Prayer And Spiritual Warfare by Pastor Dolapo Lawal: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

A Wrong Ideology: Praying to Kill Demons

One of the most common wrong ideologies about prayer is the belief that spiritual warfare prayer is about killing demons or praying fire upon them to destroy them. This misunderstands both the nature of demons and the nature of fire in scripture.

Demons are disembodied spirits. They can be judged, bound, and cast out — but they cannot be killed. Luke 8:30–32 — "Legion" begged Jesus not to send them to the abyss. They were not afraid of death. They were afraid of judgment, of being sent into chains before their appointed time. Revelation 20:10 — the devil will be cast into the lake of fire and tormented day and night forever. They do not cease to exist. 2 Peter 2:4 — God did not spare the angels who sinned but cast them into hell, delivered into chains of darkness, reserved for judgment.

Any prayer that says "let this demon die by fire" cannot be answered — spirits do not die.

What Holy Ghost Fire Actually Does

The fire of God appears at least 12 to 15 times in scripture, falling into three categories:

1. Approval and consecration — Leviticus 9, 1 Chronicles 21, 2 Chronicles 7, Judges 6.
2. Judgment and correction — Genesis 19 (Sodom), Leviticus 10, Numbers 11, Numbers 16, 1 Kings 18, 2 Kings 1, Revelation 20.
3. Prophetic revelation and demonstration — 1 Kings 18, Revelation 13.

When the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost, he rested on believers as tongues of fire. Malachi 3:3 — the fire of God is for purifying. It consumes to refine, not to destroy spirits. The Holy Ghost fire is for believers, not for demons.

Two Misunderstood Warfare Scriptures

Exodus 22:18 — "You shall not permit a sorceress to live." This is not a prayer point. The same form — "thou shalt" — is used in the Ten Commandments. The commandments are not prayer points. This was a civil law for a theocratic society. It was to be executed physically, not prayed. It does not mean pray fire onto witches — and even if it did, demons within them would not die.

Deuteronomy 18:10–12 — the parallel text, explains the practical application of the Exodus law: listing the categories of occult practice that were forbidden among the people. The purpose was social holiness in a covenant nation, not a template for warfare prayers.

The Structure of Ephesians and the Balanced Life

Paul's letter to the Ephesians is a model of balanced doctrine and application:

• Chapter 1 — the eyes of understanding being opened to see what Christ has done.
• Chapter 2 — the answer to that prayer: you are seated in heavenly places far above principalities and powers.
• Chapter 3 — he is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all you can ask.
• Chapter 4 — ministry gifts to equip believers to stay in the truth.
• Chapter 5 — how to be filled with the Spirit.
• Chapters 5–6 — the implication of being filled: how you treat your spouse, your children, your employer. Being full of the Spirit shows up in family life first.

Many people camp in chapters 1–3 and ignore 5–6. They miss Paul's entire point. The spiritual heights Paul describes have to manifest in the most ordinary relational spaces. You don't know how full of the Spirit you are from conferences — you know it at home.

Truth With the Wrong Heart Is Still Wrong

It is possible to say the right thing with the wrong heart and still be wrong. If the devil cannot get you to do the wrong thing, he will get you to do the right thing the wrong way. Saul won the battle against the Amalekites — but he lost his throne. The instruction was not just to win. It was to utterly destroy.

John 11 — Jesus knew he would raise Lazarus. Yet he wept with those who mourned before he acted. Truth without empathy reaches no one. Christians who are critical but not prescriptive lose the soul while winning the argument.