WORLD TRUMPET MISSION – PRAYER TEACHINGS SERIES

COMBAT IN THE HEAVENLIES

Gems Out of Africa – Session One

“Opening Portals of Prayer”

“Gems Out of Africa” are 13 messages written by John Mulinde to help provide insight
about the spiritual realm and the power of God’s presence to bring transformation to a
people and the nations. This message entitled “Opening Portals of Prayer” is the first
“Gem.”

Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on
the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil. Because we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities
and powers, and against the rulers of the darkness of this world and against
spiritual wickedness in high places. Therefore, take unto you the whole armor of
God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to
stand. Ephesians 6:10-13

In this session, we want to focus on the use of our spiritual armor and on what happens
when we pray. In our day many Christians believe the Bible, but they do not see a place
for spiritual armor. They read about these weapons of warfare. They love to talk about
them. But you ask them,” When did you last put on your weapons of warfare? Do you
know how to use them? Do you know how to apply them in your day-to-day walk?”

And many Christians don’t even know one from the other. This is not the plan of God.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians and said,” I don’t want you to be ignorant of
spiritual things, lest the devil take advantage of you.” There are some things, if we don’t
care to know about them, the devil will take advantage of us. Now we cannot go into a
full discussion of the spiritual weapons and how to use them. In Uganda, when we have
the opportunity to just handle this alone, we put aside a week to learn and then to apply.
“God, it is not just knowledge we want; we want to walk with it in life. We want to be
over-comers”.

I want to share with you a testimony of someone who had been serving the devil but
was saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. When this man gave his testimony, it deeply
challenged me. I did not want to believe it. I had to go ten days before the Lord in prayer
and fasting, asking Him,” Lord, is this true?” And it was at that time that the Lord began
to teach me what happens in the spiritual realm when we pray.
This man was born after his parents dedicated themselves to Lucifer. When he was still
in the womb, they conducted many rituals dedicating him to serve Lucifer. When he was
four years old, he began to exercise his spiritual power. And his parents began fearing
him. When he was six years old, his father surrendered him to the witches to go and be
trained. And by ten years of age, he was doing great things in the kingdom of the devil.
The normal witches feared him.

He was still a young boy, but he was so terrible in the things he did. He grew up to be a
young man in his twenties with so much bloodshed on his hands. He killed at will. He
had the ability to go out of his body through transcendental meditation. And he could
levitate. Sometimes his body would lift off the ground and stay in the air. And sometimes
he could go into a trance and come out of his body. His body would remain behind, and
he would go out into the world, a phenomenon called astro-travelling. This man was
used by Satan to destroy many churches and pastors.

One day he was assigned to destroy a particular church. As he began to work against
this congregation, there were many divisions and much confusion. But the pastor called
a fast for the entire church. As the church began to fast, there was a lot of repentance
and reconciliation. The people came together and they began to pray for the work of the
Lord in their midst. They continued interceding and crying out to God to have mercy and
intervene in their lives. The church was full of prayer. As the days went by, this man was
coming again and again with demon spirits against this church. But there was a word of
prophecy that came telling the Christians to rise up and wage warfare against the
powers of darkness that were attacking the church.

So one day, this man left his body in his room and went astro-travelling. He was leading
a mighty force of demonic spirits against this congregation. According to his testimony
he said he was moving in the spirit in the air over the church that they were trying to
attack. But there was a covering of light over the church. And suddenly there was an
army of angels that attacked them. There was fighting in the air and all the demons fled;
but he was arrested.

Arrested by whom? The angels! He saw himself being held by about six angels, and
they brought him through the roof right before the altar. And there he was. And the
people were praying. They were deep in prayer and in spiritual warfare, rebuking,
breaking off, and casting out. And the pastor was on the platform leading the prayers
and the warfare. And the Spirit of the Lord spoke to the pastor and said,” The yoke has
been broken, and the victim is there before you. Help him through deliverance.” And he
opened his eyes and he saw this young man who had collapsed at the altar. His body
was with him. He was now in his body. The young man says he doesn’t know how his
body joined him; he had left it in his house. But there he was in his body, and he didn’t
know how he had entered in except the angel had carried him through the roof.
Now these things are difficult to believe, but the pastor silenced the church and told the
church what the Lord had told him and asked the young man,” Who are you?” The
young man was trembling, and the demons began coming out of him. So they prayed
for deliverance, and afterwards, he began to share his life. That young man has now
come to the Lord and is now an evangelist, preaching the Gospel. And he is being used
by the Lord mightily in setting other people free in the ministry of deliverance.

One night I went to a dinner, and the sole reason I went is that someone told me about
this young man. I was so curious to see him. So I sat at that dinner as this man was
given the chance to give his testimony. He talked about so many things. Sometimes he
cried because of the things he did. And then as he finished, he made an appeal. There
were many pastors in that room. And he said,” I appeal to you, pastors. Please teach
the people how to pray.” The people who do not pray can be taken in anything, in
anything by the devil. There are ways that the enemy exploits their lives. People who do
not know how to pray, when they do pray, the enemy knows even how to exploit their
prayers. We’re going to talk about that. And he also said to the pastors,” Teach the
people how to use the spiritual armor that God provides.”

Then he began to give a testimony of how he used to lead expositions into the air. He
would go with other satanic agents and lots of demon spirits into the air. It was like a
shift that you have to go and work your shift. So regularly he had a time he had to go
and wage war in the heavenlies. And he said that in the heavenlies, in the spiritual
realm, if the land is covered under the blanket of darkness, that blanket is so thick, it is
like a rock. And it covers the whole area. And these spirits are able to go on top of this
as well as below this blanket. And from that level, they influence the events on earth.

Both the evil spirits and human agents that are serving the devil, when they finish their
shifts they go down on earth to the points of covenant, whether in the waters or on the
land, for the refreshing of their spirit. And how do they refresh their spirit? By the
sacrifices that people give at these altars or places of covenant. They could be
sacrifices from open witchcraft. They could be sacrifices in bloodshed of all types
including abortion, warfare, and human and animal sacrifices. They could be sacrifices
of sexual immorality where people go into sexual perversions and all kinds of
promiscuity. These acts and so many more service the strength of these dark powers.

He talked about many things which greatly troubled my mind. He said when they are up
there and the Christians begin to pray on earth, the prayers of the Christians appear to
them in three forms. All prayers appear like smoke that is rising up into the heavens. He
said that some prayers appear like smoke that meander and disappear in the air. He
said that the people who normally pray like this with disappearing prayers are people
who have sin in their lives and they are not willing to deal with it. Their prayers are so
weak that they are blown away and they disappear in the air.
He said there are others whose prayers are like smoke that rises up until it reaches this
rock, but it does not break through the rock. He said that usually these are those who try
to purify themselves, but they lack the faith in what they are doing as they pray. Usually
they ignore the other keys of prayer and areas that they need to put together in prayer.

He said that the third type of prayer is like smoke that is filled with fire. And as it rises
up, it is so hot that as it reaches the rock, the rock begins to melt like wax and it pierces
that rock and goes through. He said many times people begin to pray and their prayers
are like the first type of prayer, but as they continue praying, their prayers change and
become like the second prayer. And as they continue praying, suddenly there is fire that
is filling their prayers. Their prayers become so powerful that they pierce through the
rock. He also said that many times they would notice the prayers of the saints changing
and coming very close to the state of fire. When that happened they communicated to
other spirits on earth and told them,” Distract that person from prayer. Stop them from
praying. Pull them out.”

Many times so many Christians yield to these distractions. They are pressing through.
They are repenting. They are allowing the Word to examine their spirit. Faith has been
building up. Their prayers are becoming more focused. Then the devil sees that their
prayers are gaining strength so the distractions begin. Telephones ring. Sometimes we
are in the middle of very, very intense prayer, then the telephone rings and you think
you can go to answer the phone and then come back and continue praying. When you
come back, you go back to the beginning. And that is what the devil wants.

Other kinds of distractions come your way, even if it means touching your body and
bringing some pain somewhere. Or making you hungry so that you want to go to the
kitchen and fix something to eat. As long as they can get you out of the place of prayer,
they have defeated you. This man said to the pastors,” Teach people. Set aside some
time; not for just some casual kind of praying. They can do that the rest of the day.
Once in a day they should have a time when they are focusing wholeheartedly on God,
nothing distracting them.

If people persist in this kind of prayer, allow themselves to be inspired by the Spirit, and
keep going and going, something happens in the spirit realm. The fire touches that rock
and it melts. This man said when the melting begins it is so hot no demon spirit can
stand it. No human spirit can stand it. They all flee. They all run away. An opening in the
spiritual realm takes place. And as soon as this happens, all this trouble in prayer stops.
The person who is praying on the ground just feels like prayer is suddenly so smooth,
enjoyable, and so powerful and intense. I’ve discovered that at that moment, we
normally lose consciousness of time and other things. We do not become irresponsible.
God takes care of our time. It is like you lay down everything, and you connect with
God. This man went on to say that when the prayers go through, from that moment on
there can be no resistance at all. The person praying will continue as long as he wants
without resistance to stop him.

He went on to say that after such believers finish praying, the hole remains open. When
they rise out of their place of prayer and they walk out, this open hole moves along with
them. They are no longer operating under the blanket. They are operating under open
heavens. And he said, in that state, the devil cannot do what he wants against them.
The presence of the Lord is like a pillar from heaven resting on their lives. They are
protected. There is so much power inside that pillar that as they move around, that
presence touches other people. It discerns what the enemy has done in other people.
And as they talk to people and those people are standing with them, they come inside
this pillar. As long as they stay inside that pillar, all the bondages of the enemy weaken.

So when these people who have this spiritual break-through share Jesus Christ with
sinners, their resistance is low. It is so easy to bring them through. When they pray for
the sick or pray about other things, the presence, which is there, makes all the
difference. And this man said the devil hates such people.

He said if there are places where prayer is regularly being prayed through like that, the
presence comes upon that place and does not leave. So even the people who don’t
know God, when they come into this place, suddenly all the bondages are weakened. If
someone will minister to them patiently and with love, they can easily be pulled through;
not by power nor by might but by the Spirit of God, who is present. He said if no one
reaches out to these people, when they come into His presence they feel convicted. But
they begin to debate whether to yield or not. If they are not pulled through, when they
walk away from this place bondages get stronger. The devil tries his best not to allow
them to come back into such an environment.

You can imagine what it was like as we listened to man. He was telling us the things he
used to do and what he used to see. Then he told us what they would do to people who
have broken through in prayer. He said they marked such people. They studied such
people. They dug up everything they could find about such people. So they knew their
weaknesses, and when someone overcomes them in prayer and breaks through, they
communicate with other spirits and say,”Target him with this and with this and with this.
These are his weaknesses.” So when this person walks out of the prayer closet, the
spirit of prayer is upon him, the presence is upon him, his spirits are high, the joy of the
Lord is his strength. As he moves the enemy tries to bring those things that can distract
him from focusing on the Lord. If his weakness is in the area of temper, then the enemy
is going to cause people to do things which can make him really angry. And if he is not
sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and he allows himself to go into the temper, he takes his
eyes off the Lord. He gets angry; he feels so furious. After a few minutes he wants to
put that behind him and move along in the joy of the Lord, but he does not feel it
anymore. He tries to feel good again but he does not. Why? As he yielded to the
temptation, they worked hard to close the door upstairs. And once they restore the rock,
the presence is cut off. The person does not cease being a child of God. But that extra
anointing that is on his life, that presence that could do things without his manipulating
anything is just cut off.

They seek out his weaknesses. If it is in the temptation of sexual sin, the enemy will
prepare people, events, or something that will suddenly draw out that passion to go
towards that temptation. And if that man yields to this temptation and opens up his mind
to receive these thoughts, entertains them, when he is through with everything and
wants to move again in the anointing, he just discovers it is no longer there. Maybe you
say,” That’s not fair.” Just remember what the Bible says,” Put on the helmet of
salvation. Put on the breastplate of righteousness.” We normally do not see the position
or the place of these weapons of warfare. But remember what Jesus told us to pray
towards the end of the Lord’s prayer,” Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
the evil one.”

Every time you have a breakthrough in prayer, as you come to the end, remember you
are still a weak human being. Remember you have not yet been perfected. Ask the
Lord, and say” Lord, I’ve enjoyed this time of prayer, but when I walk out into this world,
lead me not into temptation. Don’t allow me to walk into the devil’s trap. I know the
enemy is setting a trap out there. I don’t know what form it is going to take. And I know I
am still weak in certain areas. If I am just put in the right place, I will yield to that. Protect
me, Lord. When you see me turning that corner where the trap is, just cause me to turn
to the other side. Intervene, O Lord. Don’t allow me to move by just my own strength
and ability. Deliver me from the evil one.”

God is able to do that. He is able. That is why when some things happen, all you need
to say is,” Thank you, Jesus.” That’s why Apostle Paul wrote in the book of
Thessalonians and said,” Thank God in everything for that is the will of God in Christ for
you.” Some things are not good. They are painful, and we wonder why God would allow
it. But if only we knew what He is saving us from, we would thank Him. When we learn
to trust the Lord, we just thank Him in everything.

Beloved, I don’t know whether to go deeper because I do not want to start something I
cannot finish. Let me just try to take one step forward. This man said that when prayer
breaks through like that, the answer will always come. He said he does not know a case
where prayer broke through and the answer did not come. He said the answer always
came, but in most cases, it would never get to the person who asked. Why? Because of
the battle in the heavenlies. He said that as long as they succeed in cutting off the open
heavens and the rock is restored, they watch this person. They are waiting because
they know the answer is definitely coming.
And then this man spoke something that really shook my faith. It is because of the next
part he shared that I went into fasting ten days to ask, “Lord, is this true? Can you prove
it to me?” This man said that every Christian has an angel serving that Christian. Now
we know the Bible says angels are ministering spirits to us. He said that when people
pray, the answer comes in the hands of the angel. The angel brings the answer like we
can read about it in the book of Daniel. Then he said something really tough. If the one
who prays knows the spiritual armor and is clothed with it, the answer comes by an
angel who is also clothed in full armor. If the one who prays does not care about
spiritual armor, their angels come without spiritual armor. Christians who don’t care
about what kind of thoughts come into their minds don’t fight the battle of their minds.
Their angels come without the helmet. Whatever spiritual weapon you ignore on earth,
the angel does not have it as he serves you. In other words, our spiritual armor is not
protecting our physical bodies. It is not protecting our spiritual exploits.

This man said that when the angel is coming, they would focus and look at him and
notice the areas which are not covered, and those are the areas they would attack. If he
has no helmet, they would shoot at his head. If he has no breastplate, they would shoot
at his chest. If he has no shoes, they would make a fire so that he is walking in the fire.
Now I am just repeating what this man said. Actually, we asked him,” Can angels feel
fire?” And you know what he said to us? Remember this is a spiritual realm. These are
spirits dealing with spirits. The battle is intense, and when they overpower an angel of
God, the first thing they target is the answer he is carrying. They get that answer from
the angel and that is what they give to others through cults and witchcraft. People
involved in witchcraft say, ”I got this because of witchcraft.”

Remember what the Bible says in the book of James? All good things come from God.
So where does the devil get the things he gives to his people? Some people who
cannot have children, they go to witch doctors and satanists and they get pregnant!
Who gave them that baby? Is Satan a creator? NO! He steals from those who do not
pray to the end. Jesus said,” Pray without ceasing.” And then He said,” But when the
Son of Man comes, will He find faith?” Will He find you still there waiting? Or will you
have given up and allowed the enemy to steal what you have prayed for?

Then this man said that they are not satisfied with just stealing the answer. They are
also interested in detaining the angel. And they start fighting him. He said sometimes
they succeed in holding and binding the angel. And when that happens, the Christian is
a victim on earth. They can do anything with that Christian because he is totally left
without ministry in the Spirit.

I said to him,” Do you mean an angel can be held in captivity by demonic forces?” This
man did not even know the scriptures by the time he was saying all this. He did not
know very many scriptures. He was just sharing his experiences. And he said they
wouldn’t hold the angel too long because as other Christians prayed elsewhere,
reinforcement would come, and the angels would go free. If the Christian responsible
did not pray through, he remains a captive. Then the enemy sends his own angel as an
angel of light to this person, and that is where the deceptions come in. False visions and
false prophecies. False leadership, I mean leading, guidance in the spirit, making wrong
decisions of all types. And many times this person is open to all kinds of attack and
bondages.

I left that dinner so very troubled. I said,” Lord, I don’t even want to try and believe this.”
It removes all my confidence and sense of security. When I went to seek the Lord for
ten days about this, the Lord did two things. First, He not only confirmed the things I had
heard; he opened my mind to see a lot more that this man could tell us about what
happens in the spiritual realm. Secondarily He led me to see what we are supposed to
do as these things happen so that we are not overcome but that we can overcome.

We need to know three things and really come to terms with these three things.

1. How to operate with the weapons of our warfare. The Bible calls them the armor of
God. It is not our armor; it is God’s armor. When we use it we allow God to fight on our
behalf.

2. Understand the relationship of the ministering spirits - the angels - to our spiritual
lives. We must be sensitive to what is happening in our hearts as an indication of what
needs to be happening in the spirit concerning us.

3. The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not come as our servant, serving us and
bringing things to us. He does not run to and fro to the Father to tell Him what we need.
That is the work of angels. But He stands by our side. Doing what? Guiding us, teaching
us, leading us, helping us to pray the right way. And when these things are happening in
the spiritual realm, He tells us. Sometimes He wakes you up in the night and says,”
Pray.” You say,” No! My time is not yet come.” And He says,” Pray now!” Why? He sees
what is happening in the spirit realm. Sometimes He says,” Tomorrow - fast!” You say
“Oh, no, I’ll start on Monday!” But He understands what is happening, and we must
learn to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. He guides us in the paths of righteousness. Then
we learn one thing: the battle is not ours; the battle is of the Lord! Hallelujah!

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