I’ve been decreeing and declaring—and witnessing—more miracles in the past year than I’ve seen in the past 10 years. We saw stage 4 cancer healed at Awakening Healing Rooms, and I saw legally blind eyes opened in my recent California meetings.

Indeed, we’ve entered into a season of astounding miracles in America—and this is just the first fruits of a new healing movement emerging even now. I am convinced only two things are holding back a mass outbreak of God’s miracle-working power: unbelief and a works mentality. The unbelief will fade away as the number of undeniable miracles increases, because faith not only comes by hearing but also by seeing. The works issue is a different story.

Even after we’ve witnessed miracles, many times we try to work our way into kingdom manifestations due to teachings that insist we must confess our way to breakthrough. I believe in declaring the Word, but the Lord declares, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit” (Zech. 4:6). On the other end of the spectrum, we have religious spirits that deny the gifts of the Spirit still operate today (2 Tim. 3:5). Paul said we are to turn away from religion that denies the power of God.

Listen to Jennifer’s podcast on receiving your miracle today!

Your Faith Does the Work

The book of Mark is action-packed with miracles. In Mark 1 we see Jesus’ baptism, temptation in the wilderness, the beginning of His ministry in Galilee and the calling of the first disciples—then the miracle ministry began. Here’s a list from the first six chapters:

• Jesus cast a devil out of a man in the synagogue (Mark 1:25).
• Jesus healed Simon’s mother (Mark 1:31).
• Jesus healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons (Mark 1:34).
• Jesus preached in the synagogues and cast out demons (Mark 1:39).
• Jesus cleansed a leper (Mark 1:41).
• Jesus healed a paralytic (Mark 2:11).
• Jesus healed a man with a withered hand (Mark 3:5).
• Jesus calmed the storm (Mark 4: 39).
• Jesus cast out a legion of devils from the demoniac (Mark 5:8).
• Jesus healed the woman with the issue of blood (Mark 5:29).
• Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead (Mark 5:41).

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When you read those accounts, you’ll notice two things: (1) Jesus didn’t strive and struggle to do these miracles. He relied on the power of the Holy Spirit, and (2) those receiving miracles didn’t struggle unto breakthrough. They didn’t get into works. They believed that Jesus was willing and able to heal them and they let their faith do the work.

Remember, Jesus told the woman with the issue of blood her faith made her whole, not her works. Still, sometimes it’s hard to believe. That’s why the man with the epileptic boy in Mark 9:24 cried out to Jesus with tears, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!” All things are possible with God, as I discuss in my book Developing Faith for the Working of Miracles.

Works Mentality Combats Faith

Even after Christ’s disciples had seen many astonishing miracles of healing and deliverance—and even after they used His authority to do those same works with great success—the works mentality crept back in when it came time to feed the 5,000 as recorded in Mark 6.

Here’s the scene: The disciples told Jesus to send the hungry crowd home to eat. “But He answered, ‘You give them something to eat. They said to Him, ‘Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?'” (Mark 6:37).

What happened? Suddenly, they are faced with a situation they hadn’t seen before and they knee-jerked back into works. That’s what we do. Some of us can believe for finances because we’ve received financial miracles. Others stay poor because they don’t have the faith for it so they get into works. Some can believe for healing miracles because God has healed them in the past. Others stay sick because they don’t have faith for healing and they get into works.

Flip to Mark 8, and the disciples are faced with another feeding miracle—and their faith failed them again. That’s what we do sometimes. God comes through with a miracle in a hard situation but the next time we face that same circumstance, our faith falters because we think we don’t deserve His grace. That’s true, we don’t deserve His grace or His mercy, but He pours it out on us anyway.

How to Receive Your Miracle

Always remember this: The way we received salvation is the same we receive miracles—or tap into the gift of the working of miracles. We discover this reality Ephesians 2:8-10 (AMP):

“For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God; Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]”

God is willing and able to break into your situation and bring deliverance, healing, provision or whatever else you need. If you are going to strive, strive to enter His rest (Heb. 4:11) instead of striving in works that wear you out and rob your faith. As Jesus said, “Only believe” (Mark 5:36). {eoa}

Have you ever received a prophetic word that you absolutely, 100 percent, clearly no-doubt-about-it knew was from the Lord—only to have the one you share it with forcibly reject it?

If you’ve been operating in spiritual gifts for any length of time, the answer is likely yes. What you do next will reveal your maturity in the prophetic and how much the Holy Spirit can trust you to rightly exercise the His gifts. 

And remember, they are His gifts and He distributes them individually as He wills (1 Cor. 12:11). If you consistently misuse a spiritual gift or bring others harm when you exercise prophecy, the Holy Spirit may stop talking to you about other people until you learn how to steward the gift responsibly.

Listen to Jennifer’s podcast on prophetic ministry protocols.

When People Won’t Receive

I’ve written before about what to do when people reject your prophetic gift, albeit from a different angle. Many prophetic people get discouraged, depressed, resentful or even bitter when their utterances aren’t received. But you can’t force prophecy on people. 

If you get a prophecy or a word of knowledge, the first thing you should do is pray and ask the Lord if you should release it. I always say that the Holy Spirit who spoke the words to you is the same Holy Spirit who will tell you if and when and how to release the utterance. Just because you hear something doesn’t mean you’re supposed to let the words race through your lips with reckless abandon.

Unless the Holy Spirit tells you to do something more, zip your lip after you release the word. If the person refuses or denies it’s true, don’t try to convince them otherwise unless the Lord prompts you to do so. Your role is to deliver a right word at the right time in the right spirit, not to broker that word to completion. You can’t force prophecy on someone any more than you can force healing, deliverance or salvation on them.

Let the Convincer Do His Work

If you try to force prophetic words down people’s throats, even if they are accurate, you become like one of those telemarketers who won’t let people off the phone during dinner—or those pesky car salesmen who won’t let you off the lot until you do a test drive and consider their best offer.

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God doesn’t need you to convince people that the word He gave you is accurate. The Holy Spirit is the author of the word and the Holy Spirit is also the convincer. By forcing the prophecy down someone’s throat, you could actually be hindering the Convincer from His convincing work. In other words, you could cause the person to totally shut down instead of leaving the door cracked open just enough to give Jesus space to shine His light through.

Mature prophets understand diplomacy. Consider this: the prophetic word or word of wisdom may be embarrassing to the one receiving it. They may not want to admit that it’s true for any number of reasons. Let them save face and let the Lord deal with their hearts. Pushing the issue could cause them to push you away instead of coming to you later asking for counsel on the word you shared.

One More Warning

Once again, remember, these gifts are His gifts and He distributes them individually as He wills (1 Cor. 12:11). If you consistently misuse a spiritual gift or bring others harm when you exercise prophecy, the Holy Spirit may stop talking to you about other people until you learn how to steward the gift responsibly.

Now, I can’t make you hear the Lord in what I am saying any more than you can make the person you’re delivering a prophecy to hear what the Lord is saying through you. But I am committed to seeing a generation of mature prophets who know how to handle the word of the Lord accurately rise up. 

I’m not claiming to know it all, but I have been to my fair share of rodeos and I’ve seen enough “ugly” in this area to speak up. I share much more in my book, The Making of a Prophet. Learning how to steward a prophetic word is part and parcel of the making process. If you refuse to submit to that process, the Lord might squash you like the potter marred the clay on the wheel and started over again (Jer. 18:4). That means another round in the wilderness for you. All I ask is that you pray and consider what I am saying. The Lord wants to use your voice. {eoa}

Kathryn Kuhlman went home to be with the Lord when I was 5 years old—but not before she witnessed thousands miraculously healed by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. I’ve always admired Kathryn, with her flowing white dress, passionate presentations and, of course, flaming red hair. As I always say, we redheads have to stick together!

It was a sad day when the Kathryn Kuhlman Foundation shuttered its doors on the 40th anniversary year of her passing. Thanks to the foundation, I was able to collect all of her radio programs on CD. I listened to them over and over again for at least a year and have enjoyed her books and the handful of YouTube videos that chronicled her stadium healing crusades. Thanks to her foundation, many of her works were preserved for the next generation.

I believe the next generation is getting ready to rise up. The healing evangelists from Kathryn’s day and earlier—I’m talking about Oral Roberts, Jack Coe, A.A. Allen and William Branham—have long gone on to glory. We’ve seen a few remarkable men of God, like Benny Hinn and Reinhard Bonnke, carry the miracle torch, but we’ve still longed for the glory days when mass miracles were a reality. The good news is I see a new wave of Christians believing for signs, wonders and miracles like the world has never seen.

I believe we’re going to see a great move of God that’s greater than the Voice of Healing Movement, the Jesus Movement, the charismatic movement, and the prayer movement all rolled into one. I believe a new healing movement is emerging even now. This movement won’t be marked by a handful of evangelists with sparkling personalities and powerful gifts that fill stadiums and buy TV airtime. Rather, this movement will see the saints rise up and do the work of the healing evangelist with prophetic insights and pastoral care.

The next great move of God will unleash believers who have faith to lay hands on the sick and see them recover, cast out devils and even raise the dead. I believe it’s part of the Saints Movement that Bill Hamon prophesied many years ago. In his book The Day of the Saints, he wrote, “A ‘Day of the Saints’ is coming in which God is calling every believer to participate. This will be the greatest time in history for those who hunger to fulfill God’s will for their lives, especially those who are 100 percent committed to glorify Christ, overcome all things, reap the great harvest and see God’s kingdom come and His will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.”

Many of these saints are being trained in healing rooms all over America even now. The International Association of Healing Rooms (IAHR) oversees more than 3,000 healing rooms in 78 nations staffed with volunteers committed to re-digging John G. Lake’s healing well. The healing evangelist pioneered healing rooms in Spokane, Washington, in the early 1900s. I’ve joined this movement, directing Awakening Healing Rooms in South Florida, and on the first day, we saw stage 4 cancer healed, followed by an official doctor’s report.

Although healing rooms are only one part of what I believe will be the greatest healing outpouring we’ve ever seen—Bill Johnson birthed the Bethel School of the Supernatural that has trained thousands of students to release God’s supernatural power, and many other wonderful ministries are equipping the saints to move in healing ministry—I believe John G. Lake’s method will be a central focus in the next great move of God.

In 2014 Dutch Sheets, an internationally known author, teacher and conference speaker, prophesied over the IAHR that the movement had only just begun. He declared God could now build on the foundation that has been laid. Dutch continued prophesying:

“Power is about to be multiplied, and the dead are going to be raised, and limbs are going to grow, and cancers are going to disappear, and disease of every nature—all natures, every kind of disease—is going to go and bow before Jesus. Signs, wonders and miracles are about to multiply. Families are going to be healed and come to the cross. Kings, presidents are going to visit healing rooms. Mourning imams are going to carry babies into healing rooms and say, ‘If your God is really God, raise my baby from the dead.'”

I believe it. I believe the day is coming soon when we’ll see a revival sweep this nation marked by signs and wonders and miracles like we’ve never seen before. Will you believe with me?

Jennifer LeClaire is senior editor of Charisma, director of the Awakening House of Prayer, a senior leader of the New Breed Revival Network and author of many books, including Jezebel’s Puppets: Exposing the Agenda of False Prophets. Visit her online at .

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I just don’t know how to pray. Sometimes I don’t know what the will of the Lord is in a situation. Sometimes my natural wisdom doesn’t get the job done. And sometimes I need help in sticky situations.

Thank God the Holy Spirit is our Helper. Jesus told His disciples that it was good for them that He went away because He could not send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, until He ascended to the right hand of God (John 16:7).

Listen to Jennifer’s podcast about the Holy Spirit as Helper.

We need the Holy Spirit’s help more than we know. In last week’s column, I offered five reasons we should cry out for more of Him, which is what we do every morning on my devotional prayer call based on my book, Mornings With the Holy Spirit: Listening Daily to the Still, Small Voice of God. Now, we’ll look at five more ways the Holy Ghost, who lives on the inside of you, can help you right now.

1. The Holy Spirit helps us pray when we don’t know how. Paul offers a revelation that can change your entire life in Romans 8:26: “Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

We may think we know how to pray, and sometimes we do, but many times we don’t have a clue what prayer answer we really need. If you are not getting prayer answers, consider what James 4:3 says about “asking amiss.” The Greek word for “amiss” in the context of this Scripture means “improperly” or “wrongly.” If you are praying wrongly, you won’t get the right answers—or perhaps any answer.

2. The Holy Spirit helps us pray God’s perfect will. Paul continues the revelation in Romans 8:27, “He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

The Holy Spirit has the mind of God. He always knows the perfect will of the Father and always gets His prayers answered. Let Him help you pray and you will surely tap into the 1 John 5:14-15 promise: “This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. So if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have whatever we asked of Him.”

3. The Holy Spirit gives us a special prayer language. Paul also shared a marvelous revelation in 1 Corinthians 14:2, “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 pray in the Spirit as much as I possibly can. I wake up most mornings and pray at least 30 minutes in the Spirit before doing anything else. I pray in the Spirit while I am in my car. I even broke out in tongues on the tread mill at the gym accidentally—because it’s automatic. I’m not telling you this to create a law, but to encourage you to allow praying in the Spirit to become so natural that your immediate response in times of need is to lift up Spirit-led prayers.

4. The Holy Spirit leads you into all truth. Jesus Himself said, “But when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own authority. But He will speak whatever He hears, and He will tell you things that are to come” (John 16:13).

The Lord is not trying to hide the truth from you—and in this day and age we need to treasure the truth more than silver and gold. Deception is rising rampantly in the world and in the church. We need to stick close to the Holy Ghost and ask Him to do what Jesus promises He will do—reveal the truth.

5. The Holy Spirit will help you find the right words to say in difficult situations. Jesus also said, “When they bring you to the synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not be anxious how you will answer or what you will say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say” (Luke 12:11-12).

We aren’t likely to be brought in front of judges for our faith, but there are times when we have to engage in crucial conversations and difficult confrontations. The Holy Spirit can and will give you the words to say. That means you don’t have to get into imaginations and play out the conversation in your head. You just have to go in prayed up and believe that He will give you wisdom and counsel in the moment. Even if you don’t have time to pray, He can put the very words in your mouth in an instant.

Jesus is the Baptizer, and He baptizes us with the Holy Spirit when we ask and believe. If you’ve never been filled with Spirit and you want to be, pray this prayer:

“Father, I surrender full control of my life to You. I ask you even now to fill me to overflowing with Your Spirit, just as You have promised to do if I ask according to Your will. I ask this in the name of Jesus and believe that you are pouring out your Spirit upon me right now.”

We know Jesus and we know the Father but fewer know—really know—the Holy Spirit or have a relationship with Him in their daily lives. The truth is the Spirit of Truth—the Holy Spirit—will revolutionize our lives if we’ll let Him.

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He is co-equal with the Father and the Son. He is not a mist, a cloud, or a strange feeling. He has feelings just like you and me. He can be grieved. He is sensitive and compassionate. He is powerful and mighty. He is the change agent on the earth—God in action in the world. 

Listen to Jennifer’s podcast on how the Holy Spirit can help you.

We need the Holy Spirit more than we know. Here are five reasons why we should cry out for more of Him, which is what we do every morning on my devotional prayer call based on my book, Mornings With the Holy Spirit: Listening Daily to the Still Small Voice of God.

1. The Holy Spirit gives us supernatural power. Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Right about now is when you should cry out, “Holy Spirit, come upon me. Fill me again!”

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2. The Holy Spirit gives us supernatural gifts. 1 Cor. 12:4-11 tells us, “There are various gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. There are various operations, but it is the same God who operates all of them in all people. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone for the common good. To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But that one and very same Spirit works all these, dividing to each one individually as He will.”

When the Holy Spirit came to live on the inside of you, He brought His gifts with Him. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul tells us we should earnestly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy (1 Cor. 14:1).

3. The Holy Spirit helps us build our faith. Jude 20 says, “But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith. Pray in the Holy Spirit.” I pray in the Spirit for at least the first 30 minutes of my day and pray in spirit in spurts throughout the day. I am praying in the Spirit as I write this article. I am edifying my spirit man when I do this.

4. The Holy Spirit gives life and strength to our bodies. Romans 8:11 says, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit that lives in you.” Think about that! Resurrection life is on the inside of you. We need to learn how to tap into that power to continue running our race and fighting the good fight of faith.

5. The Holy Spirit helps us resist temptation. Romans 8:13 says, “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if through the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” And Galatians 5:16 says, “I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” If you are struggling with temptation of any kind, ask the Holy Spirit to help you. He is your helper. He’s right there waiting on you to ask.

I’ll stop there for now and give you time to mediate on these realities. They really will revolutionize your life if you let them. If you’ve never been filled with Spirit and you want to be, pray this prayer:

“Father, I surrender full control of my life to You. I ask you even now to fill me to overflowing with Your Spirit, just as You have promised to do if I ask according to Your will. I ask this in the name of Jesus and believe that you are pouring out your Spirit upon me right now.”

If you are doing anything at all for God—and especially if you have a prophetic mandate on your life—Jezebel wants to cut off your voice. If Jezebel can’t cut off your voice, she’ll try to pervert your voice by seducing you to defile yourself.

We see Queen Jezebel in the Old Testament—a prophet-killing monarch and murderer who was ultimately eaten by dogs. We also see Jezebel, a woman who calls herself a prophetess, in Revelation 2:20. Jezebel is a spirit of seduction that works to woo you away from Jesus through idolatry and tempt you to defile yourself with sexual immorality. I talk more about this in my book, Jezebel’s Puppets.

Listen to Jennifer’s podcast on Jezebel’s assassins.

Before we move on to the ways in which Jezebel manifests—which is not an exhaustive list—remember that people influenced by this spirit have fear issues and use control and manipulation to ease those fears and the fear of rejection. They figure they can’t be hurt or wounded if they control things. We need to separate the principality from the personality—loving the person and hating the spirit that holds them in bondage.

15 Ways Jezebel Operates

1. People influenced by a Jezebel spirit target the leader. They usually offer to help where help is desperately needed, either in administration, intercession or some other area that puts them close to the leader.

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2. People influenced by a Jezebel spirit make false covenants they don’t intend to keep in order to gain position. “I will fight with you. I will stand with you. I don’t give up easy. No matter what happens, I will have your back.”

3. People influenced by a Jezebel spirit seem spiritual to outsiders. They come in talking about their prayer lives and 40-day fasts. They exuberantly share what they see in the spirit realm. They may pray eloquent prayers and prophesy encouraging words to members over in the corner where no one else can hear. They gather people to themselves.

4. People influenced by a Jezebel spirit seek to isolate the leader from others who can speak into their lives and especially prophetic people who could identify them.

5. People influenced by a Jezebel spirit pit people against each other in the ministry—and will ultimately pit people against you. People who threaten them are set up and chased out.

6. People influenced by a Jezebel spirit play the victim. They want your pity.

7. People influenced by a Jezebel spirit are never wrong. The problem is always with someone else and never them. If they do repent, it’s a false repentance to stay on your good side.

8. People influenced by a Jezebel spirit seem humble, but it’s false humility—it’s a religious spirit.

9. People influenced by the Jezebel spirit really feel self-important. Remember, that woman Jezebel called herself a prophetess (Rev. 2:20). They have to have their way—and they manipulate to get it.

10. People influenced by a Jezebel spirit will not be accountable to anyone. If anyone tries to bring accountability, they accuse them of being a Jezebel.

11. People with a Jezebel spirit look for those who are hurt and wounded or insecure and become their prophet, teacher and spiritual guide. They draw people to themselves, who become their eunuchs.

12. People with a Jezebel spirit will try to guilt you if you don’t bow to their needs. They will tell you that you aren’t operating in the fruit of the Spirit or acting Christlike as a ploy to get you to submit to what they want.

13. Jezebel will try to operate through people with insecurity, emotional instability, pride, arrogance, manipulation and control.

14. People influenced by a Jezebel spirit will twist the facts. They have selective memory. They are smooth and slick and almost convince you that they are right.

15. People influenced by an advanced Jezebel spirit will actually start praying witchcraft prayers against you—praying their own will rather than God’s will. “Lord, remove that person from that position. That position belongs to me.”

Stop Tolerating Jezebel

If you discern a Jezebel spirit in your midst, confront it quickly. Time is not on your side. The longer you don’t confront it, the more damage it can do. What’s more if you tolerate that spirit, Jesus has issues with you. He says in Revelation 2 that if Jezebel doesn’t repent, He will throw her on a sickbed and those who commit adultery with her. In another article, I’ll share with you how to discern a Jezebel attack against your life and how to throw Jezebel down. {eoa}

False friends. That was the topic of two of my recent columns. Those columns—”5 Ways to Recognize False Friends” and “5 More Ways to Recognize False Friends”—struck a nerve with our readers. It seems many Christians have friends who stab them in the back, climb over them for opportunity, and run the other direction when trouble comes.

A friend of mine, Jennifer Eivaz, suggested I look at the other side of the coin: What are the characteristics of a true covenant friend? What does it take to be a good pal? What does the Bible say about real friendships? I thought her suggestion was brilliant.

Although I don’t expect this article to get the tens of thousands of shares the last two did, I feel it’s important to dive deeper into the issue because we can probably all be better friends. With that in mind:

Listen to Jennifer’s podcast on this topic: What a True Covenant Friend Looks Like.

A true covenant friend sticks closer than a brother: That’s according to Proverbs 18:24: “A man who has friends must show himself friendly, and there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” What exactly, though, does that mean? How does a friend stick closer than a brother? You would expect your family to stand with you in a trial, but true friends sometimes show up when family can’t or won’t, defying the bonds of nature. True friends are like family, and often even closer than family. Proverbs 17:1 also speaks to his bond.

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A true covenant friend makes sacrifices when necessary: John 15:13 says ” Greater love has no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends.” True covenant friends will make sacrifices to help you. Merriam-Webster defines sacrifice as “the act of giving up something that you want to keep, especially in order to get or do something else or to help someone.” You may not have to literally lay your life down, but you may have to sacrifice time, money and even your own needs at times to help a friend.

A true covenant friend will stand up for you and fight alongside you: In 1 Samuel 18-20, Saul tried to kill David a dozen times. Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a covenant relationship with David and stood with him through the assaults. Even though Jonathan was next in line for the throne of Israel, he helped David escape his father’s wrath (1 Sam. 20). That’s a self-sacrificing friend.

A true covenant friend will tell you what nobody else will: Proverbs 27:6 says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” Friends should lift you up, but sometimes the Lord will use them to help you root out wrong behaviors and mindsets. Of course, they should do it in love and not with accusations.

A true covenant friend will get into agreement with you: Amos 3:3 says, “Do two people walk together, if they have not agreed?” That doesn’t mean that true friends will agree on every little thing, but it does mean that they won’t break relationship over disagreements. You’ve heard it said, “We’ll agree to disagree.” True friends find agreement.

A true covenant friend is someone you can trust with anything: Although we must ultimately put our trust in God over man, trust is the cornerstone of every relationship. Once violated, trust can be difficult to earn back. True friends have tight lips, have your back and have the integrity not to share your personal life with others or break your boundaries. True friends are consistent and don’t merely say the words but do the actions to back them up.

A true covenant friend walks in love, which includes forgiveness: A true friend believes in you, stands by you and sticks out the tough times in the relationship. Nobody’s perfect, and we’re all growing in the fruit of the Spirit, but a true friend treats the relationship with 1 Corinthians 4:8 in mind: “Love suffers long and is kind; love envies not; love flaunts not itself and is not puffed up, does not behave itself improperly, seeks not its own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil; rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails.”

This is not an exhaustive list, but it’s a good place to start.

My dad always told me this: At the end of your life, you can count your true covenant friends on one hand. I’m in my mid-40s now, and I am finding that to be true. I’ve had a lot of friends over the course of my life but true covenant friends are few and far between.

Treasure them like gold. Cherish them with all of your heart. Respect and honor them at all times. You can’t make a true covenant friendship happen but you can ask God for them—and you can work on being the best friend you can possibly be.

Over the weekend, I posted a Facebook graphic titled “9 Sure Signs You’re Being Emotionally Manipulated.” Within minutes, it was liked and shared over 1,000 times and has reached well over 1 million people in less than a week.

Gee, I guess manipulation is a big issue in the body of Christ. Of course, that’s not all that surprising. I imagine we have all run into emotional manipulators in our Christian walks and have been tempted to manipulate situations in our own right. You can find manipulation in homes, in schools, in workplaces—and in churches. Before we move on to the six ways to deal with emotional manipulators, let’s look at the sure signs in the original post:

(1) People give you ultimatums; (2) People use tears against you; (3) People give you the silent treatment; (4) People play the victim; (5) People make you walk on eggshells; (6) People guilt you; (7) People skew the facts; (8) People twist your words; and (9) People suck the life out of you. If you want more explanation on each of these points, watch the video at the bottom of this article.

What Is Manipulation?

Ultimately, manipulation—which Merriam-Webster defines as “to manage or utilize skillfully; to control or play upon by artful, unfair or insidious means especially to one’s own advantage; to change by artful or unfair means as to serve one’s purpose— is a form of witchcraft. Witchcraft is a work of the flesh listed in Galatians 6.

Listen to Jennifer’s podcast on this topic: How to Deal With Emotional Manipulators.

Rick Joyner has one of the best definitions of witchcraft I’ve heard: “Witchcraft is counterfeit spiritual authority. It is using a spirit other than the Holy Spirit to dominate, manipulate or control others. Any authority or influence that we gain by our own manipulation or self-promotion will be a stumbling block to us and will hinder our ability to receive true authority from God.”

I’ve fallen victim to manipulation more than once. When you believe the best, it’s difficult to believe Christian brothers and sisters would tap into a controlling spirit in attempts to put you under their thumbs, handle you or otherwise direct your actions. But it happens—and it happens too often. We need to learn, then, not only to discern when people are manipulating us but how to stop the manipulator from succeeding in his nefarious maneuvers—and how to make sure we’re not tapping into this work of the flesh ourselves.

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In addition to the nine sure signs in my graphic, you will eventually discern manipulators because resentment will strike your heart. You may feel like you’re extending yourself far beyond your natural boundaries to help them—but they aren’t there when you need them. What the manipulator wants at any given time always seems more important than what you need. At some point, your friends may start to point out the manipulation.

6 Ways to Deal With Emotional Manipulators

So how do you respond? What do you do when you’ve realized that you’ve been under the thumb of an emotional manipulator? How do you break free?

1. Repent. Ask God to forgive you for coming under a false authority. Yes, we are called to walk in love (Eph. 5:2) and prefer one another (), but that doesn’t mean we have to allow someone to make us emotional slaves. There’s a difference. For freedom Christ set us free (Gal. 5:1).

2. Forgive yourself. Once you see the manipulation, you’ll probably be angry with yourself or feel dumb for falling into the emotional manipulator’s trap. Forgive yourself (1 John 1:9). It can happen to anyone. You’ve got a kind, loving heart, and you believed the best. Just learn a lesson and stop the abuse.

3. Learn to offer a diplomatic “no.” Emotional manipulators may get angry when you stop catering to their every need and stand up for yourself, but stick to your guns. You don’t have to be mean-spirited when you decline to submit. Just politely but firmly tell them no. Like the Bible says, let your yes be yes and your no be no (Matt. 5:37).

4. Ask push-back questions like: “Does this seem reasonable to you?”; “Are you really expecting me to do this for you?”; and “Do I get to have an opinion here?” Many times, manipulators will back down. Other times, they will argue their case. Like Paul told Timothy, don’t argue back (2 Tim. 2:23-24).

5. Deploy a time buffer. When the manipulator asks you to do something for them that’s unreasonable, use these four words: “I’ll think about it.” This is less dramatic than saying no and can help you avoid the manipulator’s wrath. A soft answer, as Solomon said, turns away wrath (Prov. 15:1).

6. Confront the manipulator. Just like a bully on the playground, emotional manipulators sometimes need to be confronted. This may sound scary to you, but remember God did not give you a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind (2 Tim. 1:7). If you hope to save the relationship, the manipulator needs to be made aware of his tactics and given a space to repent. Jesus even gave Jezebel a space to repent (Rev. 2:21).

If the manipulator will not repent, it may be time to cut ties. Often, emotional manipulators create soul ties with their victims by finding their weaknesses and ministering to their needs before they start making demands. It can be difficult to cut loose. Other times, as in marriages, you can’t always cut loose. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to bless the manipulator with a revelation of His love and truth, and ask Him if you should stick it out or break ties with your manipulating friend. {eoa}

False friends. About a month ago I wrote a column called “5 Ways to Recognize False Friends,” and it struck a nerve—apparently a raw one.

As I shared, the Bible has plenty to say about false friends—and you’ve probably had one or two yourself. Of course, you probably didn’t know they were false when you first befriended them or you wouldn’t have put yourself through the grief!

I’ve had a number of false friends over the years. Some had selfish ambition and thought I could open a door for them. Others had a Judas spirit and walked with me until they didn’t agree with a decision. Still others were subtle manipulators who manifested when I said “no.”

Listen to Jennifer’s podcast on this topic: “5 More Ways to Recognize False Friends.”

Even still, I’ve kept my heart open to everyone. I don’t believe in putting up walls, though boundaries are wisdom. I don’t believe in operating out of suspicion, though discernment is essential. I lean heavily on the Word of God, which points out ways to discern false friends. Here are five more ways:

1. False friends are selfish and self-centered. “For wherever there is jealousy (envy) and contention (rivalry and selfish ambition), there will also be confusion (unrest, disharmony, rebellion) and all sorts of evil and vile practices” (James 3:16, AMPC).

With false friends, you can count on plenty of drama. They may be jealous of you and try to tear you down. They may have selfish ambition in their heart and get upset when you won’t give them a leg up. Or they may be self-centered and inconsiderate of everyone else but themselves.

These false friends may simply be immature, or they may be under the influence of a spirit. Either way, when there is consistent unrest, disharmony, rebellion, and other evil and vile practices, you have to question the health of the relationship. True friends help you bear your burdens rather than constantly being one.

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2. False friends manipulate and control. “For such people do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own appetites, and through smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting” (Rom. 16:18, MEV).

False friends will try to control and manipulate you. They may know exactly what they are doing or they may have no clue. With this false friend type, you’ll find yourself caving in and conceding to their pressure even when you don’t agree, then getting mad at yourself later. When you finally contest your false friend’s control games, they’ll turn the table on you and accuse you of being the manipulator.

This is a toxic relationship. True friends don’t make false accusations. That’s the devil’s job.

3. False friends kick you when you are down. “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” (Prov. 17:17). David experienced this: “For it is not an enemy who reproaches me; then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me; then I could hide from him. But it was you, my peer, my guide, and my acquaintance. We took pleasant counsel together, and walked to the house of God in company” (Ps. 55:12-14).

False friends will kick you when you are down. False friends will see you are suffering and launch their accusations, unearth their offenses and demand discussions even when it’s clear you can’t take another hit. False friends will push the matter. True friends will suffer long with you, especially when you are under attack, under the weather or otherwise under the gun. True friends will refrain from bringing up issues in the relationship until you are ready to respond in peace.

4. False friends use and abuse you. “Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 26:17, NIV). False friends will take whatever you will give them and these selfish ones will they offer nothing in return. False friends will come with expectations that you will give them what they want when they want it—and pout when you don’t.

Jesus warned that there would be those who despitefully use us (Matt. 5:44). The word “use” in that verse means “to insult, to treat abusively, use despitefully, to revile, to accuse falsely, to threaten.” False friends will give you ultimatums, launch false accusations, and make veiled or unveiled threats. Jesus says we’re to pray for such ones.

5. False friends break covenants and betray you. The Bible offers many examples of people who made covenants with one another. False friends will make covenants and break them. Jesus called Judas a friend (John 15:15). Judas drank of the covenant of Christ’s blood (Matt. 26:28). But Judas that very night betrayed the Son of the living God for a mere 30 pieces of silver.

False friends will say what you want to hear to get in your inner circle. False friends will serve you faithfully until it no longer benefits them—then they will break covenant and betray you. True friends are loyal even when they disagree.

Those are just a few characteristics of false friends. You may think of others. If you are in an unhealthy relationship, pray. The Lord may want you to restore it, serving as a witness of God’s love and longsuffering. But we are not called to be doormats, abused, manipulated, controlled, betrayed and the like. Also, be careful because false friends will offer false repentance—like Ahab—and just continue repeating the same sins against you. You are commended to forgive seven times 70 and beyond but reconciliation is not mandatory.

Break unhealthy soul ties you may have formed with false friends, refuse to give into their emotional tactics, and stand on the Word of God, walking in love and being slow to speak—and pray for them. If you do this, you’ll remain blameless in the sight of God and will free the Holy Spirit to bring conviction so they will either repent or exit your life peaceably.

When the Holy Spirit showed me word curses were coming against me, I was sort of surprised. Given the demon-inspired comments on my articles and Facebook posts—and the hate mail that lands in my inbox every day from people who don’t believe in women preachers, 21st-century prophets or the authority of the Word of God—it seemed an obvious revelation.

So I asked Him, “Who’s releasing these word curses?” He showed me a particular church I went to many years ago. That didn’t naturally make sense to me. Why in the world would I even be on their minds, much less in their mouths, after the better part of a decade had passed?

I told the people closest to me, broke word curses, blessed the ones cursing me and moved on. I thought that was the end of it—and then it manifested. One of my colleagues received a not-so-random note from a woman attending that church. A prophet on staff wanted my friend to call her right away. Though it was tempting to have her call and find out exactly what curses were being released against me, we decided not to open that Pandora’s false prophetic box.

Listen to Jennifer’s podcast on this topic for more teaching.

Saul’s Insecure Spirit

In my new book, Jezebel’s Puppets, I go in depth on the many players in the spirit of Jezebel’s puppet show. The eunuchs are part of the cast, as well as King Ahab, the false prophets and Queen Jezebel’s children. I also know from firsthand experience that Jezebel, religion and witchcraft work together.

But I hadn’t connected the dots on another diabolical tag team until an apostolic leader gave me insight into the spiritual dynamics of the cursing church. He said, “Sounds like Saul and Jezebel tag teaming. Evil. You have the victory. They that are for you are much more than those against you.”

Amen. But what did he mean?

Saul was the first king of Israel. He was insecure, walked in the fear of man and was jealous. These traits caused him to lose the kingdom. In case you are not familiar with the story, here’s the recap. Samuel prophesied to Saul with clear instructions to “strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not have compassion on them but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey” (1 Sam. 15:3).

Saul went to battle but spared Agag, the best of the sheep, oxen, fatlings and lambs. In other words, he disobeyed God. This wasn’t the first time Saul disobeyed. In 1 Samuel 13, Saul made an unlawful sacrifice, he says, “Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come to the appointed assembly days” (1 Sam. 13:11). Fear of man is no excuse for disobeying God.

The Lord regretted making Saul king, and it was the beginning of the end. Samuel told Saul, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you” (1 Sam. 15:28). That better neighbor was David. When David was rising to prominence in Israel, Saul grew jealous and tried to kill David at least 12 times in 1 Samuel 18-19.

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The Jezebel Tag Team

So where does Jezebel come in? In the case of the old church I mentioned, the senior pastor was operating in a jealous Saul spirit. Saul leaders oppose the emerging move of God. Saul leaders operate in intimidation, control and fear instead of lifting up the next generation of leaders—and sometimes Saul will send Jezebel and her witchcrafts to hinder you.

In my story, it seems Senior Pastor Saul sent Prophet Jezebel to a close friend with an intimidating message hoping to bring division or breed strife. The Bible talks about Jezebel and her witchcrafts in 2 Kings 9:22. Jezebel’s witchcrafts include word curses. A word curse is a form of witchcraft that taps into the power of death that’s in your tongue—or someone else’s tongue. This spirit of Jezebel can work through people to release word curses.

Remember when Queen Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah with a curse on his life? “You killed my prophets. Now I’m going to kill you! I pray that the gods will punish me even more severely if I don’t do it by this time tomorrow” (1 Kings 19:3, CEV). Notice that Jezebel sent a messenger, just like in my experience. Jezebel’s word curse carried a spirit of fear that sent Elijah running to hide, wishing he was dead. Again, we decided not to open Pandora’s false prophetic box but to bless instead.

The lesson is this: We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but we are wrestling against a hierarchy of demons listed in Ephesians 6:12. Those principalities, powers, rulers of darkness and the like can influence people who are insecure, jealous, controlling or otherwise carnal to attack you with word curses. Our job is to break the curses, pray and bless the abusers and walk in love. There is no other way.