Many christians and church leaders would be shocked to learn that they in fact have witches or warlocks operating in their church. Some of them are even serving on teams!
We have had first hand experience with witches infiltrating churches and the damage they do, as they operate in the spirit realm, within churches who are unaware or who don’t guard their churches from the very real and present dangers of witchcraft.
Churches pay big money for law enforcement to guard their entrances from attacks in the natural, but churches are asleep when it comes to guarding their worship services from the disruptions and chaos in the spirit realm and from the curses and assignments that are released over their pastors and leaders.
If you have a mandate from heaven to bring heavens agenda to earth, to bring freedom & set free the lives of people, to preserve the house of the living God at all cost, then you are a real threat to Satan and the powers of darkness!
Make no mistake… while we are too distracted with our church programs & preserving our image, Satan roams like a roaring lion seeing which church he may devour.
Over the past few decades we have seen the rise of witchcraft gain strength and target unsuspecting churches. Most of the churches they target, are pursuing the right things, they are hunger for moves of the Holy Spirit, they preach messages about the kingdom realm and are faith filled, spirit filled believers.
So why do they become targets? and how can churches safe guard their ministries and their services from the attacks of witchcraft?
Ephesians 6:12-13 – For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.
How to identify a witch / warlock
1 – Church leadership
1) Pastors and the Eldership must be filled with the spirit
The first thing is the Pastor must be filled with the spirit and operate in the gifts of the spirit. Leaders who either don’t believe in the spirit realm or view things from a religious spirit will not be able to discern when the presence of witchcraft has entered the room. It’s also too hard to battle alone, if the Pastor sees in the spirit realm and the Eldership or Board don’t. There needs to be unity in the spirit if you are going to tackle witchcraft.
2) The Pastor must know their flock
Knowing who is walking in your doors is key. Knowing who signs up for serving is key.
The bigger the church the more the pastors and leaders need to engage and be awake. Those who are disengaged and who are ‘preaching’ pastors will not be able to discern the threat before it’s too late. Once a witch has established themselves into a ministry role, it’s extremely hard to remove that person from that position without some sort of counter attack coming back at you. This is why a unified leadership team that operates in the manifesting gifts of the spirit is essential.
2 – Identification
1) Witchcraft in church
Most would think that they enter in the building wearing cloaks or dress in eccentric outfits with necklaces with moon crescents etc.
They look normal. They know how to talk the talk and walk the walk. They will even be able to quote verses and will engage in singing worship songs. If our worship songs are feel good ones and don’t speak the Word, the power or the blood of Jesus then the witches will still join in. We have been in prayer ministry times as a church where they would join in the group and pray! Every time we would go to speak in prayer, there was a fog that distracted our thoughts, our speech was muted and major fatigue and nausea came over us – this is a tell tale sign a witch is in your vicinity. Discernment in those moments and having leaders around who also see what is manifesting, will be successful at breaking their attempts.
True Story
There was a Sunday where the message God wanted to release was one of boldness and authority speaking on the subject ‘Power in the Spirit Realm’. I had been preaching for about 5 minutes and all of a sudden I was drawn to look straight into the livestream camera. I sensed that there was tension on the other side. That someone was not pleased with what I was declaring. For the next few seconds the intensity roared and the battle was now so intense in the spirit realm. I remember looking straight ahead and I weaved in a scripture that wasn’t in my notes, but I knew was one that would let the witch know, that I knew they were there and their assignments would be thwarted.
I can remember a deep dark wave instantly hit me, making my balance stumble for a moment, causing me to having to lean on the pulpit for a moment. Knowing full well what was happening, I was not going to let witchcraft take over and disrupt the Word of God that morning. The word continued, I fought to regained my composure and strength, all the while interceding as I was preaching.
Being able to still deliver the word and pray in the spirit directly to the incoming witchcraft is something that requires a level of boldness in the spirit and an ability in the natural. – no one was aware of what just happened, it did not disrupt what God wanted to do that day, only the intercessors and our family could identify what was trying to enter.
2) Witchcraft over individuals
The higher the threat you are, the more of a target you are. The verse “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world”, is very true.
As believers who understand the power of the blood of Jesus and who know the realms around them, we know the authority we carry and how powerful our words are. This knowledge and understanding will not keep you from being attacked, but it will give you the upper hand on dismantling it and rendering their assignments void.
3 – Under the influence
How to know if you are under the attack of witchcraft?
1- Your thoughts become foggy and distracted. This is different than brain fog. No matter how hard you try to reign in your thoughts or stay focused, there is a cloud that sits over your brain and the more you try to think, the more foggy your thoughts become. This will occur in many places eg. when you are in a worship service, praying with others, or even when you are walk into a shop. Their goal is to bring confusion and to block your thoughts so you can not press in deeper or have an awareness to what their assignment is.
2- Your breath becomes tight. This feels like you have just walked into a closet with no ventilation. You could be outdoors or in a large ventilated space, yet you can’t breath easily. Usually an unpleasant smell will accompany this.
3- All of a sudden things. Things around you will happen all of a sudden & random. Whether it’s you miss getting hit by an object, you escape a random car swerving, your speech jumbles, you turn around and a random person is staring at you… there are many ‘all of a sudden’ occurrence that we can experience. Remember, there is usually a mental (the fog) and a physical (the ‘all of a sudden’) component that seeks to work together.
4- Prolonged season of persistence. Anything that hangs onto you for an extended period of time, especially when there is no need for it to be there, is a classic sign of witchcraft. There is so much to teach in this area (we’ll have to do another teaching on this specific area), but the basics are always the same. Out of nowhere an area in your life is attacked at full force and will persist for an extended period of time. Sickness is a big one! You all of a sudden get hit with a sickness that is fierce. No matter how many tests and doctor visits you go to, you can’t find any answers, all tests come back clear, yet the sickness still persists.
Maybe all of a sudden your bank account is drained and you loose all your savings, taking months to reclaim back. The bank keeps telling you there is no problem and the money will be put back soon, yet its been months. Anything that persists in trying to keep you in a state of fear and lack is from satan. The Christians in Africa understand witchcraft! An interesting fact is that 90% of cases that resemble flu and gastric illnesses brought to a doctor, is directly linked to witchcraft. They acknowledge the symptoms of these two illnesses are exactly the same as witchcraft! Our western church needs to wake up!
4 – How witchcraft attaches to Christians
I used to think that if you came under the attack of witchcraft, then you could not have been a ‘real’ Christian, because Christians are protected from evil. HOW WRONG I WAS!
Yes we are protected and have victory through the Blood of Jesus, but I have learnt that ANY door we leave open, gives permission and access for witchcraft to enter. It needs a landing strip in order to attach to things in our lives.
We are extremely aware of what/who we let into our home, the things we watch, read or listen to, and what comes out of our mouth (our speech). Because witchcraft is formed from the powers of darkness as it says in Ephesians 6, there is always a battle looming, but in the end we have all power and victory!
True Story
In the Spring of 2023 we were about to witness and incredible outpouring of the Spirit of God. We knew it was stirring because we had witnessed the months prior, full of manifesting appearances of heaven. Whether it was Gold Dust (the Shekhinah Glory) fall, radical healings, Angels were dispatched, the heavens were open and ready for the release. It was on the day after Passover (Good Friday) and I was getting things ready for Resurrection Sunday at our church.
All of a sudden out of nowhere I was struck with all of the above! Fog, nauseas, random things, breathlessness etc. I was driving and had to pull over. I managed to get a few blocks to church, when I collapsed. We called the ambulance who came and did what they do.. asked a tonne of questions to check whether I was coherent, and took all my vitals – Everything presented fine, but I couldn’t move! Days later I was still the same, Weeks later I was getting a little better but majority the same. When I went into the church building I would collapse again, when I led worship or stood to preach, I would feel the urge to collapse again. This was persistent!
The Holy Spirit revealed to me how witchcraft had come upon me and identified the door I had opened for it to come in.
For decades I had been working over 100hrs a week. Thinking that the more I did and the harder I worked for the Kingdom, the more it would please God as I was giving it my all for Him. I didn’t rest, didn’t take vacations, just gave it my all! And loved every minute of it!
Well, one of the FIRST commands God gives is for us to REST. I totally didn’t heed that request and that became my open door. Out of my disobedience to REST, thinking my works were superior, I had unawares given the enemy and in this case the coven of witches that had targeted our church, a door to enter.
Breaking the witchcraft assignment wasn’t easy and it required high level intercessory gifting from those we trusted and knew, & who held sound spiritual gifting’s and had the seers anointing. Together, we dismantled the assignment and instantly the persistent illness that went on for 8 months ended. It was revealed also by the spirit of the LORD, that we had a coven of witches in our city that were also persistent in bringing curses upon us during that season.
5 – GOD WINS!
No matter what you are facing, what you have seen in the dark of night or what fear plagues you, KNOW that you have the spirit of the living God within you and Angels are charged to surround you, wherever you go.
Darkness can not stand to be in the presence of light.
The Word (the bible) is light and truth. It is living and can pierce every darkness that surrounds you. When you feel the presence of evil in whatever form, placing the open Word around you is a tool we’ve used for decades! Darkness hates the Word and will flee!
Another big key is the Blood of Jesus. Jesus defeated sin and the grave – ALL POWERS AND PRINCIPALITIES at the cross. When you decree the Blood of Jesus over you and your circumstances, there now becomes a barrier between you and the evil that attempts to come at you. The spirits of darkness know that they have no authority over a believer who applies the blood. (Taking communion is another way to apply the blood)
Revelation 12:11 – They overcame him by the Blood of the Lamb (Jesus), and by the word of their testimony.
Help & Direction for leaders
Johnson Ministries exists not only to encourage and train the body of christ, it also helps Pastors and Leaders who are battling witchcraft within their churches and who are in need of mentorship, prayer and intercession. Please fill out the form below if you need assistance in this area for your church and ministry, and Pastor’s Brent and Heather will be in touch with you.
