Demons and the believer

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by Esaias

They did NOT pray against demonic spirits,

Correct, they commanded them, that they would depart from those who were being afflicted.

they did NOT "bind the territorial spirits controlling Jerusalem",

The hind of territorial spirits comes from Daniel, where the Prince (Principality) of Persia resisted the angel Gabriel. Why would a demonic spirit be associated with a given nation if it didn't have authority within that territory? So, we have the source of this understanding. Now, some things should be said about this. First, the Bible doesn't give us any example of believers confronting territorial spirits. In Daniel, the confrontation took place among the angels as a result of human prayer. So, at the very most, if one suspects or has discerned that a "territorial spirit" is involved, I could only see them looking at the story in Daniel and praying for similar assistance from the holy angels.

they did NOT "loose the power of God",

They understood the power they had, we often don't. All that the early church did was through the power of God. When one prays in a manner that looses the power of God enough, it will become automatic, as it was in the early church. This is only a temporary innovation to elevate faith to where it needs to be focused, instead of pleading for a miracle to come down, we pray, using the power God gave us through the Holy Ghost.

Acts 1:8
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Acts 3:12
And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?

Acts 4:33
And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

Acts 6:8
And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

Acts 10:38
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

they did NOT sneak to the Temple at night and anoint it with holy (magic?) oil,

I believe that anointing with oil is primarily related to healing the sick. It was used for consecration in the OT, but I see nothing like that in the NT.

they did NOT "bind the devils whispering in the officials' ears",

It is common knowledge that spirits tempt, oppress, and torment individuals. Hearing voices, having impulses that one might assume are their own, hallucinations, etc. are often the work of evil spirits "whispering" (for lack of a better term) into the souls of their victims.

they did NOT say "we know it is evil spirits doing this to stop the Gospel, not flesh and blood, we love these guys, we want to invite them over for dinner, and meanwhile we BIND THE DEMONS AND FALLEN ANGELS OVER THIS CITY and we RELEASE these officials from being bound to them!"

Our manner of praying today is quite different from their own. This is primarily because we employ measures to bring us into the focus they had naturally. They knew and understood spiritual authority first hand. They'd just command spirits or make declarations and it be done. We can get there too once we begin to pray and work in that manner naturally. But until then, actually verbalizing the act of binding and loosing in relation to spiritual authority assists us with proper focus and faith.

A lot of the things you appear to take issue with are what I call the "training wheels" of the spiritual mechanics in play. For example, praying statements such as:

"I release the power of God to heal this man."

"I bind this unclean spirit and cast it out."

"I loose the blessing and favor of God into the life of this child of God."

These are just spiritual "training wheels", if you will. They are not necessary once one has matured into the fullness of the mind of Christ and understands how to use the power and authority that Christ has given us through the spoken word.