That Dismissive, You’re Not Supposed to Have It Spirit
- Staci Sweet
- Apr 18
- 8 min read
A couple of Fridays ago, I had an opportunity of watching a prayer conference. At the end of the conference, the host began to pray and lay hands, and while the attendees, who were predominantly white, fell out under the power of God. At the very end, there was a lone, Black woman who she called from the platform to pray for.
Not that she was the only Black person in attendance, but as a woman of color, you find yourself acutely aware of our presence, or lack thereof, even in spiritual spaces.
As she called her forward, I knew by the Spirit that this lone Black woman was standing proxy for us…Black women. Though the Word of the Lord was for HER, I knew that whatever was about to be spoken applied to me, and in the end, no matter your ethnicity, it will apply to you as well.
God is going to restore and catch up because there are some things behind.
Immediately, I knew this part of the Word was for Black women in general. She continued to say,
I’m speaking of the family unit and not just individually. There’s some things behind…but [God] is so skillful and it is not to be regretted. It’s not to be held in the thought of “I wish” but “Ah, we accelerate.”
Again, I knew this Word was for all who would believe. Then she said:
Theres something that you have wrought that God can make happen. Theres something in you that He is answering that….
There was more to the Word but it was at this point that the woman of God fell to the ground as the host continued with this:
“And that which should have been, to be.”
And this is where, for me, things took a turn because it was in that moment that an evil spirit revealed itself after the woman of God said,
“In the financial arena. In every arena.”
Again, it was in that moment that I knew I had to share this with you, my dear reader, because I believe that Word applied not just to her but for us all because it was also in that moment that that spirit made itself known…against her and against us, as women of color.
Now if you are not a person of color, I invite you to continue reading because your desire to stop reading is, in fact, what the spirit represents.
That spirit represents influence, and how that influence
affects how God’s people think.
For a more detailed teaching on spirits and how they influence thinking, emotions and behavior, be sure to get your copy of my book, Deep-Pression®: Toggling Between the Worlds of Mental Illness and Hyper Spirituality.
For the sake of this post, just know wrong spirits were in operation during the service, and before you go there, allow me to say that they were in operation during the Lord's Day as well. Mark 1:23-27 lets us know that Jesus experienced the same when it reads, ' 23 Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”
25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” 26 And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. 27 Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.”
Notice there was an unclean spirit IN THE SYNAGOGUE.
Now why would an unclean spirit be in the church of the day? For the same explicit reason, they are today – to influence God’s people but I digress. But again, this is in no way saying this applies to all of God’s people but just like the woman stood proxy for us, those in attendance were standing proxy for you. In the sense that when that spirit said she didn’t deserve that Word, in the process of your going about life, you too will be given an opportunity to think the same way about another Black woman, whether in person or online.
It was as if I saw those in attendance inadvertently come to a spiritual consensus of how they either thought or would think about women of color or things pertaining to the Black experience, in the future; and that if they were not careful, the consensus in that moment was that “She was not supposed to have that Word.”
And while I’m sure those present would say otherwise, they didn’t realize that they would be or had already been presented with opportunities to see her (us) through that lens. And not through the lens of racism, at least not in the way you may think.
It was through a lens of the times.
In the sense that since we live in a day where racism and the legal elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) abound, people of God, have inadvertently allowed the legality of its elimination cloud how they see and do life.
You see, there are those - in the church - who have no idea they are seeing life through that legal lens. And since they don’t, they have no idea of the impact, danger, and effect it is having on their day-to-day.
Meaning, if you are of a non-impacted persuasion, you mistakenly believe that you can simply watch and empathize with the disproportionate loss of employment, healthcare, economic regression, wealth gaps, sexual assaults, police brutality and voter suppression happening within the Black community. And while estimates say 300,000+ Black women are jobless, other reports cite that number could be close to 500,000. So, when the woman of God said that
“God is going to restore and catch up because some things are behind…in every arena”
For you to sit empathetically by thinking it will not affect you is actually wreaking havoc on your spirit.
And while it may compel you to vote differently in the upcoming election, could there already have been a little of “She’s-not-supposed-to-have-it” spirit with your last vote? #ijs
Either way, as a child of the One True God who has a multiple of colorful kids, for you to sit idly by watching the repeated, cruel and brutal attacks on your Black brothers and sisters in Christ is playing a toll on YOUR soul. How, might you ask?
Because your empathy has not led you to not just educate yourself on the plight of Blacks but educate yourself on what the Word says about diversity, equity and inclusion.
But what does this have to do with you and the lone Black woman? Everything and here’s why. That spirit has (or will) influence you to think:
“She (Black women) are not supposed to have things restored. She (Black women) are not supposed to be able to catch up. She (Black women) should not be allowed to catch up financially or in any arena.”
And while you may think this only applies to MAGA, this way of thinking is alive and well in the church today.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was both a prophet and a civil rights leader said,
"11:00 on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America.”
Why is that?
When you look at your church, why is it predominantly Black or predominantly White? An even bigger question is if it is, should Blacks be excluded from prophecy, the Holy Spirit, salvation or equality…inside and outside the church?
Again, as soon as the woman of God fell to the ground, I saw – by the Spirit - how good white people were being influenced to think that she didn’t deserve that.
That what? That being the Word.
In that moment these seemingly Spirit-filled, tongue-talking, Bible-reading, conference attending white people were being influenced to think that she didn’t deserve that, nor was she SUPPOSED TO HAVE IT.
IT what?
It could be anything good, or worse, anything FROM GOD.
Believe it or not, those good white folk would later be influenced to apply that way of thinking in their respective places, spaces, and/or lives.
So how can that way of thinking be avoided?
By educating themself or yourself on what the Word says about diversity, equity and inclusion.
As a Black woman, I had to do the same. I could no longer rely on what others said the Bible said, I had to seek God for myself and ask Him hard questions like:
As a Black woman, was my plight in life to be treated with contempt?
Did He sanction slavery? And...
What does His Word say about the treatment of Blacks, the Indigenous, and immigrants?
I had to get in the Word for myself because it had gotten to the point where I began to question my own faith because, as a woman of color, I too had been (and continue to be) faced with that “She’s-not-supposed-to-have-it” mentality on the job, in church, and in life which is why I encourage you to conduct your own bit of research. If you need a little help to get started, feel free to download your copy of my book The Elephant in the Room: Hard Conversations About Faith and Race here.
Because again, the only reason I was able to see that spirit in operation is because I had done my own spirit-led due diligence and sought the Scriptures for myself. Prayerfully, you will too.
I would be remiss in not giving you the whole vision.
The other thing I saw was dismissiveness.
After the woman of God laid there on the altar, dismissiveness was also present.
Dismissiveness in the sense that though she lie there basking in the prophecy, there were other spirits present that would influence some to talk her out of, rob or take from her later on.
Her, representing Black women.
It was if, because she had received something, that spirit was like, “We can influence others to steal the Word later on.”
This is important because this has been, for lack of a better Word, America’s stance for our people. In the sense that we have been given opportunities, only for them to later be eliminated with the stroke of a pen.
This is a tactic of the enemy.
Give it to us.
Put us in a position.
Give us what we need, and some instances, what we want, only to later take it from us.
This is where we come in.
As a people, we have to realize that the enemy of our souls gave us things we should never have accepted it. Whether it be opportunities, access, place, position or right. It was given by the enemy which is why it was stripped, taken, or banned.
That which is given by God cannot be taken.
What God is saying to us is that…
He will give us God-given opportunities. God-given access. God-given places. God-given positions, and God-given rights.
This is something that we, as the body, need to know. Because it is for this reason that the enemy can influence our white brethren into thinking we are not supposed to have and dismiss someone created by God and why we, as a people, have allowed the enemy to take from us because we have not realized that what which is God-given cannot be stripped.
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