Chapter 11 ~ Engaging The Enemy

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!”

Along the same lines of engaging the enemy, unforgiveness can chain us to the enemy.  It can also deter us from the possession of God’s land for us.  According to my friend Wanda Rust, in her book titled “Are You One of These for God?” she lays out the case for ridding oneself of unforgiveness.  “One of the biggest sins we have is unforgiveness.  We have been taught to say we forgive and believe we have, but really, we have not because the pain is still there when we think or hear of that person…Satan has a right to afflict you because of the sin of unforgiveness.  God wants to heal and deliver, but can’t until we break Satan’s legal right over us…God taught me the only way I could forgive the person was to pray for them and bless them.  “Bless them that curse you and pray for them which despitefully use you”.  (Luke 6:28).  As we do, we receive the peace of God.  If we don’t pray for them, we have bound them and put ourselves in bondage to Satan.”  

I struggled with unforgiveness after the long intercession assignment for my church.  It’s taken me a few years to feel the freedom of forgiveness which I have sought.  I have been diligent to pursue it because I desire what God has for me more than I want to hang onto the things someone has said or done to me.  I run from the spirit of unforgiveness in order to obtain the better things of God.

Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, 11 lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.  (2 Corinthians 2:10-11).

Lastly, consequences of sin can inhibit possession of our land.  One such instance is the Pisgah story.  I recall the event on pages 317-319 in my first book. 

“What was the Lord talking about—“Pisgah”? I believe that He used the biblical paradigm of Pisgah to establish what I thought to be true: just as Moses could not enter the Promised Land because of disobedience, so too the Head Pastor was not going to be allowed to enter the “promised land.” What promised land was this? The revival that God had spoken to me about since 2007. The Head Pastor had seen it far off but would not be able to enter because of his rebellion. God made a point of it so I would include it in my upcoming meeting with the Head Pastor.”

This story exhibits there are some decisions we make in life or sins where God forgives but will not withhold the consequences of our actions and we can forfeit the land that He has promised.  Hence, be diligent to obey Him so forfeiture of land is a moot point!

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God; a worker who does not need to be ashamed… (2 Timothy 2:15).

The Power of the Gift of Tongues ~ Fire!  

This concept of driving out the enemy from the land was driven home by a dream I recently had.  I was taught the power of the gift of tongues in this dream.  It seems I can read all I want in a book but until the Lord teaches me (in this case through a dream); I cannot fully get the lesson into my heart and soul.  God drove His point home by circumventing my mind and went straight to my heart in this dream. 

I dreamed I was at a location belonging to a group of people.  I sensed they could not take care of a demon in their presence. As I entered into a room alone it attached to my back.  I felt the heaviness of the demon.  I felt its load, its weight.  I definitely felt its evil.  I began to pray the Lord’s Prayer, but that didn’t work to free me of the demon.  Then I sang praise songs, that didn’t free me either. 

As a last resort, I loudly bolted out my prayer language (aka tongue) and the demon immediately let me go.  I felt its weight gone.  If I stopped my tongue, I felt its weight return again.  I was moving from room to room praying in tongues as the demon was contained, but it was a fight.  The demon was contained in a cylinder type vessel.

I was explaining to those around me what I was doing.  I told them that the demon couldn’t understand my tongue so it stopped fighting.  My prayer language rendered it helpless.  As I continued to contain it, I walked to a place where I cast it away into the darkness.  I awoke exhausted from the fight and heard “This kind only comes out through prayer and fasting”.

A quick interpretation shows that tongues are a sign to unbelievers (and to demons?) according to 1 Corinthians 14:22: “Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers…”

Also, noteworthy the statement I heard when I awoke, “This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”  (Matthew 17:21).  In the dream, it was not revealed if I was fasting.  However, I was definitely praying and praying in tongues for the expulsion of the demon.

What's fascinating about this dream is that in all my other night time encounters with demons, I have only to speak the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth or claim the blood of Jesus and they have fled.  This situation was different and perhaps that is why the Lord gave the statement about prayer and fasting for this type of demon. 

The last scripture I was given for the dream was 1 Corinthians 12:10: “To another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.”

All I know for sure is that the gift of tongues contained and cast out the enemy.  I believe God was instilling in me the importance of the gift of tongues in spiritual warfare.  And perhaps this type of spiritual warfare is needed to possess the land God has promised.  If you do not have a prayer language (aka tongue), ask the Holy Spirit for this gift. 

In conclusion, if there are those of you who are ready, willing and able to possess your land, start praying the Shema every day in your prayer 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.  See how God will move your mountains.