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"Then Jesus came to them and said, 'And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues...'" (Mark 16:17 NASB)
Through this short mini-series, we've been exploring how to harness our God-given authority. We've seen that we must submit ourselves to Christ; we need to prepare ourselves by donning the full armour of God; we need to believe in the authority given to us by Christ; we need to be humble, pouring out God's love to other without taking credit or expecting anything in return; and we need to conduct ourselves properly. And perhaps the most important piece, we must realize that even though Jesus has given it to us, it isn't our authority! It is His, that He chooses to manifest through us!
At the beginning of this series, I told a story that was pretty typical to what often happened in my home when the boys were young. I would ask Johnny to tell his brother to put his toys away. Johnny would obey me; but because Billy knew that Johnny had absolutely no authority over him, he did not obey. This is the point where I would usually intervene. Not with words, mind you. I would simply move into the doorway so that Billy could see me, and I would stand, quietly, with my arms crossed watching them. It's funny how Billy would immediately start putting the toys away. Every time!
Why the change of heart? While Johnny had no power over Billy, while what Johnny said held no sway in Billy's mind, the sight of my face, the face of authority, would spur him to do what he had been told to do.
Is this the main reason why our intercessory prayers don't seem to work? Because the devil knows that of ourselves, we have no authority over them? And even though we use the name of Jesus, at which even the demons tremble at the sound, they don't see Him in us?
In the same way my son, who was speaking forth my commands in my name, couldn't make his brother obey, just speaking forth the name of Jesus isn't enough. Rather, just like Billy had to actually see me to obey what his brother told him to do, the demons need to see Jesus ... in us!
That is the key to harnessing our God-given authority!
How can we accomplish this?
The prerequisites have all been outlined in the previous two devotionals. When these are met, there is just one more step: We need to let Jesus speak to those demons -- through us!
How much more powerful would be our prayers if we would take a moment before beginning to say these words: "Lord, You know I can't do anything in this spiritual battle! It is You and You alone. Speak through me, Lord!"
With that prayer on our lips, we can enter the battle with Jesus by our side, with His hand over ours, with His feet under ours, and with His words, and more importantly, His authority, in our mouth. This is what will make the demons flee! Not our pathetic attempts to do it on our own, but us letting Jesus do the work, through us!
There is one scene from the ever popular Disney movie, The Lion King, that will always stay with me as a vivid example of how we can harness our God-Given authority. Little Simba is in deep trouble. He's about to be made into Hyena dinner. In desperation, he turns and lets a pathetic sound out of his mouth: His version of a roar. To everyone's surprise, the sound is not a baby growl, as Simba usually manages to do; rather, it was a huge, adult, king-of-the-pride kind of roar, one that causes the hyenas to turn and run. When Simba looks up, it is his father, roaring with him.
In exactly the same way, when we don't try to do it on our own, when we let Jesus work through us, He will "roar" with us, and the demons will flee!
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Associate Director, Moderator, Answers2Prayer Ministries
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