We’ve talked about the importance of words before. However, in this article, I want to talk to you specifically about the prayer of “binding and loosing.” These two terms, “binding” and “loosing,” can be very confusing to a lot of folks. In fact, it’s not very complicated at all, but it does require some Word Study. The prayer of binding and loosing halts Satan’s activities! Let’s take a look at Matthew 12:29.
Matthew 12:29, in the New King James Version says, “Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.” Here, Jesus is speaking of someone who is planning to steal from someone else’s house. If the person that lives in that house is physically strong, then obviously he will provide a greater challenge to the thief. In this case, the thief must first plan for a way to restrain the owner of the house, or bind him, so that he can steal from that house without incurring any resistance. This is what “binding” is about, that is, restraining a strong resistance to an effort.
Now it’s unusual that Jesus used this example to refer to us, as believers, in the role of a “thief.” Normally, we think of satan as the thief, because in fact, that is his normal method of operation. We are told in John 10:10 that it is the thief that comes to steal and to kill and to destroy, and Jesus is the one who has come to bring us life, and that more abundantly. And, that is certainly the case!
However, in this instance, WE are referred to as the thieves that are trying to break into someone’s home and pillage their belongings! Why is this? It is because Satan is called the “god” of this world in 2 Corinthians 4:4. You’ll notice that that’s with a small “g” not a capital “G!” When Adam committed high treason he gave his authority that he had over the earth to satan. Satan has no authority in and of himself, he only got it through Adam. His use of this authority, while legal in one sense, was arrived at through his unethical use of his ability to deceive. Satan wanted to exalt himself above God, and that’s why he was cast out of heaven; prior to that he operated as, essentially, a high-level spiritual being in God’s kingdom. This is before his fall, obviously; and he was, in fact, the leader of praise and worship in heaven! As hard as it might be for us to think of him today in that role, we can certainly can see why he likes to use music, and the music industry, to enslave many people to his way of thinking! This is, in fact, one of the many reasons we need to take heed what we hear, and how we hear it! (Mark 4:24 and Luke 8:18)
At any rate, satan’s operation today is based on the authority that he gained from Adam. That authority is not intrinsic in satan himself. Given the warped world system that he has set up over these thousands of years; as believers, we are aliens and strangers in this world, and in this world system. We are called on to “pillage his kingdom” to win souls for the Lord. In fact, we should be on the offensive, not the defensive, when it comes to this effort! When Jesus spoke in Matthew 16:18 about the gates of hell that will not prevail against the church, he wasn’t painting a picture of satan taking the gates and bashing us in the head with them! He was painting a picture of the church storming the gates of hell and pulling people out of that kingdom! That’s what we should be about in the world today! So, in that sense, we are the thieves in the parable that Jesus spoke of. As we break into his kingdom, that is, into satan’s kingdom, we should first bind satan as the “owner” of that house!
So, let’s look at the scripture in Matthew 12:29 again, “how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.” The prayer of binding and loosing allows us to exercise authority over “the strong man,” in this case, satan himself. We do, after all, have authority over satan! We need to exercise this authority!
Luke 10:19 and 20 (NKJV) tells us “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
The word translated “authority” in verse 19 is literally “authority derived from position;” the Greek word here is “exousia,” meaning, “in the sense of ability, or privilege.” We can look at this as ability that is derived from the privilege of a position. Just as a traffic cop might hold out his hand to stop traffic; the drivers in the cars respect his position derived from the privilege the policeman has as an officer of the state. Obviously, that policeman, as a human being, does not have the physical power in his arm to stop multiple cars that might be bearing down on him; however, the drivers of those cars respect his authority and stop at his hand motion! In this case, as an example, his position of authority allows him to control forces beyond his natural ability. In much the same way, our authority as believers, and our position in Jesus as part of his body, gives us authority to stop the “dunamis” of the devil in the spiritual realm. I use the word “dunamis,” from the Greek, because that’s the word that Jesus used in this verse to express the “power” of the devil. The Greek word “dunamis” means, “force,” or “power; especially miraculous power.” So, whatever power might be a work in the spiritual realm that would come against us, we, as believers, can stop the operation of this power dead in its tracks!
Notice that it says, “over ALL the power of the enemy,” the word “ALL” used here means all that there is with nothing excluded! All power, is ALL power! We have authority over it all through the name of Jesus! This is the beauty of the power of binding and loosing given to us by Jesus in this kind of prayer!
Let’s consider the situation that Jesus spoke of, in that he said preparation must be made before plundering the strong man’s house. This implies planning in advance! You don’t just haphazardly make a sudden decision to break into the house and steal from the strong man’s home without first preparing and planning. Therefore, we need to make the decision in advance to pray and bind the strong man, in this case, satan, before pillaging his kingdom. In much the same way exercising this right of binding and loosing is not something you do haphazardly. We make a plan, and we carry out a plan! In all the great movies about intricate heists you see the planning and effort that goes into their plans to carry out the heist! I’m thinking of movies like “Oceans 11,” or old TV shows like “Leverage!” It is interesting and exciting to see the characters make a plan and then carry it out! In much the same way we need to be very deliberate in our plans to pillage the kingdom of satan and rescue souls from his fold. First, bind his power, then execute the plan!
The word binding is the Greek word “deo,” and means “to bind, tie, or fasten.” It means to bind or fasten with chains! It also means “to put under obligation, as in obligation of law.” Another definition is to “forbid, prohibit, or declare to be illicit.” This is the power of binding! Think of it as chaining satan and his forces down, putting him under the obligation of law, and forbidding or prohibiting his illicit activities in the earth! Think of that! That’s the authority that we have as believers!
We have far underutilized this authority because we haven’t understood the power of the prayer of binding and loosing! It is time for us as believers to exercise this authority over Satan and his operations in the earth. Don’t let the devil run over you when in fact, he is under your feet! As the old song says, “he’s under my feet… the devil is under my feet!”
Now, what about the “loosing” aspect of the prayer of binding and loosing? The word “loosing” in the Greek is “luo,” and it means “to loose any person or thing that is tied or fastened.” Another definition is, “to loose one that is bound, unbind, or release from bonds, to set free, discharge from prison, or let go.” It also carries with it the thought of declaring something unlawful. In fact, one definition is “to break up, demolish, destroy, or to dissolve something coherent into many parts therefore destroying it!” It also carries the thought of overthrowing, are doing away with, a power or authority. Think of it is overthrowing the government in a corrupt country. We can break up and destroy satan’s authority in his own kingdom! We can also loosen the bonds of those that are tied down and break them free of their bonds and discharge them from prison… letting them go! This is what loosing is about!
As we bind the power of the devil through the binding part of this prayer, we then loosen those that are under his authority and release them from prison! Why is this necessary? Because we are told that satan, often working through his demonic forces, has blinded the minds of those that would hear and receive the light of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ! (2 Corinthians 4:4) We can stop the activity of satan’s blinding the minds of people in the world!
As Christians, we often gripe and complain about what the world is saying, and what the world is doing. We get frustrated by people being deceived by the news media, newspapers, magazines, TV, etc. But, in fact, we can do something about it! We can preach the Truth of God’s Word and we can bind satan’s power and loose people from his authority through the prayer of binding and loosing!
We can also call upon our own spiritual forces that God has provided… by means of the angels, who are ministering spirits that hearken to the voice of the Word of God when we speak it! Hebrews 1:14 says that the angels are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation. That’s us! They are sent to minister FOR us! They do so by hearkening unto the Word of God that we preach, teach, and speak. The angels are out there listening to what YOU are saying! Don’t confuse them by speaking doubt and unbelief! Speak only the Word of God and what you desire to come to pass and they will go to work in the spiritual realm to make things happen!
As you can see, we have fallen far short of our ability, and our authority, to use the prayer of binding and loosing to change things for the better in our lives! We have this authority; we just need to use it! Let’s get down to business!
