Must we then allow the devil to live?
Q: I was actuated by a piece I read somewhere: some Christians were criticising the way some Nigerian churches pray “fall down and die”. I believe many people are living at ease. They have no problems. They have simplistic approach to enemies whereas we are not dealing with flesh and blood. The devil is more powerful than we are but thank God that we have victory in Jesus. Must we then allow the devil to live? Must we bless the devil? I think when Jesus says bless your adversaries, He was not talking of the African type of enemies. Enmity has not gotten to the level it is now. Please. Every enemy in my life should fall and die in Jesus name. [First published on 22 March 2009]
The Bible is and should be the basis of any revelation we have of operational strategy of the devil and our handling of same. Any extra biblical revelation is a very dangerous ground to stand upon. The greatest cause of destruction, according to God, is not the power of the enemy but our ignorance of God and His ways (Hosea 4:6 ).
What does the New Testament say about the Believer’s enemies? Ephesians 6:12 (CEV): ‘We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world’. In essence we are dealing with dark, evil and spiritual forces. These spirits do not have flesh and bones and they don’t die as we know it. We are to resist them steadfastly in the faith. The question for you is that when you pray these prayers, do you have a human being in mind, if you do, then you have missed the whole point of Ephesians 6.
Where we ‘think’ we are dealing with human enemies, Jesus tells us to ‘love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you. Then you will be acting like your Father in heaven. He makes the sun rise on both good and bad people. And he sends rain for the ones who do right and for the ones who do wrong. If you love only those people who love you, will God reward you for that? Even tax collectors love their friends. If you greet only your friends, what’s so great about that? Don’t even unbelievers do that? But you must always act like your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:44-48 CEV).
What is the New Testament way of dealing with these enemies? Concerning these spiritual forces, authorities and rulers of darkness in the spiritual world, we should put on the whole armour (protective covering) of God. This comprises of salvation (as a helmet); right standing with God (as a breastplate to protect your frontal vital organs); good news of peace (as sandals); truth (as a belt round your waist); faith (as a shield to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one) and above all, God’s Word (as a sword in the hand of the Spirit-man). Prayer as a weapon is only potent if it is launched rightly. Just like a laser-guided missile, it is not enough to just launch it but it should be launched to hit its target. And the only way for that to happen is to be word-guided. God is the One who hears prayers (Psalm 65:2), we should therefore pay attention to what He considers appropriate prayers. Ephesians chapter six mentions various kinds of prayers and requests.
Prayers are like ball games: different rules apply to different prayers. In football you are allowed to kick with your legs and only the keeper may hold the ball. Basketball, netball are different. We may send you details at your request. Bible examples On the cross, Jesus prayed for God to forgive those who betrayed Him because they were void of understanding. If Saul (who later became Paul) had “fallen and died” for persecuting the church, we probably wouldn’t have half of the New Testament.