“This is a kairos time for God’s people to understand authority, for authority is the key to power. This is a time for us to deal with the spirit of fear that has imbedded itself into the heart of the church. The spirit of fear creates an unsound mind, it weakens power, and it negates love. God has given us an awesome responsibility.” Chuck Pierce
Although God promises us power in the gospel and authority over Satan, very few of us live out the authority that we have in Christ. As the days get darker, we must learn to stand in our authority and live above the earth realm, learning to exercise the supernatural power of intercession everyday.
The enemy often tries to “break into our house” and steal, kill, and destroy God’s blessing in our life. The problem is we often let him do it. We hear of so many home invasions, but did you realize that the enemy constantly tries to invade your life every day? It’s time for us to enforce our rights and stop his invasion through fears, addictions, sickness, financial or emotional oppression, and broken relationships.
I heard the story of an old lady returning home from a church service and finding an intruder robbing her house. "Stop!" she yelled. Then she quoted "Acts 2:38" which says,"Repent!" The burglar stopped dead in his tracks and she called the police. The officer came, handcuffed the thief, and then asked: "Why did you just stand there? All the lady did was quote a Bible verse." "A Bible verse?" the burglar replied. "She said she had an axe and two .38s!" This may be a funny story, but this old lady knew how to stand in God's authority.
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
John 10:10 is one of my favorite verses because it tells us that Jesus came to give us an abundant life. Abundance means life that is plentiful, rich, lavish, bountiful, plentiful, and superabundant. It’s an overflowing life. This life is well supplied and marked by great plenty. But how many of us are living like this?
It’s time we rise up in our authority and live in overflowing abundance. It’s time we take hold of our key to an abundant life.
Let’s understand our authority by looking at a few facts:
- The gospel qualifies us - The gospel qualifies us to freely receive God’s love, power, favor, and benefits. We receive these blessings through faith (confident agreement) in Jesus’ work on the cross.
“For the message of the cross… to us who are being saved it is the power of God”(1 Corinthians 1:18).
- We are new creations - We became a new creation in Christ when we received Jesus in our hearts. This has vast implications. Old things have passed away (condemnation and powerlessness) and new things have come (acceptance, enjoyment by God, and a new authority).
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away… all things have become new… that we might become the righteousness of God”
(2 Corinthians 5:17-21).
- Jesus gained the victory - On the cross Jesus gained victory over Satan for us and removed his legal right to torment us. We have been transferred to His kingdom and qualify to freely receive new benefits. See Colossians 1:13.
“Having disarmed principalities and powers, he made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them in it (His death and resurrection)” (Colossians 2:15).
Do you grasp what this actually means? We are enabled by God to resist sin and the enemy's attacks. But so many of us have lost our keys and these are the keys of the kingdom!
The Lost Key - Knowing Our Authority
“I give you authority…over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19).
Jesus gave us authority over the works of Satan. This is delegated authority. Just as a police officer stops a car by the authority of the government, the Church has the authority over the works of Satan. We are raised up to sit in heavenly places with Christ and we have access to God’s throne. Ephesians 2:6 tells us that God has “raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ.” We actually have authority to bind (stop) Satan’s power and to loose (release) God’s power. Matthew 16:19 says:
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom…. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and what ever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Jesus has given us the keys of the kingdom, but so many of God’s people seem to have lost their keys. You know how it feels when you lose your house or car keys – anxious, troubled, fearful, disgruntled, impatient, wondering what to do, etc. This is exactly what many of us feel like: anxious, troubled, disgruntled, fearful, impatient, and wondering what to do. We’ve lost our keys!
How can we access our keys and live out our authority in Christ in our everyday lives?
Enforcing our Authority
We can’t only know in our mind that we have authority, we must take action and do something about it. Here are some ways:
- Resist the devil - Enforce your rights by resisting Satan as an intruder who attacks through accusations, fear, and oppression. You can remove the added pressure that demons bring to your problems by resisting.
- Employ the Sword of the Spirit - Resist the devil by speaking God’s Truth to him just as Jesus did when tempted by the devil. Base your faith on what the Word of God says and not what you see or feel.
- Learn the art of prayer-reading the Scriptures - Pick a portion of Scripture and go verse by verse either thanking God, asking for His grace to obey, claiming His promises, or confessing your sin. Do it out loud verse-by-verse.
- Do not give up - Don’t give in when your circumstances do not instantly change. You must wrestle in your resistance of Satan’s attacks.
- Hold up the shield of faith - Consistently declare the Word against the enemy’s attacks. Take action with your authority by faith. Be steadfast in faith and take your stand against Satan.
- Watch out for those fiery darts - Know that the enemy will attack you with fiery darts and flaming missiles. They can be irrationally heightened feelings of fear, oppression, anxiety, lust, etc. Don’t listen to those fiery lies.
- Renew your mind in God’s Word - Resist these darts by declaring God’s Word. The primary way that Satan tries to gain access is first through the mind. Watch what you let into your heart through your eyes. Be careful of the inter-net and TV. As our minds are renewed, our emotions are transformed and our behavior and circumstances change.
We have the authority in intercession to make a huge difference in our city, nation, family, and everywhere else. Jesus gained that authority at the cross. We must rise up as intercessors and live out our authority in prayer by binding and loosing. When we pray, we must believe that it makes a difference. We must not give up in those prayers that are not yet answered. We must hold up that shield of faith and consistently declare God’s Word over the situations we are praying through. We must learn to pray the Scriptures as we read them. Intercessors, it is time to take action and resist the devil, believing that God is going to break through.
We have the authority in intercession to stop Satan’ power and release God’s power. Let’s experience an overflowing abundant life and use our keys!
“Many in the church today are being held captive spiritually, not because of the enemy’s power, but because we do not clearly understand our authority and calling in Christ... As we begin to understand the hope of His calling, we will begin to walk in an abundant life of freedom and power.” Angie Weaver
Four facebook pages for my books on prayer: Breakthrough Prayer, Ascending the Height in Prayer, Deeper Still, and 24/7 Prayer Arise.
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Debbie Przybylski
Intercessors Arise International
International House of Prayer (IHOP) KC Staff
deb@intercessorsarise.org
www.intercessorsarise.org
Comments
Good Teaching. I also have learned to pray God's prophetic promises over myself and especially to declare them out-loud!