15
the miraculous. The bait has become the focus. As he affirms the statement, "We, the
Pentecostals, can cure your mother."
60
Wagners Christians are constantly oppressed, possessed, and tormented by demons. One
example among many is Phyllis, wife of a doctoral student at Fuller who had spent several
months in India. After Wagner failed to heal Phyllis of an ulcer his wife, Doris [who has the gift
of exorcism], "gently but firmly pushed me to one side. The Spirit of God had indicated to her
that she was to take a different approach. She told Phyllis to look into her eyes and almost
instantly she locked horns in the unseen world with a demonic spirit that she knew Phyllis had
picked up through a curse while in India."
61
A similar incident is related in Warfare Prayer:
God told them [two intercessors] that Juana Fransiscol's attack was due to the invasion of a
voodoo spirit. Philippine voodoo had been spoken against the group and God had pulled
back the protection enough to let the afflicting spirit reach the intercessor, much as He had
allowed the enemy access to Job.
62
Wagner shows admiration for modern day power encounter practitioners while revealing his
rather low esteem for Paul when Wagner deals with his current interest, demons, and their effect
on Paul in Athens:
Then a funny thing happened to Paul in Athens. He deviated from his tried-and-true
evangelistic strategy . . . Why Paul accepted their [the territorial spirits] challenge to do this
is not clear, but it is not beyond reason to suspect that some sort of powerful and perverse
spiritual influence might have been at work.
63
60
Ibid., 128.
61
Wagner, Prayer Shield, 45.
62
C. Peter Wagner. Warfare Prayer: How to Seek God's Power and Protection in the
Battle to Build His Kingdom (Ventura: Regal Books, 1992), 43.
63
Wagner, Confronting the Powers, 206-07. Wagner counts Pauls time in Athens as a
failure without explanation. However, Acts 17:32-34 relates that some mocked, some were ready
to hear more, and some joined with Paul and believed. This does not appear to be a failure.