Spiritual warfare put into practice 11.03.07

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
          John 10:10

Dear sisters and brothers,
the Word of God speaks very clearly that we are in a battle not against people but against powers and that we’ve got an armour to fight. Jesus has given us the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm us. Luk. 10:19
And yet most Christians do not fight nor do they know how to do it.
In the past years I made the experience that when I wrote to people step by step how to fight marriage problems, disunity and difficulties with their children etc that it always brought results. Unfortunately many give up quickly and others never start. We are the generation of instant coffee and if something does not happen immediately we give up. But the life of faith has much to do with perseverance and overcoming.

In 1990 my husband and I got married. My husband had been a ghost healer. When he came to Jesus Satan warned him several times that he would defeat him. We experienced how hell came against us and tried to destroy us, our marriage, our family and lives. I speak not of some imagination but of reality. Until that time I was about an average Christian. I served the Lord thinking to be a Christian means sunshine all the time. Then the attacks of the devil came and I couldn’t understand the world anymore. I wasn’t taught at all in this area!
One night I went to bed with the question: “Lord, what happened?” At four in the morning I went to toilet. When I came back and put my foot on the bed a hand pulled me. My body lay in bed but my spirit was gone. I saw Jesus and rejoiced. But then someone else stood before me and my heart felt very heavy so that I hardly could breathe. I took all the courage I got to look who was standing in front of me and saw the ugly face of Satan. Jesus didn’t say: “Satan, leave her alone!” no, He gave me a golden sword and said to me: “Pierce his heart!” So I took the sword and pierced Satan’s heart with it. I returned and woke up. It was then when the adventure started.

Firstly we do have an enemy, the prince of this world, Satan. We are on his territory and want to dispute his right on it. We want to be light in the darkness so that others get saved too.
Secondly we have got the order to fight against him and therefore we’ve got an armour (Eph. 6:10-20). Many Christians try hard to learn using all the weapons. Who is the armour? Jesus Himself! Therefore we should remain in Him. Many say: “O, today I forgot to wear my armour!” I want to ask you: Have you put it off? I always wear my armour. Especially at night you need it even more. Why? The spiritual world is very active at night. Why? Man finally rests.
Why are there so many Christians swimming in problems? They don’t want to fight. There is an unbelievable apathy. Materialism made us extremely passive. If you’ve got marriage problems you go to the marriage counsellor before you go to the lawyer. Have you got psychic problems you go to the army of counsellors? They shall pray, believe and fight for you as you pay them. Do you know that the darkness increases with God’s allowance for the Christians finally to wake up? God will allow as much pressure that Mr. and Mrs. Christian either get up and fight or fall away.
If we only live for ourselves and without caring what happens around us, God will send a Goliath and we have to decide whether we fight like David or hide like Saul and his army.
When persecution of Christians will come you can’t run to the counsellor. When sitting in prison you can’t ask anyone to pray for you. When you stand before the judge you will be alone. And just at this point God wants to get us for He is a jealous God. He is fed up with us always asking people for help. He says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord ... (Jer. 17:5+7)
Sometimes people call me asking whether they shall do this or that, whether to go here or there, whether to marry him or another ... Brother and sister, you have got the Holy Spirit. You have a living God Who only waits for you to come to Him instead of always running to people.

I must say after many years of experience that there are only a few who have got a deep relationship with Jesus. Many just come along. Why? They are lazy. Laziness is a huge problem in society and in the Body of Christ.
Some years ago I had an experience at night: I saw with my spiritual eyes a small woman beside my bed. She looked like an Italian and kept on talking ... bla, bla, bla ... It wasn’t important what she said and I realized that it was a demon. So I commanded him in the name of Jesus to leave. Nothing happened and I knew I needed to know his name. In that moment the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said: “Laziness, in the name of Jesus, go away!” When I said his name the woman attacked me like a lioness. There was a fight and still in the morning I could feel the claws on shoulder and hip. Why didn’t she leave on my command? I believe the Lord wanted me to know how real these powers are.

Laziness is a spirit, a power we must resist. Far too many live according their pleasure and mood: Today it’s raining, I can’t go out. Tomorrow it’s too hot ... How nice sitting together for food and a drink but for prayer and evangelism there first must be a mighty voice from heaven ... People of God, either you will get up, fight and overcome or you will die. It’s all about life and death!

In the letter “Our Children” we saw that Satan wants to destroy our children. Not only children but whole nations slip into the abyss. And what are we doing? Sometimes we collect signatures for or against something and that can be good. But the battle must be led spiritually. We do not fight against flesh and blood ... (Eph. 6:10-20)
How then shall we fight? It’s very simple and even a child can do it. Maybe we should teach them as school turns more and ungodly.
As I mentioned Jesus gave me His sword to fight. What is the sword? The Word of God! When I pray for people or nations I mainly use two Bible verses which for me are prayer keys. When people speak about prayer they think of asking God to do this and that. When I speak of prayer I mean exercising authority, commanding. But how?
Let’s look at Math. 16:19 or 18:18 where Jesus says: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
In an other translation it even says: What you allow on earth will be allowed in heaven and what you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven! Powerful.
What do we bind? Satan and His evil spirits who attack us or others. What do we loose? The people who are tormented by demons. Isn’t that simple? And yet it’s almost never done.
Some years ago I was with OM at the port in Piraeus. Suddenly a dispute broke out between a taxi driver and a police woman. It looked like it would turn into a fight. I just happened to be there and so I said: “In the name of Jesus I bind the spirit of dispute. In the name of Jesus Satan go away.” And I spoke the peace of God into that situation. What happened? Immediately the dispute ended. A brother gave the police woman a tract and everything was fine.
When I was in Vienna suddenly a woman and a man started quarrelling in the street. They got louder and louder. What did I do? I said: “Satan, in the name of Jesus shut your mouth and be quiet. I bind you and demand the peace of God!” What happened? The man suddenly left and there was silence.

What I told you now I experienced time and time again in my family. Do you know of situations when the family sits together in harmony and suddenly out of nowhere the fat’s in the fire because of a triviality? What do you do in such a moment? Do you fight carnally, walk away or go into another room and say: “Satan I resist you in the name of Jesus, get away! The blood of Jesus is here. The name of Jesus is here. You have nothing to do here, go away. I bind you and speak the peace of God upon us.”
This prayer you can do often whether for believers or nonbelievers, for situations or persons.

Let’s go to 2.Cor. 10:4+5: The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
That’s the key number two. Where do dispute and even war start? In the mind.
Satan brings up the husband against his wife, the children against their parents, people against people. He sends arrows into the mind like: “My husband doesn’t like me ... My neighbour is so strange today ... nobody loves me ... my life isn’t worthwhile ...
What do we do? As soon as we realize a thought isn’t from the Lord we take it captive. How do we do that? When I pray for myself or others after I used the first key I go on to the second. I put my hand on my forehead and say: “In the name of Jesus I destroy all strongholds in my mind, all wrong thinking, all negative thinking I tear down and submit it under the obedience of Christ. I speak light into my mind. There shall be light and the darkness must flee. The peace of God shall be upon me and in me! The same I do for each person I pray for.
Again and again I have made the experience how people changed and often didn’t know anymore why they fought previously.
God answers when you take His Word and chase away Satan. But if you just always say: “Lord, do this and that ... the Lord thinks: “I did it already for you 2000 years ago, what else do you want? Walk in the victory and walk victoriously in what is done already”.

God’s people is so tormented, so bound. It’s painful to see us like that.
There are people fighting in the front line for a country and get attacked very much like Deyse Schuemperli who several times seemed to die. My husband too experiences things I don’t even know about. Yet always the Lord brakes through.
Most Christians are bound because they don’t even fight and are passive.

The Devil can come and go as he wants and no one takes action.
A sister once said to me: “I hate Satan.” I told her not to say that otherwise she wouldn’t have God’s protection. Why? How did Jesus fight? With the Word “It’s written”! Never emotionally.
One night I had a dream. I stood before a mirror and said: “Satan, I hate you!”
He once more had attacked us. In that moment he griped me from behind and I felt his claws. I tried to get free but it was impossible. I knew there was something wrong.
When I woke up I asked the Lord why I didn’t have any authority and nothing helped. I opened my Bible and there was the answer: “How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce those whom the Lord has not denounced?” Num. 23:8. Even Satan is a creature of God. I can not fight him emotionally but only with the sword of God. Otherwise God can’t do anything.

Sisters and brothers, I could go on writing. But when you start practicing Matt.18:18 and 2.Cor. 10:4+5 you will get experiences of your own, see victories, changes in your families ...
In a couple of hours I will be abroad fighting for another country in this way ...
Someone wrote to me that she did that already years ago and nothing happened.
Then you must examine your heart. Are you maybe bitter toward your husband? Often we women want to see our husbands changed. But the Lord first wants to change us. I may write more in another letter about this subject.

May the Lord take us out of our passivity, our excuses and our slumber! The Lion of Judah is roaring! Can you hear Him? Today it might be for your salvation, tomorrow it could be for judgment.
God’s Peace be upon you!

Catherine Hafner, a servant of Jesus Christ!