Binding What Blinds Them
"The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not." — 2 Corinthians 4:4
The Wall You Keep Hitting
Two friends had spent years trying to share the gospel with a couple they knew well. The couple never seemed interested, and never seemed even to begin to understand their need of a Savior.
Then the friends learned about the binding of minds and wills, and decided to try it.
The opportunity came at dinner. The wife began arguing with her husband, making increasingly bitter comments. Finally one of the friends excused herself from the table, and as soon as she was a few feet away said quietly but out loud:
"You demons creating this argument, I bind you right now in the name of Jesus Christ, and command you to be silent."
The change was immediate and remarkable. The wife's entire countenance changed, the subject was abruptly dropped, and they did not argue for the rest of the evening.
Over the next month they repeatedly bound whenever they were in that couple's presence. Within a month, the wife committed her life to Jesus Christ. Until then she had been completely unable to understand her need of a Savior — and unable to will to accept Him.
The Blank Wall
Another conversation, with a nurse who had watched two friends come to Christ and change dramatically:
"I have often thought I would like to do the same, but I just can't, so I don't think about it any more."
"Why can't you?"
"Well, I can see the benefits, but I just can't. In fact I find myself getting very anxious and restless as we talk about it. I think we had better stop now."
Then the diagnostic question:
"When you try to think about Jesus, is it kind of like you run up against a blank wall, and it becomes such an effort to continue thinking about it that you just give up?"
"Yes, that's it. How did you know?"
Asked what occult activity she had been involved in, she was startled — a palm reader once, just for kicks, eight years earlier. Several visits since. Recently her horoscope. "Nothing really serious."
That "superficial" involvement was enough to bind her so that she could not accept Christ.
They were bound in the name of Jesus. The subject was changed for ten minutes. Then she was asked again — and she said yes.
The Four Steps
For fighting for the salvation of someone demonically bound:
1. Clean out the house — if you are in a position of authority over it. Familiar objects provide legal ground and bring continuing power into the home.
2. Take the aggressive daily. Out loud, in another room where they cannot hear:
"You demons binding [name], I take authority over you in the name of Jesus Christ my Lord. I bind you in the name of Jesus; you may not afflict [name] today. My house is committed to the Lord and is holy ground. You are trespassers and may not function here. I bind you and command you to leave in the name of Jesus."
3. Ask the Lord to let you stand in the gap for them, that their eyes may be opened and their will set free.
4. Counter-petition, as the earlier lesson taught. Because God is just, He must grant an uncontested petition.
Point to Ponder
"I can see the benefits, but I just can't." That is not indifference. That is a description of bondage.
Verse to Remember
"In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ... should shine unto them." — 2 Corinthians 4:4
Question to Consider
Who have I given up on because they "just aren't interested"?
Today's Practice
Go back to the list of names you wrote in the very first lesson of this study.
Choose one — the one you have most given up on.
Then begin the four steps this week.
Bind daily. Out loud, in private, by name. Do it every day and do not stop after a week.
Ask to stand in the gap for them.
Counter-petition every claim against them.
And when you next speak with them, watch for the signature: the anxiety, the subject change, the blank wall, the sudden need to stop talking. If you see it, bind quietly — even if you have to excuse yourself to another room. You do not need to speak loudly. Then change the subject for ten minutes, and try again.
"This battle will be a daily thing." You will not win overnight. But you do have the power and authority in Jesus Christ to win in the end.
Prayer
Father, I have concluded that people are simply not interested, when in fact their minds have been blinded and their wills bound.
Forgive me for giving up on them.
I take authority now, in the name of Jesus Christ, over everything binding ______. I bind it. It may not afflict them today. It may not blind their mind or bind their will.
Let me stand in the gap for them. Open their eyes so they can see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ. Free their will so they can choose You.
And I counter-petition every claim standing against them. They are not my enemy's to keep.
Give me persistence for a daily battle. And give me the alertness to recognize the wall when I see it, and the courage to deal with it quietly rather than walk away.
In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
"Bathrooms were made for spiritual warfare." You can always excuse yourself. And they have very sharp ears.