No Ordinary Deception

The past several days, after having dreamed a dream from the Lord, I have been praying against an occultic attack of deception over the people of this nation. The dream involved a giant spider hovering over a city and devouring its citizens while breeding throughout the city. Some of its people chose to nurture the offspring rather than exterminate the mother and her young.

I encourage you to read the entirety of Isaiah 59, but below are verses one through eight.

“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that He cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.

For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity. No one calls for justice, nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; they conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.

They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; He who eats their eggs dies, And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out. Their webs will not become garments, nor will they cover themselves with their works; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace.”

Scripture is clear. Iniquity (as in perversity, evil, and mischief) separates us as individuals and a nation from the Lord, resulting in dangerous deception that breeds death. There are three distinct areas in which the Lord has been leading me to pray:

1) Individually: There are those who in bitterness and anger have drawn the lies of the enemy to themselves, nursing it as a child, not realizing it is growing to the point of consuming them. Some have gone as far as to spread the lie, not only deceiving themselves but others.

2) Ecclesiastically: Many are deceived, thinking they can mix pure doctrine with eastern mysticism, “hyper-grace,” etc., believing that they need to make the Word “socially acceptable,” primarily to justify the lifestyle they desire to lead.

3) Nationally: In the political realm, many secrets exist that would change the trajectory of our nation if exposed to the light of truth.

Deception runs rampant, and if we, as Christians, do not remain vigilant and discerning, we, too, can get caught up in the web. It is not just a perversion of truth. It is an all-out effort to suppress it, perpetrated by the father of lies (John 8:44), to prevent us from walking a road of integrity and uprightness and bring chaos to our minds instead of peace. Some steps we can take as Christians to stand against this:

1) Examine ourselves, repent, and be people who walk in and embrace truth

2) Clothe ourselves in the armor of God continually and intercede on behalf of the people of this nation, that the Lord will open eyes and awaken hearts

3) Walk in unity. The church must proclaim the whole truth. We must choose to stand in our God-given authority and call out the lies of the enemy.

Though the enemy would have us believe we are weak, unable to make a difference, the truth is that God’s hand is not short! He is still mighty to save and hears the prayers of righteous people! Let’s be the house of prayer the Lord has called us to be, invading darkness with light!