Spirit of anger

Description

Scripture warns against anger that is continually harbored and gives place to the adversary:

“Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no place to the devil.”
Ephesians 4:26–27

Derek Prince shows that anger often does not operate alone. In his teaching, resentment and unforgiveness may lead onward to hatred, anger, and violence. In another sequence he also points to rebellion, from which resentment, hatred, anger, and violent behavior develop. What initially remains an inner grievance or resistance may over time take over more and more of the way a person responds.

Frank and Ida Mae Hammond also place anger in a group connected with bitterness and resentment. A wound that is continually harbored may develop into unforgiveness, a desire for retaliation, and increasingly intense outbursts. Anger that remains unresolved begins to affect words, decisions, and relationships.

It may appear through violent, disproportionate reactions, verbal or physical aggression, or a need to intimidate, humiliate, or punish another person. At times it remains suppressed for a long period and later erupts with a force far greater than the situation that triggered it. A person may feel as though, in the moment of an outburst, they lose control of themselves.

At the root may be long-held resentment, unforgiveness, hatred, earlier experiences of violence, rebellion, and learned patterns of explosive reaction brought from the home. New conflicts then accumulate on top of earlier wounds and reinforce the same way of responding.

Anger sustained over a long time destroys relationships. It leads to words and actions the person later regrets, creates fear in those close to them, deepens divisions, and gives rise to further resentment. Violence becomes another link in the same process, and the harm done may later produce further anger on both sides.

The path to freedom leads to the root. Where resentment and unforgiveness remain, forgiveness is needed. Where a person has themselves harmed others through words, intimidation, or violence, repentance and turning away from their own actions are needed.

Bitterness, hatred, retaliation, and uncontrolled anger can be renounced, and agreement with continuing to be directed by them can be rejected. If a spiritual influence sustaining anger and violence is discerned, it can be commanded to leave in the name of Jesus Christ.

Freedom also requires refusing to allow new offenses to take root again. Forgiveness, resolving conflicts quickly, and rejecting the desire for retaliation close the place that had previously been given to anger.

“Give no place to the devil.”
Ephesians 4:27

Sources

Ephesians 4:26–32; Matthew 5:21–24; James 1:19–20 — anger, forgiveness, and responsibility for one’s own reactions.

Derek Prince — “How to Identify the Enemy,” “Demonic Activity and Areas of Residence,” “How to Be Delivered” — resentment, unforgiveness, hatred, anger, and violence.

Frank and Ida Mae Hammond — “Pigs in the Parlor” — anger in the group connected with BITTERNESS / bitterness and resentment.