Breaking Unhealthy Soul Ties: Do Your Relationships Produce Bondage or Joy? by Bill Banks, Susan Banks Read Free Book Online Page A

practiced by one person over another.
    Conscious Witchcraft
    Overt witchcraft involves conscious awareness of what is being done. The source of the power is not of God but comes through an occult practitioner. The one practicing it is either himself a witch/warlock, or has employed the assistance of an actual practitioner of witchcraft to place the spell, or curse, upon the other party. There is no such thing as “white witchcraft,” there is only witchcraft.
    In conjuring up such spells the practitioner may use personal items, such as hair or articles of clothing to work the spell. The spells have various effects: the individual may be unable to sleep, find himself tormented, unable to have financial success (losing jobs, etc.), unable to make friends, estranged from old friends, or unable to find any peace unless he returns to the person he or she has left. Such spells may have such wording as: “Bring Joe back to me; don’t ever let him be happy with anyone else! Don’t let him have any satisfaction until he returns. Make him come back! Give him trouble until he marries me!”
    One of the most common characteristics of witchcraft is its emasculation of males. Witchcraft is traditionally matriarchal. The women wear the pants; the role of the man is either abdicated or usurped, resulting in his emasculation.
    Unconscious Witchcraft
    The person who simply “prays amiss” may be making the very same pronouncements, but is unaware that he or she is practicing unconscious witchcraft, and unaware that the power of Satan is being utilized. The person may not even believe in Satan or in witchcraft. However, the power is still the same.
    A prayer uttered because of a need for revenge or control can create a source of harassment against the other person. If a soul-tie has existed between the two, this unconscious form of control or witchcraft practiced by one will continue to oppress the other.
    Every prayer is heard, but the question is by whom? God does not honor prayers of revenge or manipulation — but we firmly believe Satan does. A believer praying in the wrong spirit can harm the other with subtle oppression. It is extremely important that we guard our prayers by praying according to the will of God. God has made it abundantly clear that we are allowed to pour out our complaints before Him, but we must divest ourselves of unforgiveness, resentment, and bitterness. A good way to pray concerning one who has offended you is:

Lord Jesus, I forgive their actions. Please draw them closer to You. If they refuse to respond to Your Spirit, then I release them to experience the consequences of their own delusions, in hope that they might again turn to you.”
    Amen.
    If Jesus forgave those who disregarded Him, then we should as well.
    The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord.
    Matt. 10:24
    The concept of unconscious witchcraft, i.e. subtle control, is brought out forcefully in Jesus’ lament in Matthew 11:
    But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.
    Matt. 11:16–19
    The consideration here in Matthew 11 is not whether one fasted or ate, mourned or danced, but whether one followed the command of the leaders, those in control. Control was the real issue.
    We tend to be the most vulnerable to those closest to us. We are rarely subject even to the subtle domination of a stranger. The key to avoiding such bondages is to know the truth about soul-ties and thus to be forewarned, and forearmed, to be able to willfully resist them.
    Witchcraft can operate in one of two