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Engage the Battle

Spiritual warfare has in recent years been controversial.  It can get confusing.  Some say we should do warfare and some say not to.  The best thing to do is look at the life of Jesus and piece together His example.

JESUS IS WATER BAPTIZED

Jesus is baptized by John.  When He comes up out of the water two things happen.

Matthew 3:16-17 (NKJV)
16  When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17  And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

  1. Heavens were opened to Him and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him
  2. The Father spoke from heaven.

Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and His Father confirmed His identity.

MOVE FORWARD INTO THE WILDERNESS OF TEMPTATION

The Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.  He fasted 40 days and nights. He was hungry.  Not only was He hungry, but He was tempted by the devil during that time.

We are told about three of the temptations.  I find two particularly interesting.  The devil starts the temptation with, “If you are the son of God…”

He tempted Jesus by first challenging His identity as the son of God.  The temptation was crafted to cause Jesus to proudly defend His sonship.  Jesus passed the temptation.  He overcame the frontal attack two ways.

  1. He spoke the truth of the Word of God
  2. He gave direct rebuke/commands to the devil

YOU ARE GOING TO WAR THE SAME WAY 

A lot of what comes after you will focus on your identity.  Why?  Because you are a son of God and you carry authority in the earth in Jesus name.  The last thing the devil wants you to understand is who you are and what you are authorized to do.  Still there is more to this warfare than temptation alone.

There are other places in the New Testament where we see Jesus:

  1. He directly cast the demons out of people
  2. He directly rebuked the devil who incited Peter, His own disciple to unbelief
  3. He continued to speak the truth to his enemies
  4. He moved territorial spirits…the demons of the Gadarene knew this and begged to not be sent out of the area. He allowed them to stay

JESUS TAUGHT THE DISCIPLES ABOUT THE FUTURE CHURCH (THAT’S US)

Jesus had brought His disciples to Caesarea Philippi.  It was the place that housed the temple of Pan.  It was rumored to be the gate or portal into hell.  After arriving in Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked them who the people were saying He was.  They answered several things, but then He asked them who THEY said He is.  Peter answers correctly with “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus commends him on this and tells Peter that the revelation is not of man but God has revealed this to him.  Then he says something monumental to the future of those who believe revelation of Jesus to be true.

Matthew 16:18-19 (NKJV)
18  And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19  And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Jesus, in the place of the gate/portal of hell, tells them that His Church would be built on the revelation of who Jesus is and the very authorities of hell would not be able to overcome Her.

THEN HE GIVES MORE INSIGHT TO THE WARFARE THE CHURCH WOULD DO IN THE EARTH

  1. What you bind on earth will be bound in heaven
  2. What you loose on earth will be loosed heaven

The translation is a little awkward in the perfect tense but you could translate it this way.

“Whatever you permit on earth will have already been permitted in heaven.”

“Whatever you do not permit on earth will have already not been permitted in heaven.”

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? 

The Church, that’s us, was going to be empowered with authority to enforce what had been purchased by the Blood.  Whatever the church refused to let manifest…heaven would back her.  The sacrifice of Jesus stopped a lot of things and purchased a lot of good things as well.  The Church would not be a headless body.   Jesus is the head of the body of Christ.  We do what we see Him do.

CAN YOU SEE THE VICTORY WE ARE BRINGING IN JESUS NAME TO THE WORLD?

1 John 4:17 (NKJV)
17  Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

Seems like a tall order.  Especially when we don’t see the “Church” as being powerful.  But she is supposed to be powerful.  She was never meant to be a sniveling victim.  Even when problems break out against her.  This doesn’t mean she is without trouble.  NO!  Trouble comes, but she overcomes.

DID JESUS GIVE US ANY OTHER CLUES HOW TO WAR? 

Yes, He did!

Luke 11:20-22 (NKJV)
20  But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21  When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. 22  But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.

Jesus in the context of casting out demons refers to something called a strong man.  This is a reference to the devil and his demons.  Jesus is the stronger than “he”, the devil.  He has overcome the devil and has passed the authority the Father gave Him to us, the church.

Therefore, we are not fighting a new battle.  We are enforcing the victory of Jesus in the earth.  The devil is called the prince of the power of the air, still functioning in the earth but he is technically defeated towards the people of God.  We have Jesus authority to “take” the strongman’s goods.  We bind the devil and take what he is exploiting.  That may be people, cities, or nations.

BUT LET’S START YOU ON WARFARE OVER YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY

Don’t hop in and try to overcome the darkness in nations when your life and your own home is in jeopardy.  Let’s begin at home first.   This will get you started.

  1. Fortify your life in prayer…speak the Word over yourself and family.  This is part of your warfare you need to do for a while
  2. Submit/align your life to that Word of God you are speaking
  3. Resist – Resistance is not just a defensive position. It is defined in the on-line dictionary as being in opposition. That is an offensive place where you are taking territory, not just defending it.

THIS IS A BIBLICAL WAY TO COOPERATE WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT TO BRING FREEDOM TO YOURSELF, FAMILY, CHURCH, OR CITY

James 4:7 (NKJV)
7  Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

ARE THERE SPIRITS THAT STILL CAUSE PROBLEMS AND CONFUSION?

Absolutely!  You may recognize a couple of these I will mention.

  • Spirit of fear
  • Perverse spirit
  • Jealous spirit
  • Spirit of heaviness (has depression)
  • Infirmed spirit
  • Spirit of divination

I HAVE A LIST OF THE SPIRITS THAT ARE LISTED IN SCRIPTURE

It is free for you to download.  It is called Strongman: Engage the Battle.  I have it available in Spanish as well.

HOW TO USE THIS TOOL…

You will see the different spirits listed that are in the Bible.  There will be characteristics of each spirit listed underneath their names.

  1. Bind the spirit

Such as, I bind you spirit of fear from my life and my mind.  I resist you in Jesus name.

You can do this over your family and eventually get with some others to pray and pray it over your church. (after you pray the Word of God over your church a while to fortify it)  There are some video prayer meetings on this site that will show you how to fortify your life and church then war.

  1. Loose the God Word over your life.

Such as, if you bind a spirit of fear, you loose the Love of God because according to the Bible, perfect love casts out fear.  If it is a perverse spirit then purity from the Lord would be what you loose.  Simple!

ENGAGE THE BATTLE

You are not in this alone.  The Holy Spirit is with you to help you.  He will guide you into the revelation of God’s Word.  The battle is real and happens whether you know it or not.  You might as well be equipped and win!  Hello Warrior!!!

Blessings,

lisa

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© Copyright Lisa Swayze 2019

 

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Fortifying Prayer: The Power of the Holy Spirit

Even though this prayer meeting landed on Tax Day, that was not our topic. LOL!  This is actually the week before Easter Sunday.  If you have been praying along in order of the dates, you are aware that we are spending time “fortifying” the church which includes prayer for families and individuals.  Remember, fortifying is the act of strengthening against attack among other things.  We do this by coming together in a corporate environment (praying together in His name) and praying God’s Word in agreement.  This is the place of breakthrough for us…for you.

OUR TOPIC THIS WEEK…

If you pray with us this week, you will be coming into agreement with the Word of God concerning moving in the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit through us.  We prayed about the fact that it is God’s will to use us the way He used Jesus in the world.

1 John 4:17 (NKJV)
17  Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.

In fact, Jesus was clear that we would do what He did because the Holy Spirit would be sent to fill us with the power to do it.

John 14:12-14 (NKJV)
12  “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

AREN’T YOU GLAD YOU SAW THAT VERSE?

These are such great verses that we used them in prayer as we began to fortify the church for the up-coming Easter weekend.  We want to be used by the Holy Spirit to help people, so we are asking and declaring what God has said is so.

We also prayed through the “gifts of the Holy Spirit”.  Here is that scripture if you would like to have the reference.

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 (NKJV)
7  But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8  for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9  to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, 10  to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11  But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

WE FINISHED UP WITH SOME SPIRITUAL WARFARE

As you get to the end of the prayer time, you will enter into some warfare.  Just pray that over you and your family…or your church.  We also declare the scriptures concerning Jesus’ victory over dark powers.  Here is one of the references.

Colossians 2:13-15 (NKJV)
13  And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14  having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15  Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

THESE VERSES ARE SOME OF THE MANY REASONS YOU CAN DO WARFARE

Basically, our warfare is not a new battle, it is a won war.  We are enforcing the victory that Jesus won on the cross and by the resurrection (the very thing we celebrate this coming weekend).  The darkness has been disarmed concerning you!  Are you a believer in Christ and a follower?  Then that means YOU!  Verse 15 uses the language of a triumphant entrance into a city after winning a war.  The winning king would drag the losing king through the streets of the city and humiliate them.  Jesus overcame the darkness on the cross and has humiliated those dark spirits thoroughly.  You LIVE in that victory.  YOU pray in the victory!  You ENFORCE all that Jesus accomplished.

I hope you will hang out with me in prayer.  If you like you can always join us on line with live stream.  Mondays 7 pm.  Gateway Church Midlothian, Tx.

Blessings,
lisa

© Copyright Lisa Swayze 2019

Fortifying Prayer Part 1

Fortifying Prayer Part 5