Christians are on two polar extreme concerning praying against the devil, his agents and works. On one extreme, some Christians begin and end their prayers, with almost all their prayer points against the devil and his works. There is little or no time spent in worshipping and praising God; praying for other people and good things in their lives…
Then on the other polar extreme, many who have caught the light about the authority and victory of the believer on the devil and his cohorts, refuse to pray at all against the devil and his works. And by so doing, they leave a loophole for the devil to take undue advantage of them.
With these two extremes, we want to see scripturally, if Christians still need to pray against the devil, his cohorts and works or not.
The Authority of the Believer
Scripturally, we see that God has given a great authority to the believer over the devil and his agents. The Lord Jesus himself tells us that he has given us power to tread on serpent and scorpions and all the powers of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt us (Luke 10:19).
The word of God says God has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus—Ephesians 2:6. And this position that we are seated in Christ Jesus, the bible says, is far above principalities and power—Ephesians 1:21.
Hence, the believer has been given a victorious authority against the devil and his cohorts. And of course, our Lord Jesus secured this victory and authority for us when he spoiled principalities and powers; and made a show of them openly, triumphing over them by his death on the cross and resurrection—Colossians 2:14-15.
Exercising The Authority
So we have seen scripturally that God has vested a great authority on the believer against the devil and his cohorts. But an authority that is not exercised, many a time will only profit little or not even profit at all…
Hence, the Lord will have us consistently exercise our authority in Christ Jesus against the devil; in order to enforce and enjoy the victory the Lord has secured for us.
Along this line, the Lord instructs us to resist the devil and he will flee from us (James 4:7).
We are also told to fight the good fight of faith (1Timothy6:12). Then the word of God says we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).
To exercise this authority, the word of God in the book of Ephesians 6, from verse 13 to 18 shows us the spiritual weapons to use. And prayers happen to be one of the weapons we are to engage always—Ephesians 6:18.
So How Are We to Pray Against Devils?
We have learnt that Christ has given us great authority and victory over the devil, his cohorts and works. We have also seen that we are to exercise our authority against the devil and his cohorts…
We have also learnt that prayers is one of the spiritual, potent weapon delivered to us to exercise our authority and enforce our victory. Armed with these understanding, we are to pray against the devil and his cohorts (and their works) from a vantage point of triumph. We are to pray against them with superiority complex.
We are to pray against them with the mind-set of a champion. We are to pray against them, looking down on them. Because our position—according to God’s word – is far above theirs… we are not to pray against them with any magnification or fear.
When Are We to Pray Against Devils?
Having known how to pray against the devil, the next thing we want to know is when we are to pray against the devils. Should we be proactive or reactive? Should we take the defensive side or the offensive side? The answer is both.
On The Offensive Side: We know that the devil and his cohorts are constantly plotting against us, and of course, it is wise that we always take an offensive or proactive side in prayers to spoil their plots before they even make a move. This way, we will be attacking their camps before they even make any moves against us or our loved ones.
And to make this kind of prayers, after praising and worshipping God, praying for the kingdom; praying for your nation and leaders. After praying for all our loved ones and our delectable prayers, we can allocate 5 to 10 minutes to authoritatively spoil all the plots of the wicked before they even take any step.
We don’t necessarily have to spend so much time doing this; if we actually make these prayers from the vantage point of authority and triumph.
On The Defensive Side: Our primary field of battle with the devil and his cohorts is our minds. The devil and his agents, always project vain thoughts in our minds. And we are to cast down such thoughts by our weapons when we perceive them (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).
Then apart from that, since the devil and his cohorts are always at work, we can also perceive their works or manoeuvres around us or in the lives of those around us. And as we do, we are to take authority against them on the fly, rebuke them, command them to cease in their machinations and manoeuvres; and cast them out in the name of the Lord.
So the answer to the question, whether we should pray against devils; is a scriptural yes! But when we do so, we shouldn’t get into the extreme of making praying against devils our major theme of prayer points.
Instead, we should pray against them from a vantage point of authority and victory.
Remain Blessed!
Emeke Odili
