Su230723 – The Spirits of Mental Harassment

MOUNTAIN OF FIRE AND MIRACLES MINISTRIES
International Headquarters, Lagos, Nigeria.
Sunday Worship Service
July 23rd, 2023.

Topic: THE SPIRITS OF MENTAL HARASSMENT
Text: Philippians 4:4–8.
Ministering: Dr. Daniel Olukoya (G.O. MFM Worldwide)

Our text for today gives us a recipe for not running mad in this generation. It gives us an antidote to insanity in the insane world in which we find ourselves. The Bible did not leave us in darkness. It said in 2 Timothy 3:1 (KJV): This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. The word “perilous” means mad or difficult to restrain. So the world is a madhouse.

Our scripture tells us what to do so that the spirits that harass the soul—the spirit of mental harassment that leads people to the brink of despair—do not capture a believer. It is sad to know that cases of mental despair and distress are on the rise. Psychiatric hospitals are filled to the brim. Prison yards, too, are filled to the brim. In some prisons now, they are setting small offenders free so that they can have room for the big offenders.

Philippians 4:4 (KJV) says: “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”
That is the first key to not running mad. It did not talk about circumstances because the man who wrote this was inside the Philippians jail at the time. This was written by a man who was in jail, yet in that jail he could say this. The joy of the Lord is permanent; the happiness of the world is temporary.

Philippians 4:5 (KJV) says: “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”
Key 2 not to run mad is to get the presence of the Lord around you; know that the Lord is around you. The joy of the Lord is there with you; wherever you are, He is there with you. He is not just a faraway old man sitting somewhere; the Lord is at hand (He is there.) “When thou passest through the fire, when thou passest through the waters, I will be with you….” means that He is there.

Philippians 4:6a (KJV) says: “Be careful for nothing;…”
Key number 3 means, in your life, let worry die. Worry will not get you anything. Worry will not get you anywhere. It is like a rocking chair you are sitting on that is moving but not making progress. By the time you finish allowing the spirits of worry and anxiety to harass your mind, you find out that you have wasted time. That is why the Bible says “Whatever you commit into the hands of God, He can keep it “. So keep your life in His hands. Verse 6 says, “Be careful for nothing…” Another version says “Do not let anything worry your mind”.

Philippians 4:6b (KJV) says: “…but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
Key number 4 is this: by prayer, thanksgiving, and supplication, let your request be made known to God.

Then in verse 8, it now says “finally”. Meaning, in conclusion. It is like when somebody has been talking and then says, “Now, to conclude”, it means he wants to now summarise everything.

So in verse 8, it says: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

The final key is to take charge of your heart. Take charge of your thinking. Do not allow your thoughts to be harassed by spirits that harass people’s hearts.

🔥 I pray that the Lord will touch somebody here this morning, and the arrow of frustration, the arrows enticing you to give up, the arrows that want to cage you where they caged your parents, will die here, in the name of Jesus!

There are spirits that harass people mentally, but the agenda of those spirits is to finally imprison the soul and imprison the person’s heart. A prison is a terrible thing. It removes or limits your freedom. As we have physical prisons, there are spiritual prisons as well. The greatest battle ground is not at the witchcraft coven; it is not in the camp of household wickedness; it is not in your office or place of work.

The greatest battleground is the heart. Most battlegrounds have two foes or enemies. They have two contestants. But the heart has three contestants: God is interested in the heart, the devil is interested in the heart, and man is interested in that heart. Man sometimes does not wish to do as much evil as the devil suggests.

That is why the psalmist says “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O God”. (Psalm 19:14). Meaning that those unacceptable thoughts put men into trouble and untold hardships.

The heart is where all our trouble begins. The heart is also the place where God begins to work. The heart is where sin begins. The Bible says that the words we speak are first of all conceived in the heart. When Satan wants to tempt a person, he goes to the heart. Doubt about the power of God starts in the heart. Sorrow and trouble start in the heart. That is why the scripture says, “Above all things, guard your heart with all diligence…” because once you lose the battle of the heart, you lose all the battles of life. Therefore, beloveth, the strongest prison is the prison of the mind. The prison of the heart.

How to know when you are under the attack of these mental spirits.
– When you are thinking of killing yourself, you are under attack by these mental spirits.
– You are thinking of killing other people; something is wrong somewhere; your mental life is under attack.
– You are the kind of person who is doing something, and before you are even done, you begin to say, “Supposing this thing does not work?” Mental attack.
– When you begin to imagine yourself with grey hair and no wife or husband, arrows are fired into your heart.
– When sexual thoughts fill your mind day and night, thoughts of retrenchment, thoughts of business collapse, thoughts of uncertainty, failure, fear, hindrance, confusion, wickedness, and thoughts of deceit
– You are pregnant and are already considering the thought of miscarriage.
– You are sick and already imagining yourself in the operating theatre. This is a very serious thing that is affecting many lives.
– Any small pain that some women feel in their breasts now, the first thought is that it is cancer. And if they find anything in the breast, they already declare it to be cancer, forgetting that anything can grow in the breast; it does not have to be cancer. I have seen people calling me and saying “G.O. I cannot feel any strength in my hand or my legs, heei, stroke ooo,” whereas there is no problem.
– Some are thinking of poverty and disappointment.
– Some are even thinking of backsliding.

So your thoughts are the energy that attracts things to you. It is the law of attraction that brings things to you. You see, the power of our thoughts has the energy to create either evil or good for us. Many of us do not understand it. The Bible is a perfect book. That is why one of our ancient fathers in the Lord who has gone to be with the Lord now would sometimes, in the middle of his sermons, say, “Clap for the Bible!”

The Bible says “For as man thinketh in his heart, so is he”. You say “I know why the men are not coming; I am ugly”. Who told you that you are ugly? Or you say “It is because I am fat”. Who told you that you are fat? It is a thing of the heart. There are some men who are looking for fat women. You call yourself ugly, but that thing you call ugly is what someone else is looking for.

Therefore, beloveth, the source of all power and weakness is within. The reason for success as well as failure comes from within. It is wrong to look for power and strength outside. The source of wealth, health, power, prosperity, and success is within. All growth is enfoldment from within. Then the source of sickness, poverty, lawlessness, sorrow, laziness, and immorality is from within.

Therefore, the key to convert:
– trials to triumph,
– foes to friends,
– fear to courage,
– despair to joy,
– temptation to testimony, is within.

The most powerful forces are those invisible forces from within. The enemy understands this, and so he has created a department called “Mental Harassment Department” with different kinds of spirits to harass the minds of men. That is the warfare we need to wage here today.

There is a spirit of:
– Inferiority complex.
– Inadequacy.
– Condemnation.
– Saying “I am not meeting expectations”.
– Worry.
– Anxiety.
– Stress.
– Tension.
– Nervousness.
– Agony.
– Heaviness.
– Discouragement.
– Hopelessness.
– Incompetence.
– The victim mentality (it is always me!).
– Indifference.
– Emotional imbalance.
– Mental instability
– Emptiness.
– Living in the past
– The “why me?” syndrome. All these are mentally harassing spirits.
– Enticement (it is strongly prompting you to do things that are wrong). There is a spirit that actually harasses. It would harass the mind and bother the soul.
– Torment: would be afflicting the person’s heart.
– Compulsion driving the person to do wrong thing. The person will be engaging in repititive behaviour, serving no rational purpose.
– Hatred: the person just hates something good.
– Addiction: something is controlling the life of the person. There are still people who come to our meetings who drink alcohol. I feel so sorry for them.
– Enslavement: the spirit puts a shackle on the person’s hand. The person will lack freedom.
– Paralysis: no strength in the soul, no strength in the mind. Always unable to act, always weak.
– Restlessness: the person cannot rest or settle down.
– Numbness: the person is without feeling at all.
– Memory failure: the enemy just removes the memory.

I want you to understand that these are horrible spirits troubling men. We have work to do. All those thoughts that are in your heart that are not of God show that there is a problem.

Some practical things you can do are:
– list all the thoughts and imaginations that give you the greatest anxiety.
– then take them one by one, smash them, and demolish them with prayers of fire. If any of them tries to persist,
– plead the blood of Jesus on your heart.
– Take up one, two, or more verses, tie up the thought, and smash it again with prayers.
– command the arrows of evil thoughts to go and,
– Begin to soak yourself in the word of God. That way, you will be able to defeat all this rage of mentally harassing spirits.

Many of us are in the wrong place now because of what our hearts have programmed us to become. This morning, you and I need to pray very serious prayers. The hottest battleground is the heart. God needs it, the devil is looking for it, and man wants to control it. So once that battle of the heart is lost, you lose all battles.

PRAYER POINTS.
[Before Message]
1. Any spell placed upon my life, scatter! in the name of Jesus.
2. Angels ordained for my blessings, appear! in the name of Jesus.

[After Message]
1. Stronghold in my heart, die! in the name of Jesus.
2. Heaviness in my heart, carry your load! in the name of Jesus.
3. Every enemy of my peace of mind, you are a liar, die! in the name of Jesus.
4. Poison of darkness in my body, die! in the name of Jesus.
5. Every power that wants me to die before my testimonies, you are a liar, die! in the name of Jesus.
6. (Mention what you want to address in your body), go back to your senders! in the name of Jesus.
7. (Mention what you want to address in your body), I come against you in the name of the Lord, die! in the name of Jesus.
8. Powers detaining my blessings, you are liars, die! in the name of Jesus.

God bless you🙏