This Month's Newsletter

Secret Place Part 11: Hindrances to the flow of Grace...resisting the spirit of "Python"

Pastor Don Nicely's Newsletter for November 2008

Many churches across this great land of ours are being strangled by the spirit of Python. He is squeezing and suffocating the life and fire out of many today; like a fireman would throw a wet blanket on a burning man. So is the spirit of python at work in our churches today. The problem is the Holy Spirit’s fire is the fire that is being put out. Python is very easy to detect in people’s lives for its works is very noticeable. The symptoms are; spiritual apathy, depression, and loss of ability to control oneself. The very first place we see this spirit at work and where it is revealed is in Acts 16.

Acts 16:16-19 (NKJV)¹⁶Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. ¹⁷This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to use the way of salvation.” ¹⁸And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour. ¹⁹But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.

Paul and Silas met up with this little slave girl that was possessed by the spirit of divination. As the evangelists walked by the girl’s table in their way to a prayer meeting with a small group of believers the girl jumped up and began proclaiming loudly; “these men are servants of the Most High God who show the way of salvation.” Now she didn’t do this just once, but for many days. Finally Paul had enough of the devil proclaiming who he was and what his mission on earth was, so he cast the spirit out of the girl, which in turn brought him and Silas much persecution-even imprisonment. In this passage of scripture the verse that says “spirit of divination” is better translated “spirit of python.” Divination is the art of secret knowledge, especially of the future. Is it the pagan counterpart to true biblical prophesy. Today diviners as they are called have their own businesses and television shows. Television has capitalized off the apparent need for people to know the future, so special shows are made highlighting people who are supposedly talking to the dead when it reality they are communicating with demons. The Old Testament biblical attitude toward diviners was not as liberal as today, in fact it was quite hostile.

Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (NKJV)¹⁰There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, ¹¹ or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. ¹²For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you.

So the spirit of python is the inspiration behind witchcraft and divination.

Now to understand the working of this spirit we need to lo look at the famous oracle of Apollo in the city of Delphi. This was the area where Paul was ministering when he was confronted by the slave girl. Apparently this area was still under the spiritual stronghold of python. People came from all over the world to receive a prophetic word from a python priestess who was supposed to breath in the fumes that came from the ground that supposedly contained the prophetic spirit of Apollo. They believed the spirit of Apollo would enter in and give the priestess secret knowledge that they were after. The people who believed that the god Apollo slayed the spirit god python and received his power to speak as an oracle of revelation.

Today this spirit has found its way into a generation that’s hungry for the supernatural. Today people chase after fortunetellers, physics, tarot card readers, witchcraft, crystals, satanic rock music, mediums on TV, TM mediators, Pokémon and even ghosts. Maybe you’ve even done a little yoga or try each your horoscope from time to time in the local newspaper. All these things are mediums for python to work through. You se people are deceived by the platform from which python has to speak from today.

Physics are brought in to solve crimes, Primetime TV shows are promoting mediums as heroes. And need I say more about the Harry Potter phenomenon which promotes “good” witchcraft as being moral and acceptable.

How python attacks us.
This spirit when it attacks us wants to take control of the situation. It seems to keep you from what God wants you to do. Its best strategy against a Christian is to induce spiritual apathy into your life. Its ultimate goal is to squeeze any breathe from your lungs that in turn will crush your hopes and dreams, your visions and even steal your faith. When this happens you become lazy and complacent.

Proverbs 29:18 (NKJV)¹⁸Where there is no revelation the people cast off restraint;

The devil wants your drive, motivation, even your fight. He does this by whispering in your ears his lies, accusations, fears, condemnation and unbelief. Soon you become weighed down until the only relief you can get is from walking away from God and the vision that he has for you. Many today have been several prophetic promises and they fail to enter in because of discouragement and their circumstances. Through these discouragements he causes depression and a sense of hopelessness and despair to set in. Depression and a spirit of heaviness, which brings infirmities and a defeated attitude which can ultimately leads to several forms of sickness.

Spiritual apathy is having no fight or drive to possess the promises of God. Under the constriction of the squeezing of python all hope is chocked out of us.

One of David’s first conquests was to destroy the son’s of Anak, who were the descendants of the giants. In the Hebrew translation the name Anak means to choke with strangulation by using a necklace. Many people who are being choked by python feel so weighed own that they want to commit suicide to end the pain.

Dealing with and destroying python’s grip There are several things that we can do to remove python’s grip from our lives.

1. Denounce any personal involvement with her works of darkness. Don’t call physics, or go to card readers or participate in any form of sorcery. Stay away from horoscopes, and repent of any involvement immediately. Avoid all games of chance like gambling and betting on certain teams. Every step of the Christian is ordered of the Lord and he does not need a lottery agent or bookie to bless you.
2. Search for any generational witchcraft that may be in your family line. Cut it off and repent of it now.
3. Ask the Lord to reveal any witchcraft or divination that has been directed at you. Especially if it feels like you are under some kind of attack.
4. Repent of any legal hold or lies that you may have believed. We give this spirit power at times of legal right and open doors that we leave open in our lives.
5. Keep your heart clean. Proverbs 4:23 (NKJV)²³Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.
6. Learn to control your mouth. Proverbs 18:21 (NKJV)²¹Death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruit. If you learn to break the power of death words in your life you can then rebuke the spirit of python that has demanded and controlled you for so long. Then you shall be set free!

Continued Next Month