5 Steps to Claim Your Victory Over the Enemy
Let’s face it, it’s one thing to accept that God calls us for such times, but how do we begin to wrap our heads around the fact that our Messiah, the Omnipotent, all-powerful One who creates this universe, designs the power of the wind, water, gravity and all that holds this earth together actually needs us to be on earth at this time.
A humbling thought to say the least—with His unlimited power, what could we possibly do for Him during these times?
I firmly believe we can escape to this higher ground of His by leaning into each of the following spiritual activities that will equip us, strengthen us, and give us the assurance we need from Him to be at peace while in the midst of chaos. Follow the leading of Holy Spirit, our Comforter, and do as He instructs: pray, raise the standard of the blood of Jesus, recognize the enemy, use the power of His name, and step into revelational truth.
1. Intercession
One of the main ways to escape the chaos and to head to higher ground is by intercession—by praying. Jesus shows Himself to be a man of prayer while on earth. By His true example we see how He keeps Himself in tune with His heavenly Father and spiritually strong during stressful and demanding times—by praying routinely.
Disciple and physician Luke records accurate details of what he observed Jesus do. In Luke 5:16 we read one of his important details about our Messiah: “So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.” If you ever wonder how many times we should pray, the answer by Luke’s observation is “often.” We should stop what we are doing and pray often throughout our daily business.
According to Mark 1:35 (NIV) we discover an interesting fact about when Jesus prayed: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Knowing that details in the Bible are recorded for our benefit, getting up early in the morning to pray is a spiritual key to setting the events of the day in order.
Matthew, clearly a gift of the Lord to us, carefully documents the life of the Messiah for us to learn from. Matthew records this detail about the prayer life of Jesus Christ for us: “And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there” (Matthew 14:23). Something I know from personal experience is that ministering to the crowds can drain our strength, so it is important to spend time alone to deposit His supernatural strength back into us. Spending time alone with our heavenly Father at the end of the day revitalizes our spirit.
Yes, it is powerful to pray with others, but it is also important for our spiritual growth that we spend time alone praying to God. Jesus instructs us in Matthew 6:6:
But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
As we briefly observe the prayer life of Jesus in these four verses, we may think it is a lot of time to spend in prayer; but if we want to overcome in these turbulent times, we need to tap into this supernatural realm of intercession.
Even now in Heaven, Jesus remains in this all-powerful lifestyle of prayer. The apostle Paul writes to us in the Book of Romans, revealing this amazing insight about Christ’s faithfulness toward us in prayer:
“Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us” (Romans 8:33-34).
You will note throughout this work is a strong emphasis on prayer and intercession. And the reason being is prayer changes things. The prayer of faith is a foundational move of Holy Spirit and accomplishes great things. As priests for God we must pray to be wired into His circuit of healing glory.
The following are eight areas to pray about:
The will of the Father be accomplished on earth. “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
Pray for the forgiveness of sins for others. “If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that” (1 John 5:16).
Pray for your enemies. “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).
Pray for protection from temptation. “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).
Pray for the healing of others. “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16 NIV).
Pray for our leaders. “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Timothy 2:1-2 NIV).
Pray for the peace of Israel. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: ‘May they prosper who love you’” (Psalm 122:6).
Pray in faith for your needs to be met. “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:24).
Granted, there are many things we can pray about, but this list of eight is a powerful start for your journey to higher ground.
2. Raise the Standard of the Blood
We have to admit that our enemy, satan, is lashing out with a vengeance against the entire human race. He is using weapons of fear laced with false reports and deadly acts against all people. These deadly attacks are coming at us in waves of fear, plagues and pestilence, hatred and murder, and so much more. People who are not spiritually aware of what is happening around them become easy prey for him to devour and destroy. This is why it is critical that we raise the standard of the blood of Jesus against the enemy—starting now!
Spiritually speaking, when we raise the standard of the blood, we elevate its power to a higher level of expectation. During these volatile times, we must deactivate mediocre faith and rise to a new level of unparalleled faith. A level of faith that makes the devil tremble with fear of his own failure, inadequacy, and lack of destructive power against us.
The prophet Isaiah declares to us this glorious promise of the protection of the Spirit of the Lord in our favor:
“So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him” (Isaiah 59:19).
3. Recognize the Enemy
Now more than ever before, we must realize that our attack is not against each other, but against the enemy and his kingdom of darkness. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, gives to us spiritual insight about the battles rising against us:
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
The sooner we accept this fact, the quicker the victory will manifest for us. Why do I say this? Because when we know who and what we are fighting against, we will direct our efforts in the appropriate direction. And instead of fighting against one another, we will begin to fight for one another.
There are many reasons for these attacks against us, but I desire to mention two at this moment.
The enemy’s heart burns with hatred for us.
He knows that his time to steal, kill, and destroy us is short.
“Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [ fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8 AMP).
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy…” ( John 10:10).
The devil is rabid and foaming at the mouth, just waiting for any opportunity to devour us. And he will if we let him, but we do not need to put up with his demonic nature—we can raise the standard of the blood against him and his wicked attacks. But we must remain sober, on the alert and cautious at all times.
Believers must activate authority and pray a declaration of faith against the enemy. Instead of him hunting us, we need to activate the powerful weapon given to us—the authority of Christ— and hunt down the enemy. With our spiritual authority, we have the right to order the enemy around and enforce obedience from him.
Jesus says to us in Luke 10:19, “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
What would this look like? Say the enemy is attacking your community with a plague, you would activate your God-given authority over him and say, “Back off, devil! I have Christ’s authority over you. And this plague may not enter into my household. I raise the standard of the blood, and this disease cannot survive on our hands, it cannot live in our bodies, and it cannot handle the pressure of the presence of Holy Spirit in me and my family. In the name of Jesus, I order you to leave, at once!”
4. Use the Power of His Name
There is no other name higher than the name of Jesus. And eventually every knee, whether human or spirit, will kneel before Him and confess that He is Lord. Wisdom beckons us to do so now, and not wait until it is too late. But unfortunately, many will wait until there is no longer hope for them for salvation—but glory to God this is not us; we believe in the saving grace of God and the sacrifice of Jesus.
We have been given the power of Jesus’ name to use anytime, anyplace, and at will. His name is a weapon of warfare that when used by us, His disciples, backed with authority and faith, the enemy must surrender and walk away in defeat.
But instead of using this all-powerful name of our Savior and Lord when on the defense to fight off satan’s already manifested attack, let us begin to use the name of Jesus on the offense, and attack him first. We will squelch many a battle before they begin if we put into effect this battle plan.
An example of this is with the physical health of our families. Instead of waiting for an attack of illness to come upon us, we can ward off the attack of sickness and disease beforehand with verbal confessions of faith, laced heavily with the all-powerful names, titles, and attributes of our Redeemer and Messiah—Yeshua. How might this look? We declare a simple confession of faith to speak aloud daily to build a wall of protection around ourselves and families that will help to keep the deadly attacks of sickness away from us, such as:
“I partake of the Bread of Life this day and my physical body is strengthened. I drink of the Living Waters and my mind and emotions are refreshed. I call on my Deliverer who keeps me safe from pestilence and disease. I devour the Word of God and am healed in spirit, soul, and in my physical body, amen.”
Where do we find such names, titles, and attributes of our Lord? They are found throughout the Scriptures. Again and again, I express to you the importance of reading and studying the Bible. Let’s read the verses where the four names from this confession of faith are found:
Bread of Life. And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” ( John 6:35).
Living Waters. Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water’” ( John 4:10).
Deliverer. “Wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
Word of God. “He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God” (Revelation 19:13).
5. All-Powerful Names, Titles, and Attributes of Messiah to Call Upon
The following is a great list of names, titles, and attributes of the Lord Jesus you can use to implement your battle plan:
Author and Perfecter of our faith (see Hebrews 12:2 AMP), Bridegroom (see Matthew 9:15), Chief Cornerstone (see Psalm 118:22), The Door (see John 10:9), Faithful and True (see Revelation 19:11), Gate for the sheep (see John 10:7-9 NIV), Good Shepherd (see John 10:14-15), King of kings (see Revelation 17:14), Light of the World (see John 8:12), Lord and Teacher (see John 13:14-15), Messiah and Christ (see John 4:25-26), Rock (1 Corinthians 10:4), Risen Lord (see 1 Corinthians 15:3-4), Savior (see Luke 2:11), Son of the Most High (see Luke 1:32 NIV), Victorious One (see Revelation 3:21 NIV), Vine (see John 15:5), and The Way (see John 14:6).
The last four names come from the well-loved portion of Scripture, Isaiah 9:6 (NIV):
Wonderful Counselor
Mighty God
Everlasting Father
Prince of Peace
There are more names, but I believe this will be a blessing to add to your prayer time and confessions of faith.
The apostle Paul and bondservant of Christ writes to us in Philippians 2:9-11:
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
How might we use this plan of action against a spirit of fear? We could declare this way, “In the name of the Victorious One—Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of my Faith, by Your great power, I will not give in to a spirit of fear. I command that this fear bows at the name of Jesus—my Deliverer, my Savior, and my Lord.” Begin to declare praises to your Messiah—Yeshua. Speak, sing, and shout aloud the names of Jesus, over and over again, until you break off that stronghold of fear.
