BEYOND THE DECADE PRAYER GUIDE: JANUARY 2024
Topic — Dismantling Voodoo Philosophy and System in Africa and the African Diaspora
Introduction
“Everything that had to do with theories about God, the world, and the meaning of human life was called philosophy, both in the pagan and Jewish schools of the day. Both Judaism and Christianity are philosophical because they make holistic claims about the nature of reality and set values to guide life.” -Hughes.
Note: Please refer to the three illustrations attached to understand what Voodoo philosophy is and how systemic it is in Africa and the African Diaspora so you can pray effectively. God expects us to pray not only in the spirit but with understanding. ,” Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:15, “So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding..”
Voodoo philosophy has taken root in African society for thousands of years as many other pagan philosophies in the world. Pray that God will open the eyes of every person of African descent to see and understand the destructive nature of Voodoo philosophy along with all other philosophies of the world that are not God-breathed as found in the Bible. Paul describes this kind of destructive philosophies in Colossians 2:8 (NLT), “Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk.”
PRAY
Pray that God will awaken every person of African descent, remove the veil from every eye and the darkness crowding every heart to see voodoo philosophy as God sees it.
God Most High, the One Who created the Heavens, and the Earth sees Voodoo Philosophy as empty philosophy. That is, it has no value to make one whole and their community wholesome. Some of the characteristics of empty Voodoo philosophy include promoting tribalism and slave trading and slavery, justifying violence (human sacrifices and other dangerous prescriptions) and discrimination, and a belief system that exploits and manipulates individuals, families, and communities into bondage to Satan, fallen angels, and the material world.
Pray with these Bible passages which show that God sees Voodoo philosophy as empty philosophy:
“Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.” Ephesians 5:6
“You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,” declares the LORD. Jeremiah 9:6
God Most High, the One Who created the Heavens, and the Earth sees Voodoo Philosophy as High-sounding nonsense. That is, it is empty of wisdom, so it has been couched in language and practices that terrify, affirm the selfishness of the human heart, and paralyzes individuals and communities who subscribe to its high-sounding nonsense.
Pray with these Bible passages which show that God sees Voodoo Philosophy as High-sounding nonsense.
“No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence.” Psalms 101:7
“Enemies disguise themselves with their lips, but in their hearts, they harbor deceit. Though their speech is charming, do not believe them, for seven abominations fill their hearts. Their malice may be concealed by deception, but their wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.” Proverbs 26:24–26
God Most High, the One Who created the Heavens, and the Earth sees Voodoo Philosophy as coming from human thinking and traditions. Its human traditions have been drawn from ancient enticing mysteries which prescribe rites and regulations as better ways of moving up the spiritual ladder.
Pray with these Bible passages which show that God sees Voodoo Philosophy as coming from human thinking and traditions:
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end, it leads to destruction” Proverbs 14:12.
“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” Jeremiah 2:13.
God Most High, the One Who created the Heavens, and the Earth sees Voodoo philosophy as enslaving. Voodoo philosophy and its occult assert a death-like grip on its subscribers, as it entices with a false morality and a seemingly logical system of reasoning, and many caught in it are not able to escape.
Pray with these Bible passages which show that God sees Voodoo Philosophy as enslaving.
“Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Romans 3:13–18.
“In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises…. His mouth is full of lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue.” Psalms 10:2–7.
God Most High, the One Who created the Heavens, and the Earth sees Voodoo Philosophy as demons controlled. Paul refers to them as “elemental spirits of the world,” where divination is heavily employed using mediums, psychics, witchcraft, sorcery, interpreters of dreams, astrology, horoscopes, ouiji boards among many others.
Pray with these Bible passages which show that God sees Voodoo Philosophy as demons controlled.
“And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world — he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” Revelation 12:9 (ESV)
“There shall not be found among you any … that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.” Deuteronomy 18:10–11
“Observe my days of rest as holy days and respect my holy tent. I am the Lord. “Don’t turn to psychics or mediums to get help. That will make you unclean. I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:30–31.
Pray for Christians Caught in the Systemic Voodoo Philosophy in our Communities. Pray that God will empower every Christian of African descent to resist instead of settling for the deceptive philosophy of Voodoo by daily embracing the fullness of Christ Jesus himself, as each of us dedicate ourselves to reading and the teachings of the Bible and walking in them.
Pray for every Christian of African Descent on the Continent and in the Diaspora not to be influenced by the enticing arguments, idle philosophies, and crude notions of Voodoo philosophy. Pray that every Christian will:
1. Understand that God commands every Christian to resist worldly philosophies as Colossians 2:8 says, “See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.”
2. Understand in increasing measure daily that Christ is full of deity; He is fully God — as it says in Colossians 1:15–20, “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.”
3. Grasp that you are full of Christ who is full of deity as it states in Colossians 1:15–20.
4. Embrace the fullness of Christ already in you as it states in Colossians 2:12, “and you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.”
5. Embrace the truth that Christ is all-sufficient, and nothing else will do, as it says in Colossians 2:14–15, “Having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
Pray for Christians who have embraced various aspects of Voodoo Philosophy. Syncretic Christianity is not Christianity. Syncretism is a mixture of other religions with Christianity. Pray that nominal Christians who have compromised their faith by adopting various aspects of the empty and destructive philosophy of Voodoo will be convicted by the Holy Spirit, repent, and be restored. Use the following Bible passages to pray for them:
Acts 19:18–20 says, “Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.”
Hebrews 13: 9a says, “Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings.”
Joel 2:12–13 says, ‘Even now,’ declares the LORD, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love…’
God richly bless you as you endeavour to intercede for everyone of African descent to be set free to fully live for Christ Jesus, our only Lord and Savior, so we can fulfill our assignment as a people God has planned to use in His Last Day Agenda.
Beyond the Decade Vision is led and implemented by Beyond the Decade Coalition. To learn more about the Coalition, its members, and its mandate, visit www.beyondthedecade.org.