{"id":31731,"date":"2017-01-17T05:00:32","date_gmt":"2017-01-17T09:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?p=31731"},"modified":"2017-01-16T09:35:22","modified_gmt":"2017-01-16T13:35:22","slug":"31731","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2017\/01\/31731.html","title":{"rendered":"What Spiritual Warfare Has in Common with New Ageism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

An evangelical group has plans to carry out a prayer walk<\/a> in D.C. this week:<\/p>\n

Teams of intercessors will be prayer walking (marching) around the U.S. Capitol and the White House complex, declaring the coming presence of our Lord and destruction of the walls of protection around those [who] oppose Him.\u00a0\u2026 As President Trump finishes his oath of office, at the moment of the power transition,\u00a0all intercessors are instructed to shout to the Lord with faith and expectation that the spiritual walls will be destroyed at that moment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I grew up in an evangelical household. I have been on prayer walks. Growing up, I was taught that the world around us is full of angels and demons locked in conflict, a conflict we (usually) cannot see. The prayers of believers have the power to banish demons. When we would go on a prayer walk around a neighborhood, that is what we would do\u2014pray away the evil forces and pray down God\u2019s protection. Similarly, you might pray a \u201chedge of protection\u201d around your own house.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I am suddenly struck by how much spiritual warfare\u00a0has in common with \u201cNew Age\u201d ideas about energy flows or feng shui. I mean, check out this from an article titled Eight Steps to Bring Positive Energy into Your Home<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Step One:<\/strong>\u00a0 Become aware of the words you speak in your home. Your home is your temple and should be treated with love and respect. The temple of your home protects your family from the elements, provides comfort and shelter and brings the family together to share in many activities.\u00a0 Consciously cleansing the home will clear the air and using your words with conscious thought will have a positive impact on the entire family.<\/p>\n

Step Two:<\/strong>\u00a0 Speak loving words of encouragement, love, kindness and compassion. When engaged in an argument, catch yourself. Count to ten and ask, what are you about to release energetically into your home and towards the people you love?\u00a0 Remain aware that what is created daily in the sacred temple of your home, nurtures you and your family day and night.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Look at this image, from an article on \u201cenergy healing\u201d<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As someone raised in an evangelical community that believed in spiritual warfare and the healing power of intercessory prayer, this concept feels very familiar. There is a similar focus on a battle between bad forces and good forces\u2014a battle you can participate in with your words. Some evangelicals also use objects, such as holy water or healing oils (though this is typically a more Catholic practice).<\/p>\n

Part of me wonders whether the evangelicals I grew up amongst were so quick to say negative things about \u201cNew Age\u201d teachings in part because they came so close, while still missing the underlying point (from the evangelical perspective). For evangelicals, talk about bad energy<\/em> and good energy<\/em> obfuscates the very real and pressing battle between very real angels and very real demons, spiritual forces at war with each other in the physical space around us.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an excerpt from an article<\/a> on the Campus Crusade for Christ website:<\/p>\n

Another doctrinal tool that has proved of great benefit to me and to many others is the \u201cWarfare Prayer\u201d composed by Dr. Matthews. \u2026\u00a0I would urge anyone facing obvious spiritual warfare to use this prayer daily. It is good to read it aloud as a prayer unto the Lord. Eventually one will be able to incorporate the doctrinal truths expressed into his own prayer life without reading it.<\/p>\n

The devil hates this prayer. Usually before working with anyone who has deep demonic affliction, I will request that we read this prayer in unison. Many times the oppressed one can read only with great difficulty. Sometimes sight problems, voice problems, or mind confusion become so intense that the afflicted person can continue only with great effort.<\/p>\n

It is the truth of God that Satan cannot resist, and he vigorously fights it being applied against him. Those serious about warfare should daily use a prayer of this type along with other prayer examples shared in this book.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The similarity to the New Age use of things like crystals or positive words is striking. There is a similar belief in invisible forces (whether angels and demons or energy flows) and a similar belief that we can affect this nonphysical realm with our words and actions. And that, at core, is what this group intends to do in D.C. this week\u2014to influence the nonphysical realm with their words (prayer) and their actions (walking in circles). They hope, with words and actions, to influence and participate in a cosmic battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil.<\/p>\n

I have a <\/b>Patreon<\/b><\/a>! Please support my writing!<\/b><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I grew up in an evangelical household. I have been on prayer walks. Growing up, I was taught that the world around us is full of angels and demons locked in conflict, a conflict we (usually) cannot see. The prayers of believers have the power to banish demons. When we would go on a prayer walk around a neighborhood, that is what we would do—pray away the evil forces and pray down God’s protection. <\/p>\n

Click through for more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":31737,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[627],"class_list":["post-31731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-evangelicalism-fundamentalism","tag-spiritual-warfare"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Spiritual Warfare Has in Common with New Ageism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I am suddenly struck by how much spiritual warfare has in common with 'New Age' ideas about energy flows or feng shui.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2017\/01\/31731.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Spiritual Warfare Has in Common with New Ageism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I am suddenly struck by how much spiritual warfare has in common with 'New Age' ideas about energy flows or feng shui.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2017\/01\/31731.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Love, Joy, Feminism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-17T09:00:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-01-16T13:35:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/166\/2017\/01\/stained-glass-window-177814_1920.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Libby Anne\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Libby Anne\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2017\/01\/31731.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2017\/01\/31731.html\",\"name\":\"What Spiritual Warfare Has in Common with New Ageism\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-17T09:00:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-16T13:35:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2\"},\"description\":\"I am suddenly struck by how much spiritual warfare has in common with 'New Age' ideas about energy flows or feng shui.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2017\/01\/31731.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2017\/01\/31731.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2017\/01\/31731.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Spiritual Warfare Has in Common with New Ageism\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/\",\"name\":\"Love, Joy, Feminism\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2\",\"name\":\"Libby Anne\",\"description\":\"Libby Anne grew up in a large evangelical homeschool family highly involved in the Christian Right. 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