© Copyright 2019–Jennifer LeClaire

All rights reserved. This book is protected by the copyright laws of the United States of America. This
book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit. The use of short quotations or
occasional page copying for personal or group study is permitted and encouraged. Permission will be
granted upon request. Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are taken from the the NEW
AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977,
1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture marked NKJV is from the New King
James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture marked KJV is from the King James Version. All emphasis within Scripture quotations is the
author’s own.

DESTINY IMAGE® PUBLISHERS, INC.

PO Box 310, Shippensburg, PA 17257-0310
“Promoting Inspired Lives”

This book and all other Destiny Image and Destiny Image Fiction books are available at Christian
bookstores and distributors worldwide.

For more information on foreign distributors, call 717-532-3040.

Or reach us on the Internet: www.destinyimage.com

ISBN 13 TP: 978-0-7684-5316-4

ISBN 13 EBook: 978-0-7684-5317-1

Previously published 2018; ISBN TP 978-0-7684-4294-6; ISBN Ebook 978-0-7684-4295-3

For Worldwide Distribution, Printed in the U.S.A. 1 2

3 4 5 6 / 22 21 20 19

CONTENTS

Python Spirit’s Pressure

Putting Python Under Your Feet

 PYTHON SPIRIT’S PRESSURE

Luwala was born to a spirit named Mbirimu, a shapeshifter who could take
on the form of a human or an animal, according to a legend often told in
Uganda’s Lake Victoria. When Mbirimu grew lonely, he morphed into a
woman and birthed twin brothers—one was a python and the other a
human.

Luwala was the python. His twin brother built a shrine for him and the
Abassesse tribe, remembered as a race of super humans, worshipped the
python. Luwala’s brother became a priest to the python and operated in
healing powers, according to a BBC report.1

The line of healers Mbirimu supposedly birthed is still operating in Uganda

in the 21st century—and so is the Python spirit. Essentially, it’s a spirit of
divination. Divination is the “art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell
future events or discover hidden knowledge usually by the interpretation
of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers,” according to
MerriamWebster. The problem is, diviners tap into the spirit illegally and
serve up false signs and wonders.

In Uganda’s culture, the line of healers the Python spirit empowers are
called emandwa. The BBC’s Amy Gigi Alexander explains emandwa means
“the man who has a spirit sit on his head” and that the traditional healer is
the only person who can speak to Luwala, and it’s through him that all
requests are made. As Alexander tells it, the emandwa is charged with
keeping a fire burning 24/7 to please the python spirit. Inside the python’s
hut are bowls that contain offerings to the spirit, which promises the hope
of fertility, wealth, protection, and more.

Although we see variations of Python worship in various cultures—indeed

this is an ancient principality that has infiltrated the nations with different
storylines—this spirit is rooted in Greco-Roman mythology. The Python
spirit is even mentioned in the Bible. In fact, it’s one of the few spirits the
Bible actually names specifically. Before we explore what the Bible says
about Python, it’s helpful to understand the mythology behind it.

Mythology is considered an allegorical narrative that explains the exploits

of gods, demigods, and legendary heroes; but as I mentioned in our
opening chapter, the ancients created these storylines to articulate
supernatural powers in the unseen realm that worked in their cultures.
Myths, in other words, simply worked to describe in natural words the
activity of demon spirits whose operations manifested in the natural.

Encyclopedia Britannica reveals:

Python, in Greek mythology, a huge serpent that was killed by the god
Apollo at Delphi either because it would not let him found his oracle, being
accustomed itself to giving oracles, or because it had persecuted Apollo’s
mother, Leto, during her pregnancy. In the earliest account, the Homeric
Hymn to Apollo, the serpent is nameless and female, but later it is male, as
in Euripides’ Iphigenia Among the Taurians, and named Python (found first
in the account of the 4th-century-BC historian Ephorus; Pytho was the old
name for Delphi). Python was traditionally the child of Gaea (Earth) who
had an oracle at Delphi before Apollo came. The Pythian Games held at
Delphi were supposed to have been instituted by Apollo to celebrate his
victory over Python.2

PYTHON’S PREDATORY PURPOSE

Python’s ultimate purpose is to cut off your lifeline to God—to keep you
from praying to your heavenly Father, to stop you from hearing the Holy
Spirit’s voice, and to hinder your fellowship with the Jesus. Think about it
for a minute. Prayer is how we communicate with God—and the concept is
mentioned over 250 times in Scripture.

Prayer is not something we do in desperate times only; prayer is how we

sustain our relationship with the Lord. There are many different kinds of
prayer. The prayer of faith is released to heal the sick (see James 5:15). The
prayer of consecration sets you apart for God’s purposes (see Acts 13:2).
The prayer of worship is when we exalt God. The prayer of commitment is
when we cast our cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:7). The prayer in the spirit is
when we speak mysteries to God (see 1 Corinthians 14:2) and build
ourselves up in our most holy faith (Jude 20). The prayer of binding and
loosing is part of our spiritual warfare arsenal (see Matthew 18:18-19).

Prayer is critical to living a victorious life in Christ. Prayer is the main

vehicle of how God responds to our needs and our desires. Prayer is how
God prophesied to us about our future, offers words of wisdom about our
past, words of knowledge about our present, and releases the spirit of
counsel. Prayer is how we repent of our sins and find strength to stand and
withstand in the trials of life and the spiritual warfare we face. Prayer is
how we bring godly change into our families, workplaces, schools, and
cities. Prayer demonstrates our reliance on God.

Python knows if it can choke out our prayer life, it can go in for the kill.
Python understands that if we can’t pray, we will never see our dreams in
Christ come alive. Python knows if it can suffocate our prayer life, our
impact will be minimized, if not neutralized. Python will prophesy lies to
your soul to woo you into a web of witchcraft that makes you feel weary.
Python pressures you out of your passion. Python overwhelms you with
hopelessness.

PAUL’S ENCOUNTER WITH PYTHON

Paul the apostle encountered the Python spirit on his missionary journeys.
The Holy Spirit saw it fit to chronicle this encounter by the hand of Luke,
who penned the Book of Acts. We read about the showdown in Acts
16:1618:

It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave girl

having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much
profit by fortune-telling. Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out,
saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are
proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” She continued doing this for
many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the
spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And
it came out at that very moment.

The Greek word for “divination” in that verse is puthon. The KJV New
Testament Greek Lexicon defines it this way: “In Greek mythology the
name of the Pythian serpent or dragon that dwelt in the region of Pytho at
the foot of Parnassus in Phocis, and was said to have guarded the oracle at
Delphi and been slain by Apollo; a spirit of divination.” This is in line with
Greek mythology, but clearly Python is more than a myth since Paul cast
the spirit out of the girl.

Python, which is a principality, releases witchcraft, which is a power in the

Ephesians 6:12 hierarchy. The Python spirit is a coiling spirit that works to
squeeze out the breath of life (the Holy Spirit) and cut off your lifeline to
God (prayer). Symptoms of a Python attack may include weariness, a loss
of passion to worship and pray, feeling pressured, overwhelmed, helpless,
and even hopeless. The severity of those symptoms depends on how long
this enemy has been coiling itself around you and how much pressure it
has applied.

Python can attack anyone. As with any other spiritual attack, you don’t
have to be in sin to find python trying to slide under your door. Paul was a
man of prayer. The Bible says he spoke in tongues more than anybody else
in the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 14:18)—and probably more than
anybody else in the early church.

Despite Paul’s relationship with Christ and a strong prayer life, he still had
to wrestle against principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness of
this age and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (see
Ephesians 6:12). Paul had to wrestle against Python—and so may we. Let’s
look at Paul’s encounter with the Python spirit.
The Python spirit had a stronghold in Philippi. When the man of prayer
started heading for the house of prayer, this spirit launched its first attack
against him—a distraction followed by a full-blown trial that aimed to take
him out of his purpose. Python knows it has no authority in a city that
prays in the presence of God, so it works to distract people from praying so
they can’t fulfill their purpose.

Python would rather watch you lick your wounds than pray to a healing
God. Python would rather hear you complain or gossip than take your
problems to a miracle-working God. Python would rather distract you with
attacks, trials, and persecutions than see you press into a gracious God for
deliverance. Again, Python’s ultimate goal is to put you in bondage and
thwart your purpose. You may be going through the motions but you feel
dead on the inside because Python has squeezed the life out of you.

When you rise up in your Christ-given authority against Python, the battle
ensues. Paul cast the demon out of the girl, which meant her masters
could no longer profit from her false prophecies. Acts 16:19-24 reveals:

But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized
Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the
authorities, and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they
said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, and are
proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe,
being Romans.” The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief
magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be
beaten with rods. When they had struck them with many blows, they threw
them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he,
having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and
fastened their feet in the stocks.

In this passage, we see several Python tactics: false accusations, violent

persecution, and ultimately bondage. The Python spirit seeks to inflict
wounds on you with accusations and spiritual blows to your body. This
spirit will also work through hurts and wounds of your past, magnifying
unresolved pain to stop or hinder your prayer life and stop you from
accomplishing your God-given mission.

HOW PYTHONS ATTACK

In the wetlands and the waters, Pythons attack in several ways. One of the
most common and the master technique is by coiling themselves around
their victims. According to National Geographic, pythons strike at you and
grab you with their teeth: “They’ll seize the prey item with their teeth and
simultaneously wrap their coil around it and squeeze. And when the victim
inhales, that’s the time they squeeze a little bit harder to the point where
you can’t really get a breath anymore.”3

Translating this to the realm of the spirit, Pythons attack in the midst of
turmoil. As opportunistic hunters, they often strike in the midst of drama
when you most need to pray. Merriam- Webster defines toil as “turmoil”
and “trouble; also: everyday cares and worries.” When we carry our mortal
coil, as William Shakespeare would say—when we carry our cares instead
of casting them on the Lord according to 1 Peter 5:7—we are giving
opportunity to this ambush predator to strike while we’re weak and
distracted.

Of course, that’s not the only time Python strikes. You could be walking in
perfect peace on your mission in God and, like Paul and Silas, get
blindsided from behind. Python snakes, ultimately, put pressure on your
heart. Scientists have concluded the heart goes into cardiac arrest before
the oxygen runs out. In other words, Pythons are cutting off the blood
supply that results in a heart attack.4

Python spirits are attacking your heart—your lifeline to God through the
blood. When Python attacks, you might feel lukewarm, like you’ve lost
your passion for Jesus. This results in prayerlessness and feelings of
hopelessness and apathy in worship. Can you see the connection? Once
the coiling begins, it affects every organ in your body and it doesn’t take
long to snuff you out. Put in spiritual terms, when you feel the onset of a
Python attack, you have to act quickly. You aren’t likely to die, but it can
set you back physically and spiritually for days or weeks or months if you
don’t resist it.

After a python snake cuts off your blood and oxygen, it swallows you.
Python snakes can swallow their victims in an hour, denoting urgency is
again key. The Python spirit wants to swallow your destiny. Consider one
definition of swallow is “to take in so as to envelope; withdraw from sight;
assimilate or absorb,” according to Dictionary.com. Python will swallow
like water—or pour out false water to engulf you in deception.

Noteworthy is Revelation 12:15-16: “And the serpent poured water like a

river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be
swept away with the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth
opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of
his mouth.” This demands further study in the context of water spirits as it
is a strategy clearly exposed. The serpent aimed to destroy the woman
with a deluge of water.

Although this has eschatological meaning, you can bring this down to its
simplest terms. One of the serpent’s tactics is to sweep the church away—
and you are the Church—with a flood of deception. This water pouring out
like a river could speak of corrupt doctrine. Indeed, one translation of the
word “mouth” in Revelation 12:15 means “edge of a sword,” according to
The KJV New Testament Greek Lexicon.

Water is a literal translation. From the Greek word hudor, it speaks of

water in rivers, in fountains, in pools. It points to the water of the deluge
and water in any of the earth’s repositories and of the waves of the sea.
The serpent didn’t release a mere trickle of water, but a stream, a river, a
torrent, and a flood.

When Python attacks, it literally feels like a torrent, which is officially

defined a “tumultuous outpouring: rush; a violent stream of a liquid (such
as water or lava),” according to Merriam-Webster. Python will not lead you
beside the still waters. Python rushes at you in violence with a demonic
outpouring of witchcraft. Remember, this spirit is essentially a spirit of
divination.

WAS THE SERPENT IN THE GARDEN A PYTHON?

Snakes and serpents are mentioned more than 80 times in the Bible. There
is no difference between a snake and a serpent. One is a synonym for the
other. Could it be possible that the serpent in the Garden of Eden was a
python?

The serpent is symbolic of the fall of humankind. But make no mistake,

satan actually used a real snake to tempt humankind. Despite our
dominion over every creeping thing, humankind was deceived by that over
which he had authority. That’s something to reflect on in our battle against
marine demons. God cursed the serpent above all animals (see Genesis
3:14).

Again, could it be possible the serpent in the Garden of Eden was a

python? We know there was a river running out of Eden to water The
Garden and shot off into four riverheads: Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, and
Euphrates. Adam was charged with tending The Garden, and God allowed
satan, in the form of a serpent, to enter into this place of paradise and talk
to His people. The result: this serpent spewed lies at them. The serpent
tempted them to sin, essentially squeezing God’s life out them, introducing
fear, guilt, and shame, and causing them to isolate themselves from God.

Noteworthy is the fact that when the Python spirit attacked Paul and Silas,
it left them naked. When the serpent in The Garden attacked Adam and
Eve, it also left them naked (see Genesis 3:10). The serpent brought a
spiritual death to Adam and Eve—a separation from God, their Creator and
LifeGiver. Had the mother and father of humankind not fallen to the
serpent’s lies, they would have lived forever by consuming fruit from the
tree of life in the presence of God.

Was it a python in the Garden of Eden? A cobra? A boa constrictor? We

don’t know, but it is true the python is a type of serpent—and they are
crafty. In fact, Genesis 3:1 says the serpent was “more crafty than any
beast of the field.” Other Bible translations say “the shrewdest of all the
wild animals the Lord God had made” (New Living Translation), or “most
cunning” (Holman), or “more clever” (International Standard Version), or
“more shrewd” (New English Translation), or “more subtle” (King James
Version), or “more astute” (Jubilee Bible 2000). If that’s true, and it is, the
Python spirit would fall under “most dangerous” marine demons category.

What did the serpent do? Led Eve into disobedience with a lie. Indeed,
when you think of a snake, you think of sin. Jesus called serpents wise (see
Matthew 10:16). The Bible speaks of the “venom of serpents and the
deadly poison of cobras” (Deuteronomy 32:33) and the sharp tongues as a
serpent (see Psalm 140:3). The Bible speaks of the serpent’s bite and sting
(Proverbs 23:32). The serpent’s food is dust, which is representative of our
flesh since humankind was made of dust (see Isaiah 65:25). Paul speaks of
the destroying capacity of the serpent (see 1 Corinthians 10:9) and the
deceptive capacity of the serpent (2 Corinthians 11:3).

Thank God, He has authority to tread and trample upon them (Luke 10:19).
Psalm 91:13 assures us, “You will tread upon the lion and the cobra, the
young lion and the serpent you will trample down.”

ENDNOTES
1. Amy Gigi Alexander, “The last guardians of a python spirit,” BBC, May 26, 2017;
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20170519-the-last-guardians-of-a-python-spirit; accessed April
18, 2018.

2. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Apollo-Greek-mythology; accessed April 18, 2018.

3. Ker Than, “Strangulation of Sleeping Boys Puts Spotlight on Pythons, National Geographic, August
6, 2013; https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/08/130806-python-strangleskids-
canada-snakes/; accessed April 18, 2018.

4. Colin Fernandez, “Pythons kill by heart attack: Snakes actually cut off the blood supply of their
prey rather than kill them by suffocation,” UK Daily Mail, July 22, 2015;
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3171522/Pythons-kill-heart-attack-Snakes-actually-
cutblood-supply-prey-kill-suffocation.html; accessed April 18, 2018.
 PUTTING PYTHON UNDER YOUR FEET

In the wild, pythons are classified as opportunistic hunters that lay low
until they are ready to strike their target. Pythons are also called
opportunistic feeders or ambush predators. All of these terms describe the
nature of this insidious spirit’s attack. It’s strategic, patient, yet aggressive.

Make no mistake, pythons are hunting. They will take any opportunity they
can find to steal, kill, and destroy your prayer life—your hopes and
dreams. They are predatory creatures that will set a carefully laid ambush,
which Merriam-Webster defines as “a surprise attack from a hidden
place.” In other words, most of Python’s victims never see it coming. It’s
slow moving, often sedentary as it observes the landscape, waiting for an
unsuspecting victim to cross its path.

While wolves and other animals hunt in packs, pythons hunt alone.
Pythons are not intimidated by prey that is larger or seemingly more
powerful than they are. These coiling serpents have successfully attacked
lions and elephants—even humans.

When pythons attack their prey in the wild, they strike from the side or the
back, but when they are in defensive mode, they attack from the front. 1

News story after news story gives accounts of pythons attacking humans
from behind. This is telling. When the girl with the spirit of divination
attacked Paul and Silas, the Bible says she followed them. This Python
spirit came in from the rear; it was hunting the apostles from behind.

In the story of a farmer who was attacked by a python who swallowed him
whole, USA Today reports, “Pythons bite first and would attack a human in
two ways: 1. A startled snake could bite as a form of defense; 2. The
python stealthily lies in wait along a game trail, edges of waterways or any
other place where they would find unsuspecting prey…Reticulated pythons
bite first.”2
Catch that. Some pythons bite first. Not all pythons—but some pythons.
Part of Python’s attack may be to bite you…to remind you of wounds from
your past. It’s easier to go in for the kill against a target that is wounded.
One of Python’s strategies, then, is to wound you by influencing someone
— whether someone close to you or an absolute stranger—to you to
“bite” you or to put pressure on hurts and wounds in your soul that are
not healed. This tactic aims to effectively woo you out of spirit-minded
status to soulminded status so you won’t discern its coiling.

In the natural, scientists say pythons don’t attack humans unless they are
provoked or stressed. The lesson: Don’t poke a python. The Washington
Post reports that Robert Nabadan was riding his moped home from work
when he saw a giant python lying across the road. His mistake: he tried to
move it. “The python latched onto his arm and began to coil…At some
point, it also bit his head. He was able to dislodge the animal, possibly with
a machete, but not before he was seriously injured.” 3 Python saw the man
as a threat and attacked.

However, pythons can, do, and have attacked unprovoked. Two boys—a
four-year-old and a six-year-old, were strangled in their sleep when a
python escaped its cage, worked through the air ducts, found its way into
their apartment below, and killed the children.4

And in Canada, a man—supposedly an experienced snake handler—was

killed by his pet python, demonstrating the reality of a phrase I often use,
“You can’t play pattycake with the devil.”5

The lesson here: python snakes can attack provoked or unprovoked—and

so can Python spirits. You don’t need to have an open door for Python to
slither through. You don’t have to be living in sin. Like Paul and Silas, you
provoke a Python when you enter into certain regions where it has a
stronghold and start doing the work of the ministry.

At the same, time, it’s not wise to purposely provoke a Python spirit or any
other spirit. You can provoke a Python spirit in pride by going on the
offense against this serpent when it’s not attacking you just to show your
knowledge of warfare. You can also provoke a Python spirit by coming
against it with wrong discernment when it is not coming against you. No
matter how experienced you are in warfare, you need discernment and
humility.

HOW A SNAKE THINKS AND MOVES

In order to defeat the Python spirit, it’s helpful to understand how snakes
think—and how we think about snakes. Humans are conditioned to fear
snakes, even though some are absolutely harmless. Jesus told His apostles
to be as wise as serpents (see Matthew 10:16). We have the wisdom of
God, which makes us more wise than the enemy. Yet in the heat of battle
we must understand how the enemy thinks—what is motivating him, how
he is strategizing against us, etc.

The word “wise” in Matthew 10:16 comes from the Greek word
phronimos. According to The King James New Testament Greek Lexicon, it
means “intelligent, wise, prudent, i.e. mindful of one’s interests.” Strong’s
definition is “thoughtful, i.e., sagacious or discreet (implying a cautious
character” and “practical skill or acumen” and “indicates rather
intelligence or mental acquirement; in a bad sense conceited.”

The devil is definitely conceited and always overplays his hand. The same is
true of Python. Jesus wasn’t telling us to be conceited like a snake, but to
be intelligent in battle, wise in warfare, prudent in our approach, mindful
of His interests, cautious in the fight, and to develop our skills in the
skirmish. The enemy has spent thousands of years studying humankind.
We’re only here for 75 years, on average, and don’t have nearly enough
time—nor would we want to spend all our time—studying the devil. But,
again, we must not be ignorant of his devices (see 2 Corinthians 2:11).

Rick Renner, an author and church planter who moved his family to the
Soviet Union, has some good thoughts on how snakes think. He says,
“When serpents move into a new territory, they don’t make a lot of noise
about it. They come in quietly and unannounced—in camouflaged.”
“Snakes,” he explains, “evaluate new situations to see where they can hide
from attack and where they can find easy kills. Most spiritual warriors I
know come in with a loud bang and alert every devil in hell that they are in
warfare mode when most of the demons were not targeting them. This is
not wisdom!”6

“Serpents,” Renner goes on, “are wise enough to know when to seize the
moment and strike. They understand there’s a kairos time to attack. The
same is true in spiritual warfare, which is why we have to let God lead us in
triumph in Christ Jesus (see 2 Corinthians 2:14). We need to submit to the
Holy Spirit’s leadership in the realm of spiritual warfare if we want radical
effectiveness.”

It’s also helpful to consider how snakes move. Solomon wrote in Proverbs
30:18 that there are three things that were too wonderful to him and four
he did not understand. One of them was “the way of a serpent on the
rock.” The Hebrew word for “way” in Proverbs 30:19 is this context is
“manner, habit, way.”

Solomon was saying he didn’t understand how the snake moved on a rock.
Pulpit Commentary suggests this refers to how the serpent could move on
the surface without leaving any track. Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
speaks of how it “leaves no impression, no footsteps by which it can be
traced.” Sometimes, the Python’s work in our lives is so subtle that we
don’t immediately discern its tracks—or stop it dead in its tracks—which is
why we need to be wise like the serpent. Remember, the snake moves into
a territory camouflaged.

Apparently, serpents used to have legs because when God cursed the
snake,
He said, “Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle,
and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you will go, and dust
you will eat all the days of your life” (Genesis 3:14).

Although some commentators debate whether the serpent had legs, most
agree it did. Not having legs slows the serpent down. They have to creep
on their bellies using wavy, windy movements. That would seem to give us
some advantage in the battle until they get close enough to strike. In other
words, we have time to discern the approach of Python, but once Python
moves close enough to bite or begins coiling around us the real battle
rages.

WANTED: PYTHON KILLERS

As I wrote in my book The Spiritual Warfare Battle Plan, this python spirit is
a major influence in Florida where we have more houses of prayer per
capita than any other state. Python is so spiritually active in our state that
it has manifested with an overrun of natural pythons in the Everglades.
Experts point to as many as 100,000 Burmese pythons in the Florida
Everglades that are reproducing rapidly. This snake is driving down
populations of opossums, bobcats, and raccoons and even swallows deer
and alligators whole.

Python killers are wage earners in Florida, where there is an overrun of

these predators in the Florida Everglades. The South Florida Water
Management District Governing Board is paying minimum wage to python
hunters in order to protect the Everglades and eliminate invasive serpents
from its public lands. The board reports:

The invasive Burmese python, which breeds and multiplies quickly and has
no natural predator in the Everglades ecosystem, has decimated native
populations of wildlife. The more of these snakes that can be eliminated,
especially females and their eggs, the better chance future generations of
native wildlife will have to thrive in the Everglades ecosystem that
Floridians have invested billions of dollars to restore.

Twenty-five professional python hunters led the charge and killed 700
pythons in just a few months. The church needs “professional Python
killers,” those who know their authority over this spirit. But many in the
church still don’t understand how to survive a Python attack.

Naturally speaking, one way to survive a python attack is to pull out a

knife. Spiritually speaking, you wield the Sword of the Spirit, which is the
Word of God (see Ephesians 6:12). You can’t just swing the Sword one
time. You have to keep swinging it until you are free from the Python’s
coils. Naturally speaking, spraying a python with water can cause it to let
go. We can use the water of the Word. We use praise and worship—and
we shake off the attack. Here’s the model in Scripture, found in Acts 16:25-
28:

But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of
praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there
came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were
shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains
were unfastened. When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened,
he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the
prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not
harm yourself, for we are all here!”

At about midnight—when it looked like all hope was lost—the apostles

were praying and praising. What’s interesting is some commentators
suggest this was a habitual practice that, despite the Python’s bondage,
Paul and Silas refused to abandon. Ellicott’s Commentary for English
Readers says, “The act was, we may believe, habitual, and they would not
intermit it even in the dungeon, and fastened as they were, so that they
could not kneel. The hymn may have been one of the prayer-psalms of
David, or possibly one of those, of which Pliny speaks in his letters, and
which may well have been in use half a century earlier, in which men
offered adoration to Christ as God.”

Therein lies a spiritual warfare tip against Python, which comes to squeeze
out your prayer life. Pray anyway. Praise anyway. Python’s pressure makes
you want to do anything but pray or praise. Putting godly discipline to
work to pray and praise even when it looks like nothing is changing cuts off
the head of this snake. Paul and Silas may have been praying David-style
“deliver me” prayers and singing about the goodness of God in the face of
their enemies. Their prayer was effective. It caused the ground to shake.
Paul and Silas literally shook off the attack.
Paul demonstrates another form of shaking off the serpent attack while he
was stranded on the Island of Malta. Acts 28:3-5 tells us:

When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a
viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. When
the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to
one another, “Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has
been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.” However he
shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.

TRAVAILING PRAYER THAT BRINGS DELIVERANCE

When it comes to spiritual warfare—and intercession—many times we
don’t know how to pray as we ought. We sense spiritual oppression trying
to discourage us, demons harassing people we love, or principalities
settling over our city like a dark rain cloud—but we don’t always have
revelation about the enemy we’re fighting.

When that happens, I always do one thing: pray in the Spirit—and I don’t
stop praying in the Spirit until that oppression lifts or until I have a
Spiritinspired strategy to wrestle against what’s wrestling against me. I
wrestle from a place of victory, but I don’t wrestle presumptuously. I need
the Holy Spirit to show me how to pray—and sometimes that prayer
includes travail. This is scriptural:

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what
we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the
hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession
for the saints according to the will of God (Romans 8:26-27 NKJV).

Notice that Paul wrote about “groanings which cannot be uttered.” Here
he’s talking about one manifestation of travailing prayer. The Greek word
for “groanings” in that Scripture is stenagmos, which simply means a
groaning or a sigh.

Of course, the Holy Spirit is doing the groaning through us. We can’t work
up this type of prayer by our will. It’s a spiritual response to a prayer
burden. Travail has to be Spirit-led, or it’s just soulish or fleshly.
Nevertheless, travail is a genuine form of prayer that can break through
when nothing else does. The Greek word “travail” is found several times in
the New Testament (and many more times in the Old).

When Jesus talked about the pregnant woman who had sorrow in travail
(see John 16:21), He was referring to tikto, which means “to bring forth,
bear, produce (fruit from the seed); of a woman giving birth; of the earth
bringing forth its fruits.” But when Paul was talking about interceding for
the Thessalonians (see 1 Thessalonians 2:9), the Greek word for travail is
mochthos, which means a hard and difficult labor, toil, travail, hardship,
distress.

Hebrew words for travail include yalad, which also brings in the
connotation of helping: “to cause or help to bring forth; to assist or tend to
as a midwife” (see Genesis 38:27); telaah, which implies seeking
deliverance from toil, hardship, distress, weariness (see Exodus 18:8);
‘inyan, which refers to an occupation, task, job (see Ecclesiastes 1:13);
‘amal, which refers to toil, trouble, labor (see Isaiah 23:4); and challah,
which means to be or become grieved, be or become sorry (see Isaiah
53:11).

Most of the time, travailing prayer is a birthing prayer—it births something

you’ve been carrying in your heart that God wants to deliver. But it can
also be a deliverance prayer. In this verse, travail is used in a deliverance
context:

“And Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done unto Pharaoh
and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, and all the travail that had come
upon them by the way, and how the Lord delivered them” (Exodus 18:8
KJV).
Sometimes, when the enemy gets an advantage on us (see 2 Corinthians
2:11), another person, or even a region, the Spirit of God will lead you into
travailing prayer. You’ll serve as a midwife and toil in prayer to help bring
forth God’s purposes—to birth His will in the earth—which may also mean
deliverance from the kingdom of darkness.

Many times before travailing prayer comes upon you, you’ll feel grieved,
heavy, or otherwise burdened. Less experienced intercessors may believe
they are under spiritual attack—and they may be—but it’s often the Holy
Spirit moving on your spirit to engage in travail with Him. Notice I say,
“with Him.” Again, you can’t stir up travail in your soul or your flesh. It is
Spirit-inspired. The important thing to know is that when you sense this
coming on you, you need to yield to the Holy Spirit to birth His purposes.

Travail is not prayer led by emotions, though you may appear emotional as
you enter travail with weeping and wailing and groaning like a woman
birthing a child. Because of its intensity, some churches have relegated
intercession to a back room in the church and essentially thrown the baby
out with the breakthrough bathwater. But it’s vital that we cooperate with
the Holy Spirit when He wants to use us as a midwife to birth or deliver,
even if you have to excuse yourself from the prayer meeting to avoid
confusing those who are not familiar with this type of intercession.

LETTING THE HOLY SPIRIT PRAY THROUGH YOU

With all this in mind, let’s look at Romans 8 again:

For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs
together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of
the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the
adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but
hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?
But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with
perseverance.

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what
we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the
hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession
for the saints according to the will of God (Romans 8:22-27 NKJV).

The will of God is to birth His purposes. The will of God is to deliver people
from the bonds of satan. The will of God is that we cooperate with His Holy
Spirit, laboring in all manner of prayer to prevail in the wrestling match
against principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this age, and
spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (see Ephesians 6:12).
Sometimes all manner of prayer includes travail. Amen.

A PRAYER AGAINST PYTHON’S PRESSURE

Father, thank You for the blood of the Lamb and the power in the name of
Jesus to crush the head of the snake—to put Python under my feet even
when it’s trying to coil around my mind and body to wreak havoc on my
thoughts and bring physical manifestations of chocking in my body.

Thank You, Strong and Mighty Lord, for the delegated authority you’ve
given me in Christ. In the mighty name of Jesus, the name above all names
—the name above water spirits and marine demons—I take authority over
every expression of Python’s attack in my life. I break Python’s power over
my mind, will, and emotions. I break the Python’s grip on my finances and
my friendships. I break the power of Python’s effect on my physical body. I
command these symptoms to go, in Jesus’ name.

I sever Python’s coils from around me, working to constrict the flow of
God’s power in my life. I say Dunamis power trumps Python’s power in my
life and the anointing breaks the yoke of bondage Python has twisted
around my neck. I annihilate Python’s serpentine plans in every area of my
life and declare I am free from this slithering assignment, in Jesus’ name.

I praise You and You alone, Lord. I worship You and You alone. I thank You
that where Your presence is, there is fullness of joy and the enemy of my
soul must flee when I submit my heart to You, in Jesus’ name.

ENDNOTES
1. Megan Gannon, “Florida’s Python Invaders Rarely Attack People Unprovoked,” LiveScience, March
12, 2014; https://www.livescience.com/44033-florida-pythons-rarely-attack-people.html;
accessed April 19, 2018.

2. Sean Rossman, “Pythons can kill a human in minutes and swallow them in an hour,” USA TODAY,
March 30, 2017; https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nationnow/2017/03/30/pythons-can-
kill-humanminutes-and-swallow-them-hour/99824246/; accessed April 19, 2018.

3. Cleve R. Wootson Jr., “Giant pythons keep attacking people in Indonesia—and humans might be
to blame,” WashingtonPost.comWorld Views, October 4, 2017;
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/10/04/giant-pythons-
keepattacking-indonesian-people-andpeople-might-be-to-blame/?utm_term=.888815a6c6c6;
accessed April 19, 2018.

4. Matt Smith and Jethro Mullen, “Snake kills two boys during sleepover, Canadian police say,” CNN,
August 7, 2013;
http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/06/world/americas/canada-snakedeaths/index.html; accessed
April 19, 2018.

5. Rozina Sabur, “Police investigate whether man was killed by python after his body was found
alongside the pet snake,” UK The Telegraph, September 25, 2017;
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/25/police-investigate-whether-man-killed-
pythonbody-found-alongside/; accessed April 19, 2018.

6. Rick Renner Ministries, “Learn to Think Like a Snake!”; September 7, 2016;

http://www.renner.org/christian-living/learn-to-think-like-asnake/; accessed April 19, 2018.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jennifer LeClaire is the senior leader of Awakening House of Prayer in Fort

Lauderdale, Florida, founder of the Ignite Network and founder of the
Awakening Blaze prayer movement. She formerly served as the first
female editor of Charisma magazine and is a prolific author of more than
25 books. You can find Jennifer online or send her an email at
[email protected].