We were created to worship. It’s how God designed us. And all of us worship something. We have a God-given free will and we get to choose who or what we worship.
As worshipers, probably the greatest model (besides Jesus) we have in Scripture is the life of King David. He’s called the man after God’s own heart. From his humble beginnings as a shepherd boy to the warrior-king he became, David provides the most profound example of what it is to be a worshiper (and a worship leader).
But before David comes Saul. And everyone who desires to be like David with a heart that is wholly after God will first have to deal with "Saul." Not a person, but a spirit. Every "David" has to pass the "Saul Test."
Saul was God’s chosen and anointed one to be the first king of Israel... until 1 Samuel 15. The true posture of Saul’s heart is reveled in a moment of failure. As a result, God rejects him as king. However, Saul remains king for about 10-15 more years. You can lose the anointing, but still keep a position, which is scary.
During those 10-15 years Saul tries to kill David repeatedly. The epic tension between Saul and David shows us the strategy of the enemy to take out worshipers. A strategy rooted in two demonic spirits still in operation today.
The backstory to Saul’s failure is that God had instructed him to attack and completely destroy the nation of Amalek. He is to leave no survivors and take no plunder. So, Saul marches off to battle and he wins a victory, but then…
1 Samuel 15:9-11, NLT
9 Saul and his men spared [King] Agag’s life and kept the best of the sheep and goats, the cattle, the fat calves, and the lambs—everything, in fact, that appealed to them. They destroyed only what was worthless or of poor quality. 10 Then the Lord said to Samuel, 11 “I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to me and has refused to obey my command.” Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that he cried out to the Lord all night.
When Samuel confronts Saul about his disobedience, Saul claims he only kept the best of the plunder to sacrifice to the Lord. (We can make our disobedience sound so spiritual, can’t we?)
Then comes Samuel’s correction…
1 Samuel 15:22-23, NLT
22 But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. 23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”
Witchcraft. Idolatry. Both still seek to sabotage our worship, our lives, and ultimately the move of God through the Church.
It’s time to deal with it. Revival is on the line.
First let’s talk about witchcraft. Here are some common open doors:
- Rebellion — an absence of full obedience through actions or attitude. Rebellion is disobedience towards God or God-appointed authority.
- Divination — includes word-curses that can be packaged as negative comments, gossip, or dishonor. Divination can also be anything from the occult, magic, sorcery, spells, ouija boards, fortunetelling, the horoscope, and so forth.
- Witchcraft also comes from a Greek word that refers to “mind-altering substances.” It’s a word that literally means: "drugs that inhibit a person’s personality or change his behavior."
Witchcraft is the enemy’s counterfeit of the creative. It’s after your mind. Using lies, witchcraft wants to create false realities in your mind to shut down your creativity and hold you hostage. If a spirit of witchcraft can mess with your mind, it can sabotage your life.
The flip side of the same coin is idolatry. Here are some common open doors:
- Stubbornness — an absence of full submission (or honor) to God or God-appointed authority from a heart that is hard or distracted.
- Idols — anything (literally anything or anyone) that draws our attention and affection away from God. We can idolize any number of things: our jobs, our ministry, our hobbies, our talents, our position, our opinion, our offenses, ourselves. An idol is anything that takes the "God spot" in our hearts.
Idolatry is the enemy’s counterfeit of pure worship. We all worship something. If it’s not God, it’s an idol. It wants to dull your spiritual senses, pollute your heart to infect your purity, and put up a wall to shut down your power.
Psalms 115:4-6, 8 explains it well: “Their idols are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear… And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them.” (NLT)
The Passion Translation of verse 8 says that “everyone who trusts in these powerless dead things will be just like what they worship—powerless and dead.”
I believe God is looking for a people to shut the door to witchcraft and idolatry. In Galatians 5:20, the Apostle Paul lists both witchcraft and idolatry as works of the flesh. He tells us not to satisfy the desires of the flesh, but rather to “walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]” (Galatians 5:16, AMP).
Just as Samuel told Saul, the demonic is dismantled through obedience and submission to the Lord. God didn’t want Saul’s version of worship, tailored to fit his own preferences. God wasn’t impressed by Saul’s talent or ability to win a war. God simply desired a heart that would obey and submit.
We often think that submission will limit our freedom or restrict what we can do. But in reality, submission to the Lord (and His leaders) is what free us and increases our influence and authority!
Never underestimate what God can do with your obedient and submitted “yes.” You are called and chosen by God! You have access to all the power and authority you need! The enemy is already defeated! Revival is already on the way! All God is looking for is a wholehearted “YES!”
The revival of our generation is going to flow like a river between the banks of obedience and submission. That is where we can drink of the living-water. That is where His presence runs deep.
Don’t let witchcraft or idolatry dam up the river in your life. Don’t let it keep you blind or deaf from God’s sights and sounds. Rise up in your spiritual authority, break the power of the demonic, and tear down those strongholds. Get into some radical praise and worship! Release a sound! For David, it wasn’t just about him. It was about the whole nation of Israel. Same with us. It’s not just about us. It’s about the people we lead and influence… at home, in our churches, and across our nation.
Obey. Submit. It’s time for revival!
Psalms 115:10, 13-16 TPT
10 You, his priests, trust in the Lord. For he is the only true hero, God-wrapped-around-us as our shield. 13 Yes! He will bless his devoted lovers who bow before him, no matter who they are. 14-15 God himself will fill you with more. Blessings upon blessings will be heaped upon you and upon your children from the maker of heaven and earth, the very God who made you! 16 The heavens belong to our God; they are his alone, but he has given us the earth and put us in charge.