Defeating Belial in the Midst
(From the book Prayers IV, by Dr. Mary Craig)

My Heavenly Father,

The nature of Belial has come to my attention, and it is my desire to defeat Belial in my midst. I desire to be separated from Belial that I might serve Jesus Christ. Beli means "without, negated, wearing out." Yaal means "help; be of use, profit, advantage."

Of Belial, Father, Your Word says:

"If you hear someone in one of your cities, which the LORD your God gives you to dwell in, saying, ‘Men, Sons of Beli Yaal, have gone out from among you and enticed the inhabitants of their city, saying, "Let us go and serve other gods" –which you have not known—"then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination was committed among you, you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it, all that is in it, and its livestock—with the edge of the sword. And you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of the street, and completely burn with fire the city and all its plunder, for the LORD your God. It shall be a heap forever; it shall not be built again. So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers, because you have listened to the voice of the LORD your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of the LORD your God." (Deuteronomy 13.12-18)

Beware lest there be a word in your heart of Beli Yaal, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,’ and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the LORD against you, and it become sin among you. You shall surely give to him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand. (Deuteronomy 15.9, 10) [See also Deuteronomy 17]

Father, grant me wisdom to conduct due diligence concerning a Belial spirit that would cause a rumor saying someone is enticing others away from worshiping You, truly entice others away from You, bring murderous accusation, devise a plot to bring true believers to hopeless ruin and destruction. Father, search my heart for words of Belial that would turn my eye to be evil toward my brethren, especially the poor and oppressed. Jesus said that where the treasure is, there is the heart also, so grant me grace to handle wealth and finances as You would have me do so as not to fall prey to Belial. Let me value and hold worthy the words and things of Christ.

Father, I understand that during the time when there was no king in Israel, blatant sin, rape, violence and bloodshed resulted. (Judges 17, 18) The disregard for divine authority led to perversion, homosexuality, gang rape, and war. (Judges 17-21) Children of Belial instigated violence, riot, rape and carnage. A Levite went after his concubine, who had gone from him to her father’s house. After some days, he returned with his concubine, lodging in Gibeah, with a man of Ephraim. Gibeah was of Benjamin.

"Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold the men of the city, certain sons of Beli Yaal, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into your house, that we may know him." (Judges 19.22) The local and cultural law of hospitality overruled the law of God, and the host delivered up the women of the house.

Holy Father, when children of Belial come with perversion and twisted truth, let me not exalt culture and local customs over the law of God so as to do what is right in my own eyes. Let Jesus be King and Lord over my life and my decisions. Let me not succumb to the spirit of the age. Let me stand for righteousness in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Instigating the gang rape of an innocent girl resulted in the death of some 65,000 people. (Judges 20.21-35)

"Count not your handmaid as at the face of a daughter of Beli Yaal, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken [worded] hitherto." (1 Samuel 1.16) So said Hannah to Eli. However, it is of Eli’s sons that Scripture says, "Now the sons of Eli were sons of Beli Yaal; they knew not the LORD." (1 Samuel 2.12) Eli thought Hannah was drunk, but instead she was filled with the Holy Spirit. Eli’s sons, however, did not know the LORD. They took the best meat for themselves. They did not obey God in the ministry of the priesthood. They were guilty of sexual immorality. They made God’s people transgress. They sinned against the Lord. God desired to kill them because they went beyond His tolerance. Eli honored his sons more than God. (1 Samuel 2)

Holy Father, let me walk circumspectly, not as a fool but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Let me not be unwise but understand what the will of the Lord is. Let me not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in my heart to the Lord. (Ephesians 5.15-19) Let me not be deceived by empty words, understanding that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Let me not be partakers with them, i.e., no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, for such have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. (Ephesians 5.3-7)

The prophet Samuel anointed Saul king, for the people rejected God, who Himself saved them from all their adversities and their tribulations. (1 Samuel 10.19) Samuel explained to the people the behavior of royalty and wrote it in a book and laid it up before the Lord. And Saul went home to Gibeah, and valiant men went with him, whose hearts God had touched. "But some men of Beli Yaal said, ‘How can this man save us?’ So they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace." (1 Samuel 10.27)

Holy Father, let me recognize what You are doing and recognize the anointed in my midst that I not doubt, criticize, despise, and/or withhold gifts. Let me bless what You bless.

Nabal, whose name means "fool," slandered and reviled David as though a slave running from his master. David had provided Nabal’s men with protection and were good to them while they were keeping their sheep. Nabal, however, would not give to David’s men. Thus, one went to Abigail, Nabal’s wife, with this report: "Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master; and he reviled them. But the men were very good to us, as we were not hurt, nor did we miss anything as long as we accompanied them, when we were in the fields. They were a wall to us both by night and day, all the time we were with them keeping the sheep. Now therefore, know and consider what you will do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his household. For he is such a son of Beli Yaal that one cannot speak to him." (1 Samuel 25.14-17)

Wisely, Abigail intervened, recognizing the kingly anointing on David. "Please, let not my lord regard this son of Beli Yaal Nabal. For as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him!" (1 Samuel 25.25) Father, let me not withhold blessing that is in my power to do.

David found these sons of Belial confronting the kingly and apostolic anointing. "Then all the wicked and worthless [men of Beli Yaal] men of those who went with David answered and said, ‘Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except for every man’s wife and children, that they may lead them away and depart. Then said David, You shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD has given us, who has preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand. For who will hearken unto you in this matter? But as his part is that goes down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarries by the stuff: they shall part alike." (1 Samuel 30.22-24)

Father, let me not give heed to the words of Belial in my midst. Grant me discernment of good and evil, for You, Lord, are good. Let me have regard for Your goodness. Let me not hoard, be selfish, or judge according to my own prescribed standards.

"And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. And thus said Shimei when he cursed, "Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Beli Yaal." (2 Samuel 16.6, 7) Shimei, of the house of Saul, the formerly anointed, blamed David for Saul’s death. Cursing David, Shimei called David a man of Belial. The man had his reasons, presented as truth, yet he cursed the new order. He miscalculated the move of God, where the glory now was.

David responded: "Let him alone, and let him curse; for so the LORD has ordered him. It may be that the LORD will look on my affliction, and that the LORD will repay me with good for his cursing this day." (2 Samuel 16.11, 12) David wearied of the cursing and had to refresh himself. (2 Samuel 16.14) Later, when David crossed the Jordan, Shimei fell down before him, pleading for mercy. Others wanted David to put Shimei to death because "he cursed the Lord’s anointed." But David said, "Shall any man be put to death today in Israel? For do I not know that today I am king over Israel?" (2 Samuel 19.22) Shimei was spared by the king.

Father, let me keep in step with the Holy Spirit and the move of God. Let me follow the glory and walk in truth and in love. Let me extend mercy to those who curse me.

Sheba, a Benjamite, again opposed David’s kingship. "And there happened to be there a man of Beli Yaal, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite: and he blew a trumpet, and said, We have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, O Israel." (2 Samuel 20.1)

Belial wants nothing to do with the anointed or the kingly anointing. It rejects and withdraws. In so doing, those with a spirit of Belial lose their inheritance. They will not submit to apostolic authority and receive their blessing.

Father, grant me grace to submit to authority and receive those You have anointed.

"But the sons of Beli Yaal shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken by hands: But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place." (2 Samuel 23.6, 7)

Belial does not give and so does not receive. Opposed to the law of God, their way is the only way. Destruction comes. Father, I loose the Spirit of Burning and Judgment against the spirit of Belial to burn it out by the Fire of God. I thrust away what is of Belial as thorns. Fence me with iron and the staff of a spear. I appeal to Jesus, who rules justly.

"The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me [David]: ‘He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, like the tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear shining after rain." (2 Samuel 23.3, 4)

Jezebel allied with sons of Belial to bear witness against Naboth, a righteous man who understood that his vineyard was his inheritance. King Ahab wanted this vineyard. Working the law, partnering with false accusers, Jezebel gets that vineyard for Ahab and Naboth ends up dead. (1 Kings 21) Murderous accusations designed to bring hopeless ruin and loss of inheritance came from the sons of Belial against the righteous.

Father, Belial is a liar who comes to steal and destroy. I sever demonic alliances and loose the Spirit of Burning and Judgment into my circumstances that judgment may be executed upon the spirit of Belial according to Your Word.

"And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Beli Yaal, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them." (2 Chronicles 13.7)

Holy Father, let me grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Let me not be naïve, softhearted, and weak when discerning and dealing with Belial. Let no one take from me my crown.

Father, Psalm 41 applies to Belial, and I bring this psalm before You now. (Declare out Psalm 41.) Verse 8 is literally, "A word of Belial clings to his soul, and now that he lies down, he will rise up no more."

Father, I also bring Psalm 101 before You at this time. I will set nothing wicked or worthless, things of Belial, before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know wickedness.

Proverbs 6.12-19 declares:

A worthless person (one of Beli Yaal), a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth; he winks with his eyes, he shuffles his feet, he points with his fingers; perversity is in his heart, he devises evil continually, he sows discord. Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly; suddenly he shall be broken without remedy. These six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren.

Deliver me from Belial. I bring before Your throne Nahum chapter one, from which You have said, "Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings, who proclaims peace! O Judah, keep your appointed feasts, perform your vows. For the one of Beli Yaal shall no more pass through you; he is utterly cut off." (Nahum 1.15)

Holy Father, let me see the spirit of Belial as this spirit opposed the true King of Israel and Messiah, Jesus Christ. (e.g., Luke 19.11-26; John 8) Jesus knew His anointing and His authority. Grant me grace to defeat Belial in my life and family and church.

Let me not receive the grace of God in vain. Let me give no offense in anything that our ministry may not be blamed. Let me commend myself as a minister of God as did Paul in 2 Corinthians 6. Let me not be restricted by my own affections. Your Word says:

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people." Therefore "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty." Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians 6.14-18; cf. Ezekiel 36)

Father, let no one take my crown. Let me be on guard against fornication and perversion, greed, and things that would defile Your temple. Let me turn from useless things (Acts 14.15) and take out the precious from the vile, not returning to them (Jeremiah 15.19). Let me no longer trust in lying words which cannot profit (Jeremiah 7.8).

Father, lift up my eyes to see You, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, that You might work in me a change that will burn off the words of Belial clinging to my soul. Fill up my hope. Open my heart to hear and receive You and Your Word.

Thank You, that my relationship with You, Holy Father, is based upon the necessary and sufficient sacrifice of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God. Thank You that Jesus removes every stone of stumbling, every thorn, opens blind eyes, causes me to rise and walk, and sets me free. Thank You that I am never alone. I abide in Christ and He in me. I am His temple, His Body, His Bride. I am no longer a slave but a son and heir of the Most High, an inheritance for my profit, my security, my prosperity. (Galatians 4)

I am not a son of darkness under the prince of the power of the air, but I am a child of light, of the Kingdom of God. (Revelation 3.7-13) Separate me from lawlessness, from unrighteousness, from perversion, from lies, from worthlessness and worthless words, from all that defiles flesh and spirit. Cleanse me. I am a child of God, a child of the resurrection, a child of the covenant of grace.

The word of God gives me life. It is worthy and does not return to You void, empty of power. Open my eyes to what is truly worthy, valuable, honorable, true, trustworthy, holy. (Philippians 4) Let me think on these things. Open what no one can shut and shut what no one can open. Break the barriers to the true riches of my inheritance in Christ with your rod of iron. Remove the thorns.

I run for the prize and fight for the crown. (1 Corinthians 9.23-27) The crown of pride I trample underfoot. (Isaiah 28.1) Blessings crown the head (Proverbs 10.6). The Lord of hosts will be for a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of His people, for a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. (Isaiah 28.5, 6) As I have loved His appearing, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day. (2 Timothy 4.8)

Blessed is the one who endures temptation: for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. (James 1.12) The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge. The evil will bow before the good, and the wicked at the gates of the righteous. (Proverbs 14.18, 19) What is my hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not the brethren in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For they are my glory and joy. (1 Thessalonians 2.19, 20) You meet me with the blessings of goodness; you set a crown of pure gold upon my head. (Psalm 21.3) [Pray entire Psalm 21 if possible.]

Let me be faithful unto death, that You may give me the crown of life. (Revelation 2.10) Let me shepherd the flock of God which is among my midst, serving not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to me, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, I will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. (1 Peter 5.2-4)

Lord Jesus, to You be glory and honor and dominion and praise. You are crowned with many crowns, King of kings and Lord of lords. I command the glory of the Lord to be revealed. I command the sons of Belial and the spirit of Belial to manifest and go where Jesus Christ tells it to go. I command light to shine into the darkness.

I declare that I am a son of God, clothed with the glory and honor and blessing of the Lord, clothed with the righteousness of Christ, clothed with humility. I am clothed with the garment of praise. My garment carries the fragrance of myrrh, aloes, and cassia. (Psalm 45) I carry the scepter of Jesus Christ, who rules with a rod of iron.

In the authority and in the anointing of a son of God by virtue of the Blood of Jesus Christ, His life and righteousness, I execute the judgment of the Word of God upon Belial. I command and declare Belial defeated in and around me, my life, my service to the Lord, my destiny in Christ, my relationships, my finances, my inheritance. Wherever Belial, its spirit or its sons, stand in the way of the blessing of God, I command you to remove yourself in Jesus’ Name and release the blessings being held up, robbed, hindered, or otherwise barred. Give them up. Do not hold back.

Father loose my inheritance and deliver me from any blindness, from words of worthlessness, hopeless ruin, outlandish accusations, murderous accusations, etc.

Grant me grace to hold fast what I have, that no one may take my crown. (Revelation 3.11)

I join in the new song of heaven: You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth…Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!…Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, forever and ever! (Revelation 5.9, 10; 12,13)

In Jesus’ Name, Amen and Amen.

See also Hosea 10; Job 30.8; Psalm 4; Psalm 36; Nahum 1; Jeremiah 12.13.