How will you call yourself a child of G.o.d, yet, work like an elephant but eat like an ant? How can you struggle through life yet, have nothing worthwhile to show for it?In Exodus 14 when the Israelites cried to Moses, Moses prayed to G.o.d but interestingly, G.o.d told Moses not to pray but to act. G.o.d told Moses to do what he could do based on the authority that had been given to him. The same rod that Moses had which was used to mystify Pharaoh in Egypt is enough to part the Red Sea.
Don"t ask G.o.d to do what He has already given you power to do. The reason for failure in the life of many is that they keep waiting for G.o.d to do what they ought to do. Apart from praying to G.o.d, you must also do your part. Believers have the authority to command but many are not using their authority. Many believers are not commanding, rather, they are only praying to G.o.d as if G.o.d is responsible for their woes. G.o.d has given you a mandate on earth to rule and reign; He has given you dominion, so use your right in Christ.
Prayer is good but don"t pray when you should use spiritual authority. When there is fire outbreak, I"m sure n.o.body will kneel down to pray but will look for a way to quench the fire. There is time to pray and there be a time to rise up to quench the fire of the enemy. Many are praying to G.o.d to do something about their enemies when G.o.d has already given them the authority.
Have you seen a policeman phoning the Commissioner of Police to ask whether he can shoot a criminal? He would not do that because he already has the authority under law. Do you know that even the devil understands authority? Use your authority in the name of the One that authorized you and the devil will obey you. Rise up after a bad dream and take authority over every demonic operation. Don"t allow the enemy to have his way; let G.o.d be real in your life and G.o.d will be glorified in your life.
Behold I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Luke 10:19
The beauty of the authority of believers lies in the fact that our authority is not limited to the devil alone; it is also applicable to all spheres of life. So begin to use it today instead of praying. Use the above scripture against the devil and you can be sure he cannot resist it.
There is no other name given to man that conquers the devil other than the name of Jesus. When G.o.d gave Adam the authority to name animals, Adam didn"t go back to G.o.d to ask if he gave the appropriate name to any of the animals. The beauty of Christianity is that G.o.d will approve what you are doing, so do your part. Many times, we ask the Lord to deal with things in our lives which He already gave us authority to do but it shouldn"t be so.
While undergoing my PhD programme, I had an encounter with a Christian sister who was constantly under the attack of the devil and it persisted for quite some time because of her ignorance. In the morning, the sister would wake up to find her legs on the pillow; demons turned her upside down. The sister was more worried because she was already getting prepared for marriage; but which man would tolerate seeing his wife turned upside down every morning? She wished she could control it, but she couldn"t. She claimed she had fasted and prayed but when the attack continued, she a.s.sumed it was the lady with whom she shared her room that was responsible for the attack; she thought the lady must have been a witch.
That is the danger of ignorance; when you can"t solve a problem, you ignorantly turn to someone you can see as being responsible for whatever you are going through. I told her she was doing the right thing at the wrong time; applying the wrong method to her challenge. I asked her, "Why are you praying to G.o.d? Is G.o.d responsible for your predicament? As a believer, you are supposed to take authority over the demon responsible, not praying to G.o.d."
So when I got to her room I simply took authority over the demon turning her upside down. To the sister, the prayer sounded too simple to be effective so she didn"t take it so serious until she woke up the following morning to see her head on the pillow; not her legs, for the first time after a long time.
Believing the lies of the devil is tantamount to giving him a chance. Whatever you believe, whether wrongly or rightly, it works. There are things people have believed in the past and it has worked for them; negatively though. It is not because the devil has power but because there is a power in your belief. Believing wrong things is called the stronghold of the enemy. Stronghold starts from your imagination; if you are able to deal with it there, then you can succeed. So, don"t believe wrong things.
It is true G.o.d speaks to us in dreams but it is not all dreams that come from G.o.d; there are demons that appear like angels of light. When you have a dream that negates the word of G.o.d, it cannot be from G.o.d because G.o.d can never violate His word under any circ.u.mstance. Therefore, don"t promote your dream above the word of G.o.d. Don"t allow confusion around your life; stand against every satanic messenger parading themselves as angels of light and don"t believe in error.
And no marvel; for satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
II Cor. 11:14
It is a pity some who claims to be believers still believe every dream; so when they dream of their mother who died several years ago, they believe and even write down whatever they hear the dead say. That image you saw in your dream couldn"t have been your mother; it must have been a familiar spirit from the family. Don"t give room for the angel of the devil to come to you as angel of light to deceive you.