The armor we have talked about has been defensive. Let’s
look at our offensive weapons. Ephesians 6:17 says the Word
of God is the sword of the Spirit. To handle your sword skillfully,
you need to know how the Word works. It will bring
results. Satan will retreat in terror from its blows!
In Mark 4, Jesus compares the Word of God to seed sown in
the ground. When you plant seed, it produces a crop. You do
not plant corn expecting to grow apples or bananas. When corn
is planted, corn will grow. So it is with the Word of God. When
you plant the Word in your heart, it will grow and produce.
Your heart—like soil—will produce what is sown in it. Plant
seeds of doubt, fear, unbelief and failure and you can expect
to produce a crop of doubt, fear, unbelief and failure in your
life. You cannot plant seeds of doubt expecting to produce
faith. It simply will not work.
The Word is sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing and
dividing asunder the soul and the spirit, the joints and the
marrow (Hebrews 4:12). The Word goes beyond your intellect.
It enters the spirit realm. Only doubt and unbelief will stop it
from operating in your behalf. When you plant the Word concerning
healing in your heart, you will produce a harvest of
healing—if doubt and fear do not enter and ruin your crop.
Jesus said, “The sower soweth the word….but when they
have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the
word that was sown in their hearts” (Mark 4:14-15). You can
see from this scripture that Satan comes immediately to steal
the Word. You have to guard against his maneuvers. The best
way to combat an enemy is to familiarize yourself with his
tactics. Once you know how Satan operates, you will be able
to defeat him.
When a man plants seed in the ground, he does not go
out a few days later and dig it up to see if it is growing. Seeds
never produce that way. He has to have faith in the seed’s
ability to grow and produce.
Faith in the Word works the same way. When you are
believing God for healing and the symptoms linger, do not
give up and say, “Well, I guess it didn’t work for me.” That’s
what Satan would like you to do. You must continually water
the ground and cultivate it with the Word until the seed is
able to sprout and grow. Don’t dig up your seed!
If a farmer placed his seed on a shelf, it would never produce.
He must put the seed in its correct environment for the life in it
to come forth. The Word must be treated like that seed. If you
need healing, then plant the seed of God’s Word concerning
healing in the correct environment—your heart. When your
Bible is left lying on a bookshelf, it will be of no use to you.
Not spending time in the Word when you are fighting a
spiritual battle would be like leaving your sword in its sheath
while you are on the battlefield. Take your Bible down from
the shelf and feed the Word into your heart. Spend time
meditating in the Word until the seed of healing can grow and
develop and bring forth the desired fruit in your life.
When a seed is planted in the ground and cultivated, it will
take root. The shoot will force its way to the surface. When
the plant blooms, it will produce many more just like itself.
The Word, like a seed, has the power within itself to grow and
bear fruit.
Protect the Word until it has time to take root and grow.
Rule over your thought life by casting down imaginations that
exalt themselves against the Word. To be carnally minded,
or sense ruled, is death (Romans 8:6). It will kill you. To be
spiritually minded is life and peace. Keep your thoughts on
the Word. It is the answer to your problem. You will experience
life and peace by keeping the end result on your mind,
thus protecting the seed of God’s Word. The Word of God
works only when it is put to work. James 4:7 says, “Submit
yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee
from you.”
God has provided a strong arsenal for spiritual warfare.
The Word is not your only weapon against Satan. Let’s look at
another one.
In Chapter 1, we discussed briefly that every believer has
the privilege of using the Name of Jesus in prayer. When you
pray in Jesus’ Name, you immediately get the ear of God. At
the same time, you also get Satan’s attention.
The Name of Jesus carries ultimate authority in the spirit
world. Philippians 2:9-10 says, “God also hath highly exalted
him, and given him a name which is above every name: That
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in
heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth.” In
Jesus’ Name, the believer has authority to “tread on serpents
and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy” (Luke
10:19). Satan knows the power invested in that Name and he
will retreat when it is spoken in faith (James 4:7). One translation
says to stand up to the devil and he will turn and run!
Let’s look at Hebrews 1:3-4: “Who being the brightness of
his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on
high; being made so much better than the angels, as he hath
by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” If
the Name of Jesus is more excellent than that of the angels in
good standing with God, how much more would it be than
the name of Satan? He is a fallen angel!
Before He ascended into heaven, Jesus commissioned His
disciples to go into all the earth. He said, “All power has been
given to me in heaven and in earth. Therefore, you go into
all the earth. In My Name lay hands on the sick and they will
recover. In My Name cast out devils.” (See Matthew 28:18-19;
Mark 16:17-18.) Just as a wife has power of attorney to use her
husband’s name, we have been given Jesus’ Name to use in
combat against Satan. We have authority to speak His Name
in His stead.
When Peter and John ministered to the man at the gate
Beautiful, they spoke in the Name of Jesus. Peter said, “Silver
and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6).
Later he explained what had happened. Peter said,
Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look
ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or
holiness we had made this man to walk? The God of
Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our
fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus…. And his name
through faith in his name hath made this man strong,
whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him
hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence
of you all (Acts 3:12-13, 16).
Peter was simply using the authority Jesus had given him
only a few days before. The early apostles did not have special
power in themselves to do mighty works. Their holiness didn’t
make them special. They didn’t even have the written New
Testament. All they could do was speak the Name of Jesus in
faith and the Holy Spirit did the mighty works. The fabulous,
earthshaking revival of the early Church was sparked by only
one commandment: “Go in the Name of Jesus.” The power
invested in Jesus’ Name has never changed.
Most believers know that it is the Name of Jesus that caused
them to be saved. The Bible says, “Whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved.” He is rich unto those who
call upon His Name (Romans 10:12-13). When you call upon
someone’s name, you are placing a demand on their ability.
For instance, when a policeman says, “Halt in the name of the
law!” he is being backed by the power of that particular city. It
is as if the entire corporate structure of that city is speaking. He
is carrying out the power behind the name of the law.
To know how much confidence you can place in a name,
you must be able to measure the power behind it. A man
writing a check places a demand on his own name. If he has
the proper funds in the bank, then there is enough power to
meet the demand.
The power backing the Name of Jesus is the power of
Almighty God Himself! First John 3:22-23 says, “And whatsoever
we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments,
and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the
name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave
us commandment.” We have a commandment to believe on
the Name of the Son of God. To believe in His Name is to put
demand on His ability. Jesus said, “Whatsoever ye shall ask
the Father in my name, he will give it you” (John 16:23). The
mighty, powerful Name of Jesus is available to you. Become
aware of your right and privilege to use it. Ask the Holy Spirit
to engrave the reality of it in your heart. His ministry is to lead
you into all truth (John 16:13).
The Name of Jesus is the key to heaven’s storehouse. It can
do anything Jesus can do. Speaking His Name is standing in His
stead. According to Philippians 2:9-11, the entire spectrum of
existence—heaven, earth, under the earth—will bow its knee
and confess with its mouth that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God
the Father. The Name of Jesus is the Name that is above every
name. When He was raised from the dead, Jesus inherited the
very Name of God (Hebrews 1:4). To measure the power behind
His Name, you would have to measure the power of Almighty
God. It can’t be done. His power is measureless and He wants to
use it in our behalf.
God’s love motivates Him to use His power. First John 4:16
says, “And we have known and believed the love that God
hath to us….” When you believe the love God has for you,
you’ll begin to realize you have as much right to use the Name
of Jesus as anyone else. Believe the love God has for you.
Once you recognize the reality of God’s love in your life,
you will realize He has not left you defenseless and powerless
against evil. God covered the entire spectrum of Satan’s existence
with the power invested in the mighty Name of Jesus.
Use it freely and confidently in the face of your adversary!
Another essential aspect of our spiritual warfare is the
Holy Spirit. Before He went to the cross, Jesus promised to
send Him. We have armor and weapons, but it is the Holy
Spirit who empowers us to use them.
The Holy Spirit is the power of God. The effectiveness of
your prayer life depends on the degree of confidence you
place in the Holy Spirit. He is the power behind your prayers
that enables you to live and walk as God intends—free from
sin, sickness, sorrow and death. He dwells within you. You
may not be aware of His presence, but He is there. The
Holy Spirit fills a vital role in your prayer life. Pray to the
Father in Jesus’ Name, not to the Holy Spirit. He is in you—
creating, energizing, working—to perform the will of God
in your life. By operating on the Word of God, you will see
the work of the Holy Spirit. He will do exceeding abundantly
beyond what we can even ask or think according to the power
that is at work within us (Ephesians 3:20). He is that power.
The Holy Spirit is your helper, sent to bear you up. He has
come to your aid to give you might in your inner man. He
is in you, instantly ready to do the bidding of God and to
uphold the Name of Jesus.
The operation of the Holy Spirit should be a reality to you.
When you invite Him into your life, you receive more than
just an experience. The Holy Spirit of God comes to abide
with you forever. He is residing inside you constantly. He is
real and wants to help you in your prayer life.
Pray this prayer out loud:
Father, I ask You now to fill me with Your precious
Holy Spirit. As He gives me the utterance, I will speak
with new tongues, in my own personal prayer language.
I will practice praying in tongues, praying in
the spirit, daily. I will do my part to exercise my new
language and depend on the Holy Spirit to lead and
guide me as I grow in You.
Thank You, Father, for filling me with the Holy Spirit.
I’m grateful He is living within me. I’ll never be the
same because of the Holy Spirit dwelling in me.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
