If your parents or forefathers served idols, demons or practiced any form of occultism, then there is an urgent need for you to undergo a deliverance process, so as to break the satanic chains off your life. You cannot serve Satan without being hooked by his fetters. Now, know that through persistent midnight prayers such satanic yokes and covenants in the family can be broken.
Then, there are cities, villages, towns and countries that are also bound with satanic chains and are kept in the enemys prisons. You know this by the way the people live, what they worship or by the things that happen in that environment. There are places you go and you can immediately discern the demon spirits that are in operation. Others worship different kinds of demonic territorial spirits and principalities.
I know of a village in the eastern part of Nigeria that serves a demon that lives in a lake. When it is time to sacrifice to this demon, the chief priest will take a live goat to the lake. There, the man will take the animal close to the bank of the lake, while holding the rope tied to its neck.
Then he will make some incantations and immediately a fish-like creature will come out of the water and start moving towards the goat. Once it gets to it, it will swiftly chop off the head of the goat and swim back into the water with it. Then the worshippers will begin to rejoice that the deity has accepted their sacrifice. They will return home to feast with the remaining meat; which they will cook and eat.
Others worship deities that live in the forests, on the trees, on mountains, etc. I know some villages that still worship snakes, monkeys, crocodiles and pythons. These reptiles would come into their rooms and stay. They are always treated as special guests. They can lie on your bed or even hang there, stirring at you in your kitchen. They must not be hurt, rebuked or killed. Go to Idenmili area of Anambra State and see this.
There are also territorial spirits that live in human beings, especially mad people. All these are spirits holding these places in bondage. They keep these areas in chains, and until they are challenged and driven away, the inhabitants of these places would be struggling with the yoke of the enemy. (We saw this type in Mark Chapter Five).
Some of these spirits hinder development, progress and even the gospel. The solution is engaging these demonic forces in midnight battles. Sometimes they will resist and even threaten you. In some cases, it will take many nights. But if you stand your ground and persist, they will ultimately bow and be forced to leave. But you must be prepared and well-determined. The bible said in Ephesians 6:10-12
Be strong with the Lords mighty power, put on all of Gods armour so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil.
For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.
I hope that message is very clear? The enemies we are battling with are a formidable and highly organized force. So you must know your stand in God and the dynamics of the war before you go into it. We will comment more on how to prepare for these battles later.
Churches and ministries can also be in Satanic Chains. This might sound strange, but it is true. Demonic forces can hold down a church that is not moving in the fullness of the power and the spirit of God. And it is very easy to detect such churches. The symptoms are: lack of holiness, lack of development (physical and spiritual), and rapid decrease in membership, stagnation, constant quarrelling and hatred among the members, and even among the ministers. We see all these happening in some of our churches today. All these are caused by powers of darkness; to make sure that the affected churches do not fulfil Gods programme for them.
The devil knows very well that a united church is the avenue through which God wants to spread His will, save lost souls, display His Power and ultimately humiliate the enemy. So he will do everything to see that the church does not expand and that it is also kept in permanent confusion.
I once served in a church in the oil-rich city of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. This church had existed for 13 years before we came. Up till the time we came, the not-too-large building was yet to be completed. There were no doors, no windows and no ceiling in the church. The membership was going down rapidly. Only a few friends from the same tribe kept coming to the place. The power of God was not there and very few people were making what looked like progress at the place. And not just that, the members and ministers lived in immorality and practiced witchcraft, even inside the church.
I remember once our prayer team was holding vigil and I suddenly announced that somebody (a young man) in our midst was practicing occultism, bringing charms into the place and still coming to pray with us. And immediately, the senior pastor interrupted me and reminded me that he was still in-charge. He was living the same life as the young man in immorality and witchcraft.
Months later, the same man was accused of various immoral acts and the worse; he planned to poison me for exposing their diabolical and immoral activities in the so-called house of God. But Gods power, presence and grace were heavily upon me. These kept them off. In fact, he acquired the poison, but the Spirit of God informed me that he was afraid to use it on me. Yes, He builds a hedge of protection around those that fear him!
You needed no prophet to tell you that this was completely a dead church. A church with a beautiful name but was held down by the powers of darkness. When we came there, God led us to form a praying and deliverance team. (It is imperative for every church to have a standing and formidable praying and deliverance team). We started holding prayer meetings every night in that place. Sometimes we would fast in the daytime, and come to the church to pray through the night. I mean real intercessory prayers. We did that consistently for several months.
What was the result? The power of God came mightily upon the church. The chains and yokes of Satan were broken off the place. The powers of darkness were chased away, though not without fierce resistance. But God prevailed. Miracles, signs, wonders and powerful deliverances began to take place in the place.
Consequently, the membership began to grow rapidly. The once dead church was revived. The building was completed and the members began to prosper tremendously. The members also became more dedicated to God. This is what midnight prayers can do. In fact, we extended such programmes to other churches and also got the same results. The glory, power and blessings of God will come down when the church learns how to exploit the power of midnight prayers.
Now lets go back to Paul and Silas. They were terribly beaten and thrown into that dreaded underground cell. The bible said that around midnight they began to pray and sing praises to God. Unusual! People that were severely beaten with wooden rods, instead of nursing their wounds and pains, decided to sing hymns and praises. Now, when we serve God in an unusual way, in unusual environment, He will begin to do unusual things on our behalf. True!
Again, I also believe that it will only take a man that is filled with the Holy Spirit and has sold totally to God to sing and praise God in such an excruciating, humiliating, harrowing and extreme situation.
What do you do when the enemy strikes? Do you weep and blame everybody, including God? Or do you genuflect and look for a way to escape; even if it means denying your faith? We must ask God to give us the spirit of courage and faith, even in the face of life-threatening situations. The bible said that God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power.