OVERCOMING THE POWERS OF THIS AGE. Pt.3

LYING SPIRIT

The opening text tells the story of prophet Micaiah the son of Imlah when he was before Ahab and Jehoshaphat partly. To get the whole story, I'll advice you read the whole chapter. Ahab wanted to go to war against Ramoth Gilead, he informed Jehoshaphat who visited him. The latter requested they enquire from God to know whether they should go or not. Ahab's prophets prophesied that he should go to war. They all said the same thing. Jehoshaphat perceived something was wrong so he asked if they could consult another prophet. Ahab told him there was another prophet, Micaiah. His remark about him was that he never prophesied something good to and about him. Truly, when he came on the scene, he spoke the mind of God about the war which was opposed to what the prophets of Ahab said. He affirmed that the prophets of Ahab were speaking by the spirit of lies. A demon spirit of deception. He was jailed for speaking the truth but his word came to pass.

Another spirit of this age is the spirit of lies. Often, this spirit present lies as the truth through men and women who are under its influence. There are people whose words cannot be trusted because they lie at all times. We have heard of people who lied about certain things in their past before entering into marriage. Some built their marriage on lies. When I was single, there were sisters who lied to me that God spoke to them that I'll be their husband. Very 'spiritual' and pious looking sisters. One of them involved her pastor to convince me and she reported me to my predecessor. Her insistence on marrying me was so strong all because she was told by a diviner that I was meant for her. A reliable source told me she took my name and some brothers to a diviner for checking. I knew God was not involved at all. It is more dangerous when the spirit of lies speak through prophets and those in the ministry. In our generation, there are several cases of people who were lied to by a prophet. Some prophets lie because they want to impress while others are under pressure to say "thus saith the Lord" because of the pressure to perform. A preacher can quickly manufacture something to please the curiosity of the people when God hasn't spoken. I'm always careful around those who always have a word for almost everyone but not themselves. We should be careful about those who always want to prophesy during and after every service. They always have something to say. It is not uncommon in our generation to hear prophets predict lies at the beginning of the year and during election seasons. In recent and distant past, i've heard and read so many 'political prophecies' like that of Ahab's prophets. Unfortunately, many elects are deceived into believing these lying prophets even when their prophetic prediction fails. The spirit of lies is at work massively in this generation.

When you position yourself to always want to hear something that suits you ( aside the word of God revealed in scriptures) under the guise of "thus saith the Lord", you will be deceived by the spirit of lies. A cursory look at the story of Ahab showed that he loved a lie. Why did I say so? This is because he knew there was another prophet whose prediction would be different from that of his personal prophets but he wasn't interested in hearing what he has to say. Deep within, he knew his prophets were lying but he couldn't refute their prediction because what they were saying suited his fancy. This is the most dangerous state for anyone. A state where you'll surround yourself with those who will say what you want to hear instead of what you need to hear. Very dangerous. It is an express license given to the spirit of lies to minister always. Take a stand for the truth and never shift grounds. Stick to the word of God. Let it be what you want to hear at all times. This way, you will not position yourself to be influenced by the spirit of lies.