Spirit of death and destruction

Description

Derek Prince teaches directly about a spirit of death and distinguishes it from a spirit of suicide. He describes a desire for death as a more passive direction: “I wish I were dead,” “I do not want to live anymore,” “it would be better not to be alive.” Suicide is a step further — an active impulse appears to take one’s own life or to take action leading to death.

Prince also shows a path that may lead a person in this direction:

rejection → loneliness → suffering → self-pity → depression → despair and hopelessness → desire for death or suicide.

He draws attention to a morbid preoccupation with death, imagining one’s own death, losing the desire to live, and speaking words over oneself such as: “I wish I were dead.” He treats such words as agreement with a direction leading toward death and teaches that they should be renounced, revoked, and replaced by a conscious choice of life.

Prince also describes cases from his ministry in which he discerned a spirit of death after serious illness, surgery, or a near-death situation. In one of his testimonies he tells of a woman in whom he discerned such an influence after she had nearly died during surgery several years earlier.

Frank and Ida Mae Hammond place death and suicide in the DEPRESSION group together, among other things, with despair, discouragement, hopelessness, insomnia, and a morbid preoccupation with death. A person gradually loses hope, the will to fight, and the desire to live.

Vlad Savchuk / HungryGen also teaches about a spirit of death. He connects its activity, among other things, with persistent thoughts of death and suicide, self-harm, deep despair, destructive thoughts, and a strong bondage to death.

John Eckhardt speaks about curses of death and destruction, a spirit of destruction, and the need to break covenants with death. His prayers also include revoking spoken curses, negative words, and other spiritual commitments connected with death.

Words and curses of death spoken over oneself or by others, consciously accepting thoughts such as “I do not want to live,” spiritual covenants with death, and actual involvement in occult practices connected with death or destruction may therefore be significant.

The path to freedom includes renouncing the desire for death, revoking words and curses spoken over oneself, and breaking spiritual covenants with death and destruction. Where a person consciously opened themselves to this area, they can reject that agreement and choose life again.

If a spirit of death or destruction is discerned, its activity can be renounced and it can be commanded to leave in the name of Jesus Christ.

Prince sets against the desire for death a conscious choice of life and points to the proclamation from Psalm 118:17:

“I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.”

The answer to death and destruction is therefore to reject agreement with them, turn to Christ, and receive the life, hope, and future that God gives.

“That through death He might destroy the one who had the power of death, that is, the devil.”
Hebrews 2:14

Sources

Derek Prince — “How to Be Delivered”; “How I Came To Grips With Demons” and teachings concerning the spirit of death, negative declarations, and choosing life.

Frank and Ida Mae Hammond — “Pigs in the Parlor”; the DEPRESSION group.

Vlad Savchuk / HungryGen — teachings concerning the “spirit of death”.

John Eckhardt — “Prayers That Rout Demons” — curses of death and destruction, the spirit of destruction, and breaking covenants with death.