What if the promise of taking control of your life is leading you into captivity?
A horoscope offers a glimpse of tomorrow. A tarot reading promises clarity about a relationship. A ritual offers a way to make something happen. Different invitations, but each can appeal to a familiar desire: I want answers. I want certainty. I want the outcome to go my way.
Pew Research Center reports that 30% of U.S. adults consult astrology or horoscopes, tarot cards, or fortune tellers at least once a year. Most participants describe it as entertainment. Even so, the finding deserves our attention: these practices are familiar to a significant part of our culture.i
For followers of Jesus, the question reaches beyond how popular something has become. Where are we seeking direction? What are we trusting? And what happens when our desire to make things happen begins replacing our willingness to obey God?
Five Things You Will Learn
- Why the promise of control can be so appealing.
- How manipulation can enter ordinary relationships.
- Why a spiritual appearance does not establish a godly source.
- What the biblical account of Jezebel reveals about misused power.
- How to turn toward Jesus and begin walking in freedom.
The Promise That Pulls Us In
Uncertainty can make a shortcut attractive. Someone is worried about a marriage, a job, a child, or the future. An offer of hidden knowledge or spiritual influence suddenly feels personal. The invitation may sound empowering, but the source of that promised power matters.
In his conversation with Bryce Crawford, Jack Neel introduces two claims: roughly 30% of Americans consult astrology, tarot readers, or fortune tellers, and witchcraft is the fastest-growing religion among Gen Z women. Pew supports the first figure with its annual-participation measure; the second remains Neel’s attributed claim. The same Gen Z concern appears in his conversation with Rachel Wilson.ii,iii,iv
Crawford’s response brings the issue closer to the heart. He describes a hunger for the supernatural and the appeal of spells promising wealth or romance. He also points to social media as a place where these invitations reach people. His explanation moves beyond a headline about a generation to the question of what people are seeking.v
Crawford also contrasts manifestation aimed at controlling circumstances with trusting Jesus when we do not receive what we want. That is a question we all need to face: Am I seeking God Himself, or a spiritual means of getting my way?vi
God does not ask us to understand tomorrow before we follow Him today. Deuteronomy 18:9–14 warns against divination and occult practices. Those boundaries direct His people toward dependence on Him.
Control Can Walk Into the Living Room
The issue becomes uncomfortable when we bring it home. Have we ever used guilt to get our way? Made someone afraid to disagree? Shared selective information so others would turn against a person? Called something a prayer request when we were actually gathering support for our side?
These are questions worth asking ourselves before we examine anyone else. In my Zero Tolerance series, I address emotional manipulation and the pressure to surrender obedience to God in order to satisfy another person’s demands.
Rick Joyner addresses this directly in Creating a Clean Heart, Part 6. He warns against using prayer and private intrigue to manipulate people or dictate church decisions. The religious vocabulary does not change what the behavior is doing.vii
Love can speak firmly and establish boundaries. Manipulation seeks compliance through pressure or deception. We need to examine both our methods and our motives. Scripture focus: Ephesians 4:29–32.
A Spiritual Appearance Can Hide a Different Agenda
Someone can speak about spiritual things while drawing people away from obedience to Jesus. The test includes what is being taught, how people are treated, and whether the person welcomes truth and correction.
John Paul Jackson’s Unmasking the Jezebel Spirit is a resource for examining deception within the church. Its ministry description emphasizes exposing a spiritual snare that can damage God’s people. That concern invites careful discernment rather than fascination with spiritual labels.viii
Jesus directs us to examine fruit. Are people being helped to love Him, tell the truth, and obey His commands? Or are they being trained to fear a person, defend a personality, and keep quiet about wrongdoing? Scripture focus: Matthew 7:15–20.
Jezebel Shows What Happens When Desire Takes Over
In 1 Kings 21, Ahab wanted Naboth’s vineyard. Naboth refused to surrender his family inheritance. Jezebel arranged false accusations that led to Naboth’s death, and Ahab took possession of the vineyard.
The account shows desire joined to deception and misused authority. Someone else’s life became expendable so a ruler could have what he wanted.
In Zero Tolerance, I examine the biblical pattern of Jezebel and Ahab, the silencing of God’s messengers, and the need to resist that influence. Revelation 2:20–23 also warns the church at Thyatira about tolerating a teacher called Jezebel who led people into sin.
We must take those warnings seriously while dealing truthfully with people. A disagreement does not establish that someone has a Jezebel spirit. We should address identifiable conduct, test teaching against Scripture, and seek repentance and restoration.
Freedom Begins With Surrender
Francis Frangipane’s teaching, adapted from The Three Battlegrounds, emphasizes repentance, humility, prayer, and purity of heart in resisting Jezebel’s influence. These call us to let God search our own hearts.ix
Joyner also distinguishes authority that serves people in love from authority that uses fear to bind and control them. That distinction is useful in our homes, churches, and leadership.x
Begin honestly. Turn away from occult practices. Confess the ways you have tried to control people. Stop feeding gossip. Ask forgiveness where you have caused harm. Seek trustworthy Christian support, and learn to obey Jesus in the ordinary decisions of your life.
In Zero Tolerance, getting free and staying free includes repentance, forgiveness, and renewing our minds with truth. God’s kindness calls us to turn back to Him. Scripture focus: James 4:7–8; Romans 2:4; Romans 12:2.
You do not have to manufacture your future through fear or manipulation. You can entrust your life to Jesus and follow Him.
Explore Zero Tolerance
If this has stirred questions about spiritual deception, manipulation, or freedom, explore my teaching series Zero Tolerance for the Jezebel Spirit. Learn to recognize the biblical patterns, respond to God’s truth, and take practical steps toward getting free and staying free.
Find out more about Zero Tolerance for the Jezebel Spirit
May the Lord give you discernment, courage to obey Him, and the freedom to love others without needing to control them.
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Sources and Notes
i Pew Research Center, 30% of Americans Consult Astrology, Tarot Cards or Fortune Tellers, May 21, 2025. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/05/21/3-in-10-americans-consult-astrology-tarot-cards-or-fortune-tellers/ . Annual consultation by U.S. adults; this is not a Gen Z women percentage.
ii Pew Research Center, 30% of Americans Consult Astrology, Tarot Cards or Fortune Tellers, May 21, 2025. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/05/21/3-in-10-americans-consult-astrology-tarot-cards-or-fortune-tellers/ . Annual consultation by U.S. adults; this is not a Gen Z women percentage.
iii Jack Neel Podcast with Rachel Wilson, published transcript at The Singju Post. https://singjupost.com/jack-neel-podcast-rachel-wilson-on-why-women-are-so-unhappy-transcript/ . Secondary podcast transcript; the growth claim is attributed to Jack Neel.
iv Jack Neel Podcast with Bryce Crawford, video and Greg’s supplied transcript. https://youtu.be/ef1TYQQoq-c. Supplied transcript, 41:54–42:23, 43:41–46:15, and 46:39–48:30. The growth claim is attributed to Jack Neel.
v Jack Neel Podcast with Bryce Crawford, video and Greg’s supplied transcript. https://youtu.be/ef1TYQQoq-c . Supplied transcript, 41:54–42:23, 43:41–46:15, and 46:39–48:30. The growth claim is attributed to Jack Neel.
vi Jack Neel Podcast with Bryce Crawford, video and Greg’s supplied transcript. https://youtu.be/ef1TYQQoq-c . Supplied transcript, 41:54–42:23, 43:41–46:15, and 46:39–48:30. The growth claim is attributed to Jack Neel.
vii Rick Joyner, Creating a Clean Heart Part 6. https://msm.morningstarministries.org/publications/creating-clean-heart-part-6.
viii John Paul Jackson, Unmasking the Jezebel Spirit, Streams Ministries book description. https://streamsministries.com/product/unmasking-jz/ . Book description, not a quotation from the book.
ix Francis Frangipane, What the Spirit of Jezebel Hates, adapted from The Three Battlegrounds. https://frangipane.org/what-the-spirit-of-jezebel-hates-2/ .
x Rick Joyner, The Greatest Move of God Part 3. https://publications.morningstarministries.org/word-for-the-week/greatest-move-god-part-3.