The following are some of the ways we can combat and overcome eight specific areas of Satan’s attack through witchcraft.

1. Overcoming Discouragement

Discouragement never comes from God. He is the author of faith and the source of hope which never disappoints. Although God does discipline us when we need it, He never does so by afflicting us with discouragement. When James describes the wisdom that comes from above, he does not list discouragement as one of the characteristics: “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy” (James 3:17). Discouragement is the very opposite of love, joy, peace and other attributes of the Holy Spirit’s fruit (see Galatians 5:22-23).

We must learn to quickly and instinctively reject discouragement, giving it no place in our thoughts. We must tenaciously resist it, taking every thought captive to obey Christ (see II Corinthians 10:3). Discouragement must never be allowed to dictate our course. Faith is the fruit of the Spirit and the shield of our armor that counters discouragement. If we begin to get discouraged, it is because we have dropped our shield. We need to pick it back up!

2. Overcoming Confusion

“God is not the author of confusion” (see I Corinthians 14:33 KJV), so we can know for certain that when confusion strikes, it is not coming from Him. In the military, confusion is one of the primary elements of battle that a soldier is trained to handle. Since nothing will ever go exactly as planned, there will rarely be a battle where there is no confusion. The same is true in spiritual warfare.

The disciplined soldier who understands this aspect of warfare learns to use the confusion to his own advantage. He does not let it increase his discouragement, but begins to anticipate it, looking for an opportunity to gain an advantage over the enemy. We must learn to expect confusion as part of the battle and not be surprised or affected by it. Our resolve to stand and fight will quickly dispel this aspect of the attack.

3. Overcoming Depression God told Cain the most effective remedy for depression:

Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen [the ancient expression for depression]? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouch- ing at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it” (Genesis 4:6-7).

Depression is usually the result of allowing discouragement and confusion to cause us to drift from our basic spiritual disciplines, such as reading the Word, pray- ing, fellowshipping, and so on. Picking them up again with resolve will almost always start to reverse the downward spiral.

4. Overcoming a Loss of Vision

This attack can also be turned to our advantage and used as an opportunity. When we begin to lose our vision, we must commit ourselves to strengthening our vision more than ever. We need to sink our roots deeper and establish our purpose even more firmly upon the Word of God. When God begins to lead us into a purpose, we should record how He speaks to us. By searching all the Scriptures and reviewing the ways He has led us in the past, we will even more firmly establish His leading.

Above all, we must hold our course! We should not change our direction until we can clearly see the new course. In World War I, one of the most effective tactics of the enemy was to lay a smokescreen in front of allied battleship convoys. As the convoy entered the smoke, visibility was lost. The ships would start turning at any perceived sound or whim with the resulting collisions sinking more ships than the enemy torpedoes did.

The allies finally developed a simple strategy to thwart this tactic against their vision: When in the smoke, every ship was to hold its previous course without deviation. By doing so, they discovered that they would soon all sail out the other side into clear air. The same strategy will enable us to more quickly escape whatever is clouding our vision. When we lose our vision, we need to just hold our course and keep going forward. We will soon break out into the clear.

5. Overcoming Disorientation

As an instrument flight instructor, the first thing I had to teach a student pilot was that he must not trust his feelings when experiencing restricted visibility while flying on instruments. If a pilot tries to fly by his feelings when in instrument conditions, he will quickly lose control of the plane.

Even when flying perfectly straight and level through the clouds, it can begin to feel like the plane is turning. If the pilot reacts to this feeling, he will begin to turn in order to counteract this supposed drift, causing the plane to veer off course or possibly even turn the plane upside down. In a test conducted by the FAA, a group of pilots without previous instrument training were flown into instrument conditions.

Every one of them lost control of their planes because they tried to rely on their feelings for guidance. The same is true of immature Christians who enter spiritual conditions with reduced visibility or “spiritual clouds.”

They usually try to rely on their feelings for guidance and therefore lose control. The “instruments” we have been given to walk by are found in the Bible. We do not walk by feelings but by faith in the sure testimony of the Word of God. The Word of God will keep us oriented and on course if we put our trust in it, even when our feelings may be telling us to do otherwise.

6. Overcoming Withdrawal

In the Persian Gulf War, the majority of casualties were either reserves or civilian. The safest place to be in the war was on the front line. This has been true in most modern wars, and it is true in spiritual warfare as well. When we are being pressed in a battle, we cannot call a time-out. On the frontline, we cannot ask the enemy to stop the battle because we have a headache or want to take a break. When we are on the frontline, we know the dangers and do not let our guards down.

All Christians are on the frontline every day whether we like it or not. It is when we start to consider ourselves a “civilian” and not a soldier that we will be the most vulnerable to his attack. A Christian is never in the reserves.

However, there are times of reprieve from conflict because seldom do battles continually rage along the entire front. However, when we know we are on the front, even our breaks are taken with vigilance, realizing that a fresh attack can come at any time. Christians must never remove their spiritual armor or lose their vigilance. In times of warfare, there are occasions when strategic retreat is necessary.

At times, we over commit ourselves spiritually and must draw back—but that is not the same as withdrawing from the battle. Even when we have over committed ourselves, retreat should be a last resort, for an army in retreat is in its most vulnerable condition. If at all possible, we should at least try to hold our ground until our position can be strengthened.

Even when we discover that in a certain matter we have acted presumptuously, without being commissioned by God, we must not quit—we should repent. There is a difference between quitting and stopping because of repentance. The first is defeat; the latter is an adjustment that will always result in further victories. Repentance comes because of the truth that sets us free; defeat will result in spiritual bondage to the power of the enemy.

7. Overcoming Despair

In Genesis 2:18, the Lord said that it was not good for man to be alone. We are social creatures, and when we withdraw from fellowship, we usually sink into the deepest pit of hopelessness—despair. At this point in the downward spiral, we must return to fellowship and get help in reversing the slide or else we will be defeated.

As simple as this may seem, it is the remedy. Even though fellow believers can be the source of the enemy’s attack on us, we must never run away from the church. We should run to it and work out our problems until they are resolved.

8. Overcoming Defeat

Even if Satan’s stings of witchcraft have brought such devastation to our lives that we are temporarily defeated, we must see that God can still bring us to ultimate victory. Paul commented to the Corinthians that he had been “struck down, but not destroyed” (see II Corinthians 4:9). At one point, Paul faced such severe attacks that he “despaired even of life” (see II Corinthians 1:8), but through it all he learned that the secret of regaining victory was not in trusting in himself but in “God who raises the dead” (see II Corinthians 1:9).

Paul wrote, “but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 15:57). “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). Defeat is not an option in Christ. We will gain victory in that which He has called us to do. The only way we can be defeated is to quit.

Summary

Witchcraft is basically the practice of cursing others. This cursing does not just come through cults or black magic arts, but can even come through those who love us and have good intentions and are trying to manipulate us. Using manipulation or control is a form of witchcraft, regardless of who does it.

The mother who manipulates her son or daughter into marrying her choice has done it through witchcraft, and such relationships usually have to be held together through manipulation and control.

The prayer group that uses prayers to expose others is gossiping for the sake of manipulation. This is not genuine prayer—it is witchcraft. Much of what is written in the name of Christian journalism purportedly as an attempt to keep the church informed is gossip, used to manipulate or gain influence over others— this, too, is witchcraft.

When spiritual leaders use manipulation, hype, or control to build their churches or ministries, they are operating in a counterfeit spiritual authority equivalent to witchcraft. Much of what is taught in business schools is a form of manipulation or control that is witchcraft. Many of the strategies the church has borrowed from secular journalism and the business world have brought witchcraft into the camp, and it must be removed if we are to be free to accomplish our purpose for this hour.

Many of the “yokes” and human expectations that we face have some form of manipulation and witchcraft attached to them. The enemy wants to establish these strongholds to conflict with the calling of God in our lives.

However, this is not a license to disregard the expectations of our parents, teachers, employers, and so forth. We were known by the Lord before we were born, and many of the influences in our lives have been placed there to help steer us toward our purposes in Him.

However, some of the yokes and expectations that well-intentioned parents, teachers, or coaches put on us must be cast off. Yokes that are placed on us that are not from the Lord will become clear as we come to know our callings and purposes in Him, for the truth will set us free.

The only yoke that we must take is the Lord’s yoke. His yoke is easy and His burden is light (see Matthew 11:30). When we take His yoke, we find rest and refreshment instead of the pressure and discouragement that comes from white witchcraft.

Pressure tactics and manipulation are subtle forms of witchcraft that can have just as much power as the black magic arts. White and black witchcraft may be different branches, but they have the same root and the same deadly poison.

Regretfully, when unstable people recognize the dangers of being subject to charismatic or white witchcraft, they will often distort this principle in order to rebel against God’s ordained authority over their lives.

King Saul is a personification of one who was ordained by God but fell from his place of true spiritual authority to operate in counterfeit spiritual authority. King David, on the other hand, is a personification of true spiritual authority. How did David react to Saul? He was willing to serve in the house of Saul until Saul chased him away. Even then he never retaliated, rebelled or tried to undermine Saul’s authority, but chose instead to honour him as “the Lord’s anointed” (see I Samuel 24:10).

We need to learn from David’s example. Even though he was called to take Saul’s place, he never lifted his hand against Saul. David determined that if God had really called him to be the next king, then God would have to be the one to establish him.

David overcame evil with good by demonstrating the exact opposite of the manipulative or control spirits that had come against him. Had David manipulated his way into the kingdom, he would have almost certainly fallen to witchcraft just like Saul. However, David was of a different spirit.

Those who are the target of any form of witchcraft will usually feel the sequence of stings previously listed. If we react to the attack properly, we will not only be free of its influence ourselves, but we can also help to free those who have use witchcraft. The manipulation and control spirits gain entrance through fear.

Those who are fearful, insecure, and so obsessed with controlling others that they use evil influence, will take a demonstration of “perfect love” (see I John 4:18) to cast out these fears. Jesus commanded us to “bless those who curse you” (see Matthew 5:44). Paul said that we are not to return evil for evil; we are to overcome evil with good (see Romans 12:19-21).

When we discover that we are the target of witchcraft, retaliation is not the answer. In fact, that is the very thing the enemy would have us do, for it multiplies the evil we are trying to cast out. Satan will not cast out Satan; witchcraft will not cast out witchcraft.

We must pray for those who are praying against us and bless those who are cursing us. This does not mean we are to bless what they are doing, but we must pray that they are delivered from the fears and hatred that motivates them. Pray for your attackers to have a revelation of the perfect love of God. Our greatest victory is in winning those who are in the enemy’s grip, not just in afflicting them back.

Another source of witchcraft that can be one of the most unexpected causes of discouragement, confusion, depression, loss of vision, disorientation, and despair is ourselves!

When we use manipulation, hype, or control on others, we open ourselves to the consequences. Before we look at others to find the source, we should first look at ourselves. Again, Satan cannot cast out Satan; we will not be able to cast witchcraft out of others if we are using it ourselves.

Most who have been subject to witchcraft have tried to combat it in the flesh actually using the same spirit. When we do that, it gains a foothold in our own lives that must be broken before we will have the authority to deliver others.

Witchcraft is a serious offense that God will not continue to tolerate in the church. His intent is to bring down every form and manifestation of witchcraft that has ensnared His people. After we have been freed from this terrible evil, we will also be free to walk in the unprecedented power that can only be entrusted to those who walk in true spiritual authority.

Excerpted from Overcoming Witchcraft, Combating Spiritual Strongholds Series, Rick Joyner © copyright 1996, 2010, published by Morning Star Publications

Image Credit: Heavens Call

The practice of witchcraft has dramatically increased throughout the world in recent years. One of the expressed goals of this movement is to destroy biblical Christianity. Many Christians are presently suffering some form of attack from those who practice witchcraft. Discerning the nature of these attacks, and knowing how to overcome them, is becoming crucial for all believers.

What is Witchcraft?

Witchcraft is counterfeit spiritual authority; it is using a spirit other than the Holy Spirit to dominate, manipulate, or control others.

In Galatians 5:20, the Apostle Paul named witchcraft, or “sorcery,” as one of the deeds of the flesh. Though witchcraft has its origin in the carnal nature of man, it usually degenerates quickly into demonic power. When we try to use emotional pressure to manipulate others, it is a basic form of witchcraft. When we use hype or soul power to enlist service, even for the work of God, it is witchcraft. When businessmen scheme to find pressure points while pursuing a deal, this, too, can be witchcraft.

Many of the manipulative tactics promoted as sales techniques in marketing are basic forms of witchcraft. The primary defense against counterfeit spiritual authority is to walk in true spiritual authority. Establishing our lives on truth and trusting in the Lord to accomplish what concerns us are essential keys to becoming free from the influence and pressure of witchcraft.

The attacks of witchcraft come in a series of stings. The successive stings are meant to hit the very places where we have been weakened by the previous stings. In this way they build upon each other until the cumulative effect overwhelms the target. The stings of witchcraft usually come in the following order:

1. Discouragement
2. Confusion
3. Depression
4. Loss of Vision
5. Disorientation
6. Withdrawal
7. Despair
8. Defeat

This process can happen quickly, as it did with Elijah, but it usually works more slowly, which makes it even more difficult to discern. However, if we know the enemy’s schemes we will not continue to be subject to them. When these symptoms begin to make inroads into our lives, we must resist the enemy until he flees. If we do not resist him, we will be the ones fleeing, just like Elijah.

The source of witchcraft used against us may not be the obvious satanic cults or New Age operatives. It can come from well- meaning, though deceived, Christians who are, in effect, praying against us instead of for us. These misguided prayers have power, because whatever is released on earth is released in heaven, and whatever is bound on earth is bound in heaven. If intercession is motivated by a spirit of control or manipulation, it is witchcraft, and its power is just as real as that of black magic.

Other sources of charismatic witchcraft can be things such as gossip, political maneuvering, and jealousy; and they can have an effect on us whether we allow ourselves to be manipulated by them or not. For example, consider the result if we refuse to be manipulated by someone who has a control spirit, but allow ourselves to become resentful or bitter toward that person. In such a case, the enemy has still caused us to fall, and the discouragement, disorientation, and depression will come upon us just as surely as if we had submitted to the control spirit.

We are defeated by the enemy when he can get us to respond in any spirit other than the Holy Spirit, whose fruit is love, joy, peace, and so forth (see Galatians 5:22-23).

The enemy’s strategy is to cause us to depart from the fruit of the Holy Spirit and try to combat him on his own terms. Satan cannot cast out Satan; resentment will never cast out Jezebel—it will only increase her power.

That is why the basic strategy we must use to begin freeing ourselves from the power of witchcraft is to “bless those who curse us” (see Luke 6:28). This does not mean that we bless their works, but that we pray for them and not against them. If the enemy can get us to retaliate, he will then have us using the same spirit, and we will have multiplied the very evil we were trying to cast out.

We are not warring against flesh and blood, and the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but spiritual. When we begin to pray blessings upon the people who are attacking us, then the evil power of control and manipulation is broken over both them and us. We must not return evil for evil, but we must “overcome evil with good” (see Romans 12:21).

Sting 1: DISCOURAGEMENT

Everyone gets discouraged at times, and it can be for many different reasons, so this is not always the result of witchcraft being used against us. However, if we become subject to increasing discouragement for no apparent reason, witchcraft should be considered as a possible source.

When your difficulties seem insurmountable and you want to give up, even though matters are really not any worse than usual, you are probably coming under spiritual attack. The enemy’s attempt to afflict you with discouragement is meant to weaken you for the next level of attack, which is:

Sting 2: CONFUSION

Again, we must look for a general and increasing “spirit of confusion” for which there is no apparent reason. Here we begin to lose our clarity as to what we have been called to do, which of course will weaken our resolve. This confusion is meant to compound our discouragement, making us even weaker and more vulnerable to further attack, which will usually come in the form of:

Sting 3: DEPRESSION

This is a deeper problem than simple discouragement. It is an unshakable dread that comes as a result of the combined effect of discouragement and confusion, along with a general negligence in spiritual disciplines that have usually slipped in by this time. This will become an increasingly prevalent problem in the last days, and we must gain victory over it. If we do not, it will quickly lead to the next sting:

Sting 4: LOSS OF VISION

This is the goal of the previous stings, and it works to increase their effect. Here we begin to doubt that God has called us to the task in the first place. The only way that we can sail through the storm of confusion is to hold our course, but we cannot hold our course if we do not know where we are going. We will not try to hold our course if we begin to think it was wrong for us to ever pursue our vision in the first place. Such a loss in vision will lead to our drifting in circles at the time when we most need to “make straight paths for your feet” (see Hebrews 12:13). This sets us up for the next level of assault:

Sting 5: DISORIENTATION

The combined result of depression, confusion, and loss of vision is usually disorientation. By this time, not only have we forgotten the course we are supposed to be holding, but we have even lost our ability to read the compass. The Scriptures will no longer speak to us, and it is a struggle to trust the Lord’s voice or receive much encouragement from even the most anointed teaching or preaching. This is the point of spiritual incapacitation, the inability to function, which results in:

Sting 6: WITHDRAWAL

When disorientation sets in, it is tempting to withdraw or retreat from our purpose in the ministry, our fellowship with the rest of the church, and often from our families and others we are close to. Withdrawal will result in:

Sting 7: DESPAIR

Withdrawal from the battle leads quickly to hopelessness and despair. Without hope we can easily be taken out by the enemy, either through temptation, sickness, or death. Science has proven that when hope is removed, even the healthiest person will quickly deteriorate and die. But with hope, men and women have lived long past the point when a normal body should have quit. Despair will always lead to:

Sting 8: DEFEAT

The enemy’s purpose is to weaken us so that we begin to fall further and further behind—then we can be picked off more easily. In Scripture, the Amalekites were typical of Satan and his hordes. It was the practice of the Amalekites to attack the weak and the defenseless. As the camp of Israel crossed the wilderness, the Amalekites picked off the loners or stragglers who fell behind the rest of the camp.

This is what the enemy seeks to do through witchcraft. He seeks to weaken believers so that they will begin to fall behind the rest of the camp and become easy prey. This is why Israel was told that there would be perpetual war with the Amalekites. When Israel’s kings were commanded to fight them, they were also commanded to utterly destroy them and not take any spoil. We have a perpetual war against Satan, and we cannot take any prisoners. Neither can we use that which is his in the service of God.

King Saul disobeyed this command. He kept Agag alive, king of the Amalekites, and kept some of the spoil “to sacrifice it to the Lord” (see I Samuel 15:15). This represented a failure of the most foolish kind for one called to lead God’s people. In those days, keeping a rival king alive after a battle was only done for one of two reasons: to make him an ally or a slave. Saul foolishly thought that he could make the one who personified Satan himself into an ally or a slave.

It was no accident that it was an Amalekite who killed Saul and carried the news of Saul’s death to David. This Amalekite thought that the news would be pleasing to David, but David was discerning and had him killed (see II Samuel 1:1-16).

If we do not obey the Lord and utterly destroy the enemy we battle, he will end up finishing us off. There can be no alliance with the enemy; he and his hordes must be utterly destroyed. Neither let us be foolish enough to think that we can use the enemy as our slave; in his guile he will quickly turn the tables.

Witchcraft is being used against the church. Many who have failed to recognize it have been defeated—losing their vision, their ministry, their families, and even their lives. This is not sensationalism; it is fact. Paul said that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers (see Ephesians 6:12). Wrestling is the closest form of combat.

The enemy is going to fight, and he is going to wrestle with us. If we decide we are just not going to fight, we will get pinned!

As Christians, we have no option as to whether or not we are going to do spiritual warfare—if we want to survive, we must fight. How do we combat this witchcraft? We must first look at the basic principle of spiritual warfare required for every victory.

The Road to Victory

In Revelation 12:11, we see that the saints overcome Satan:

1. By the blood of the Lamb,
2. by the word of their testimony, and
3. by loving not their lives even unto death.

We overcome by the blood of the Lamb as we take our stand on what He has already accomplished for us through the cross. The victory has already been won, and there is no way we can lose, if we abide in Him.

The word of our testimony is the Scriptures. Every time the enemy challenged Jesus, He simply responded with Scripture, countering the enemy’s temptation with God’s truth. The Word of God is “the sword of the Spirit” (see Ephesians 6:17). With the sword, we can deflect the blows from his deceptive words, as well as attack him. Of all the pieces of armor we are commanded to use, the sword is the only offensive weapon (see Ephesians 6:10-18).

That they “did not love their lives to the death” (see Revelation 12:11 NKJV), is the utter commitment to follow Him regardless of the price. We are called to take up our crosses daily, to do all things for the sake of the gospel, and to no longer live for ourselves but for Him.

To the degree that we remain in self-centeredness, we will be vulnerable to the enemy’s attack. When we have reckoned ourselves dead to this world, as crucified with Christ, then the enemy no longer has any access to us because he has no more access to Him. What can be done to a dead person? It is impossible for the dead to be offended, tempted, fearful, depressed, or to be continually looking for the easy way out, since they have already paid the ultimate price.

All of these—the blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimony, and a commitment to lay down our lives, are required for spiritual victory. Anything less will fail to bring a complete victory. We may make occasional, halting advances, but we will sooner or later be pushed back.

However, it is clear that at the end of the age an army of believers will be raised up who will not settle for occasional advances—they have committed themselves to the fight and will not stop until there is the total victory. “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains” (see Psalm 24:1). Until the earth has been completely recovered from the domain of Satan, our fight is not over.

No one will fight to win if they do not believe victory is possible. Many teachings have been promulgated that declare the church’s defeat before Christ’s return. Yet the whole prophetic testimony of Scripture is that the Lord, the church, and the truth are going to prevail. Satan is indeed being cast down to the earth, bringing with him a time of trouble like the world has never known before—but we will still win!

Isaiah 14:16-17 says that when we see Satan, we are going to marvel at the pitiful nature of the one who caused so much trouble! The Lord, who lives within the very least of the saints, is much greater than the combined power of all antichrists. These times are not to be feared—this will be our finest hour! As Isaiah 60:1-2 declares, when darkness is covering the earth, the glory of the Lord will be appearing on His people.

The darkness will just make His glory upon us appear that much brighter. We must start fighting in order to win, giving no more ground to the enemy, and taking back what he has usurped. To effectively combat witchcraft, we must determine that we are going to resist Satan until he flees from us. Our goal is more than just driving the enemy out of our own lives; we then must pursue him until he is driven out of others in whom he has established a stronghold.

Adapted from Overcoming Witchcraft, Combating Spiritual Strongholds Series, Rick Joyner © copyright 1996, 2010, published by Morning Star Publications

Image Credit: Heavens Call