The Territorial-Level Battlefield

The Territorial-Level Battlefield
By Eddie Smith
© Copyright 2010, Eddie Smith

In the summer of 1990 I heard about an event that had taken place in our city the night before the previous Halloween. It was “Breakthrough Houston,” a citywide convocation of churches to do strategic-level spiritual battle for Houston. Our church was beginning to extend its outward vision, and we pastors felt it would be good if we participated the next time around.
I made contact with the host pastor, the one who’d convened the event, to express our desire to be involved; however, I was sad and surprised when he said, “Oh, we’re not planning to repeat it this year.”
Not going to repeat it? I marveled. I’d heard so many positive comments.
When I asked why, he began to recall a litany of disasters pertaining to the pastors and churches who’d taken part. One, soon after that night, had lost his church. Another’s son had committed suicide. Another’s wife left him. And on and on it went, a trail of anguish and agony all attributed to their participation in Breakthrough Houston itself.
“What exactly did you do last year?” I inquired.
He explained that they first had worshiped for more than an hour. Actually I learned later—from Alice and her friend Eraina, who had attended—that it was mostly warfare music, along the lines of “We’re gonna stomp all over the Devil’s face, rah rah rah.” (I made that up, but you get my point. And, there is a place for that.) Then, he said that one by one, leaders had come to the microphone to pray and speak against Satan and his territorial demonic princes above the city, while almost ten thousand attendees joined in the fervor.
As he spoke it became clear to me why the enemy had retaliated so viciously. I was reminded of a time when, as a child, I threw a rock at a hornet’s nest. It had seemed like such a good idea at first … but in the end I was the victim, not the victor.