Satan, You Can't Have My Children: The Spiritual Warfare Guide for Every Parent (2 page)

Today is a new day. The battle is yours to win. Pray the scriptures that are in this book. It’s never too late to do the right thing for your children. They may be toddlers, teens, or even grown and out of the house, but regardless of their age, praying Scripture will be a powerful tool that can make a difference in their life.

I have known Iris Delgado for many years as she has loved and served her family unselfishly. This is a subject she is passionate about because she understands the importance of God and family. You will be encouraged, inspired, and motivated to not give up on your children. Parenting is one of the most difficult challenges in life. Use this book as a guide, and see what God will do when you stand your ground and say, “Satan, you can’t have my children!”

—J
ONI
L
AMB

P
RESIDENT
, D
AYSTAR
TV

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OST
,
J
ONI
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HOW

AUTHOR’S COMMENTS

T
HE SCRIPTURES, ADVICE
, and experiences contained in this book have been of great value to me and to my children. My prayer is that you will benefit in the same way that my family has benefited and has been blessed through the daily application of these scriptures and fervent prayers. God is faithful, and He will hasten His Word to perform it!

Never give up in the face of adversity. It is in the midst of adversity that we grow stronger. “The word of God is living and active” (Heb. 4:12)! Praying scriptures are some of the most powerful prayers you will ever pray. When you pray scriptures, you remind God of the truth in His Holy Word and His promises to which He binds Himself and all of His power. Pray these scriptures for your children—young and grown. Stand firm on the Word of God and resist the enemy.
For greater is Christ in you than he that is in the world.
(See
1 John 4:4
.)We have been guaranteed victory in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You must cast the spirit of fear out of your heart, “for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7,
NKJV
). You must trust God and His Word. Fear is one of the weapons used by Satan to stop Christian parents from engaging in spiritual warfare for the well-being of their children. Fear can hinder your children from fulfilling the potential that God placed in their lives when they were born. But a sound mind created by the awesome power of God can overcome any fear that Satan attempts to impose upon you or your children.

If your children need to be restored and delivered from rebellion and disobedience, you must immediately search your heart and plan to engage in spiritual warfare for them.

Apply these scriptures together with your prayers. As you do, the Holy Spirit will continue to show you other scriptures. Keep on trusting God and praying scriptures. You will rise above your circumstances. You will experience peace in the midst of adversity. God is a not a God of confusion but a God of peace. It is up to the parents to create a peaceful home.

No matter what your children or loved ones do, you will rest assured that God’s power is greater than the power of the enemy over them. If God is able to turn the heart of the king in His hand, He surely can turn the heart of your children toward Himself.

CHAPTER ONE

SPIRITUAL WARFARE TO
SAVE OUR CHILDREN

G
OD’S ARM IS NOT TOO SHORT

T
HIS BOOK WAS
born out of the school of personal experience. I have learned that no matter how well you rear your children and teach them God’s precepts and principles of godliness, they have to choose to have a personal relationship with the Lord and to serve God.

Many of you who are reading this book have uttered many tearful prayers for the salvation and wholeness of your children. Be of good cheer! God hears every prayer, and He collects every one of your tears. You can be assured that every tear shed on behalf of a loved one and every tearful prayer uttered to God finds its way into the loving heart of Father God. He is still on the throne, and He answers prayers according to His timing, not our timing.

His arm is not too short. His ear is not too far. His power is not limited, and His grace and mercy never run out. You serve a great and mighty God who is able to reverse the circumstances, remove the hindrances, replace what the locusts have destroyed, put in a pure heart, and renew a right spirit. He is able to direct the heart of a person.

Can you imagine that?

My prayer is that your attitude toward the problem in your home will change. Parents establish the attitude of the home, and they determine whether or not it is a home of peace or a home of chaos. A Christian home should not be one of constant chaos. A peaceful home is a huge blessing from God. I believe that if you exercise your faith, your frozen dreams and hopes will be restored. God is waiting for you to trust Him and to yield every aspect of your life to Him. Continue to read, understand, and practice using the powerful Word of God. As you start practicing, you will see many changes in your life and the lives of your children.

It is useless to observe or compare your family or your children with other families. Some families seem to have perfect marriages, perfect children, and perfect lives. However, very few people know what happens behind closed doors.

You may have questioned God: “I’ve done everything according to the Word of God. I’ve been a godly example. I’ve demonstrated love. Why is my child rebellious? Why is it taking so long for God to answer my prayers?” Or you may say, “God, I blew it as a godly example to my children—is it too late? Is there still hope?” Yes, there is still hope in the unconditional love and mercy of God. Targeted prayers and spiritual warfare will greatly help you in the battle. God promises to defeat our enemies if we obey and trust Him.

You may yourself be a victim of a dysfunctional home, and you have reared your children to the best of your abilities. Now you need help, for yourself and for them. You might have adopted or fostered children or have stepchildren from a second or third marriage, children with walls and defenses that you feel unable to deal with.

Take heart: unconditional love can overcome every obstacle that your children may erect. But it takes complete faith in the love and power of God, faith in the truth of the Word of God, and faith in the power of speaking and praying the Word of God over your loved ones. Only then will you start to see changes begin in their lives.

You may have young children who need nurturing and shaping as they grow up. They are still impressionable and teachable, and you can still influence their lives in a positive way. Whatever your reasons are for the need of divine intervention in the lives of your children, this book is for you. God’s Word never returns empty; it will do what it says it will do—if we believe and doubt not.

Don’t be moved or affected by what you see and what you hear from your children. Continue planting these godly principles of parenting into the lives of your children. Exercise your faith. Keep stretching it a little bit more each day. God will use every situation in your child’s life as a testimony for His honor and for His glory.

W
EAPONS FOR
S
PIRITUAL
W
ARFARE
A
RE
P
OWERFUL

Faith is our powerful key for overcoming the powers of Satan. Demonic forces will try to convince you that what you see in the natural with your physical sight is the ultimate truth. This is totally incorrect.

In the spiritual realm, faith has the power to change those things that are seen in the natural to things that are congruent with the Word of God. “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7).

One reason is that genuine faith in the heart of a believer has the power to change outward circumstances to a desired outcome.

As Satan wages war against man, one of his tools is the creation of spiritual strongholds. These strongholds cannot be destroyed by the flesh or by the carnal nature of man. They have to be pulled down through fervent intercessory prayers, praying scriptures, and other methods of spiritual warfare.

Satanic forces are stalking every family living on this earth. The enemy is the devil, who “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). He is the thief who “comes only to steal and kill and destroy” our loved ones (John 10:10). However, he is a toothless and impotent enemy. He tries to rob Christians of their very substance. Christian parents need to remember that Satan was soundly defeated by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the cross. If you can remember that Satan is powerless, you will be able to use your faith and spiritual weapons to overcome any satanic attack upon you and your family.

Many Christians who have inherited wondrous gifts from God often behave like little children who are unaware of their eternal legacy. They continue to live impoverished and defeated lives. Satan delights in deceiving many Christians by frightening them away from faith in the Son of God and from acceptance of the Word of God.

The Holy Spirit has been directed by God to anoint us to use His powerful weapons.

A Christian parent needs to remember that the battle must be waged against the devil and demonic forces, and not against the person who is behaving in an ungodly manner. It is the devil who is the spiritual enemy. Spiritual warfare should not be waged against a mate, a child, a loved one, or a boss. The loved one should be treated with unconditional love, while Satan is being engaged in spiritual warfare. As a parent, you must not be complacent. You must wrestle with and wage spiritual war against Satan on behalf of your family.

It would be unwise to engage in an actual war without armor or weapons. It is equally unwise to engage in spiritual warfare without using the armor of God and spiritual weapons. In order to wage spiritual warfare successfully, a parent must continually submit himself to God, and he must continually resist the devil.

The disciple James tells Christians how to deal with the devil:

When a parent is truly submitted to God, and when he is resisting the devil, then the devil must flee! Yes, the devil has no choice but to flee from a Christian parent who is truly and totally submitted to Almighty God.

You resist the devil by using the proper weapons God has already provided for you. God has guaranteed the victory through the:

•
Name of Jesus.
God responds positively to the name of Jesus.

•
Blood of Jesus.
The blood saves the believer from sin and empowers the believer against the wiles of the devil and against demonic forces.

•
Power of the Holy Spirit.
This power anoints the believer to do great things in the name of Jesus Christ.

•
Keys of binding and loosing.
God gives the keys of binding and loosing so that things bound upon the earth will be bound in heaven, and things loosed upon the earth will be loosed in heaven.

•
Power of praise and worship.
Praise leads the believer into worship with God, and worship brings the believer into the very throne room of God.

•
Effective prayer.
The prayers of the righteous are heard by and responded to by God.

•
Power of agreement.
God promises that where two or more are gathered in His name, He will be there with them (Matt. 18:20).