Years ago, trying to get to know a couple better, I asked them how they met. Smiling, the wife told me, “He was a leader in my youth group. I fell in love with him from the day we met and that day, I began to pray for him to fall in love with me. After a year, God heard my prayer, and finally, he noticed me”. Not knowing what to say to them, I said, "That's great" and changed the subject.
All that day I felt guilty for not having the courage to teach them about spiritual witchcraft. Children of God, one of the most valuable gifts that God has given us is our free will. God does not force us to do anything against our will. We are even free to choose life by accepting the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, or death by rejecting it. If God, our Creator, does not take away anyone's right to choose, who are we to do so?
We pray spiritual witchcraft, asking God to convince people to do what we want. God does not answer those prayers. He does not manipulate anyone. The Bible tells us in 1 John 5:14 that the confidence we have in approaching God, is that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. The only prayers that God hears are those according to His will. Satan, on the other hand, loves to manipulate people and the last thing we want is to give room to the devil by being selfish.
As children of God, we can ask our Heavenly Father to correct the steps of someone who is heading towards perdition, because God does not want anyone to be lost. We can pray that God guides our loved ones because in doing so we are praying for His will. We can even ask God for favor with people but never pray against anyone's will. Aside from being carnal, it is a waste of time.
Manipulating people is a sin, even if what we want is to manipulate them for good. Praying against a person's will is selfish. If you have ever prayed spiritual witchcraft, repent. You probably had good intentions but praying for someone to do something against their will, even if it is something you considered good goes against God's will. Do not do it!
Insightful, thank you for sharing.