12 Weeks of Prayer: Week 1 Day 5

12 Weeks of Prayer Week 1 Day 5

Micaiah & King Ahab

By Rev. Dr. Teresa Allissa Citro

“Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left. And the Lord said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, and said, ‘I will persuade him.’ The Lord said to him, ‘In what way?’ So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the Lord said, ‘You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.’" -1 Kings 22: 19-22

This week we are praying God opens our eyes from deceiving, lying, and manipulating spirits. This verse should confirm to us that there are such spirits., and this is why we need to pray for discernment. Before we go on, I want to clearly say that God does not move in that which is evil. God does not deceive anyone. God does not lie.

In order to understand this scene in heaven, we must recall to our minds the book of Job. A similar situation occurred. Satan himself was given permission to test Job. Job was a righteous man, and God restored everything back to Job. Ahab, on the other hand, was a wicked and evil man, and to top it off, the king of Israel.

God had sent the prophet Micaiah to deliver His word before, but King Ahab never listened. He was bent high on doing that which was sinful in the eyes of God. God had enough; it's as simple as that. King Ahab had determined in his heart he wasn’t going to change his wicked and evil ways.

What takes place next is very frightening. God asked a question. "Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?" A terrible tragedy was about to fall on King Ahab. God asked a question giving the answer as part of it. God was actually saying, “Who is going to get Ahab to go fight so that he will be killed in that war which he started?” The judgment and proclamation was already declared. There was no stopping it. This is a terrible place for anyone to find themselves in.

Now a spirit came forth. He declared his proclamation, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Wow! Look at that? This spirit knew exactly what tactic he would use and who? He chose to use lying and the prophets. Anyone feeling sick yet, or grieved in your spirit?

God said, “You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.’ Please understand God granted him permission. God knew he would convince King Ahab. He would coax him to go to war. In essence God was saying, “Oh I’m very sure you will talk him to it.” God doesn’t stop there. He continues to tell him even the outcome. “You will prevail.” Imagine the evil spirit already knew he would win. He would be victorious in his deception.

This spirit was that of Satan himself. God knew Satan had King Ahab already. Satan had been deceiving him with lies. Satan had deceived, lied, and manipulated him all along. King Ahab was to blame. He chose that which was evil in the sight of God. Now Satan would go for the kill. No pun intended. This time it would cost his very life. King Ahab would die in this battle because he would believe the lies of the prophets in his life.

Please hear me. This whole thing happened because of King Ahab’s sins. This was the judgment of God for everything King Ahab had done. I want to pause here and explain something very important. When we are enticed by doing that which is evil, we are done. Unless we confess, repent, and ask forgiveness for our sins, we are done.

God, in His great mercy and love, tried to still give one more chance to King Ahab to stop and hear the real truth from the real prophet of God, Micaiah. Yet, King Ahab had him arrested for warning him not to go. Micaiah even tells him, “If you go you will die this very day,” but the lying, deceiving, and manipulating spirit had already been accepted by King Ahab. He had been duped, and now he would loose his life. He died that very day.

What happened to King Ahab was his own fault. He did everything that was evil before God and led the nation of Israel to do that which was evil. God was still God. He had made promises to the nation of Israel and what God said was still going to happen and no man, no false prophet, (prophets in this case) or the king himself was going to prevail against God.

Friends, never allow yourself to be in this very dangerous place. This means we must test every spirit that comes to us. 1 John 4:1 says, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” This means we must be wise to everything that we are told. Not just in the prophetic but also in beliefs. We must be very careful what we accept and what we stand for.

My mentality is always this, “If I stand for this, what will God think? If I support this thing what will God think? If I stand with this person, or this group of people what will God think?” I have a list of questions I ask myself before God. Let me be crystal clear. What we think, believe, support, and accept must be in perfect line with what He supports and accepts. Eternity without Him is hell.

God never misleads or misguides His own. You can take that to the bank!

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