DESTROYING SATANIC MASKS
Dr. D. K. Olukoya
ln Matthew 3:10, we see a powerful verse of Scripture which says, “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” So, if you see somebody standing somewhere and praying that unprofitable trees be axed down, his prayer is scriptural.
Matthew 15:13: “But he answered and said, Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.” Meaning that if there is anything growing somewhere that was not planted by our Father in heaven it must be rooted up. God does not plant poverty neither does He plant frustration, depression or disappointment.
Doctors may have all kinds of names for different sicknesses, but the Bible has one name for them. It calls them “every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted.” So, it does not matter who planted it, it shall be rooted up.
In the olden days, there used to be a very popular saying which is still very relevant today. It says, “Kill the spider and there would be no cobwebs.” A lot of people abandon the problem spider and keep busy fighting the cobwebs and then confusion sets in.
Confusion comes in when the spider is a front or is wearing a mask. When somebody wears a mask, it is to hide his identity For him to want to hide his identity from you,shows that he is a person you know.
It may be very frustrating when the enemy is using another person’s face to attack you. But the Bible says, “Don’t marvel at this because angels of darkness sometimes present themselves as angels of light.”
There was a certain brother who got born again properly, not the way many people get born again nowadays by shaking the hands of a disco preacher or signing the back of an American tract and claiming to be born again. Those are the kinds of people who still chew gum during the service. When you try to tell them to have respect for God, they would say, “My God is not a hard God.” They forget that He is the same God who rained fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah and killed the sons of Aaron by the altar. The problem is that, they do not read their Bible well. So, after this brother got born again, he asked the preacher what else he should do and the preacher told him about sanctification and encouraged him to pray for that. When he got that, he also prayed for the baptism in the Holy Spirit and got baptized.
He lived in the same compound with a herbalist. And this herbalist used to disturb him at night with all kinds of spirits making funny sounds inside his room and his numerous customers who came in at all times to consult with him. He used to get scared but one night when he got home, he was ready to deal with anything. He now waited for the herbalist to start discussing with his evil spirits. Immediately the first spirit came, the brother got up and started praying. Suddenly, he heard the sound of their foot steps as they were running away. As he continued praying, a man in white garment appeared to him and said, “Brother, stop praying. It is all right, you have finished your assignment.” He wanted to stop but reasoned within himself that Jesus would not ask him to stop praying. He might just change the prayer points. When he looked closely at the person in white garment, he found stains on the garment and said, “Oh, he’s an enemy in disguise,” and continued praying until the evil spirit was defeated.
There is something known as fighting a spiritual dummy. A dummy is an object that is made to look like the real thing but is not the real thing. The problem with spiritual dummies is that they waste your spiritual bullets.
FOUR KINDS OF SATANIC DECEPTION
1. The enemy may be operating using a front.
2. The enemy may be operating wearing the mask to hide his identity.
3. The enemy may be operating using the face of another person, particularly that of somebody who loves you.
4. He could use a dummy and you would be wondering why nothing is happening in spite of your prayers.
You cannot recognise enemies by physical appearance. This is why if suddenly in your dream, somebody comes and begins pursuing you or firing an arrow at you and for any reason the arrow enters and is working, the first person to blame is yourself because the Bible says, “Touch not my anointed and do my prophet no harm.” When the anointed is being touched, and the prophet is being harmed, it means that he has problem. So, do an internal check-up before you look outside. No matter how strong a demon is, it cannot withstand a life that has sufficient fire.
There was an old, illiterate woman. Somebody came to her in the dream with a big club in his hand and as the person was moving close, she said, “Stop, in the name of Jesus,” and the person stopped. Then she said, “Stand at attention so that I can look at you well,” and he obeyed. She said, “Now what do you want?” He said, “I have been sent to destroy you.” She said, “Right now, I command you, in the name of Jesus, to begin to hit your head with the club in your hand.” He started hitting and eventually killed himself. If the woman was hit and she woke up the next morning to say it was her husband or somebody else she knew, she would be wasting her time. The important thing is not to allow it to happen.
Before a tree can bear fruits, it must have root. Sometimes we are busy fighting the fruit. You may fight the fruit all your life and will not get anywhere. A long time ago, in a particular place where I lived, at a certain period of the year, a masquerade festival was held. During the festival, masquerades would be all over the town chasing people with whips and little children would stand afar off and make fun of the masquerades so that the masquerades would react and pursue them. When these masquerades catch up with people, they beat them up terribly. One day, a masquerade chased somebody into our compound, and a neighbour of ours who cared less about the sacredness of masquerades just picked him up and slammed him on the ground, and unmasked him. Everybody was surprised to know that it was one lazy man in the vicinity called Sunday who under the guise of a masquerade was beating up people he could not withstand normally.
There are many mask-wearing problems like that in many lives. It is good to take the masks off them so that you can see exactly what you are fighting. You must take the mask off the spiritual face of the enemy and see the reality of what is exactly harassing you. It is not every problem that is caused by witches and wizards. Some things come from other sources too.
Somebody told me the story of some Red Indians living somewhere. These Red Indians noticed that people were dying in their midst on a daily basis. They thought their water gods were angry and offered some sacrifices to them but the death continued. Then they blamed it on the disunity amongst them, the white man’s attack on them, witches, and so many other things, but there was no solution until one day somebody took the mask off the problem. The mask was this: It was their tradition to use a particular blanket to cover people who died, so before a person was about to die they used the blanket to cover them. So the problem was the blanket.
We know that the devil is the active force behind all evils, we also know that the devil cannot be everywhere at the same time. He uses his agents.
The real enemies of many people are yet to be unmasked. Some people do not know why things are going wrong. They would say they have tried prayer, praises, fasting, confession, and deliverance, but the problem is still staring them in the face. It could be that there is a mask in place. The enemy can wear the face of a lion, a snake or a child. The mask is meant to conceal the identity. But when the mask is taken off, the actual identity may look big but the solution maybe simple. This is where we need to pray for divine revelation.
Balaam was supposed to be a prophet. He was harassed by the angel of the living God. He paid many useless visits. He tried to carry out his duties but failed and invited God’s anger upon himself. He might have complained that his problem was great but when you take the mask off the face of his problem, you find out that his problem was actually covetousness.
A woman noticed that men always jilted her after few months of courtship. She tried prayer, she tried washing her head in a red garment church, and she tried dressing more attractively by adding attractive colours, but all these did not work. She tried attending parties, and serving as an usher at such parties so that men would see her very well. That too didn’t work. Then she tried horoscopes, but it was not helpful. So, she got fed up with life and said she would commit suicide. One day, the mask was taken off and she found that the mask was anger. Meanwhile, all kinds of people have been blamed for her predicament. She had blamed her stepmother, her classmate, wicked witches flying at night, her stolen clothes, etc, but alas, the real thing was anger. Many times, people blame all kinds of things for their problems, while the actual cause remained untouched. That is exactly what the enemies want.
Many people find out that they are just wasting their prayer bullets because enemies have sold dummies to them and they are busy attacking the dummies. There are thousands of people in this category. God in His infinite wisdom has decided not to open the spiritual eyes of many people. Many times, they attack the fruit, leaves, branches, and stems of their problem trees, but the roots remain in place.
FUNCTION OF THE ROOTS IN PLANT
Physically, the root of the plant has so many functions which can be related to the root of a problem spiritually.
1. The root anchors the plant to the ground: That is, it ensures that the plant stands. By implication, the root of a problem makes it to stand firmly in someone’s life.
2. It absorbs food into the plant. That means, it feeds the problem and makes it grow. A lot of people feed their enemy to fight them harder. I normally say to myself that, “I will not feed any problem, in the name of Jesus.”
3. It helps the plant to store food. That is, it compounds the problem or reinforces it.
4. It may be used for propagation. This in turn prolongs the plant which eventually bears even more fruits. Likewise, when the root of a problem is left untouched, it expands and many things would continue the way they were.
Because of the importance of the root, God’s method is to get to the root of a problem. When there is a problem before God, He starts treating it with a diagnosis- the root of the problem. When He gets to the root, He cuts it down with His axe of fire and after the cutting down, He throws it into the fire. He does not leave it there. After God has uprooted a tree (problem) He does not take the wood and begin to make furniture out of it.
However, if the root of a problem is not discovered, there would be trouble. When the root is discovered and you have the wrong axe like candles, charms, rings, waist bands, horoscopes, magic books, or other occult materials, the problem would still be remain intact because the wrong axe you are holding is also an enemy who will direct your axe against you and you won’t know.
There are many examples in the Bible of people who refused to go to the root of their problems. One of them was king Asa. The Bible tells us that king Asa did not seek God when he was sick, so he died. 2 Chronicles 16:12 - 14: “And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians. And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign. And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and diverse kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries’ art: and they made a very great burning for him.”
Sometimes, at funerals, the officiating priest would say, “The Lord has given and the Lord has taken, blessed be the name of the Lord,” when the Lord did not take anything. Most times it is household wickedness that took the person, or it could even be ordinary mosquitoes.
A certain brother had a problem and went to a place to pray. The “prophet” told him to stay behind the door, that he wanted to consult Angel Michael. The Brother said: “Are you saying that Angel Michael is inside that room? He said “Yes.” So, the man started to pray saying: “God of all ages, the supreme excellence, the great one, the one who can hear all voices, the one who has such a long hand as to remove his children from the pit, save your child from the pit by your eternal name, Amen.” Then he sang a chorus. The brother did not notice that in all the prayers rendered by the man and the chorus he sang, he avoided the name Jesus. Suddenly, the supposedly voice of Angel Michael began to speak saying: “My son, I know you. You are an engineer and God wants to help you.” The brother said, “Please, correct Angel Michael, I am not an engineer. In fact, I read commerce.” So as the man went inside, the brother picked his bag and ran away. That was how God saved him. If he had waited to find out the outcome, he would have needed deliverance. There is another man in 2 Kings 1:1-4: “Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and he said unto them, Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease. Now therefore thus saith the Lord, thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shall surely die.” That is an example of somebody who used the wrong axe.
When problem arises, some people would begin to say things like, “It is because I left my green-garment church,” “It is because when they said I should come and become a senior apostle, I said I was not qualified,” “It is because I left the religion of my forefathers, I must go back there,” “It is because I did not offer sacrifices.” “It is because my daddy did not pray for my husband and I when we got married.” What prayer would your father, a lodge member and your mother who married him as her 5th husband, pray for you? The prayer of a sinner, the Bible says, is an abomination unto God. The devil has kept many people busy chasing shadows and they will not look at the roots. He keeps some people busy with holy water, thereby prolonging depression in their lives, fornication without control, chronic fear, self-pity, hearing voices, inability to receive the Holy Spirit, sicknesses, financial insufficiency, unreasonable moods, etc. All these are evidences that there is a root that needs to be uprooted..
Some people cannot understand that their problems are stubborn because the problems started when they were one to three years of age. They were too young to be conscious of those things. Some people too are suffering from certain things that happened in their lives which they have forgotten, even though they were old enough to remember them. The devil makes people to forget things that happened to them because he has planted some evil things in their lives through those things. These things must be uprooted. If the earliest memory you have as a child is sad, it could affect your adult behaviour. If you were sexually abused as a child, it will affect your adult life and can become the root of so many problems. The problems maybe wearing another mask.
If anytime you pray aggressive prayer, you see the vision of yourself as a small girl or a small boy, going back to when you were younger, it means that at that age, something was planted.
Many people are being initiated into witchcraft and cults without their knowledge. Many people are surrounded by unfriendly friends who give them things to eat and then trouble starts. A lot of us have eaten things we should not have eaten.
Another place where the root of a person’s problems can be traced to is the kind of house the person lived when he was young. If you have negative, unhappy or bad feelings about the house or room where you were, know that something bad had been planted there. If in your dream you see yourself going back to where you lived before, it means that something went wrong with your life in that place. Maybe you had a school mother or school father when you were in school and now you see the person in the dream, there is a root there to deal with.
Photographs you took during your childhood that can no longer be located could be the root of the problem in your life. If you see the kind of wickedness that have been done with photographs, you will be shocked. This is why we advise women whose husbands are keeping strange women not to fight with the strange women. To fight with them is a sheer waste of time because most of the time, their photographs have been demonically tied to those of the strange women and buried somewhere by demonic prophets. So no amount of fighting can deliver such men. They have been trapped through the photographs. So a person maybe facing problems now due to photographs manipulation.
Evil agents can take the photographs of young children and destroy their innocence through the photographs and certain things would begin to happen. This is the root of many people’s problems.
Another place where a root could be planted is rejection. As a child, did you feel that your brothers and sisters were receiving more attention than yourself? Did you feel that you were not loved like the other children? Was there ever a situation where you cried yourself to sleep or you sometimes felt like running away? Have you ever wondered why you were born? Have you felt like your parents never wanted you? There is a root planted.
A certain sister was having terrible problems. She prayed and tried all kinds of things. One day, she said, “Oh God, I am not sleeping tonight unless I know where I am going.” She prayed and suddenly, she saw a vision. She was in a labour room and could recognise her mother trying to give birth to a baby and as soon as her mother was delivered of the baby, she opened the legs of the baby to look at the sex. Immediately, she saw that she was a girl, she said, “Take this thing away from here.” Then the vision closed and the Lord said, “Your mother has placed a curse on you by calling you a ‘thing.’ She then knew what to focus her prayers on. It was then things started to happen.
Even now, a root could be planted in your life. There seems to be some powerful spirits attached to the ages of 21 and 40. When some people are getting to 40, life seems to fall apart. They lose control of so many things. Just as a lot of people get confused at the age of 21. So age can also be the root of a person’s problem.
There is another root called the spirit of depression. It is worse than witchcraft attack. Do you frequently wake up in the morning thinking that it is not even worth getting up from the bed? Do you have the feelings that your situation can never change? Is your life out of control? Do you often feel that there is nothing worth living for? Do you harbour suicidal thoughts? Do you experience hopelessness, sleeplessness, or loss of interest in life?
Another root is the spirit of anger. Anger is generally a reaction to that which displeases us. The question is, “Did God give you anger at birth?” If uncontrollable anger is your problem then you are worse than all the witches and wizards in Nigeria put together. Do you have a reputation for blowing up? Do you get angry at things and then later realise that it was not necessary?
Do you have to take sleeping tablets before you can sleep? Do you roll on the bed for hours before you go to sleep? If you attend our meetings at MFM and you pray our prayer the way it should be prayed, it is certain that sleeping can never be your problem. When you wake up from a bad dream, do you find it difficult to go back to sleep? Do you have a feeling that something bad is going to happen when night is coming? Do you overreact to every noise you hear at night? It is certain that if you have a bad night, and do not sleep well at night, you would have a bad day next day. When your sleep, that is your rest has been caged by the enemy, you will have sleepless nights.
There are so many other roots. If you come from a family of alcoholics, you will lead a meaningless life. Do you have any hidden evil urge within you? Are you having extra marital affairs? Are you interested in multiple marriage?
Beloved, you have to take off the mask and see what the problem is. There are some people called little mothers. These are women who become mothers at the tender age of 15 or 16. Have you aborted or asked somebody to do it? All these could be the root of so many things. Two things pursue anyone who aborts or has aborted: the demon of frustration and the spirit of abortion. Such people need deliverance.
HOW TO UNMASK PROBLEMS COMPLETELY
1. 2 Chronicles 7:14 is the first step. It says, “If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
2. Be accountable. Don’t shift blames, accept that you are wrong when you are wrong.
3. Pray seriously for restoration.
4. Forgive all those who have done you wrong. Ask God to forgive them too and bless them abundantly. Ask God to forgive you for holding on to unforgiveness, resentment, anger, bitterness and hatred.
5. Praise God. Spend time praising the Lord your God.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Every mask-wearing problem, be exposed, in Jesus’ name.
2. I refuse to direct my spiritual weapons on dummies, in the name of Jesus.
3. All my misfired arrows, go to the right target, in Jesus’ name.
4. Every evil spiritual front, delegated against my life, be paralysed, in the name of Jesus.
5. Every problem initiator and expander, be paralysed, in the name of Jesus.
6. All quenchers of spiritual power, I render you impotent, in the name of Jesus.
7. Every material in my possession, carrying satanic power, be exposed, in the name of Jesus.
8. You stubborn pursuer, I command your ways to be slippery and I ask the Angel of God to pursue you, in Jesus’ name.
9. Satanic problems anchor, be roasted, in the name of Jesus.
10. I withdraw the food of my problem, I command the problem to starve to death, in the name of Jesus.
11. No reinforcement, and no regrouping for all the problems that have gone, in the name of Jesus.
12. You problem propagators and problem prolongers, be paralysed, in the name of Jesus.
13. Every power touching the anointed, receive the sword of fire, in the name of Jesus.
14. Every spiritual parasite, I command you to die, in the name of Jesus.
15. Every root of problems, be axed, in the name of Jesus.
