I can remember years ago, as a young believer in Jesus, I was unlearned about demons and the power of death, sickness, and disease that they carry. We never talked about such things, and it was certainly not taught from the pulpit I sat under as a child. Depending upon your affiliation of worship you were either expected to endure with the misconception that the evil attack was a blessing in disguise sent to you from God. Or you were expected to overcome with little to no training on how to do so—either stance often led to great tragedy, and it still does to this day.

And years later, while on the mission field I came under great physical attack. I knew it was not from God, but struggled to know how to be free from Typhoid. The disease was in my body, and its attacks against my health were reoccurring. And each time it weakened my defenses against it, and it was worse than before.

This time it was a level 4, the worst it could be. My body was drained of all strength. I was fighting high fevers for days, and everything within me hurt so badly I just cried. The sickness took its toll on me, and I lost my desire to fight to live. And I asked the Lord to take me home.

But instead of allowing me to wallow in my pity, God rebuked me. He sternly said to me, “Get up! Get out of bed! And get dressed!” His words shook me down to the core of my being. They were what I needed to hear. They were an immediate wake-up call to what was happening to me. I was dying before my appointed time.

I immediately tried to get up, but my physical body was so weak I couldn’t even lift my head off my pillow. I heard God’s words again, “Get up! Get out of bed! And get dressed!” but this time they were not in the form of a rebuke, but an order. I tried again, but I didn’t have the strength to sit up. Again, He repeated Himself, “Get up! Get out of bed! And get dressed!” At this point, I just slid out of bed and onto the floor. I slowly crawled to the dresser and got myself dressed. I then crawled to the door, managed to get it opened, and pulled myself up in the doorway. And as I walked down that long hallway, I regained my strength with every step. And from that moment on I was healed and never had another bout with Typhoid again.

I had victory over Typhoid, but something stronger was after me. I didn’t know what was going on, but for the next several years, it was one serious attack of unrelated sicknesses after another.

In all honesty, I was fighting something I did not understand. It was something I could not see with my physical eyes, but I could see the results of it. And I thought these results (sicknesses) were the problem, but these were just the weapons of warfare being launched out against me. And the attacks were coming from all angles. The root issue was a spirit of death. This was what I was really fighting against.

There is an old adage that many of us have spoken time and time again, “What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” Dear friend, this is very wrong—what you don’t know can actually kill you. And this is certainly true with what we are confronting in this work. I am thankful I knew enough to go to God and find out what was happening to me.

While these physical attacks were going on, I was in the Word night and day. This was the only thing I knew to do—seek God and His Word with everything within me. This is what delivered and healed me. It not only set me free, but equipped me to train you. The benefits gained from a life spent in the Word of God are beyond measure.

I read in His Word that I was more than a conqueror. What is a conqueror? A conqueror is a defeater, victor, winner, champion, a master of something. In this case, God’s Word was teaching me that I was a master over satan—and so are you. When this gospel truth leaps off the page and gets deep into our hearts that we have the victory over him—he has to bow in defeat to us.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:31,33,35,37).

With the revelatory workings of hindsight, I understand why the attacks were so severe and unrelenting against me. If the enemy could stop me before I realized the depth of the calling on my life, he would win a great battle, and there would be a lot of casualties in my defeat against death. We all have an arena of influence, ordained by God, and my arena is to help you heal. It’s important that we seek God for the revelation of the root and the reason for the enemy’s attack against us.

Then one night while praying in the Spirit—in tongues—I felt led to lay my hand upon myself and renounce a spirit of death that was attacking my body. As I spoke these words aloud, “In the name of Jesus I renounce a spirit of death. I command it out of my body!” I almost vomited when I felt something literally come up and out of me with a force. And I was free from the attacks of the enemy in this area.

What do I mean when I say, “I renounce a spirit of death”? The word “renounce” means to cast off or reject, as a connection or possession; to forsake; as, to renounce the world and all its cares.1 So, when I renounce this spirit of death, I cast it off me and reject its connection with me.

It is very evident to me that today many are in need of this teaching as well. This week alone, the prayer requests from my readers are filled with distress calls for deliverance and healing from the spirit of death that is rising against them in many forms.

God’s people are crying out for deliverance from a spirit of suicide, encouragement and a reason not to abort their children, divine intervention and protection from near deadly attacks from abusive family members and demon-possessed strangers.

Many others are seeking help to heal from the last stages of breast cancer, prostate cancer, kidney failure, and rare and incurable diseases.

The news is filled with disasters that are sweeping the lives of hundreds and thousands off this earth and into an eternity in hell with no hope of escape. And not so popular in the news, whether it be Christian or secular sources, is the onslaught of persecution of our Christian brothers and sisters around the world who are being martyred for their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

As followers of Jesus, how do we respond? How do we go beyond just mere survival in these last days, and step into the promise that we are more than conquerors, and actually defeat and conquer the spirit of death?

God wants us to know how to conquer this spirit of death. He wants us to have His full revelation concerning our victory in Christ. His Word so beautifully tells us in 2 Corinthians 2:14, “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.”

Let’s pray.

Dearest Holy Spirit,

You are our Teacher, and we ask You to diffuse the fragrance of Your knowledge in every place so that we might triumph in Christ. Glory be to God in the manifestation of this revelation in our lives that we are more than conquerors, including victory over the spirit of death. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

There Is Always Hope with Jesus

The number one revelation we need to accept is that with Jesus, there is always hope. Hope for a new beginning, hope for a creative miracle, hope for deliverance, hope for financial provision, hope for forgiveness, hope for healing, hope for salvation, hope for restoration, hope for resurrection, and hope for a total transformation in any situation we face.

Why? Because our Savior knows no lack, has no limitations. He operates by faith on our behalf in the power of His redemptive blood that He so graciously shed for us. He is up in Heaven interceding on our behalf, cheering for us to overcome all tribulation on this earth, including the spirit of death itself.

With this revelation that there is always hope with Jesus, we are ready to take the first step in this battle.

Know Your Enemy

The first step in any battle is to know who your enemy is, otherwise you will engage in combat with your fellow soldiers and your allies—those who are sent to help. The word “ally” comes from the Latin word alligare, meaning “to bind to,” like nations who are allies in wartime, they will act together, and protect one another.² God and His heavenly hosts of angels are your allies, and the believing believers are your fellow soldiers in this fight.

And yes, you are caught up in a battle, a very personal one. And unless you know who your real enemy is, you can’t win the fight. God knows full well that His enemy is satan and the harm he commits against us. This is one reason why He sent His Son Jesus, “that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).

But many people don’t believe Him nowadays. In fact, many who once believed God’s Word now claim there is no hell, there is no devil, and everything that happens, whether good or bad, comes from God. First Timothy 4:1 tells us, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.”

So in the middle of this spiritual confusion, they lose the battle because they are unsure about who their real enemy is, and what they actually fight against. And they battle this confusion within themselves as they believe all things, both good and evil are from God, and why would God do this to them. It ends up to be a losing battle that they just can’t win.

And this is how it is with the workings of confusion and double-mindedness—you can’t win. You become unstable in all your ways. (See James 1:8.) You can’t stand firmly against an enemy you don’t believe in. And to reiterate, you must know who your real enemy is in order to conquer and win.

This war is not against one another. It’s not against your doctor, your spouse, your children, your pastor, or your friend, but against things we cannot see with the natural eye. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

And make no mistake we’re in the midst of a spiritual war against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. But we are not alone in this fight, God and His heavenly host are with us, fighting satan and his demonic force on our behalf. Romans 16:20 assures us with this promise of victory, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” This is an unseen fight between God and His goodness and satan and all of his evil. And we’re encamped between two supernatural forces, God and His angels and the devil and his demons. This is a genuine combat between life and death, both eternal and natural. It’s best that you have a clear understanding just who your fellow soldiers and allies are in Christ, and bind yourself with them—not with the enemy and his legions of demons.

What Is the Spirit of Death?

The spirit of death is a demon, a very powerful one bent upon our destruction to provoke premature death in our physical bodies. It works with a team of demons such as a spirit of fear, a spirit of infirmity, and others too.

This death that I am referring to here is not to be confused with what’s discussed in Scripture about an appointed time to die. The following verses tell us God’s plan for the death of His children:

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die… (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2).

You shall come to the grave at a full age, as a sheaf of grain ripens in its season (Job 5:26).

…You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust (Psalm 104:29).

God’s plan for us is that we live to a ripe old age; and when we fulfill the time He has allotted for us, He takes our breath away. There is no pain and great suffering. We simply pass from this earth and into our eternal destination. And this answers a common question asked by many, including a faithful reader and friend, Martha, “Under what circumstance is the end?”

Therefore, the spirit of death that is being referred to throughout this work is premature death, when the life of someone is being stolen before their appointed time and is usually very tragic in nature, and includes incidents of fatal accidents and suffering through sickness and disease, suicide and murder, including abortion. An example of the work of the spirit of death is a young woman, a faithful wife and mother, whose body is being attacked by a deadly cancer, beginning with metastatic breast cancer that spreads to her lungs and to her brain. God is not the author of this type of death. Jesus paid a high price with His blood for the healing and deliverance of this precious woman. This is premature death and the spirit of death is fighting hard to take this woman out before her appointed time, before she can fulfill her destiny. This is tragic and demonic in every way.

First Peter 5:8 from the Amplified Version of the Bible warns us like this: “Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour.”

The Tactics of the Spirit of Death

The tactics of the spirit of death go hand in hand with satan’s strategies against us found in John 10:10, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy….” What does the spirit of death steal from us? The spirit of death steals the fulfillment of hopes and dreams, a full lifetime of togetherness for couples, families, and friends. It robs parents from their children and children from their parents—the list of its thefts is endless.

What does the spirit of death kill? Despite the obvious, the killing of the physical body, the spirit of death kills much more. This murderous spirit kills off the God-given destiny of individuals and the influence they are meant to have on the lives of the people in their arena of influence.

What does the spirit of death destroy? The spirit of death destroys the witness of the individual of a loving God who truly loves and cares for all people, and is willing and able to heal all sickness and disease.

This is just a list of a few areas that the spirit of death steals, kills, and destroys. You are well aware of the evil that its tactics are ravaging in your own life.

A List of the Spirit of Death’s Deadly Operations

The deadly operations against us, to name just a few, include weapons of mass destruction such as sickness, rare and incurable diseases, lying spirits that induce thoughts of suicide and murder, including abortion, and all types of terroristic attacks.

How Does It Gain Access?

The spirit of death is sly and cunning, and it works in the realm of spiritual darkness. It first enters into the mind and the emotions when we least expect it. Especially, when we lack time in the Word, our faith level dwindles, and our spiritual defenses are easy for the enemy to breach. Or when we fall ill, we tend to let our spiritual guard down, and the enemy takes advantage of this spiritual weakness. The spirit of death also has a vicious appetite for the vulnerable and unsuspecting people of this world. These are some common inroads that it gains access to do its evil.

Tell-Tale Signs That a Spirit of Death Is Attacking You

The following is a list to help you discern whether or not you are being attacked by a spirit of death.

• You are diagnosed with a rare and or incurable disease.
• There is an onslaught of sickness and disease reoccurring in your body.
• You are battling with discouraging thoughts to give up the fight and die.
• You are dealing with a barrage of accidents and strange events that can lead to death.
• You are struggling with suicidal thoughts.
• You are fighting with murderous and terroristic thoughts against others.
• You desire to abort your baby.
• You continuously engage in behaviors and activities that invite death, such as reckless driving, life-threatening sports, drug and alcohol abuse, and other negative habits that display a death wish.

A Little Girl’s Attack from a Spirit of Death

December 26, 2018: Victor writes requesting prayer for his little girl: “Dear Becky, please pray for my 3-year-old daughter who has been suffering from epileptic seizure disorder for about 7 months now. I believe in the spiritual authority and God’s grace for healing upon you and I am confident that my daughter will be completely healed when you pray for her. Thanks.”

A spirit of death, along with an epileptic spirit attacked this little girl and tormented her with deadly seizures. And yes, demons do not play fair, they go after vulnerable prey such as this little girl who is unable to defend herself. But her parents recognize this is an attack of satan, and exercise their God-given authority over their daughter and activate their covenant rights with the Father through the redemptive blood of Jesus to free their daughter from these demonic works.

Cast a Spirit of Death Out

When it comes to a spirit of death or any demon for that matter, you have the spiritual right, along with the responsibility to cast it out of the individual, whether it be yourself or out of another person. Either you cast it out, or you find someone else to cast it out for you, as in the real-life situation of Victor and his daughter. The following is what happens when the father of this child and I communicate about the needs of his daughter.

I respond with a prophetic prayer of faith for her deliverance and healing: “In the name of Jesus, I renounce this spirit of death, epilepsy, and seizures attacking your daughter. I release the healing power of Jesus to flow in and throughout her brain. I command all pathways that have been dug out in her brain for seizures to follow to be supernaturally erased for the glory of God, and no new pathways for seizures may be formed. I decree no more seizures because there is no more epilepsy for the glory of Jesus, amen and amen.”

The Report of the Manifestation of Her Miracle

A week later, on January 2, 2019, Victor writes to testify of his daughter’s glorious healing: “Dear Becky, the Almighty God is indeed still in the business of doing the impossible and the miraculous. I can confirm to you that the seizures have all stopped; this is so breathtakingly miraculous. My family and I are completely dazed and awed at the power of God at work. It happened just like that. My daughter has regained her perfect state of health. The most astonishing fact is that she got completely healed before we crossed into the New Year. Now, we are confident that she can resume school with her peers after the holidays. Oh, Jesus Christ is indeed the same yesterday, today, and forever. We stand amazed at the power of the Almighty God. To Him be all the glory, honor, and adoration forever and ever.”

It’s Your Turn

Perhaps, you just can’t seem to get free from death, sickness, and disease, as in my opening testimony, or in the situation of this little girl. Lay your hand on your body and renounce this spirit of death coming against you with the authority that comes from the active blood of Jesus Christ within you. Command it out of your physical body in the name of your Healer—Jehovah Rapha.

Say, “In Jesus’ name, I renounce this spirit of death. I cast you out, leave this body at once!” And begin to pray in your heavenly language—tongues.

The Intimidation of the Enemy

Is the enemy trying to intimidate you by telling you that you can’t do this? When he tries to play his games of intimidation with me, I know he is afraid of what I am about to do. And I share this with you to give you a heads-up. When the enemy is taunting you with intimidation, you play his bluff, put a smile on your face and start to laugh, because you are about to win.

In the next chapter we discuss how negative emotions partner with the spirit of death against us.

Prayer

Dear Holy Spirit,

I find myself in a battle with the spirit of death and my body is suffering from sickness and disease. I’ve known it’s not from you, but I have not known how to be free from this. I desire Your wisdom in dealing with the spirit of death. I need to be wise in this area of life, so that I can protect my family and myself from its deadly attacks. Help me, Holy Spirit, to study Your Word concerning this so that I do not have to be ashamed because I was naive when it came to demons and the power of death, sickness, and disease that they carry. Show me how this demon works against me and those I love; train me in Your Kingdom ways to beat this attack and conquer the spirit of death, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen and amen.

Pledge

I pledge to God and myself to study His Word to gain a deep understanding about the tactics of my enemy so that I can defeat and overcome the spirit of death, to walk in the victory of my Lord, and to fulfill my destiny in the mighty name of Jesus, amen.