“As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.” Acts 16:16

Have you gone through extended periods of spiritual drought or times when passion for God was missing? I’m not referring to the common seasons we all experience from time to time but those elongated periods of time when your faith flickers and your desire for God is diminished?

“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:38

When verses like John 7:38 seem to apply to everyone else except you, you may be under spiritual attack. In Acts 16 Paul and Silas were being followed by a girl who had the “spirit of divination”, a fortune-teller. These were not God-given powers but demonic forces at work in her. The Greek words for “spirit of divination” is “pneuma pythona” or “the spirit of python.”

The python snake attacks its prey differently from other snakes. It does not bit to inject venom; it wraps itself around its prey applying pressure until its victim can no longer take a breath. The enemy uses this tactic more often that we recognize. We often say things like, “I’m just not getting fed at church,” or “The worship music is just not my style,” the truth is that the Python spirit has us wrapped up.

When our worship has grown cold, the word becomes impotent in our life, faith in God’s promises has diminished, and prayer becomes a fleeting experience, the python may have its grip on you. The enemy of our soul is allowed to work when shrouded in darkness and confusion.

Just like Paul in Acts 16 we must also become annoyed at the tactics of the enemy and recognize satan as the source of our dispassionate state. This does not mean that we ignore genuine medical matters but when “natural” remedies do not work, you may be dealing with a “supernatural” issue.

When Paul called out the python spirit in the name of Jesus Christ, it immediately left. To struggle another minute would be too long when God has given us the name of Jesus to overthrown every evil spirit that would block God’s promises from your life.

If you can identify with the above mentioned symptoms find a moment and a place to pray and call on the name of Jesus Christ to break the grip of the python spirit in your life. Jesus’ matchless name is the only power available to deal with a spiritual attack.