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In this write up we are looking at dealing with particular spirits that have kept many in bondage and how to be free from their influence.  Remember we need to recognise them clearly so that when we take authority over them we do not open the doors of our souls to their operations and they seem to take over again. So we recognise, deal with them then cultivate a life style that keeps them out of our lives.

Let's start by looking at the spirit of poverty. There will always be a natural reason for some things. These natural reasons alone do not give the full picture of the operations of these spirits. When you consider other things like wickedness, immorality, pride, addictions to drugs, alcohol and sex, the extent of damage done to the human race at a global level, it is not just the human beings alone enjoying the works of the flesh, but demonic spirits taking advantage of the humans yielding to their carnal minds and flesh. Like one man of God said, the vultures gather when the animal is yielding to the pang of death. The demons gather when humans keep yielding to the flesh. When demons are involved, they put humans in bondage so that they can no longer easily stop the destructive activities that they once enjoyed.

Deliverance is a two sided coin, there is the power-encounter and the other side is the truth-encounter. When the authority of the name of Jesus is exercised, demons will have to bow and obey. That is the power side, as the Holy Spirit enables the believer to experience God's power. The other side is when the believer submits to the authority of the Word of God and builds a life of obedience based on the Word; that represents truth encounter. Many who get deliverance by a power encounter which is not followed up with truth encounter, usually need deliverance over and over again from the same problems.

We wrestle with principalities and powers according to Ephesians 6. We bind their operations both in prayers and our life of submission to the authority of scriptures. We have authority to cast our devils. It sounds like there is a difference between casting out and wrestling. Demonic spirits are low ranking devils, while principalities are higher up in the hierarchy. They control the demons and they operate by injecting MINDSETS that makes it conducive for the devils to operate. These MINDSETS blind human beings from recognising the work of demonic spirits. These MINDSETS are called strongholds in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. They also have the imaginations that go with them as well as thought patterns.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons.

For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One),

Recognition Of The Prevailing Spirits.

Prevailing spirits are recognisable by the activities of people under their influence. These people have thoughts that lead to their actions. Those thoughts were generated by the combination of the ignorance,( of both spiritual and natural consequences), carelessness and these are encouraged by the prevailing spirits. Thoughts also flow out of beliefs that people have. Principalities also generate belief systems.

Poverty as a prevailing spirit has these manifestations: a devaluation of whatever the people have, from their lives to their possessions and relationships; a mental comparison with an imaginary other person that encourages a lack of appreciation for what they have. This mind-set leads to actions that attract lack of resources. This mind-set is ignorant of the fact that what we place value on appreciates and what we devalue actually loses its value to us. The people see themselves as victims of their circumstances that they cannot do anything about. So they point fingers at others for their plight without a willingness to take responsibility for their actions and for themselves. They love to waste the little resource that they have. They are never satisfied, always wanting more and tend to look to others to be their suppliers. These things can be seen individually and nationally too. The spirit of poverty really prevails in many places on the earth.

Hunger and thirst are the physical signs of lack. Not having proper clothes and a place to rest one's head are also outward signs of abject poverty. Let us not confuse the spirit of poverty with the outward expressions of the same spirit. The goal of this spirit is to steal, kill and destroy. From joy to relationships, from possessions to hope, from aspirations to wellbeing, the spirit is committed to destroying and depriving everyone of God's goodness. Remember, it is governed by thought patterns and actions flowing from those thoughts reinforce its hold on peoples, regions and nations. One of the key allies of this spirit is the spirit of fear. Fear of lack, of the unknown, of what tomorrow holds, these fears also open human beings up to the spirit of lack-poverty!

Dealing With These Spirits

The recognition phase is very important as this helps in directing our prayers, confession of the relevant Word of God and our actions. We also need to recognise the provision God has made for us through the sacrifice of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in His death, burial and resurrection. He became poor that we through His poverty might be made rich! My God supplies all my need according to His riches in glory! God has made provision for all our needs to be met. God's provision is primarily spiritual. God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We are blessed. Knowing this as a reality is the first knowing that should register in our hearts. Even without a dime in our pockets, we are blessed. Our giving, praying and operational wisdom all go a long way to determine how the spiritual blessing will manifest physically in our situation and stay!

We take authority over these spirits and command their activities to come to an end in the name of Jesus Christ. We need some clear instructions in doing this.  The weapons of our warfare are the Word, the Name of Jesus and the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. We launch these weapons in prayer, praise, confession and acting on the Word. We submit to the authority of God through our submission and obedience to His Word, we exercise our God given authority over the demonic realm as we declare, pray and confess boldly what the Word says in the name of Jesus. Where we are dealing with raw demonic activities, we plead the blood of Jesus, the blood of our covenant with God. I realise that these subjects may need further studying and we do have messages on many of them which can be gotten on our websites.

It is one thing to deal with the demonic; it's another thing to cultivate a lifestyle based on God's wisdom which will produce a more sustained victory in these areas.  This is where knowledge comes in. How to manage, invest and earn a living, also how to believe God for increase in finances, are all needed for victory over poverty.

Three issues are involved if finances will no longer be a problem:

Giving

Praying

Walking in Obedience

Giving

The abuse that has been connected with giving and receiving seems to try to blind many to the potency of this kingdom principle. Anyhow we look at it, the law of sowing and reaping cannot be erased as long as the earth remains. Seed time and harvest will continue. Giving helps us to deal with selfishness, to break our dependence on the natural, to be more like our Father God who loved and gave, and finally, it is involved in the seed sowing principle. We know giving covers more than money but poverty is our focus and one of the actions to break its hold is to become givers! Stop looking for what you can get and start looking for ways to give others. Giving includes giving to God, for missions and other kingdom activities, giving to the poor etc. it must become a lifestyle. You sow the seed of financial increase by giving in faith, then you pray expecting God's provision as you stay plugged into God for instructions to obey as you position yourself for increase.

God may give you ideas as to how to invest or what business to start etc. your prayers should include commanding Satan to take his hands off your finances as well as claiming what you need, then asking God to release His angels to go cause the money to come. When the money comes let God lead you in how you spend it. He is your source and systems are channels in His hands.

You sow by giving, water the seed with your prayers and reap through your obedience to God. Your knowledge of how to manage finances, limit your expenditure to be less than income, investigate before investing and other stewardship principles where money is concerned will go a long way in sustaining your wealth. The principle of giving needs to be a part of your lifestyle. In fact giving, praying and living in obedience describes the lifestyle of one who cannot stay under the influence of poverty.

Personal development skills of goal setting, time management, and planning are the tools needed to enhance our proper stewardship of what God provides. He is our source.