Do you notice that when you set out to execute a God-given assignment for His glory, all hell breaks loose against you? Does it seem like when you try to press in to deeper levels of the Spirit, the enemy works overtime to distract you, derail you and otherwise deny you? Are you watching your kids fall away from the teachings of Christ? Are you working against yourself with the words of your mouth?
Lots of questions, I know, but I’m getting at something here. It could be possible that a particular spirit is behind these attacks that you aren’t discerning. We all have our go-to demon hit list—those spirits we discern actively working against us. In my life and ministry, I wrestle a lot with the spirits of Jezebel, witchcraft and religion that are prominent in my region. In fact, I just wrote a new book called Jezebel’s Puppets: Exposing the Agenda of False Prophets, which deals with Jezebel, Ahab, the false prophets, the eunuchs and Jezebel’s children.
LISTEN TO MY PODCAST ON THIS TOPIC: Unmasking the Spirit of Sabotage.
But here’s the deal. The demons you wrestle with most aren’t always the demons wrestling with you right now. That’s why you need discernment in spiritual warfare. We can’t make assumptions in the heat of the battle if we want to enforce the victory that Jesus secured for us at Calvary when he disarmed the principalities and powers, putting them to shame (Col. 2:15). The enemy works in deception, so if a demon can deceive you, it can gain power in your circumstances.
The Spirit of Sabotage Rising
That brings me to the point of the article. I have discerned a spirit of sabotage rising in this season. I’ve seen it come hard against my own life and against the lives of many others I know—and even those I don’t know who contact me through my Facebook page telling stories of their spiritual woes.
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I have to admit, this spirit was not on my radar screen. I discerned the hindering spirits working against me but I didn’t see the higher-level spirit of sabotage that was ultimately at the root. In other words, I didn’t immediately discern the strongman of sabotage. A general of intercession revealed this to me when I shared with her the warfare coming against me. At that point, it was obvious, and I could see the workings of this spirit at several levels of my life, family and ministry.
Merriam-Webster defines “sabotage” as “destruction of an employer’s property (as tools or materials) or the hindering of manufacturing by discontented workers.” Everything we own belongs to God, so when the enemy comes against what God has given us to steward, he’s coming against God’s property. I believe hindering spirits work under the authority of the spirit of sabotage, the strongman.
Another definition of “sabotage” is “destructive or obstructive action carried on by a civilian or enemy agent to hinder a nation’s war effort.” Again, you see the hindering nature of the spirit of sabotage in this definition. The enemy agent is clear, and its agenda is an all-out war to take you off God’s track and oppress you, suppress you, repress you and depress you.
Additional definitions of “sabotage” include “an act or process tending to hamper or hurt” and “deliberate subversion.” The spirit of sabotage works with other spirits to take you to task, to hamper you, to hurt you and to purposefully and intentionally subvert you. For sake of clarity, “subvert” means “to secretly try to ruin or destroy a government, political system and so on”; “to make (something) weaker or less effective”; “to overturn or overthrow from the foundation”; and “to pervert or corrupt by an undermining or morals, allegiance or faith.”
Do You See This Spirit Operating?
By now, you are probably starting to see how this spirit is working or has worked in the past to flat out stop you. It’s a stealthy spirit. It works undercover. It’s subtle sneaky and tricky—and it doesn’t work alone. I believe principalities can deploy powers against you, just as Jezebel (a principality) deploys powers (witchcrafts) against believers (2 Kin. 9:22).
The prayer warrior who told me about the spirit of sabotage also told me where she learned about it: Cindy Trimm’s book The Rules of Engagement. She discusses the spirit of sabotage on pages 245-246:
“The Spirit of Sabotage operates as strong demonic influences that drive people to abort the progress and success of divinely ordained projects, purposes, relationships, organization, self, potential and destinies. It stirs up jealously, resentment and suspicion, and is often vindictive toward the person who detects its presence. Sabotage can make you both victim and perpetrator so that even when you pronounce judgment on others you both expose and pronounce judgment upon yourself.
“This spirit is so skillful it will use you as a pawn and a puppet on a string, prohibiting you from detecting its hand upon you and the strings that manipulate you. Working with familiar spirits, who act as their reconnaissance, informing them of breaks in hedges of protection, strengths, weaknesses and proclivities of both the perpetrator and victim, its plan is a well-thought-out plan.
“I have discovered that many agents used are not only those with malicious intent, but also those who sincerely love us and want what’s best for us. Consider the incident Matthew records In Matthew 16:21-23, where Peter unwittingly was being used in an attempt to sabotage the mission of Jesus. Jesus decisively identified the spirit controlling Peter’s thoughts and immediately aborted its activities.
“Remember as you examine the activities of this spirit that you will discover that you are both victim and perpetrator. When the Lord gives you victory over this spirit, you will notice that a veil will be lifted, and scales of deception will fall from your spiritual eyes. Everything that you thought was real will crumble before you and evaporate like a mirage. Truth will prevail and set you free from anything built upon fabrications, lies, falsehood and untruths.”
Can somebody say amen? {eoa}
