I want to ask you a question today. It’s one the Lord has asked me a lot over the years, and recently it’s been ringing out in my heart even stronger than usual:

What are you doing with the authority God has given you in Jesus’ name?  

How we, as praying Christians, answer that question right now is of urgent importance. These days, perhaps more than ever before, we need to be using our  spiritual authority. Every single day we need to be advancing the causes of God’s kingdom and opposing the works of the devil.

We’re living in some of the most crucial moments in history. End-time events are happening all around us. On one hand, the signs of Jesus’ coming are unfolding just like He said they would in Matthew 24. On the other hand, the devil is accelerating his ungodly agenda. He’s darkening people’s minds and infiltrating families, communities, governments, and nations. He’s forging full speed ahead toward his ultimate goal of raising up an antichrist world leader.

He would have achieved that goal already if it wasn’t for this: something is holding him back. As the apostle put it, there’s a force on the earth that’s “restraining him [from being revealed at this time]….”

For the mystery of lawlessness (that hidden principle of rebellion against constituted authority) is already at work in the world, [but it is] restrained only until he who restrains is taken out of the way. (2 Thess. 2:7)

What is this restraining force? Who is it that’s hindering the devil’s operations and keeping his antichrist spirits at bay? It’s the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ! The Church is the only body of people on earth powerful enough to stop satan’s plans. We’re the only ones on this planet who have the spiritual authority to bind up the devil’s strategies.

We’re not just a bunch of little sheep called to follow the Good Shepherd. We’re the light of the world that extinguishes the power of darkness (Matt. 5:14). We’re a “holy nation” (1 Pet. 2:9) armed with spiritual power that’s stronger than nuclear. We’re an army of God called to march forward in faith and do exploits like those done by the people in Hebrews 11:

Who by [the help of] faith subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promised blessings, closed the mouths of lions, extinguished the power of raging fire, escaped the devourings of the sword, out of frailty and weakness won strength and became stalwart, even mighty and resistless in battle, routing alien hosts. (vv. 33–34)

I realize such exploits may not have been seen much in the Church in recent years but that’s about to change. Jesus is getting us ready for His return, and before He comes, the Church will be the strongest force on earth. She’ll be “God breathed” and supernatural in every way.

As believers, we’re in the process right now of being set apart for the endtime work of God! We’re moving into a more radical kind of Christianity. Not the kind that just blends in with the world, but the kind where we give up our lives to take on Jesus’ life so that we keep looking more like Him until we’re so transformed we become like a giant marquee, putting Him on display in all His power and glory for all the world to see.

We’re Finally Getting It!
If you want to understand what’s behind this mighty process of supernatural transformation, read the first chapter of Ephesians. There you’ll find one of the greatest prayers in the New Testament. Inspired by the Holy Spirit and recorded by Paul, it says:

[For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation ... By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light ... [so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His [own] right hand in the heavenly [places], far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named ... not only in this age and in this world, but also in the age and the world which are to come. (vv. 17–21)

God is answering that prayer right now in a major way. Believers are seeing more clearly the magnitude of power that resides within them. We’re finally getting it: We truly have been raised up and seated with Christ on His heavenly throne of authority. We’ve been given and authorized to use the name of Jesus, the name that is above every name (Phil. 2:9). I like to compare how we look spiritually when we operate in that name to the way policemen operate in the natural realm. Their job is to make sure people obey the laws of the land. If you’re driving your car down the street and a policeman holds out his hand and tells you to stop, you stop because he represents the government’s authority. He’s backed by its firepower, and he’s been commissioned to enforce the laws it’s established.

The Church is commissioned by God to do much the same thing in the realm of the spirit. We’re sent by Him to pray and enforce Jesus’ victory over satan and all his principalities and powers. We’re authorized to come against them and say, “Stop!”

One of my favorite scriptural pictures of this is in Exodus chapter 17. It tells about a time the Amalekites attacked the Israelites during their journey through the wilderness. While the Israelite army fought, Moses went up above them on the hilltop with the rod of God in his hand. All through the battle—which lasted all day long—“When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and when he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. (v. 11)

Why was the position of Moses’ rod the determining factor in how the battle went? Because it represented the authority of God. His authority was the key to Israel’s victory in every confrontation with the enemy.

The exact same principle holds true for us as believers. When we use our authority, God prevails and we prevail. When we don’t, the enemy starts to encroach on our territory.

This is why it’s important for us as pray-ers to ask ourselves what we’re doing with our spiritual authority. If we aren’t using it, it will be as if we didn’t have it. Despite the power that’s ours in Jesus’ name, if we don’t open our mouths in prayer and release that power, the devil will have free reign.