Engage The Enemy

9/23/21

The final obligation of ownership of my land is engaging the enemy.  And though ownership is unconditional, my possession of the land is conditional.  I have to take the land.  The enemy is still around.  Once actually in the land, I will have to face and fight the enemy.  No retreat!  Don’t be ignorant of the enemy’s devices, resist the devil and he will flee from you.  The enemy will be faint-hearted because God will put the fear of us in him. 

“I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.  And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you.”  (Exodus 23:27-28).

Think about that statement, “Possession of my land is conditional”.  I recall my sin that withheld my healing of Giardia that I wrote about in My Sister’s Walk with God (pages 100-103).  Here is the story: “

During my illness, I sought many to pray for me, anointing me with oil.  I sought my family, my husband, my friends, my prayer partners and my pastoral friends.  We fasted and prayed and repented for my healing; my symptoms lessened.  But I was still not well.  Then, one morning during prayer, the Lord revealed I was in sin and I didn’t even know it consciously. 

He gave me Matthew 13:14-15 “Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the heart of this people has grown dull.  Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their heart and turn, SO THAT I SHOULD HEAL THEM.”

I was floored, what could my sin be?  God revealed my sin as something that can happen to intercessors, and that is thinking that we need some heavy hitters in the prayer department to pray for us - people who are well gifted in the Spirit, who are powerful in prayer. I hadn‘t believed the leaders at my church could do the trick. 

I did not go to my own church leaders who God had put over me as His authority as in James 5:14-15 “Is anyone among you sick?  Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.  And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”  I went to everyone except those in authority (church elders) over me.  I repented before the Lord, and made an appointment with the elders of the Lord’s choice and repented in front of them.  I was then healed.” 

The Giardia story exemplifies how sin can hold back God from answering prayer.  In this case, it was my healing until the Spirit told me of my sin.  But could it also have been the enemy blinding my eyes to my sin?  Possibly.  I repented, engaged the enemy of my sin and was subsequently healed.  Be sure your sin will find you out!  “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.”  (Psalm 66:18).

Needless to say, sin is our enemy but the enemy of our souls (satan) has a role to play, too.  It is only through the discernment given by the Holy Spirit that can guide us to which enemy we are dealing with. 

Ask the Lord for scripture to take into battle.  Then, pray the word of God (wield the sword) out loud so the enemy will flee.  The Light of the Word will shine onto the darkness of the enemy.  Make use of the Holy Ghost’s gifts (the discerning of spirits) to expose and remove the enemy.  If I obey the Lord’s voice, He will be an enemy to my enemies and show me how to be victorious. 

A word of caution here.  It is best not to verbally confront satan without scripture.  A good example to follow is Jude 1:9: Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

Another vital final element to possessing our land is to engage the enemy of unforgiveness.  And that subject is covered under Engage the Enemy of Unforgiveness located under Covenant Relationship Series in The Library.  

Until next time, be strong and of good courage ~ take the word of God in one hand and the sword of the Spirit in the other hand to fight the enemy.  Put on the armor of God daily as you wake.