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Be a Lover and a Fighter
That is just not going to happen. Jesus has already said to the Church, “…I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

He did not say, “I’ll give you the keys. But if you don’t want to go to the trouble to learn how to use them…or if you just get occupied with other things and don’t want to mess with it, I’ll do it and just see to it Myself that the Father’s will gets done.”

Honestly, I’ve known this truth and resisted it to some degree for years. I’ve thought (and sometimes said) “When it comes to the things of God, I’m a lover, not a fighter.” But in actuality, mature believers don’t get to choose between the two. We have to be both lovers and fighters or we will not fulfill God’s will.
 
We also have to be those things in that order. Lover first. Fighter second.
 
That’s the scriptural way. Jesus said the first and most important commandment is to love God with all our soul, mind and strength—and, of course, to love our neighbor as we do ourselves (Matt. 22:37-39). First Corinthians 13 tells us that if we aren’t operating in love, all other spiritual activity is worthless.
 
Other New Testament writers reveal the same scriptural order. James says, “…submit to God. [Then] resist the devil.” Peter says essentially the same thing.
 
For years, I shrank from becoming a whole-hearted spiritual fighter because of the demeanor of some dear believers who tried to operate in divine authority without developing a deep, loving fellowship with the Lord. They learned the scriptural principles of authority and became fighters without being lovers. They were quick to demand and declare in prayer but spent little time in tender communion with the Lord. Instead of being filled with the joy of the Lord, they often lived under a cloud of oppression as they discerned demonic forces at work.
 
I didn’t want to be like that. So I began to shy away from the authority side of faith. I did still use it in prayer when I had to but avoided it as much as possible.      

A Lot of Empty Noise
 What I realize now is that those well-meaning believers were not truly operating in authority at all. They were just going through the motions, trying to do things with mere mental understanding that can only be done with real, heart-revelation.

The fact is, only God can truly give us real revelation of the authority we have in Jesus. He is the only One who can enlighten the eyes of our heart and reveal to us the hope of our calling, our glorious inheritance, and the power that is at work in and through us who believe. Only He can make real to us the fact that were are already spiritually seated with Jesus at God’s right hand—far above principalities, powers, dominions, authorities and every name that can be named both in this age and in the age to come (Eph. 1:17-23; 2:6).

We can read about it in books. We can hear it preached. But it is not until God grants us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in that area that we can actually comprehend the authority we’ve been given and operate authentically in it.

And He will only grant that revelation to us in proportion to the degree of loving fellowship we have with Him and with each other. (That’s why Ephesians 1:15 comes before verses 17-23.) So clearly, our first spiritual priority is to develop in love. That is the basis and foundation for operating in true authority.

We must also cultivate the genuine humility that comes from a constant remembrance of the fact that it is only the blood of Jesus that gives us our standing in God. Jesus is the One who paid the price for our sin. Jesus is the One who conquered the devil and brought him to naught. Jesus is the One who rose again to administrate and oversee that victory.

He is the One with the authority and the only reason we have it is because we are in Him.

If we mix that revelation with one ounce of pride or one touch of arrogance and begin to think or act in any way as if we deserve this heavenly position we’ve been given—we immediately fall flat on our faces. The devil himself doesn’t even have to oppose us at that point. God Himself will do it. He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).

Remember this: the person who operates in the greatest degree of real, spiritual authority in Jesus’ name, will be the humblest, meekest, most joyful person you will ever meet. We will be as tender and kind toward the Lord and His people as we are tough on the devil.

This Might Rattle Your Theological Cage
Now, with that said, I’m going to say something shocking. It may rattle your theological cage a little but I’m going to say it anyway because I believe it’s true.

In the final analysis, the devil doesn’t really care how loving you are. He doesn’t care how humble you become. You can be as loving and humble as you like and it won’t bother him. You won’t cramp his style a bit unless you rise up in that love and humility, begin to operate in the authority of Jesus and start overturning the works of darkness.

The devil doesn’t give a rip if we want to go around holding the hands of fellow believers and crying with them after he ransacks their lives. (Although, if we let the devil get away with that kind of junk, we owe it to our fellow saints at least to comfort them and share their pain.) The devil doesn’t mind if we want to get on our knees and weep about the violence and corruption in our cities and our nations. It really doesn’t even bother him for us to pray, as long as our prayers are of the begging…wishing…hoping-God-will-do something-before it’s-too-late kind.

But when we stand up and start declaring the Word of God in faith, we become a serious problem for the devil. We terrify him when we get strong enough in the Lord to take the sword of the spirit and like Eleazar, the mighty warrior of David’s day, fight not just for ourselves but for others with such holy vengeance that our hand cleaves to the sword! (See 2 Samuel 23:9-10.)

A few weeks ago, I was driving down the highway minding my own business and thinking about how to get more people involved in prayer. With all that’s going on in the world, there needs to be more prayer right now, I thought.

Suddenly the Lord Himself interrupted and spoke to my heart in a voice that resounded through my whole being. “I don’t need more prayer in the Church right now,” He declared. “I need more BELIEVING prayer!”

We may not need much revelation of our authority in Christ to pray believing prayers for ourselves. We can often receive what we personally need just by simple petitions prayed by faith in God’s promises. But for us to step out in faith as we pray for fellow believers, for the Church as a whole, for our cities and the nations—we must start to comprehend and operate in our authority in Jesus. We must begin to pray, proclaim and declare His will from our heavenly position in Him.

Copyright © Lynnes Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Author Biography

Gina Lynnes
Web site: Lynnes Ministries
 
A writer by trade and a minister at heart, Gina Lynnes has been a Bible teacher and associate pastor since 1996, ministering especially on the subject of prayer in churches both in the United States and abroad.
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