Are you praying or practicing magic?

S: Acts 19:11-20

God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles. When handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled.

A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered.

The story of what happened spread quickly all through Ephesus, to Jews and Greeks alike. A solemn fear descended on the city, and the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honoured. Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices. A number of them who had been practicing sorcery brought their incantation books and burned them at a public bonfire. The value of the books was several million dollars. So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect.

O: The magicians thought that “Jesus” was a magic incantation, and all they had to do was to repeat the right words for it to be efficacious. But that’s not what’s going on here at all.

The sound of “Jesus” is irrelevant. In English, it’s “Jesus”. In Greek, it’s Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous). In Malay, it’s Yesus or Isa. In Hokkien, it’s Iaso. In Cantonese, it’s Yesou. In Tamil, it’s இயேசு (Iyesu). In Spanish, it’s Jesus (pronounced Haysoos). In French, it’s Jésus (pronounced Zhesoo). The original Hebrew is יֵשׁוּעַ (Yeshua).

None of this matters when dealing with the power of God. It’s the intent and relationship with Him that matters. It’s whether you’re filled with the Holy Spirit. It’s whether you’re walking in His ways and obeying God. That’s when you’re covered by the blood of the lamb.

Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world, as it says in 1 John 4:4. This is why the demons flee. This is why you can walk through the valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil (Psalm 23:4). That’s why no weapon can stand against you. (Isaiah 54:17)† That’s why neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:39).

The Ephesians who trusted Jesus showed that they no longer trusted in their magic incantations by burning their expensive sorcery books! That shows how much they believed.

A: So let us not think that particular words or prayers will have some magical outcome. No number of “our Fathers” or “commanding prayers” or making sure to say “in Jesus’ name” or any other formula will guarantee success. ‡ Prayer is not an incantation. Faith is not a magical technique. Jesus is not a supernatural password.

Instead, we need to take up our cross daily and follow Him! (Luke 9:23) Live every day walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). That means to live in continual dependence on the Holy Spirit rather than being directed by self, sinful desires, fear, pride, or circumstances. It is a daily pattern of surrender and obedience. Let us put on the whole armour of God daily (Ephesians 6:10-18). Let’s submit ourselves to God and resist the devil – then he will flee from us (James 4:7). Then we will not have to live in constant fear of evil spirits, etc.

P: Father, I do not always walk in the Spirit. I give in to temptation, stray from Your ways. Fortunately, I always end up repenting and coming back. But help me to always submit to You, to always flee temptation, to always resist the devil, to always show Your love to the people around me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

† Isaiah 54:17 does not promise that no weapon will ever be formed or that believers will never be harmed. It promises that no weapon formed against God’s servants can finally succeed, because the Lord Himself is sovereign over every power, vindicates His people, and has secured their ultimate salvation. Therefore, we can walk in confidence: enemies may kill the body, but they cannot take away the eternal life Christ has secured for those who belong to Him. (Matthew 10:28)

‡ I am not saying that we should not pray the “Our Father”, end your prayers with “in the name of Jesus”, use commanding prayers, etc. These practices are not wrong in themselves. My point is that they are not magic incantations. Their value lies not in the words themselves, but in the faith and relationship with Christ that they express.

Note: I wrote this myself, but there has been some editing and suggestions from 2 AIs. The header picture is also an AI-generated picture from something I came up with but was not satisfied with the aesthetics of the results.