Day 18 : The strength of the soul or the strength of the Spirit ?

We have seen that one must always pray according to the will of God and according to his Word, avoiding that our own ideas and prejudices mix in our prayers. We have seen that praying according to the soul, and therefore not according to the Spirit, can be dangerous. Gal. 5:20 mentions 'magic' or 'sorcery' according to the works of the flesh.

A good definition of 'witchcraft' is 'make an effort so that someone does what we want it to do'. And it begins with the flesh, with our thoughts, our ideas and our prejudices. If anyone persists in this, an opening can be given to demons, and this carnal will can become much more dangerous ...

In fact, the idea that most of us have sorcery (potions, curses, abracadabra, enchantments, etc.) is at the extreme of the spectrum, but it always starts with a The work of the flesh, our own will and the strength of our soul. It is an important subject, and often little known among Christians.

I give you an example, which, believe me, happens more often than you think. If, for example, a mother disagrees with her daughter's fiance for no apparent reason, she may pray that her daughter will no longer feel comfortable with her fiance. Communication becomes more and more difficult, she begins to have doubts, a different look on him, and finally, she breaks the engagement. Once done, she may even feel 'liberated', and will be pleased to have 'listened to the voice of God'. The mother will also feel "encouraged" that God "listened to her prayers" ... Yet this may not have been the will of God, but what the Bible calls witchcraft, a work of the flesh.

When we think of sorcery, it usually evokes in us the image of an ugly woman, with a pointed hat and a broom that flies in the night under the moonlight. Or something that is done in countries in Africa, not here, not at home ... But again, the Bible lists it as a work of the flesh in Galatians 5:20, which can very well happen in us also.

This is why we must always ask the Lord for his thoughts on a situation, before praying, even if it turns out that his thoughts go against our thoughts ! The mother I have just mentioned probably had the best intentions for her daughter : she wanted her to marry a well-educated boy with a good job, earning a good living. And when she saw that the fiancé had very little education and simple work, she did not agree. But it may be that she did not see that the Lord had a destiny for this couple, and that this boy was going to go on a mission somewhere where few others ventured, or be a preacher with a strong anointing and A powerful ministry in which his daughter could have been a help !

His thoughts are not our thoughts, and that is why we must seek his thoughts, and pray according to his will !

In the days to come, we will take a closer look at some of the apostle Paul's prayers, all of which, I assure you, are all according to the will of God !

"Lord, teach me to pray in the Spirit, to seek your will, even when it goes against my thoughts and my will. In the name of Jesus, amen !"

René de Groot