Shifting Atmospheres

by Dawna DeSilva

  The apostle Paul is another hero in the Lord’s army who exemplified reliance on the Holy Spirit. When God’s Spirit told him not to go to Asia, he obeyed. When the Lord prompted him to visit Jerusalem (even against his followers’ wishes), he listened.

  Just because someone uses the name Jesus does not mean they are under proper spiritual authority. Such was shown with the sons of Sceva. Though God can bless a person’s good intentions, it is His will that we ultimately co-labor with Him. This reliance on His presence, cultivated daily, is what brings about success in the Kingdom.

  Francis Frangipane, author of The Three Battlegrounds, asserts that spiritual authority (as exemplified through Jesus), is obtained through humility and acts of surrender. Scripture says:

  But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

  This may seem foreign to us in our human societies where success is often attributed to talent and ambition. In God’s Kingdom, however, people advance according to how much they are willing to sacrifice. Jesus gave the greatest sacrifice of all—His life. This is why He was given the ultimate promotion:

  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11).

  Because of Christ’s willingness to sacrifice, God exalted Him above everything else.

  We too are called to live a life of sacrifice. Yet, this does not mean we must all unhealthily sacrifice in hopes of attaining greatness. We should never approach the Father with formulas in hopes of a specific result. That is manipulation. True humility and surrender comes as an act of love. Once we grasp this concept, we surrender ourselves willingly and live our lives according to our individual purposes.

  If you desire to grow in spiritual authority, you must give up everything for God and this must come as an act of love. Jesus said:

  If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? (Luke 14:26-28)

  Following Jesus will cost you everything. Although the gift of salvation is free, being a true follower of Jesus requires every ounce of your being.

  As we grow in spiritual authority, our mission to transmit God’s Kingdom to the earth increases in capacity. In Matthew, Jesus was given all authority and commissioned us to retake dominion over the planet (see Matt. 28:18; Luke 10:19). Though we have authority and dominion in Christ, God is still a respecter of boundaries. This is why certain unclean spirits have authority over persons, cities, and regions.

  People who partner with evil spirits through sin, ignorance, or lies hand over the “keys” to their spiritual domains. This gives the enemy legal access to their lives and opens doors for demonic harassment. If this is the case, the unclean spirits may not be easily removed until the partnerships are renounced.

  FOLLOWING JESUS WILL COST YOU EVERYTHING. ALTHOUGH THE GIFT OF SALVATION IS FREE, BEING A TRUE FOLLOWER OF JESUS REQUIRES EVERY OUNCE OF YOUR BEING.

  If you find yourself praying for individuals who suffer from a demonic spirit, work with them to see if this demon exists because of legal access. If so, pray with them to release God’s forgiveness and ask what the Lord wishes to impart in its place. If they do not want to sever ties with the demonic, then it may be wise to not try to deliver them at all. Jesus gave the warning in Matthew:

  Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, “I will return to my house from which I came”; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation (Matthew 12:43-45 NASB).

  I have found this to be of great significance when shifting atmospheres. Just because a demon exists in a person or location does not mean it is always wise to simply cast it out. Find the legal right or open door that allows the demon to exist in the first place and then begin the process of deliverance. Partnering with the Holy Spirit to gain insight into why a spirit exists in a certain area or region can help permanently shift an atmosphere.

  Sin is an obvious reason for demonic habitation. Although we have authority to cast out demons, persons who have been delivered will fail to successfully defend their newly found freedom if they do not fill the newly vacated areas with Christ. People can gain lasting authority over the devil if they break ties and tear up the “root” issues that existed in their lives.

  Another stronghold for the enemy is unbelief. Jesus faced this in His hometown of Nazareth. Encountering unbelief, the Messiah Himself experienced a limitation to His power:

  And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching (Mark 6:4-6).

  Faith is paramount for wielding spiritual authority. Matthew writes:

  When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you” (Matthew 17:14-20 NASB).

  When we partner with unbelief, we forfeit our God-given right to co-labor with Christ. In contrast, when we cultivate faith, we increase our authority by placing full confidence in God.

  If we want to grow in spiritual authority, we must be willing to lay down our lives for the purposes of God. Total acts of surrender lead to trust, which activates faith, which in turn results in God increasing our authority.

  Jesus’s parables continually rewarded those who proved themselves to be trustworthy. In the parable of the talents, God took from the servant who failed to steward anything and gave it to the one who stewarded the most. God is in the business of stewardship. Once He hands us an assignment, it is our responsibility to complete it. If you need inspiration for this, look to Jesus. He had the greatest assignment of all and passed it with flying colors.

  WHEN WE CULTIVATE FAITH, WE INCREASE OUR AUTHORITY BY PLACING FULL CONFIDENCE IN GOD.

  In our quest for growing spiritual authority, we must never underestimate the power of collective prayer. Not only does it raise our level of faith, but it also creates an opening for Jesus to attend our meetings. Jesus told His disciples:

  Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them (Matthew 18:18-20).

  If Jesus is in the midst of our groups, it is no wonder the enemy tries to separate us through offense, bitterness, and fear. When shifting atm
ospheres over regions, I make sure to operate in a group setting so we are all in one accord.

  When shifting atmospheres, do not forget the power of the angelic realm. Some of these supernatural beings are there to help you. Ask God to release His angels over your situations and watch as you gain the upper hand in the battle against darkness. Just as God dispatched Michael to release the messenger for Daniel’s breakthrough, so too the soldiers of God wait to fight on our behalf.

  SPIRITUAL ATMOSPHERES

  And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience…But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

  —EPHESIANS 2:1-2, 4-6

  We can define the word atmosphere as a pervading tone or mood. Spiritual is something invisible as opposed to a material or physical entity. When I talk about spiritual atmospheres, I am referring to the invisible (spiritual) tones or moods hovering over an individual, community, city, or region.

  Some people believe that ungodly atmospheres are the same thing as demonic spirits. While I do believe demonic atmospheres are presided over by the demonic realm, I do not believe the atmospheres themselves are actual demons. Atmospheres, for me, are the prevailing spiritual realities created by man’s partnership with the entities residing in the spiritual realm. As the messages these spiritual beings emit are agreed upon and partnered with, the resulting atmosphere expands. Therefore, I see atmospheres, both godly and ungodly, as cyclical partnerings between broadcasts from the spirit realm and man’s participation with them.

  Many of us have experienced spiritually “thin” places or open heavens. These are areas where the accumulation of worship and prayer has released the tangible presence of God. In these places, healings, salvations, signs, and wonders are more easily attained than in more spiritually “thick” areas. These thick places are environments where negative spiritual climates have been allowed to develop. In areas governed by a religious spirit, for instance, the prophetic tends to not flow as freely.

  I see the development of negative atmospheres as a result of people partnering with sin, lies, or the demonic. As humans partner with these things, more and more evil spirits are attracted. This results in the development of a negative spiritual climate from which demonic forces can operate.

  For example, if a married couple allow sin into their lives by viewing pornography, an open door is created in which the demonic is actually invited into their home. These demons, now given a legal right to harass and torment, gladly take up residence and work to sow further seeds of discord in their marriage. If this harassment is not dealt with through repentance and closing the door to pornography, then a negative spiritual climate will develop.

  The more people agree with these evil spirits and their messages through partnerships with sin, the more powerful the atmospheres become. This is how strongholds develop. Strongholds, areas of particular resistance, grow as people partner with lies, sin, and demonic broadcasts. Whether these broadcasts are transmissions of fear, hate, perversion, or self-loathing, they weaken a person’s spiritual and emotional health and cause havoc.

  When evil spirits gain a place of power over a region, they broadcast lies over the entire area—much like a radio station. We have the capacity to either “tune in” to these channels or to switch them off. Part of our responsibility in tuning out the enemy’s voice is for us to switch the channel we are listening to that is emitting a sinful broadcast, but doing so does not actually shut off its transmissions into the airwaves. We need to release God’s opposing messages into the airwaves to actually stop these transmissions.

  Let’s use Hollywood as an example of atmospheres. Hollywood gets a lot of criticism from the church, and rightfully so; it is a definite stronghold of perversion and entitlement, and its agendas are spewed throughout the world in the guise of entertainment. Although I fully endorse boycotting movies and companies whose agendas do not align with God’s Word, boycotting by itself is not enough to shift Hollywood’s atmosphere. We must also replace the broadcast being produced and released by funding entertainment that releases godly virtues.

  If I do not release God’s opposite, I am simply exercising my skill in ignoring the enemy’s voice. To displace a negative atmosphere, we must release one of our own. This is why my husband and I have consistently supported Christian radio for over thirty years. We are purposely helping to release an opposing voice into the airwaves.

  PART OF OUR RESPONSIBILITY IN TUNING OUT THE ENEMY’S VOICE IS FOR US TO SWITCH THE CHANNEL WE ARE LISTENING TO THAT IS EMITTING A SINFUL BROADCAST.

  If we want to take back our cities and install heavenly atmospheres over them, we must learn how to discern the enemy’s broadcasts. Once we do this, we can renounce their effects and replace them with God’s truth. We will cover discerning atmospheres in more detail in Chapter Seven.

  When we discern a thought, feeling, or mood coming from an atmosphere, we can best defend against them through displacement. Displacement follows a pattern of renouncement and replacement (which we will go into later) that actually replaces the ungodly atmosphere with a godly one.

  My favorite phrase for rejecting broadcasts is, “I see you and I am not partnering with you. I send you back in Jesus’s name.” I then wait on the Holy Spirit to direct me as how to counteract the atmosphere. Sometimes, He has me release the opposite; other times, He has me release something totally different. We will discuss this more in future chapters. Consider this a teaser to whet your appetite.

  As we mentioned earlier, spiritual atmospheres do not have to be negative; they can also be positive and align with God’s Kingdom. These ecosystems send out messages of their own. I call them heavenly broadcasts or “virtues,” as Bill Johnson calls them. These are the heavenly promises or truths swirling around in these heavenly environments. In my husband’s manual, Prosperous Soul Foundations, Bill Johnson’s quotes are used to explore this topic:

  Heaven also has broadcasts we can tune into. These are called virtues…These sound like, “God is in a good mood,” “There is more than enough,” or “I can do all things in Christ!” Virtues…need to be tuned in to, and this tuning is one of the activities of displacement. Other activities include intercession, worship, and declaration. This is why it is so effective to play worship music or read scripture when you are [engaging in spiritual warfare].1

  These virtues, grounded in Scripture, have the power to save, heal, and resurrect. When imparted over a person, place, or region, they displace demonic spirits, atmospheres, and strongholds. Paul encourages this indwelling of truth in his letter to the Philippians:

  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things (Philippians 4:8).

  When we partner with and act according to God’s truths, the enemy’s lies and demonic broadcasts shatter. As we trust in God, we weaken the enemy’s hold over our lives and spiritual territories (homes, cities, regions). Obedience becomes an act of warfare:

  And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments…the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. …Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock (Deuteronomy 28:1,3-4).

  Bill Johnson states that “Whenever a demonic spirit rules over a city, the church is either in direct conflict with its presence or partnering with it.”2 If negative spiritual climates inhabit a ci
ty, it is the church’s responsibility to react by releasing God’s opposing truth. The saints’ next mission is to steward these truths and steep their community in the promises of God. Just as cities can be afflicted with mindsets of hate, wickedness, or violence, so can entire regions be filled with love, purity, and peace.

  The devil works hard to implement his agendas of hate, corruption, and separation. This is why certain cities house unusually high divorce, murder, and suicide rates. Bent on leading these areas into destruction, the devil works to ingrain his agendas into the minds of the people encased within the environments.

  The church wins this battle by collaborating with God’s work and by releasing His virtues into the community. If a city is steeped in poverty, the church releases prosperity. If an area is riddled with crime, the church partners with God to release safety and justice.

  IF NEGATIVE SPIRITUAL CLIMATES INHABIT A CITY, IT IS THE CHURCH’S RESPONSIBILITY TO REACT BY RELEASING GOD’S OPPOSING TRUTH.

  As servants of Christ, our job is to come up against ungodly atmospheres and replace them with heavenly ones. We do this by supplanting Satan’s broadcasts (sinful messages) with those of heaven. Whatever we discern the enemy’s broadcast to be, we reverse it through an invitation of God’s truth. God’s ways are always more powerful. Once we release God’s truth through prayer into the atmosphere, the enemy’s influence has to bow. Changing atmospheres in regions is accomplished not only in prayer gatherings but also by infusing our communities with godly oversight, teachings, and community outreach.

  Another way to view spiritual atmospheres is as Kris Vallotton does in his book, Heavy Rain—as ecosystems or environments.3 Ecosystems are the biological communities formed by interacting organisms and their physical environment. Ecosystems are created with ingredients the biological organisms seed into that environment, and is why rainforests, deserts, and oceans have ecosystems specific to their biological makeup.