighty Holy Ghost inside you. I hear the Holy Ghost say that he’s accelerating and kick starting your faith.”

The fact that you are being attacked by the enemy, LeStrange says, only confirms the strength of your kingdom assignment.  

“Spiritual attacks on you can happen when you’re in the middle of the will of God,” he says. “Just because you’re under attack doesn’t mean you are backslidden. It doesn’t mean that God is mad at you. We’ve got a false theology that if we’re doing the work of God, we’re not going to be attacked. … You can tell the measure of a prophetic word by the amount of resistance it generates. Some of you are facing resistance upon the call on your life. But don’t ask God to stir a great prophetic word if you’re not ready to endure some resistance.”

The event ended with an altar call, in which attendees were invited to come forward and receive prayer for healing and deliverance by LeClaire and LeStrange.

Some weeks ago, I pointed out a deadly deception in the prophetic movement. I sounded the alarm in hopes of stemming the tide of this erroneous theology, but I see it rising more rapidly now than ever. Its proponents are defending it vehemently and rebuking those who disagree. I’m grieved.

Let’s be clear: If you ignore the devil, the warfare doesn’t stop. If you focus solely on Jesus, it does not make you immune from warfare. That violates Scripture on multiple levels. I talk more about this in my book, Waging Prophetic Warfare: Effective Prayer Strategies to Defeat the Enemy.

Yes, we should absolutely be more God-focused than demon-focused. However, if Paul the apostle—a man with deep intimacy with God who received two-thirds of the Bible through direct revelation and prayed in tongues more than anyone—wrestled principalities and powers, who are we to think ignoring this reality will stop demonic attacks?

We Don’t Have to War?

The “we don’t have to war” doctrine rising in this hour is dangerous at best. Indeed, I believe it’s one of the devil’s greatest deceptions to convince you to lay your weapons down. Make no mistake, there is no ceasefire in the spirit. You cannot lay your weapons down and think for a moment the devil will not see it as an opportune time to go in for the kill.

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Yes, Christ has all authority. He spoiled the principalities and powers and made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it (Col. 2:15). But we still have to take authority over the devil. The apostles Paul, Peter and James all spoke of the need for spiritual warfare. Were they hyper-focused on the devil? Hardly.

Beloved, don’t fall for this dangerous “we don’t have to war” theology. Consider these 10 scriptural truths that will set you free from the heresy that’s spreading like a fast-growth cancer across the body. Mind you, these aren’t the only proofs against this false doctrine.

The demonic hierarchy: Paul told us succinctly that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12) Why does Paul paint such a descriptive picture and offer a hierarchy of demonic forces we have to wrestle if we didn’t have a role to play in spiritual warfare?

The weapons of our warfare: Paul also mentions the weapons of our warfare, which are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds (2 Cor. 10:4). Why would we need weapons if we weren’t in a spiritual war against a spiritual enemy?

Be a good soldier: Paul tells his spiritual son Timothy to be a good soldier (2 Tim. 2:3) and to war a good warfare (1 Tim. 1:18). Why would he give that advice if Timothy wasn’t in a war with an unseen enemy?

Beware the devil’s snare: Paul also told us not to give place to the devil (Eph. 4:27) and warned about the snare of the devil (1 Tim. 3:7; 2 Tim. 2:26). Why would he offer these admonitions if they weren’t warranted? The enemy is real and he wants to rob your miracle from you. You are indeed in a war.

Resisting the wicked one: Then, we have James, who told us to submit ourselves to God, resist the devil and he will flee (James 4:7).

Remember the roaring lion: Peter, who warned us to be sober and vigilant, because “our adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8-9, KJV). Peter told us to resist him, standing firm in the faith.

Fight the good fight: Paul also told us to fight the good fight of faith (1 Tim. 6:12).

Don’t Leave Your Doors Unlocked

Should we ignore all these warnings and instructions? God forbid.

All of these Scriptures suggest that the devil is still wreaking havoc on the earth. Havoc on the earth—sickness, disease, murders, immorality and the like—is not God’s will. Jesus spoiled the principalities and powers. But the word “spoiled” doesn’t mean neutered and made powerless. Jesus plundered the kingdom of darkness. The kingdom of darkness and all the principalities and powers that call it home, lost authority over the born-again believer. But we still have to enforce the kingdom rule of law on Earth.

To say that Jesus spoiling the principalities and powers means those principalities and powers cannot attempt to stand in the way of our miracle is like saying a thief can’t break into your house because there’s a law against it. The devil doesn’t follow the rules. He’s been a sinner from the beginning (1 John 3:8). Amen. {eoa}

You have probably noticed that spiritual warfare is increasing in the last days. It doesn’t take a prophet to discern the raging culture wars, the bold rise of principalities like Jezebel, or the spirit of the world that has settled into a front row seat in far too many churches. Whether we like it or not, we are in a war.

In this timely e-book, I equip you with the prophetic armor you need to stand against the enemy’s schemes. You will learn powerful prophetic warfare strategies, how to identify your mighty prophetic weapons, and how to walk confidently as a mighty warrior of God.

Don’t miss this revelation to gird yourself with the prophetic armor that God has already placed in your arsenal.

This is my gift to you. Click here to download the free e-book.

Click here to learn more about my prophetic training courses. {eoa}