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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
prayer	stacey	Saturday, November 8, 2008
Question: I've heard someone say that when we pray to God about an important issue we should ask God to bind the powers of darkness because evil spirits can intercept and give us false answers to mislead us. I don't know if this is a pentecostal/charismatic thing but it bothers me to know that I may be praying about something important only to be mislead. I keep thinking about the verse where god says if we ask for a fish why would he give us a serpent instead. If this deception can happen then why would God allow it? I became dependent on hearing god through other people in the Charismatic movement and then I decided I wanted to hear directly from him instead. I'm so worried that I will be deceived, having my faith damaged in the process, and being suspicious about any future communications with God. It seems a cruel joke that we could pray to God then have something else come in and totally mislead us down the wrong path and God allow it. That just doesn't sound like his characer.
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM Dear Stacey: Evil spirits cannot keep your prayers from reaching God. Your prayers are heard by God. Answers to prayer can be misinterpreted by us and the devil can try to convince us of a wrong answer. This happens quite frequently in the Charismatic movement. This is because many Charismatics have an arrogance to think they they almost have a personal phone line to God. God generally does not answer us so directly. God answers in the still small voice, through inspiration and circumstances. It is not God's fault if we miss His message. The fault is ours. We need to pursue due diligence to properly discern God's message. How do we do that? Whatever we think God is telling us we need to be sure that it does not violate anything taught in the Bible or by the Church. This means that we must test what we think God is telling us not only from that which is explicitly taught in the Bible or the Church but also by that which is principle taught in the Bible and Church. Having a good spiritual director can help us with this discernment. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

prayer

stacey

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Question:

I've heard someone say that when we pray to God about an important issue we should ask God to bind the powers of darkness because evil spirits can intercept and give us false answers to mislead us. I don't know if this is a pentecostal/charismatic thing but it bothers me to know that I may be praying about something important only to be mislead.

I keep thinking about the verse where god says if we ask for a fish why would he give us a serpent instead. If this deception can happen then why would God allow it?

I became dependent on hearing god through other people in the Charismatic movement and then I decided I wanted to hear directly from him instead. I'm so worried that I will be deceived, having my faith damaged in the process, and being suspicious about any future communications with God. It seems a cruel joke that we could pray to God then have something else come in and totally mislead us down the wrong path and God allow it. That just doesn't sound like his characer.

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM

Dear Stacey:

Evil spirits cannot keep your prayers from reaching God. Your prayers are heard by God.

Answers to prayer can be misinterpreted by us and the devil can try to convince us of a wrong answer. This happens quite frequently in the Charismatic movement. This is because many Charismatics have an arrogance to think they they almost have a personal phone line to God. God generally does not answer us so directly. God answers in the still small voice, through inspiration and circumstances. It is not God's fault if we miss His message. The fault is ours. We need to pursue due diligence to properly discern God's message. How do we do that?

Whatever we think God is telling us we need to be sure that it does not violate anything taught in the Bible or by the Church. This means that we must test what we think God is telling us not only from that which is explicitly taught in the Bible or the Church but also by that which is principle taught in the Bible and Church. Having a good spiritual director can help us with this discernment.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.