It’s easy to be confronted with challenging situations and think, This person is the problem, I have to straighten them out. This group is the enemy; they don’t believe like me. We end up fighting with people, thinking they are the problem. But the fact is, the real enemy is not physical. The scripture says, “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)
Behind the trouble and turmoil are forces of darkness influencing the person, causing them to do wrong. If you just attack the person; the neighbour, the government, the group, you are going to be frustrated. You are dealing with symptoms, but the source is where the issue lies. You can’t fight a spiritual battle with physical weapons. Muscles don’t matter to a spiritual enemy. Getting angry and seeking revenge, trying to make them do right, that’s just going to frustrate you. You have to fight this battle in the unseen realm.
The scripture says in 2 Corinthians 10:4 “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God for pulling down strongholds.” Carnal means physical or natural. Those weapons work from the spiritual into the physical realm. You have to use spiritual weapons. You have the power of prayer. You have the name of Jesus. You have the word of God. You can speak His promises over your situation. You have the authority to resist the enemy not fight him.
He has already been defeated, but you have to remind him of his defeat. Instead of constantly arguing with your child and trying to make him do right, you may have to do some of that. I’m not saying don’t handle the natural, but that alone is not enough. Instead of attacking your child, why don’t you attack the source, the forces of darkness? You will not have my child; in the name of Jesus, I command you to take your hands off of him or her. That’s doing battle where it matters. That’s attacking the invisible enemy.
You have power over all the powers of darkness, but you have to use the right weapons. Sometimes we are attacking the wrong things, attacking people, the boss, my neighbour, these troublemakers. Their behaviour is the symptom. There is something behind the scenes influencing them, causing them to act that way. As long as you are dealing with it only in the natural, you are going to be frustrated. It’s a spiritual battle.
The scripture says in Ephesians 6:11, “Put on the armour of God so that in the evil day you will be able to withstand the attacks of the enemy.” We are living in an evil day. Forces are trying to take your peace, keep you from your dreams, and confuse your children. It’s never been a time when there’s so much divisiveness and contention, and people pushing agendas against the things of God.
The trap of the enemy is to get us all fighting each other: parents fighting children, this group fighting that group, fighting the coworker, fighting the authorities. Don’t be fooled by the scheme of the enemy. What you see is simply the fruit of who is working behind the scenes. You can deal with the fruit all day long, but as long as the root is in place, nothing is going to change.
Too often we are trying to fix the person, straighten them out, and defeat their agenda. That is a temporary fix. You have to get to the source. The scripture says your spiritual weapons are mighty through God. Something powerful happens when you pray. When you call out to God in the unseen world, angels go to work. When you declare His promises, forces of darkness are pushed back. When you speak in the name of Jesus, demons tremble, chains are broken, and miracles are set into motion. That’s fighting rightly!
And I know we need to do things in the natural. Of course, use common sense, but the natural is not enough. That’s not where the real battle is. The scripture talks about how before you were born, God knew you and planned out your days. He has given you a purpose to fulfil, an assignment to accomplish. But the moment you were born, the enemy targeted you.
He assigned forces to try to disrupt your destiny, keep you from stepping into your greatness. And I don’t say that to make you afraid, but to make you aware. Because sometimes we wonder why these things come against us: why you feel that nagging discouragement, why people do you wrong, why things can’t just go right in this area of your life. That’s not a physical fight.
The good news is he wouldn’t be targeting you if he didn’t know you were a threat. He would leave you alone if you weren’t destined to leave your mark. The reason you have opposition and feel that pressure is that you are carrying something valuable. You have such great potential. He knows you will do damage to his kingdom, so he will work overtime trying to hinder you, use people to get you discouraged, circumstances that aren’t fair.
Recognise what’s happening. Those aren’t battles you can fight with natural weapons; that’s the unseen enemy. Instead of trying to fix it all by ordinary means, how about declaring God’s favour over your life? How about speaking victory over your health, over your family, over your future? How about thanking God that He is opening the right doors, that He is bringing the right people? How about resisting the enemy in the name of Jesus, saying, “You have no part in my life; I am God’s property”
ADDRESS IT FROM THE SOURCE!
I read about a bullfighter in a ring with a huge bull and thousands of people in the stands. Every time the bull would charge up, he would put out his red cape to distract him. The bull would duck his head and attack the cape, hitting it with so much force and throwing his horns into it. While he was focused on the red cape, the bullfighter would stick a sword into him. This happened time and time again. The bull got angrier and angrier. He was fighting with all of his might but fighting the wrong source.
Sometimes, like the bull, we get stuck, aggravated, and annoyed. We think it’s the cape, the person, the boss, this sickness I’m dealing with, this group that’s so evil. We don’t realise they are not the source. An unseen enemy is controlling the cape, causing the conflict, division, stirring up prejudice, jealousy, and confusion.
Don’t be deceived by the cape. We have to get to the source. The enemy is the root cause. He is the one pulling the cape. Instead of going after people, you need to go after him. You can’t defeat him with carnal weapons, getting angry, getting offended, or trying to pay people back. The weapons of our warfare are not physical but are mighty through God.
When you pray in the name of Jesus, things in the unseen realm shift. You don’t have to ask the enemy to leave. You don’t say, “Please go.” No, you command him to leave. Jesus said, “Get behind me, Satan.” You have authority over all those forces that are trying to hinder your life. You need to tell them regularly to get behind you. You have no right in my life. Take your hands off my children. Take your hands off my finances. Take your hands off my future. I belong to the Most High.
The scripture says When you resist him, he will flee. He doesn’t have a choice. He can’t stay when you use your God-given authority. You can treat the physical and, of course, that’s good but if you get to the root cause, that unseen enemy, that spirit of infirmity, then you can be really free. We can see how these spirits of infirmity get passed from generation to generation. And I know it can be genetics and DNA, but I have read studies where attitudes can be passed down, thinking patterns not just physical but emotional and behavioural. That’s a spirit.
You need to take authority over every negative spirit in your family line: over every spirit of infirmity, spirit of poverty, spirit of divorce, spirit of jealousy, anger, and addiction. Don’t go through life just treating the symptom, learning to live with it. Get to the root. Deal with the invisible enemy. Those are forces trying to stop your assignment. Nothing will change until someone rises up and says, “In the name of Jesus, we are loosed from this infirmity. I take authority over these forces of darkness. I command you to go.”
You take one step forward and two steps backwards. That’s not just bad luck but the unseen enemy throwing in the fiery darts. We can’t stop the fiery darts from coming, but we do have a solution: the shield of faith. “Father, thank You that by Your stripes, I am healed, that this sickness cannot stay in our family, for we are loosed from this infirmity. Lord, thank you that what’s meant for harm, You are turning to my advantage. I’m going to stay in peace. I’m going to be still and know that you are God.”
Faith is a shield. Trusting that God is in control, declaring His promises, that’s going to block the fiery darts, thwart the plans of the enemy that should upset you, pull your family apart, and get you frustrated. But you know the enemy’s schemes. You have your shield up. You are not fighting with people; you are dealing with the source of the problem. That’s how you stand strong in the evil day. That’s how you are not moved by trouble. You are using your spiritual weapons that are mighty through God.
Remember, the reason you are being attacked is because of what you carry; you carry the purpose of God. You have His hand of favour and blessing on your life. The enemy doesn’t like us hearing this. He would love for us to waste time fighting one another, living angry.
We refuse to fight the wrong fight. We take hold of our weapons: the power of prayer, the word of God, and the name of Jesus and are ready to put the enemy where he belongs. If you will do this, I decree and declare: every force trying to stop you is being annihilated right now in Jesus’ name. Breakthroughs are coming! Freedom is coming! Healing and the fullness of your destiny in Jesus’ name!
May the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you peace.
