Silas
Beloved of All
Your honesty in bringing this burden to the Lord is seen and valued, and God hears every prayer offered in the name of Jesus.
It is right to recognize that the real struggle we face is not against people we can see. There is a constant conflict in the unseen realm between the spirits who serve God and the fallen spirits who rebelled with Satan, and we often feel the pressure of that conflict in our own lives. That tugging between good and evil, the pull on our thoughts and desires, shows us that the battle is spiritual. Because it is spiritual, it cannot be fought with human or fleshly methods. If we try to use carnal weapons we will find ourselves in trouble. God has given spiritual weapons for this warfare, His Word, faith, and prayer, and it is through these that the enemy is opposed and defeated. The central place of that battle is the mind, for the control of the mind.
This helps to reshape how we pray for a neighbor. The woman next door and her children are not your enemies in the flesh, they are people made in the image of God who need the same grace that we all need. Scripture is clear that sexual immorality outside the lifelong covenant of marriage between one man and one woman is sin, and the account of Jezebel in the days of the kings shows how seriously God views the leading of others into sexual sin and idolatry. When Jehu confronted the corruption that Jezebel had brought into the land, his answer was that there can be no true peace while that wickedness and witchcraft continue. That remains true. There cannot be lasting peace where sin is embraced. Yet God does not call us to speak curses over people or to label children as weapons of the enemy. Children are precious to God and are not to be treated as instruments of Satan.
Instead we are called to love our neighbor and to seek peace. God Himself has offered a peace treaty to those who were at war with Him, making peace through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. First we must have peace with God through receiving His grace and forgiveness in Christ, and then we can know the peace of God that guards our hearts and minds. That perfect peace is promised to the one whose mind is stayed on the Lord because he trusts in Him. Jesus said, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. The world cannot understand that peace, but it keeps us steady when chaos surrounds us.
In light of this, the Scriptures you mentioned take on their proper meaning. In 2 Corinthians 10:3 to 5, the strongholds to be pulled down are arguments and proud thoughts that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God, and the battle is to bring our own thoughts into obedience to Christ. In Matthew 18:18, the authority to bind and loose is given in the context of the church seeking restoration with humility and truth, not as a formula to transfer spirits onto others. In Isaiah 59:19, it is the Lord Himself who lifts up a standard against the enemy when He comes in like a flood. In Revelation 12:11, we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, trusting in what Jesus has already accomplished, not by repeating phrases as incantations. In James 4:7, the promise that the devil will flee comes as we first submit ourselves to God and then resist him.
So continue to pray, but let prayer be shaped by the Word, by faith, and by submission to God. Ask the Lord to bring conviction of sin and the offer of salvation to your neighbor and to her children, that they would come to know Jesus as Savior. Ask Him to protect your home and to give you wisdom to set healthy and lawful boundaries, seeking wise counsel from mature believers if there is harassment or danger. Ask Him to keep your own mind stayed on Christ, so that you are not consumed by fear or anger but are filled with His peace that passes understanding. And ask Him to make you a peacemaker who sows peace, for those who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
A prayer for you: Lord Jesus, thank You for Your blood that makes peace between us and the Father. I ask that You would guard this heart and mind and keep it in perfect peace as trust is placed in You. Work in the lives of the woman next door and her children, bring them to conviction, draw them to Yourself, and save them by Your grace. Protect all who have been affected, restore what has been harmed, and lift up Your standard against every work of the enemy. Help me to submit to You daily, to resist the devil in faith, and to walk in Your Word. Let Your peace rule here. In Jesus name, Amen.
It is right to recognize that the real struggle we face is not against people we can see. There is a constant conflict in the unseen realm between the spirits who serve God and the fallen spirits who rebelled with Satan, and we often feel the pressure of that conflict in our own lives. That tugging between good and evil, the pull on our thoughts and desires, shows us that the battle is spiritual. Because it is spiritual, it cannot be fought with human or fleshly methods. If we try to use carnal weapons we will find ourselves in trouble. God has given spiritual weapons for this warfare, His Word, faith, and prayer, and it is through these that the enemy is opposed and defeated. The central place of that battle is the mind, for the control of the mind.
This helps to reshape how we pray for a neighbor. The woman next door and her children are not your enemies in the flesh, they are people made in the image of God who need the same grace that we all need. Scripture is clear that sexual immorality outside the lifelong covenant of marriage between one man and one woman is sin, and the account of Jezebel in the days of the kings shows how seriously God views the leading of others into sexual sin and idolatry. When Jehu confronted the corruption that Jezebel had brought into the land, his answer was that there can be no true peace while that wickedness and witchcraft continue. That remains true. There cannot be lasting peace where sin is embraced. Yet God does not call us to speak curses over people or to label children as weapons of the enemy. Children are precious to God and are not to be treated as instruments of Satan.
Instead we are called to love our neighbor and to seek peace. God Himself has offered a peace treaty to those who were at war with Him, making peace through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. First we must have peace with God through receiving His grace and forgiveness in Christ, and then we can know the peace of God that guards our hearts and minds. That perfect peace is promised to the one whose mind is stayed on the Lord because he trusts in Him. Jesus said, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. The world cannot understand that peace, but it keeps us steady when chaos surrounds us.
In light of this, the Scriptures you mentioned take on their proper meaning. In 2 Corinthians 10:3 to 5, the strongholds to be pulled down are arguments and proud thoughts that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God, and the battle is to bring our own thoughts into obedience to Christ. In Matthew 18:18, the authority to bind and loose is given in the context of the church seeking restoration with humility and truth, not as a formula to transfer spirits onto others. In Isaiah 59:19, it is the Lord Himself who lifts up a standard against the enemy when He comes in like a flood. In Revelation 12:11, we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, trusting in what Jesus has already accomplished, not by repeating phrases as incantations. In James 4:7, the promise that the devil will flee comes as we first submit ourselves to God and then resist him.
So continue to pray, but let prayer be shaped by the Word, by faith, and by submission to God. Ask the Lord to bring conviction of sin and the offer of salvation to your neighbor and to her children, that they would come to know Jesus as Savior. Ask Him to protect your home and to give you wisdom to set healthy and lawful boundaries, seeking wise counsel from mature believers if there is harassment or danger. Ask Him to keep your own mind stayed on Christ, so that you are not consumed by fear or anger but are filled with His peace that passes understanding. And ask Him to make you a peacemaker who sows peace, for those who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
A prayer for you: Lord Jesus, thank You for Your blood that makes peace between us and the Father. I ask that You would guard this heart and mind and keep it in perfect peace as trust is placed in You. Work in the lives of the woman next door and her children, bring them to conviction, draw them to Yourself, and save them by Your grace. Protect all who have been affected, restore what has been harmed, and lift up Your standard against every work of the enemy. Help me to submit to You daily, to resist the devil in faith, and to walk in Your Word. Let Your peace rule here. In Jesus name, Amen.
