Andrew Whalen: Seek and Destroy - Dismantling Demonic Altars
Jan 15, 2026
[Editor's note: Below are the words and dreams that Andrew Whalen shared during his recent interview on ElijahStreams. We encourage our readers to consider them prayerfully and watch Andrew's interview here for full context.] Seek and Destroy On January 3, 2026, I was praying for more intel about 2026 and the times we are entering, and I heard the Lord say, "SEEK AND DESTROY." I immediately sensed it had to do with altars. Upon looking up the phrase "SEEK AND DESTROY" and wondering where it originated from, I found it is a military tactic largely originating in the Vietnam War that consists of sending military to search and destroy strategic enemy targets and forces. It is an aggressive tactic used to wipe out enemy strongholds. They use the phrase "Search and Destroy" or "Seek and Destroy" interchangeably. At its core, this is what the tactic involves: • Actively locating enemy forces (rather than waiting for battle) • Pursuing them • Eliminating their military capability, often decisively The emphasis is not on defensive warfare but on offensive pursuit. It reminds me of the Scriptures in the Bible that use similar language and tactics: "Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place." (Deuteronomy 12:2–3 BSB) "Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests second in rank, and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the host of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. "Josiah also did away with the idolatrous priests ordained by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem—those who had burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.
"And David inquired of the LORD: 'Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?' "'Pursue them,' the LORD replied, 'for you will surely overtake them and rescue the captives.'" (1 Samuel 30:8) There are a few things to glean from these passages. I asked the Lord, "What makes a people an enemy of God?" I heard, "The false gods and the altars that serve them." The altars give power to territories and spiritual strongholds. There are captives held by the power from altars. Altars and Portals I'm going to read the following excerpt from chapter 6 of Dr. Patti Amsden's book, Portals: Releasing the Power and Presence of God in the Earth, because I couldn't have said it any better: "Altars are the meeting place of two domains. They are the connecting points. They open the portals (GATES). A human 'Adam' stands at the earthly base. His purpose is to bring the power and the presence of another dimension into his mortal realm. A spiritual entity stands at the heavenly opening. The deity's purpose is to release his power and agenda into the affairs of earth. If the human agent is godly and the deity is the Lord, the altar blesses the earth by channeling things locked up in God's highest Heaven. If the human agent is ungodly and the deity is satanic, the altar curses the earth by channeling things contained within the demonically-structured heaven. Therefore, earth is blessed or cursed at altars; angels or demons are released at altars; the Creator or destroyer is empowered at altars. "Altars have attendants in both spheres. The agent who raised the earthly altar functions as a priest or gatekeeper to keep the portal open. The deity to whom the altar was dedicated becomes the supervising spirit or gatekeeper to the spirit's domain. The priest seeks to download something. When the altar is raised to the Lord, man wants the righteous ways of God and the glory of His Kingdom. When the altar is raised to another god, man wants to funnel supernatural power such as assistance in battle, the cooperation of elements for growing crops, knowledge of the unknown, or wealth and fame. In each case, the priest of the altar seeks to draw strength from the god. "The supervising spirit also has an agenda. Because the earth was originally granted to the authority of man (Ps. 8; 115:16), heavenly powers league with human agents for legal ground to access earth. God advances His Kingdom through His redeemed, and satan advances his kingdom through his representatives. Two kingdoms are in conflict. Two deities want man's authority. Two rival priesthoods service diversely opposing altars to facilitate the agendas of distinctly conflicting spirits. Because the priest and the supervising spirit both have agendas, altars become places where leagues are made. "An altar can be defined as follows: An altar is a place of spiritual power that is attended by an earthly priesthood who draws strength from the spirit that supervises the altar. Conversely, an altar is a place of spiritual power that is supervised by a spirit that releases other-worldly agendas through the altar's earthly priesthood.
"For example, Jacob did not know that his grandfather had raised an altar at Bethel; but when Jacob laid down to rest upon the land, he came under the power of the God to whom Abraham had dedicated the altar. "Conversely, when the priests of Israel allowed altars to satanic powers to be erected, the inhabitants departed from the law of God and practiced all manner of abomination. God had warned Israel about the land He promised to give to them. It was filled with idol worshipers. Israel was to destroy the altars that had been erected to the satanic deities so that the nation would not come under the power of demonic influence." New-Testament Warfare: Dismantling Demonic Altars For us, in the new covenant, the objective remains the same, but the destruction of an altar is far more spiritual than physical. Our weapons are not carnal but mighty through God to pull down strongholds! The New Testament gives several examples of spiritual altars that are confronted NOT by physical force, but through spiritual confrontation. Prayer, preaching the Gospel, repentance, prophecy, deliverance, and miracles are all aspects of New-Testament warfare against altars and demonic powers. The key factor in confronting altars is to understand our authority: Demonic altars are dismantled by the superior altar of Christ, where His blood was offered once for all—defeating death, Hell, and the grave! Paul preached at Ephesus in Acts 19, releasing tremendous signs, wonders, and miracles, demonstrating the superiority of the "altar" of His God in whom Christ stands as the victorious Lord! This spiritual confrontation brought souls to Christ, healed the sick, and delivered them from demons. They repented of their magic arts and witchcraft, and the eventual fallout was the demise of their economic and religious system. We can see from those tied to the altar in Ephesus how that spirit responded: "They were enraged and began shouting, 'Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!'" (Acts 19:28 BSB). Practically, WE should seek to be a corporate force of unity in Christ! If the altar is corporate (for a city, business, region, nation, etc.), then the warfare needs to be corporate. Don't fight alone. Get a team of prophetic intercessors and follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit with the authority of Christ's Word. Don't go beyond where and what God has sent you with His authority to do. Declaring Judgment Against the Altars in Peoria, Illinois Dream received in the early months of 2023: This dream was the first dream I'd had after the Lord called me to move back to Illinois, to the Peoria region. In the dream, I found myself walking onto the main bridge in Peoria, Illinois, over the Illinois River. As soon as I stood on the bridge, a portal opened and I prophetically announced, "This gate now belongs to me, in Jesus name." I then began to decree judgment against the altars all along the river that were fueling this gate with darkness and oppressing the region. Then I saw destruction come to the altars. End of dream. In real life, I didn't know that there were altars along the river, nor did I realize there was a spiritual gate that these altars were sending darkness through. I waited two years for God's clarity about doing what I saw in this dream... and finally, on October 5, 2025, I did it. A team of prophetic intercessors and apostolic leaders, including Jill Noble and Dr. Patti Amsden, went with me to the bridge and we did the dream. I spoke the very words I'd dreamed. We took authority over the gate and released judgment against the altars along the river.
That night, in real life, immediately after the gathering, the leader of a church called "Riverside"—situated downtown right near the riverside—was arrested for illegal and impure actions. In my spirit I heard, "This is the sign that the altars along the riverside are being dismantled and cleansed!" (Photo via StockCake) The next day a drought broke in the region, and the radar showed massive rainfall only along the river valley of our area! Seeking and Destroying the Altar in Chicago From this event that transpired on October 5, 2025, my friend from Missouri, Jill Noble, was led to help us orchestrate a "faith coalition" for Illinois and especially in an effort to pray for the upcoming governor's race. This led us to holding an event at Dr. Scott Reece's church in Moline, Illinois called "Illinois Elevate Your Sound" on January 6, 2026. One of the main themes of this event was to "search and destroy" the ancient altar that the occult and deep state—including Pritzker—in Chicago were drawing their power from, and to build a new altar upon it! Hundreds of intercessors, prophets, and apostles gathered to hear several leaders share about the state, and to hear Jill unpack a "deep dive" on a 4,000-year-old stone altar used for child sacrifice that was still being accessed by elites to empower the state abortion laws, and to channel power from darkness to the human counterparts. By faith we released judgment and destruction to this altar! We then built an altar of peace through the blood of Jesus Christ to speak a better word than the blood of Abel in the state of Illinois. I believe much has taken place that will be manifest in due season from this time! A Sign to Mark the Time: Breaking the Darkness and Releasing Heaven Dream received on December 30, 2025: In my dream, I saw that I was going to a swampy area near a college campus. In this swampy area, there was a building that I knew contained an altar of darkness which was fueling spiritual resistance against the Church and preventing the Kingdom of Heaven from breaking forth on many campuses of the United States. I knew the altar was satanic, and I was being assigned by the Lord to do a prophetic act of spiritual warfare at that site to break the altar and its power. In the dream, just prior to walking through the swamp to the building to do spiritual warfare, I prayed to the Lord and said, "God, I'm going to need a sign that this spiritual warfare has actually worked against the darkness." Then I heard the Lord say in my heart, "You pick the sign!" So I said, "When the smoke rises on the mountains of North and South Carolina, this will be the sign that the power of darkness holding back the outpouring of God's Spirit on the campuses of the United States is broken, and shall mark a time that campuses will be visited by Heaven!" End of Dream. In conclusion, I believe it time to seek and destroy! First seek God, get His wisdom and revelation, and search out where altars of darkness are intact. Then spiritually destroy those altars through Spirit-led strategies (repentance, obedience, prayer, faith, declaration, angelic employment, etc.).
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Andrew Whalen Andrew Whalen is an emerging leader and prophetic voice to a generation. He functions as a prophetic warrior to advance the Kingdom of God in all spheres of society. Andrew is uniquely called to raise up spiritual special forces, equipped to achieve spiritual breakthroughs against regional and national level, demonic resistance. Andrew and his wife Kelly have pioneered and led various ministry initiatives, while also engaging in the marketplace, for over fifteen years. In the last four years, they have served as core prophetic leaders with Lou Engle ministries. Today, Andrew and Kelly, along with their children, reside in Peoria, Illinois, where they lead VANQUISH – PROPHETIC WARRIORS, and are also working to establish an apostolic training center, The Unapologetic Dreamers. Andrew's heart burns to see a generation take hold of everything that Christ has provided for us through His victory.
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"He brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people." (2 Kings 23:4–6 BSB; see also verses 7–20) (Photo via Pexels)
"Man's authority and spirit's power converge at altars to control all that dwell in the sphere of influence of that priest and that supervising spirit. An altar can affect a family, a community, or a nation. The rank of the deity and degree of the covenant determine the parameters of the altar's influence. Whoever dwells under a portal created by an altar will come under the persuasion of the god to whom the altar was dedicated. (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
God said to us, "It's the right-time gate now." We poured salt into the river and spoke cleansing life. Then I threw my watch into the river at the prompting of the Lord and announced, "It is the right-time gate for the Kingdom of Heaven to advance in this city and region." We cemented that event with a regional "Roar" gathering of worship, prayer, and declaration.
