AUDREY DICKEY MINISTRIES
Glory International Center
"A Center for God's Presence"
THE SPIRIT OF ANGER
To walk in God’s anointed power, wisdom and great favor, along with His strategies working in my life, my mouth MUST belong to Him and He alone! You cannot win any battles, spiritual or in the natural when you have deep seated anger because it will kill or hinder what God is doing in your life. This is why it is important to know that you can feel anger yet you can watch how you behave.
What is causing you to become angry? Is it because you are being taken for granted, betrayed, cheated, lied upon, stolen from, humiliated, disregarded, offended, criticized, rejected, manipulated, because others are rude towards you and so forth. Or is it because you are angry because of your unforgiveness, bitterness or unwillingness to repent and be set free from devices, issues, the past and/or sin. Keep in mind, in this new season or era we do not want to keep any destructive emotions that will tie us to the old season and risk them being a part of our new one because we gave the enemy access.
Anger is an emotion that we all feel at one time or another. It is not a sin or always wrong to feel anger. The problem is what we do with it after we feel it that can cause it to become sin. We cannot help how we feel but we can help how we behave. We do not have to let our emotional feelings control us. Deep rooted bitterness, anger and other deadly emotions do not solve anything. Be angry and sin not. Make a decision about what you will do with your anger before it is managing you. When in Christ you cannot “act” on all of your feelings. Feelings are unreliable, unpredictable and sometimes good and sometimes not. They change very easily so we should not pay much attention to fleshly feelings butpay more attention to the promptings that come from the Holy Spirit. Paying more attention to that inner Peace and/or small voice from your inner man (Holy Spirit in you) will take you further than following through with angry emotions.
If I am angry and have bitterness because of some past issues or event then I need to ask for forgiveness and repent. Also, declare I am willing to let the matter drop and forgive others in my heart. I declare I am moving forward towards my destiny in this life and I will fulfill it as the Lord purposed. I further deny my feelings the right to control me. When I stop giving into the emotion of anger it will lose its power. I have a free will; therefore, I can make this choice. Self control is a fruit of the Spirit given to us so we can control our feelings (Gal. 5:22-23).
We can control what comes out of our mouths with the help of the Holy Spirit and angels and by applying principles of discipline. Trust Holy Spirit with your emotions and He will teach you how to manage them and manage your tongue, for it is written, “But the human tongue can be tamed by no man…” James 3:8 AMP. One way to stop feeding the wrong feelings is to capture your thoughts and submit them to Christ (before they become a stronghold) as the Bible instructs in 2 Cor. 10:4-5. As you continue to do this at the onset of wrong thoughts which can lead to anger and wrong behavior the thoughts will become weaker and weaker because you are not giving them strength by feeding into the lies and deception. However, if you go into a rage you may not be able to control yourself that is why we must recognize when these feelings (many simply from wrong thoughts) are first beginning to happen. Stop giving into wrong behavior and resist the adversary at the onset. Believe Jesus’ blood is sufficient for you.
When anger is used for righteous indignation and not expressed with sin but expressed constructively it could lead to problem solving or resolutions. On the other hand if you choose to dwell in anger and express sin while you are angry, you will open a door for a demonic force to be active in your life that must be dealt with. If not dealt with right it can become a threat that will hold you in captivity, for example: Moses couldn’t break ties with anger and it kept him from his promise. Satan is our enemy and his goal is to get us so emotional that we say things that will allow him an opening into our lives. Demons are sent out to get people upset and offended and many times he places other people in their way to hurt or mistreat them. Christians that don’t understand this will spend all of their time fighting these battles, stay angry, complain and get bitter and become resentful and they will not accomplish what God has called them to do because of these types of distractions.
You can remove spiritual roadblocks such as unforgiveness so you can be free from the spirit of anger. If you are angry with others or God, anger will close the door to the only One Who can help, heal, comfort, or restore your emotions, relationships, health and lives in general because strife will remove the anointing and hinder the power of God on our lives greatly. You need to forgive and repent in order to be released from bitterness and resentment. If your grudge is against God, we must forgive Him so we can experience His power and blessings in our lives and our relationships.
OPTIONS TO UNDERSTANDING, CURTAILING and MANAGING THE SPIRIT OF ANGER:
You can pray and ask God for grace and instructions to deal with the frustration. Ask Him to show you the root cause of your anger (many times it is some type of fear). You can also ask for strategies and using God's faith and grace to overcome a problem or situation.
A Rule of thumb to maintain PEACE: Bind the spirit of Agitation and RESIST being irritated, impatient and expressing anger, Mt.16:19; John 14:27 AMP. Ask for revelation of God’s peace and wisdom, then praise God for the release of the peace Jesus left for us to have. Jesus had power over the storm because He did not allow the storm get in Him. Where there is no peace, there is no power. Know peace, know power! James 1:19-20 NIV says, “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”
You can hold your peace in upsetting and frustrating situations because of your love and devotion to the Lord and at the same time letting Satan know he is not going to control you. Satan is our enemy and his goal is to get us so emotionally rattled that we say things that will provide him with an opening into our lives. Or he hopes we will make unwise decisions during painful times and create problems that we will have to deal with for along period of time; there is a time to talk and a time to be silent!
You can also take two or more slow deep breaths before you, do or say anything else; and/or you can count 10-18 seconds or until the anger subsides.
I will continue to ask God for His expressions and words as I cast my care on God and repeat to myself – relax, be calm, relax, be calm, for Christ the Anointed One inside of me is greater!
You may want to think of 10 things you are grateful for instead of how angry you feel. You can choose to do this because you desire to be the example God wants you to be. If my example (exercising “my” rights) only causes others to fall or stumble because I continue to sin and miss the mark because of anger, this becomes “sin against other believers by encouraging them to do similar acts. At this point you are sinning against Christ,” (I Cor. 8:12). Children especially will do as they see not so much as they are told and your example shows them the right or wrong way to handle their anger.
You have the choice to think on and talk about something else if you find yourself talking about your problems excessively. The problem maybe that you find it difficult to trust God. The more you talk about your problems the more upset you will be. You can even do something else to take your mind off of what is making you angry like working on a project, taking a walk and listening to music, taking a praise break; reading a book, making a phone call or watching an uplifting and/or comedy movie.
One can pray in an unknown language (Tongues, I Cor. 14) which will get to the root of anger and fear and help push them out. Praying in the Spirit or tongues will also strengthen you (building yourself up – Jude 1:20 AMP) in your spirit man, release divine wisdom, instructions and directions because you are praying directly to God and praying the mind of God. You are also speaking mysteries – secret truths that can only be known by revelation and receiving understanding. Furthermore, you are quenching the fiery darts of the wicked, John 7:38-39. The scriptures say you shall also receive power (ability, efficiency and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, Acts. 1:8; Acts 2:1-4 AMP. These are to name only a few of the advantages of praying in the Spirit.
You can post a list of “cooling down” thoughts such as it’s not worth it; let it go and give it to God; trust God to reveal the truth; it will turn around for my good; etc.
You can go for a walk; do house or yard work; write or draw a picture about your anger; change your routine where you know it is stressful; but do not drive to calm yourself down. Most importantly “when angry, do not sin; do not ever let your wrath (your exasperation, your fury or indignation) last until the sun goes down. Leave no [such] room or foothold for the devil [give no opportunity to him],” Eph. 4:26-27. Having enough sleep and rest will also help to prevent anger from depleting your energy.
Many express anger because of damaged emotions or a broken heart from past trauma, thankfully, through God damaged emotions and a broken heart can be healed and we can learn to have more balanced and reasonable responses to people, things and situations. We need to make a decision to learn how to manage our emotions and not let anger control us and our actions during a crisis. Our emotions are without wisdom and cannot be trusted to do the right thing, so don’t allow your emotions to rule you.
We all experience many different types of emotions: Love, Peace, faith, fear, forgiveness, anger, strength, emotional words, joy, depression and evil to list a few. Which one of these can you actually tangibly touch? None of them, yet, you can “sense or feel” them. These “emotions” are also spirits; unseen spirits that can cause increase and success or decrease and failure in your life. We have been given an opportunity as free will agents to choose which one of these emotions or spirits will be in control of our lives. Deuteronomy 30:19 writes it this way, “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.”
Shut the door to anger! Don’t feed it with rage, violence, profanity or strife. If you do unity, peace, joy and blessings will be lacking in your life. The master spirit over anger is agitation. John 14:27 AMP says, “[Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed…].” Anger is an emotion from God (we are made in His image and He is a God of love as well as of wrath. We are to love what He loves and hate what He hates). He does not sin when angry and with the help of His Holy Spirit we can manage our anger as well. We may not do it perfectly but He has given us grace and room to repent when we miss it.
With God on our side we do not have to behave the way those without Christ would behave. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life], Prov. 18:21. Learn to use words that are fueled with joy, praise and thanksgiving and not anger, depression, bitterness, complaining, murmuring and fear.
If you are not sure of whether you need to confront and let someone know how their behavior is affecting you, you can ask God. To live without anger requires a willingness to frequently communicate and confront issues. Strife does not go away because it is ignored.
If you have decided to ignore the situation and not “confront hurtful or offensive behavior because it is safer to stay on the passive path, reflect on the consequences of holding in your anger. Potential ailments that mental health professionals generally agree are sometimes associated with passive anger include: asthma, jaw problems from grinding one’s teeth, skin problems (rashes, eczema, boils, pimples), ulcers, obesity, alcoholism, bad breath, bursitis, carpal tunnel, earaches, kidney stones, thyroid problems, sexual problems, liver problems, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic fatigue, chronic sore throats, and urinary infections. More serious conditions include strokes, diabetes, and heart attacks. The emotional toll includes decreased self-esteem and increased self-loathing. Now, is it really worth keeping quiet and burying your anger alive?”
Unexpressed anger can create other problems. It can lead to pathological expressions of anger, such as passive-aggressive behavior (getting back at people indirectly, without telling them why, rather than confronting them face-to-face). Or it can lead to a personality that seems perpetually cynical and hostile. People who constantly put others down, criticize everything and make cynical comments haven’t learned how to constructively express their anger.
You have a choice to continue, reduce or stop the services or sacrifices that you are making for someone else if you feel you are being taken for granted unless the Lord asks you to continue. If so, then He will give you a strategy, victory and reward you at the appointed time.
You can lower your expectations for yourself and others; you can repeat to yourself what you thought you heard someone say and check if what you heard was correct; when necessary you can admit you are wrong to clear the air, we all make mistakes and/or have misunderstandings.
You can allow more time for everything, running late causes stress and therefore anger; You can make sure you have some ‘personal time’ scheduled for times of the day that you know you are particularly stressful. Do use modern technology and screen calls, text, etc. to help maintain balance in your life and to save time.
You can talk to yourself and ask “is this worth being angry about?” Ask are they worth you being angry? You can ask for a time out to walk away and set a time to come and talk when calm; You can agree to disagree and seek other ways to find a solution.
You can make fewer demands on yourself and others. Angry people tend to demand things: fairness, appreciation, agreement, willingness to do things their way and when their demands are not met their disappointment becomes anger. They need to become aware of their demanding nature and translate their expectations into desires. Saying something like, ‘I would like or I would appreciate,’ is better than saying I must have or I demand.
Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and He will bless you for it, I Peter 3:9. Arguing will not solve the problem or win the battle. Do good to overcome evil. The Bible says, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: It is mine to avenge; I will repay says the Lord,” Romans 12:17-19.
What is Strife? Strife is bickering, arguing, heated disagreement, and an angry undercurrent. Strife is dangerous and destructive. Strife destroys marriages, families, friendships, businesses, churches and relationships in general.
Do not get involved in conversations that lead toward strife; Avoid controversies over things that really do not matter; Refuse to get involved in gossip and tale bearing; Do not spread rumors or tell other people’s secrets.
Learn to laugh at yourself and not take everything so seriously. Try not to just “laugh off your problems;” rather, use humor to help yourself face them more constructively. Try not to give into harsh, sarcastic humor; that is just another form of an unhealthy anger expression. But do laugh at funny movies, or think about things that made you laugh before. Joy is deeper than funny occurrences or happiness based on outer circumstances only. So try acquiring the Joy of the Lord and have a sustaining inner joy that is able to keep you in times of hardship.
You might want to focus for a moment on what else beside anger that you could be feeling such as hurt, stress, fear, grief, disappointment, etc. because of sudden abrupt changes or bad events that occurred in your life. Some things cannot be changed immediately and other things cannot be changed at all, but what you can do is change the way you let such events affect you. Taking control or managing your responses can keep them from making you even more unhappy or frustrated in the long run.
Monitor your food intake and avoid comfort eating, use other tools to calm down or not think about what is making you angry, lonely or fearful; Delegate to others and do not take on more than you can handle; Stay as organized, efficient and as flexible as you can to avoid stressful situations; keep your life balanced as much as possible with work, worship and play.
Know who you are in Christ (The Anointed One, the Messiah) and believe what He says about you and not the gossip of others. Cast your care on God and do what you can do and let Him do the rest, I Peter 5:7.
Pray and ask the Lord for true friends; the spouse He has for you; for your purpose in life; as well as divine connections and instructions to reach your destiny. As you discover your way through divine revelation this will avoid unnecessary stress and a waste of time which could contribute to your anger.
“When you live in peace you will have a blessed and powerful life because it is necessary to respond with peace in order to win the battles of life. God wants me to live in peace with Him, myself and others. Peace was worth the shedding of His blood and your ability to remain calm is dependent upon your willingness to trust God completely. So relax and fully trust. His timing is perfect!
DECLARATIONS:
To master what pushes your buttons: I Declare – The Holy Spirit is manifesting the fruit of love, joy, and peace in me right now and empowering me to respond with patience to every irritation.
To deactivate your buttons: I Declare – When I am tempted to give into rage, I will say to myself, “stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper – it only leads to harm.” Ps 37:8 NLT
To stop being so passive: I Declare – When someone sins against me, I will do as Jesus commanded: I will go and tell him his fault privately (Mt. 18:15). I will be calm, honest and open to a mutually agreeable solution to the problem.
To abandon aggressive actions: I Declare – I am “swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath,” (James 1:19). By the grace of God, I resist all acts of aggression. Instead, I allow Him to use every experience to hone (sharpen) me for my destiny.
If ripped off: I Declare – I will honor God in responding to a rip-off, knowing that vengeance belongs to Him and that He is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all I can ask or think according to His power that works in me (Eph. 3:20).
If humiliated: I Declare – Humiliation is my stepping-stone to a life of humility. The Holy Spirit empowers me to handle and to overcome all such experience with grace and strength.
When rejected: I Declare – I am accepted by My Father who will never leave me nor forsake me. Neither rejection, nor abandonment, nor any social pain will separate me from His love. He has allowed every circumstance that comes into my life and everything is working together for my good.
If accused: I Declare – Every word spoken against me shall be judged by My heavenly Father, who will quickly avenge my adversaries.
When unappreciated: I Declare: - I serve others unto the Lord with a pure motive and accept responsibilities only as God leads.
If depressed or betrayed: I Declare – I honor my heavenly Father as the Governor of every circumstance that comes into my life. His thoughts toward me are for good, they are plans of peace and not of evil, to give me a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11 emphasis added).
If criticized: I Declare – “I don’t mind criticism. If it is untrue, I disregard it; if unfair, I keep from irritation; if it is ignorant, I smile; if it is justified, it is not criticism, I learn from it.” (author unknown).
If disrespected: I Declare - I am not overly sensitive to the disrespectful attitudes and actions of others. I am led by the Spirit of God in knowing when and how to confront such behavior as well as implementing appropriate consequences.
When overwhelmed: I Declare – I am casting all my cares on the Lord, for He cares for me. I am acknowledging Him in all my ways and He is directing my path.
If Offended: I Declare – Wisdom tells me when to overlook an offense (Prov. 19:11) or when to confront it. Either way, God is glorified in my response.
SCRIPTURES:
I Cor. 4:3:
“As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority.” Paul didn’t try to defend himself nor did he become angry when others judged him and put him on trial, investigated, questioned and cross-questioned him. He told them, “I do not care what you think. I do not even judge myself.” Paul knew that if he was out of line, God would correct him. You must trust the power of God’s word to deliver you from self-judgment and criticism that could lead to being angry with yourself.
John 14:27:
Peace I leave with you, My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled].
Proverbs 14:29:
I am slow to anger and have great understanding; I am not like he who is hasty of spirit, exposing and exalting his folly.
Proverbs 15:1:
I speak soft answers that turn away wrath, not grievous words that stir up anger.
Colossians 3:8:
Now I must get rid of all these things; anger passion, and hateful feelings. No insults or obscene talk must ever come from my lips.
James 1:19-20:
I won’t forget that it is best to listen much, speak little, and not become angry; for anger doesn’t make me good, as God demands that I must be.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5:
Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].
1 Galatians 5:22-23:
But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].
Isaiah 26:3:
You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.
Psalm 39:1:
I said, I will take heed (pay attention) and guard my ways (watch what I do), that I may sin not with my tongue; I will muzzle my mouth (hold my tongue) as with a bridle while the wicked (ungodly) are before me. (Profanity connects one to the curse; therefore, be quick to ask for forgiveness and dig those words up with your mouth and put those words under the blood of Jesus). This is not speaking about confrontation, it is addressing sinning while before the ungodly whether you choose to remain quiet or confront.
Proverbs 16:7:
When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Hebrews 12:14:
Strive to live in peace with everybody and pursue that consecration and holiness without which no one will [ever] see the Lord. Ps 94:12-15: He wants us to come to the point where we can keep ourselves calm in the day of adversity.
I Peter 5:7:
Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.
Proverbs 15:18:
A hot-tempered man stirs up strife but he who is slow to anger appeases contention.
Ecclesiastes 7:9:
Do not be quick in spirit to be angry or vexed, for anger and vexation lodge in the bosom of fools.
Ephesians 4:29:
Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it.
Compiled and prepared by
Audrey L. Dickey, Ph.D.
Christian Love Fellowship Church, Inc.
PRAYER FOR THE MOUTH