It"s not wrong to continue to pray if you understand that G.o.d has already released His power. In the spirit realm, it"s complete. But you don"t want it to just stay in the spirit. You want it manifest in the physical. So you pray again, not doubting that G.o.d has already given, but to rebuke the devil. You pray to receive wisdom and revelation in case there"s something you must do. You pray to build up your faith and encourage yourself. Instead of just praying once and then trying to forget it, you"re aggressively releasing your faith to deal with any hindrance and draw the provision into the physical realm. realm.
Jesus confronted the hindrances head on. He didn"t doubt His Father"s faithfulness but doubted this man"s faithfulness-that the unbelief of this town was still hindering him from receiving. So He asked the man this question and saw that there was still some delay in the manifestation. Instead of just letting him go, Jesus kept ministering to him until he received the full healing. It"s much easier to keep something you"ve already got than to get something you don"t yet have.
So Jesus prayed for the man a second time. If Satan, unbelief, or whatever the hindrance is can withstand one dose of the Holy Ghost, shoot "em again! Just hit "em again with the same power. This time, those eyes received, and he saw every man clearly.
Then Jesus told him not to go into the town or tell it to anyone there. He instructed the man to go home, but where do you think he lived? This man may have had a job, family, and friends. Yet Jesus commanded him not to tell anybody or to go back into Bethsaida. That"s a pretty strict requirement! Why? Jesus knew that even though this man had received the manifestation of healing, he could still lose it if he immediately got back around all of that unbelief.
Retention of your healing isn"t automatically guaranteed. Jesus warned the man who"d been healed at the pool of Bethesda, "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee" (John 5:14). The devil comes "to steal, and to kill, and to destroy" (John 10:10). There"s nothing he"d like better than to take away your manifestation, kill your faith, and destroy your testimony. You must maintain your healing by faith. That"s why Jesus told the man not to go back into that unbelieving situation.
Jesus knew that G.o.d had healed this man completely. It was already done. But He recognized that there was a hindrance in getting it from the spiritual into the physical. So the Lord prayed with him a second time in order to get this man over that hindrance. Then He told him how to keep the healing he"d received.
I often encounter this same thing. People come to my meetings, and we help them manifest a healing. Then they go back into unbelieving churches and submit themselves to a teaching which is totally opposite what they receive from me. Their sickness or disease returns, and then they come back to me the next time I"m in town and ask, "What"s happened?" It"s not G.o.d who took the healing away or put sickness back on them. They quit believing. They didn"t have any root in themselves and so only endured for a season. (Mark 4:17.)
Cooperate & Command G.o.d has already done everything. You"re already blessed, healed, and prosperous. You already have joy, peace, and wisdom. Everything you could ever need is already there-in the spirit. All you need to do is believe and receive!
If you don"t see the manifestation immediately, don"t doubt that G.o.d has already done it. Recognize that He"s a Spirit and that He moves in the spirit realm. (John 4:24.) For what He"s done-what"s already true in the spirit-to manifest in the physical realm requires the cooperation of some physical human being. Faith is the bridge that G.o.d"s provision crosses over, out of the spirit and into the physical. Sometimes it takes us a period of time to build ourselves up in faith to the point where we can receive, but it doesn"t take G.o.d any time to be ready to give, because He"s already provided.
Sometimes it"s demonic opposition that hinders what G.o.d has already done from coming into manifestation. Sometimes other people are involved in our answers to prayer. Therefore, we must receive wisdom about how Satan is hindering so we can speak to the mountain and command it to be removed.
We need to learn and cooperate with the laws of G.o.d. You resist the devil. You speak directly to the problem. You exercise the authority and power G.o.d has given you. It"s important to direct your prayers properly in order to receive your desired results. G.o.d has already done it, but it"s your responsibility to believe and draw His provision into the natural realm. As soon as you can get yourself into faith and learn how to do this, you can manifest what G.o.d has already done.
Instead of being a beggar, a pleader, a whiner, and a griper, you"ll become a commander. You"ll believe what G.o.d has said He"s done, and you"ll take your authority and begin commanding it to manifest. Instead of just praying for healing, you"ll command healing. Instead of just praying for blessing, you"ll command blessing. That"s a huge difference!
Be a Bridge!
You need to understand that there"s a real spiritual world. Through the window of G.o.d"s Word, you can see and accurately perceive the spirit realm. As you discover and meditate on what other people did and what was going on behind the scenes, you can be confident that the same thing is going on around you today. Even though you can"t see it or feel it with your physical senses, you can perceive it with the eyes of your heart.
Renew your mind to G.o.d"s Word, and allow yourself to become a bridge that He can flow through from the spiritual realm into this physical world!
CHAPTER 13.
The Battlefield.
[image]4:24.) Everything G.o.d has provided-by grace-is already a reality in the spiritual realm. But whether or not they ever manifest themselves in the physical realm depends on our ability to receive-not G.o.d"s giving.
There are things we can do to shorten the manifestation time. There are also things we can do to delay it. Dealing with the devil and overcoming his hindrances to the manifestation of what G.o.d has already provided is popularly called "spiritual warfare." Since there has been such a large emphasis on this in recent times, these next few chapters may possibly be the most controversial of this entire book.
Spiritual Warfare Satan does exist. There is evil in this world. Demonic forces are fighting against G.o.d and His kingdom. Prior to the last couple of decades, most of the Body of Christ had been very ignorant of Satan"s devices. Many believed that all the devils were over in Africa or some other undeveloped part of the world. But they didn"t believe that any of the western, developed, "civilized" countries had any such thing as demonic activity. In the past twenty-plus years, that notion has been thoroughly shattered, especially among charismatic Christians. There still may be some evangelicals and mainline denominational folks who are unaware, but not very many.
Anyone who truly believes the Word of G.o.d has to acknowledge that Satan is a real foe. The devil tempted Jesus and opposed Him during His entire ministry. The Bible records many instances where the Lord healed people by casting out demons.
"G.o.d 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 G.o.d was with him" (Acts 10:38).
G.o.d"s Word is very clear that sickness and disease are oppressions from the devil.
Overall, it"s been good for Christians to recognize the fact that Satan exists and his demonic powers are active today. However, in the process, much of the Body of Christ has swung from ignorance to a very weird extreme. That"s why many "spiritual warfare" teachings and practices today actually credit the devil with abilities and powers he doesn"t really have.
Satan is a factor. He does hinder what G.o.d has already done in the spiritual realm from manifesting in the physical realm. It is important to learn how to resist the devil and take authority over him. But I want to make it crystal clear that Satan is a defeated foe! The only reason he"s able to do anything is because of our own ignorance, unbelief, and fear. Although the Body of Christ today has come to an awareness of the devil"s existence, they have remained, for the most part, functionally ignorant of Satan"s true devices. (2 Cor. 2:11.)
Between Your Ears Again, the book of Ephesians was written from the standpoint that everything has already been done. It"s just a matter now of possessing what G.o.d has already provided, not trying to get Him to give us something new. With this in mind, let"s look at how Paul winds this letter down in the last chapter.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of G.o.d, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against princ.i.p.alities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of G.o.d, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against princ.i.p.alities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.Ephesians 6:10-12 6:10-12 These verses make it very clear that we"re in a battle-and those who don"t believe it are destined to lose!
However, the battle is between your ears! It"s not out there somewhere in the "heavenly places." It"s in your mind.
Now, before you take offense, I encourage you to go ahead and fully read what I"m saying. See the scriptures for yourself, and then draw your conclusions from the Word, not just current teaching and popular examples being promoted in the Body of Christ today.
We are in a battle, but it"s not out there in the heavenly places. We are fighting demonic powers-and they do exist in heavenly places-but the battlefield (place of engagement) is your mind.
Deception & Lies
Notice verse 11: "Put on the whole armour of G.o.d, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
Wiles are lies, cunningness, and craftinesss. All of these words imply that Satan"s only power is deception. He doesn"t have actual power of his own to force anyone to do anything. We must surrender ourselves to him first. Therefore, the devil is really a non-factor to those who know and understand the truth.
I"ll be establishing this in many other scriptures, but allow me to make some additional statements first. Again, I challenge you to follow through until I get to the verses that verify these things. Don"t just set this book aside because it"s contrary to "popular theology" today. As a believer in Christ, you need to understand the truth!
Satan is an absolutely defeated foe! He has zero power to do anything. All he can do is deceive you through wiles, cunningness, craftiness, and lies, and then use the very power you surrender to him against you. That"s why ignorance is so expensive! The devil"s goal is to keep you ignorant of the truth and believing his lies.
After soundly rebuking the Corinthians for falling into all kinds of weird things, Paul confided: "I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled beguiled Eve through his Eve through his subtilty, subtilty, so your minds should be so your minds should be corrupted corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Cor. from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Cor. 11:3, emphasis mine). 11:3, emphasis mine).
Notice all the words denoting deceptive practices: "beguiled," "subtlety," and "corrupted." Satan comes against us by corrupting our minds from the simplicity that"s in Christ. In other words, he tries to make us think that the Gospel is harder than it really is.
Tempted In Genesis, why didn"t the devil choose a tiger? He could have intimidated Eve with a roar or two. Why didn"t he have a wooly mammoth just stick its foot on top of her head and demand, "Eat this fruit or I"ll crush your skull"? Why did Satan choose the serpent-the craftiest animal on the face of the earth-to come against Eve? Because the devil knew he had absolutely no power to force or intimidate Adam or Eve into anything. He had to deceive them instead! (Gen. 3:1.) 3:1.) Satan started the deception by asking, "Has G.o.d really said...?" (Gen. 3:1). He challenged the Word of G.o.d. It"s the truth of G.o.d"s Word that enables us to seek G.o.d, yield to Him, and resist the devil. If Satan hadn"t challenged the Word and gotten them to question and second-guess it, his temptation would"ve gone nowhere. The serpent didn"t come to force or intimidate, but to deceive. (My teaching ent.i.tled 3:1). He challenged the Word of G.o.d. It"s the truth of G.o.d"s Word that enables us to seek G.o.d, yield to Him, and resist the devil. If Satan hadn"t challenged the Word and gotten them to question and second-guess it, his temptation would"ve gone nowhere. The serpent didn"t come to force or intimidate, but to deceive. (My teaching ent.i.tled Christian Philosophy Christian Philosophy goes into much more detail on this subject. It"s basically an in-depth study of Genesis goes into much more detail on this subject. It"s basically an in-depth study of Genesis 3.) 3.) Satan tempted Adam and Eve with something they already had. He asked, "Don"t you want to be like G.o.d?" The truth was, they were already like Him. In fact, they were more like G.o.d before they ate of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil than they were afterwards.
The devil says, "Oh sure, G.o.d loves the world. But what makes you think He loves you?" Then he gets you into feeling and trying in some physical, natural way to discern whether or not G.o.d loves you. There you are on the devil"s turf in the physical realm not understanding from G.o.d"s Word that in the spiritual realm, it"s already done. Because you don"t feel loved, and you don"t have any goose b.u.mps, you pray, "O G.o.d, please pour out Your love in my life," which is actually a prayer of unbelief!
Satan loves to hinder people from coming to the Lord, but his only "power" is deception and lies. The devil can"t keep you from doing anything. If he could, he would have kept you from being born again. You were at your worst and your weakest. You hadn"t been going to church, fasting, praying, studying the Word, t.i.thing, or living right. You might even have been an adulterer, a dope addict, mean, selfish, etc. Yet in that dismal state, you called out and received the greatest miracle of all-the new birth. If Satan were really as powerful as he claims to be, then he would have kept you from receiving salvation. Instead, all he can do is taunt you immediately afterwards, saying, "You didn"t get it, you didn"t get it!" He can"t stop you from doing anything! Satan can"t do anything to you without your consent and cooperation.
The devil would rather you not be born again, but now that you"re saved, the next best thing is to persuade you to say, "Oh sure, G.o.d can do these things, but He hasn"t done them yet." Satan loves that!
Don"t Fall on Your Can! Fall on Your Can!
I remember playing tug-of-war as a kid. There"d be two teams pulling on opposite ends of a long rope over a large mud hole. As a boy, my team and I tried our best to pull the other side into the mud. However, if we saw them winning-and that mud pit drawing nearer-we"d just let go of the rope. We might not have won, but at least the other team fell on their cans doing it!
Satan does the same thing today. If he can"t prevent you from winning, he"ll shift gears to catch you off guard and make you fall down on your can! Basically, he comes to believers and says, "If you"re really such a great Christian, why don"t you have this and do that?" The devil will condemn you over what you don"t have and try to keep you focused on just the physical realm.
But the truth is, in the spirit, you already have everything. The key to seeing what you have in the spirit manifest in your life is believing and acknowledging it.
"That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus" (Philem. 1:6).
The way you get your faith to work is by starting to acknowledge the good things in you in Christ!
However, most Christians say, "There isn"t any good thing in me!" and point to Romans 7.
"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) my flesh,) dwelleth dwelleth no good thing" (Rom. 7:18, emphasis mine). no good thing" (Rom. 7:18, emphasis mine).
You need to understand the parentheses to properly interpret this verse. This wouldn"t have been a true statement had Paul left out "that is, in my flesh," because in him dwelt G.o.d Himself-and everything G.o.d is and had given him-which is good. But Paul specified his flesh-his physical, carnal, natural, not born-again self. It"s fine for a Christian to understand that in their flesh-apart from Christ-they are nothing. But in Christ, they can do all things and much good dwells within. To live in victory, you need to be focused on who you are in Christ!
Satan aims his warfare here. He specifically targets your understanding and acknowledging of who you are and what you have in Christ. All he has are lies and deception. The devil doesn"t have any more power to make you fail in any area of your life than he had to make Adam and Eve fail. He has to deceive you.
Complete in Christ If you were the devil trying to deceive Adam and Eve, how would you do it? They"d never sinned, never had any kind of problems, and lived in paradise with plenty of food. Basically, they were perfect people living perfect lives in a perfect place. How do you tempt someone like that?
He couldn"t tempt them with money-there wasn"t such a thing. Every need was abundantly supplied. He couldn"t tempt them with adultery; there wasn"t anyone else to commit adultery with. He couldn"t tempt them with hurt, pain, and bitterness over past experiences; there was nothing in them that depression or discouragement could latch on to. Perfect people living in a perfect place couldn"t be tempted by money, s.e.x, power, glory, etc. What could they be tempted with?
Satan lied to them by saying, "You don"t have it all. As good as this is, there"s more!" The truth is, they did have it all. But the devil enticed them to speculate about what might be, what could be. Through that, he caused perfect people living perfect lives in a perfect place to fall.
Adam and Eve threw it all away because a talking snake convinced them that they didn"t have enough. Most people today would give anything to live in such a perfect situation. If you could convince perfect people living in paradise with no physical problems whatsoever to think they didn"t have it all, to doubt G.o.d"s Word, and to question His goodness, then I guarantee you can convince people living in a fallen world who can look in any direction and see pain, tragedy, lack, and need that they don"t have it all.
But the truth is, if you"ve been born again, you do have everything. You are complete in Christ. (Col. 2:10.) Everything you"ll ever need has already been given to you. You"re not standing and fighting against some demonic ent.i.ty with superior power and authority. Instead, all you"re doing is combating his lies and deceptions-the same ones he used on Adam and Eve. (My teaching The Believer"s Authority The Believer"s Authority goes into much more detail on this.) goes into much more detail on this.)
Processes of Your Mind The battle against the devil is waged in your thoughts. That"s why G.o.d"s Word is so essential! Satan"s only power is deception.
He lies and represents himself as more powerful than he is. But truth is the antidote to deception.
"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32).
If you know the truth, the truth will set you free.For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through G.o.d to the pulling down of strong holds;) strong holds;) Casting down Casting down imaginations, imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge knowledge of G.o.d, and bringing into captivity every of G.o.d, and bringing into captivity every thought thought to the obedience of Christ. to the obedience of Christ.2 Corinthians 10:3-5, emphasis mine Corinthians 10:3-5, emphasis mine Notice how our warfare is against thoughts, imaginations, strongholds, and knowledge that comes against the Word of G.o.d. These are all processes of your mind.
Satan is powerless unless you believe his lies and fall into his deception. Most Christians believe the devil has tremendous power and authority, much more than we do as physical human beings. That"s simply not true. Satan is a defeated foe. Although he"s been beaten, he walks about "as a roaring lion...seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). The devil isn"t a true lion; he just walks around roaring like one trying to intimidate the Body Body of Christ. But the truth is, he"s had his teeth pulled, and all he can do now is gum you. Apart from the power you give him through believing his lies, Satan can"t steal anything from you. He uses ignorance, fear, and unbelief to oppress and destroy. of Christ. But the truth is, he"s had his teeth pulled, and all he can do now is gum you. Apart from the power you give him through believing his lies, Satan can"t steal anything from you. He uses ignorance, fear, and unbelief to oppress and destroy.
CHAPTER 14.
Delivered!
The devil is a factor, but not because he"s superior in power and authority. He deceives people, and they yield to him through fear. This is what actually empowers him. Satan takes a person"s own fear and uses it against them to eat their lunch and pop the bag!
My awareness of the spiritual realm increased dramatically in 1968 when I first became really turned on to the Lord. I not only realized that G.o.d was alive and well but also that many things happening in this world were caused by demons. The denomination I was raised in believed that all the devils were over in Africa. They didn"t think there were such things as "demons" here in America. It was a non-issue. It wasn"t even practical to talk about it! But as I started reading the Word, this truth just jumped out at me. The Holy Spirit showed me that many problems-especially sickness, disease, and emotional problems-were demonic in origin. So I started praying for people and seeing them delivered!
We didn"t know very much, but G.o.d did some awesome things. We saw addicts come off of drugs instantly with no withdrawal. We also saw h.o.m.os.e.xuals completely set free. Although we experienced some great successes, we were still quite ignorant of Satan"s devices. We knew there was warfare, but we didn"t know exactly how it worked. It was as if we were fighting the devil with our eyes closed, just flailing in the air. Then, every once in a while, we"d actually hit him and see some awesome victories.
Mistakes But there were some bad things that came out of this too. I read a book on deliverance by a fellow who focused almost exclusively on this aspect of ministry. I mentioned his name once in a meeting, and a lady came up to me afterwards who had been a member of his church for several years. She told me that while she attended there, the devil just destroyed both her and her family. Based on her personal knowledge of how this man and his ministry were plagued by demonic powers, she encouraged me that what I was sharing from the Word about Satan is true.
We read this man"s book out of sheer desperation, trying to figure out deliverance. He taught that you had to see some physical manifestation-like vomiting-whenever someone got delivered. You also had to talk to the demons and ask them their names. Then, once you found out the "strongman," you had to cast them into a certain place. You couldn"t just cast them out; you had to tell them where to go! He also said that you couldn"t do it by yourself; there always had to be at least two people present to minister because the demons could overcome just one, and there were all these other things that really had no scriptural precedent. They were just this man"s personal example. I"m not saying he"s of the devil, just that he made some mistakes.
I"ve made some mistakes ministering deliverance too! Many of them were based on the information we received from reading this book. We used to counsel people for three weeks in order to "prep" them for deliverance. Some people still require that today! I know someone here in Colorado Springs who went for deliverance and had to fill out a five-page form. He had to make an appointment and wait forty-five days in order to go and be set free of demons. That"s absolutely foolish! Jesus never made people fill out any forms. Neither did He require them to wait for ministry a whole month and a half. I"m not condemning anyone, because I used to do it that way too. However, since then I"ve found better ways to cast out demons.
s.p.a.ced Out!
My friends and I were fringe Baptists when I saw my first demonic manifestation and knew for sure what it was. As Baptists, we were pretty radical due to our belief in supernatural things like demonization and speaking in tongues. A certain woman had come to our little Baptist church and received the Lord. Although soundly converted, she still had some problems she was working through as a former lesbian.
One day at work, she just completely flipped out. She didn"t know her name, where she"d come from, or even what she was doing in that building. Literally losing her mind, she didn"t know anything. Someone walked up to her, called her by name, and said, "I"ll meet you after work, and you can ride home with me." From that person, she figured out her name. After following the woman home, she looked in her purse, found some keys, and one of them opened the door. That"s where we found her-at home and totally s.p.a.ced out!
We believed this was demonic. If we"d have taken her to some government agency, they would"ve put her in a mental ward somewhere, doped her up, and she probably never would"ve been the same again. Therefore, we knew the answer was spiritual, not physical.
We just took her and locked her in a room. We didn"t know anything, other than this was obviously the devil. So we just started praying and singing songs. That"s when this woman became violent. One time, when we were holding her down, she-with one arm-took two of us and threw us over her head and against a wall. Now that"s supernatural strength, just like Legion in the Bible! (Luke 8:29-30.) So we began seeing demonic manifestations. We just locked her in that room and took shifts with her, refusing to give up. Even though we didn"t know exactly how to minister deliverance to her, over seven days we saw all kinds of demons come out through our persistence and faith. Because of that, fame spread and people came. We saw many set free, but we also fell into some of this weirdness (i.e., empowering the devil and giving him much more credit than is due).