Prevent scriptures turning up, in a strange sense (5)
I believe the answer is:
estop
'prevent' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'scriptures turning up in a strange sense' is the wordplay.
'scriptures' becomes 'ot' (Old Testament).
'turning up' says the letters should be written backwards.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'a strange sense' becomes 'esp' (extrasensory perception).
'ot' written backwards gives 'to'.
'to' placed within 'esp' is 'ESTOP'.
(Other definitions for estop that I've seen before include "Legally check" , "Legally hinder removal" , "lawyer's bar" , "Bar, for a lawyer" , "Legally prevent" .)