Fighting the Toro: Report on Spain
Category: General Announcements, Prophetic Reports
I started praying that God would show me the time and way to bring up the rather complicated subject of teaching on spiritual mapping of how the kind of idolatry we uncovered brings curses on the land (Hosea 4:1-3).
As I went to the session the next morning, I felt to teach on overcoming the spirit of religion. I knew this was one of the principalities over the nation but did not know anything more specific than that, when suddenly, as I was teaching, the Holy Spirit revealed to me the name of the strongman that causes the church splits and many other problems in the church. His Name is the Spirit of Inquisition.
Most of you probably know about the Spanish Inquisition and that it went far beyond Spain in scope. Other nations in Latin America, such as Mexico, are affected by this spirit as well.
Unity is one of the most important spiritual principles—it releases the blessing of God and was the focus of the intercessory prayers of Jesus in John 17. This territorial strongman caused the death of many Jews as well many other people in Spain and elsewhere. One way in which this territorial spirit has manifested in more recent times was through the dictatorship of Franco in Spain. I have heard about him but did not realize how cruel he was as a leader. Around five years ago on my last trip to Spain, I told the leaders that they needed to have national reconciliation for this problem. In fact, the nation is quite stirred about it at this time, as there have been a number of programs on the television about Franco’s atrocities.
I felt that we needed to begin to unravel and diminish the rulership of this strongman through repentance and reconciliation. I taught on this subject and then explained how one can manifest a territorial spirit. The Spirit of Inquisition manifests through individuals shooting critical thoughts against their leaders. If the people are not careful, they will go a step further and become an Absalom and split the church. If the church members or pastors have any “holes in their armor” through bitterness, anger or a critical spirit, they are more susceptible to being influenced by this spirit.
It is difficult for me to calculate how many were in the room but I think it was over 300. This may seem small to you, but most churches in Spain have about 20-30 members. I prophesied, however, that they would have mega-churches in ten years. That reminded me of a prophecy that I gave for Turkey that they would have churches of that size one day. What is impossible to man is possible to God!
Out of the 300 people present, most were either Latin Americans or English speakers. The Spaniards were actually the smallest group there. I asked those who had lost a loved one during Franco’s regime to come forward. The stories of the twenty or so who made their way to the front were grimly the same - “Franco pulled my grandfather out of the house and shot him” and “My grandfather was feeding the poor and so he was shot.” Accounts of many other atrocities were also shared.
