Your Battles Belong to the Lord

by Joyce Meyer

  Jesus declares that we have been given power and authority and that nothing can ultimately harm us:

  He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like [a flash of] lightning. Listen carefully: I have given you authority [that you now possess] to tread on serpents and scorpions, and [the ability to exercise authority] over all the power of the enemy (Satan); and nothing will [in any way] harm you.”

  Luke 10:18–19

  First, I want to point out that Jesus saw Satan fall from heaven when he was cast out due to his pride and rebellion. Second, I want to point out that Satan has power, but it is no match for the power of God. Luke 10:18–19 contains no mention of Satan having authority, but you and I do have both power and authority through Christ. However, authority does no good unless it is exercised, and we do that by letting the devil know that we recognize his works and his lies and that we will not bow down to them. One prayer in Jesus’ name is more powerful than the power Satan has.

  We are not promised that Satan cannot come against us, but in fact we are told that he can and will do so. However, no permanent harm can come to us. We are guaranteed complete victory, and if we don’t see all of it manifested in this life, we will see it in heaven. Paul said that at present we don’t see total victory but we do see Jesus (see Heb. 2:8–9).

  We have recently formed a habit of saying, “This will end well,” while we are waiting for our breakthrough to come in any area. No matter what you are going through now, it will end well! God works all things together for our good, and what Satan means for harm, God intends for good (see Rom. 8:28; Gen. 50:20).

  Principalities and Powers

  In several places the Bible refers to principalities and powers. These are angels who were created by God, just as Satan was. When Satan rebelled in his pride, refusing to serve God, he was expelled from heaven, and about one-third of the angels who had succumbed to his deception were thrown out with him (see Isa. 14:12–26; Rev. 12:4). Satan and these fallen angels are the principalities and powers, and wickedness in heavenly places that Paul writes about in Ephesians 6:12. They are spirit beings; therefore, they cannot be seen with the natural eye, but their influence and effects can be seen and felt.

  When the Bible says the principalities and powers dwell in heavenly places (see Eph. 3:10), it does not refer to heaven as we think of it, where God’s throne is and where we will spend eternity. It is the atmosphere between heaven and earth. The demonic forces dwell there, and from there they seek to rule the earth. They appear to have access to the earth and to the people on the earth from the standpoint of influencing their thoughts and actions.

  There is a hierarchy among these beings. Some are more powerful than others and may rule over entire cities or nations. We find an interesting account of how these evil spirits operate in Daniel 10. Daniel had been praying for twenty-one days, asking God for understanding about a vision he had seen, but no answer had come yet. This account shows the value of being persistent in prayer. Daniel did not give up and he did get an answer. An angel appeared to Daniel and told him the following.

  Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was standing in opposition to me for twenty-one days. Then, behold, Michael, one of the chief [of the celestial] princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.”

  Daniel 10:12–13

  From this account it appears that a wicked evil spirit referred to as a principality and power was ruling over Persia, where Daniel lived. God sent an answer to Daniel’s prayer the first day he prayed, but this evil entity was strong enough to prevent the angel from delivering the response. As Daniel continued to pray, God sent Michael, one of the archangels (more powerful angels), to deal with the evil principality, and as a result, the first angel was able to get through to Daniel with the answer he sought.

  Satan was created as an archangel named Lucifer (see Isa. 14:12 NKJV); he was very beautiful and God loved him greatly. As I mentioned, he was very powerful, which caused him to become prideful, and he rebelled against God. He was thrown out of heaven, but retained his power and now attempts to use it to control the world’s system and the people in the world.

  Millions of people are not even aware that Satan exists; many others, although they are aware of his existence, do not know they have authority to resist him. They know they have problems, but they don’t know what the true problem is. Satan distracts them by injecting thoughts into their minds, urging them to blame other people and even God for their problems.

  We War Not with Flesh and Blood

  Paul begins Ephesians 6:12 by saying that we war not with flesh and blood, “but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.” If our warfare (problem) is not with flesh and blood, then who is it with? Obviously, our problems are instigated by the devil and his demons. They definitely can and do work through people and circumstances to frustrate us, cause worry and anxiety, and lead to the loss of peace and joy.

  We waste a great deal of time being angry and fighting with people when we should realize that our war is spiritual, not physical. We often need to deal with people or circumstances, but if we never realize the truth about the force working through them, we will never truly win. We might win a few battles, but we will not win the war!

  Paul taught the Corinthians that the weapons of our warfare are not physical weapons of flesh and blood, but our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of strongholds (see 2 Cor. 10:4). Our enemies are not made of flesh and blood, and the weapons we are given to fight them are not flesh and blood, either. Since that is the case, they must be spiritual. We have been given spiritual weapons to fight spiritual enemies. God has not left us helpless in our warfare. He has provided us with weapons and armor, which I will write more about later.

  Our main and most helpful spiritual weapon is the Word of God. Other weapons are the name of Jesus, the blood of Christ, continuing to be a blessing and helping others in your times of trial, obedience to God, and praise and worship. We should remember at this point how Jehoshaphat and his army won their battle with worship (see 2 Chron. 20).

  Weapons are what we go after the enemy with; they are offensive tools. We speak the name of Jesus, believing in the power that is in that name. We remind the devil of the blood of Christ that defeated him when Jesus died and rose from the dead. We speak the Word of God. We overcome evil with good. We are promptly obedient to God. We worship God and sing His praises. And we do all of this while we are hurting or struggling, in a battle. Doing what is right when everything is going right for us is good, but doing right when all is going wrong for us is a powerful weapon that ultimately defeats the devil.

  The problem we run into is the temptation to stop doing the thing we should be doing while we are hurting and to isolate ourselves in our pain and misery, all the while feeling sorry for ourselves and blaming people and circumstances for our problems. To blame is to assign responsibility for a wrong. We blame people more than anything else. It usually doesn’t occur to us that we may have actually caused the problem ourselves by opening a door for Satan, meaning that we allowed him access to our lives. We can open doors to him through disobedience to God, being unforgiving toward those who have hurt us, staying angry, and in many other ways. While it is true that Satan is the force behind all warfare, we must take our part of the responsibility by asking God to reveal to us anything we may have done to open the door for the problems we encounter.

  For example, if we are pressured because of debt or financial problems, we may have opened a door through a lack of wisdom in handling our money. The pressure comes from the devil, but we gave him opportunity by not using wisdom and being good stewards over what God has gi
ven us.

  Locating and taking responsibility for any way we have given the devil an opportunity to harass us is the wise thing to do. God always offers us the opportunity to repent, and He will help us. The apostle James writes that anyone who asks for wisdom during trials gets it from God without reproach or faultfinding (see James 1:5). We don’t get help by always blaming someone else for our problems. Even if someone else did cause us problems, the only way out of them is to take responsibility, ask for God’s help, and not waste our time being angry and resentful.

  It is also possible that we have done nothing to open the door for Satan to attack us. I like to say that there are two times when the devil will attack us—when we are doing something wrong and when we are doing something right.

  In Mark 4:15, Jesus says plainly that when the seed of God’s Word is planted in our hearts, Satan immediately attempts to steal it. He does so by bringing trouble or persecution, hoping we will fall away from God. Or he may bring a heavy barrage of worries and cares. He also attempts to distract us with worldly pleasures or with the deceitfulness and false security of wealth or fame. So we certainly can see that Satan’s attacks aren’t always due to something we do wrong; they may also come because we are making progress in our relationship with God and he wants to stop it.

  The ways and reasons Satan gains access to us are varied, and we cannot discuss all of them at this time. The main thing we must remember is that Satan is the true source of our problems, and if we just try to deal with the problem and don’t deal with the devil, our efforts will be useless.

  CHAPTER 10

  Dressed for Battle

  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

  Ephesians 6:11 ESV

  We are in a spiritual war, but, as stated in the last chapter, we have effective weapons with which to fight. In addition to our weapons, we also have armor. God gives us this armor to protect ourselves in battle, but simply having it is not enough—we are instructed to put it on. The term put on is used several times in God’s Word, and it is an action phrase. It requires us to do something. When I go to my closet each morning, my clothes don’t jump off the rack and onto my body. I carefully select them and then I put them on. I check in the mirror to see if I think they look right on me, and if they don’t, I change clothes.

  I think you will see in this chapter that too often Christians are not wearing their armor. Even worse, they sometimes “wear” behavior and attitudes that don’t look good on them at all. For instance, a complaining attitude doesn’t look good on someone who is a representative of Christ, yet many Christians regularly complain. A bitter, resentful, and unforgiving attitude doesn’t look good on Christians, but far too many have that attitude. These attitudes actually open a door for the devil rather than protect us against him. But God has given us armor, and if we know what it is and make sure we are wearing it all the time, Satan will be much less successful in his attacks against us.

  Ephesians 6:14–18 lists the seven things that God considers our armor:

  1. Truth

  2. Righteousness

  3. Peace

  4. Faith

  5. The Helmet of Salvation

  6. The Word of God

  7. Prayer

  Prior to the mention of each piece of armor, we find the phrase “put on,” or another specific action we must take: Tighten the belt of truth around your waist, put on the breastplate of righteousness, strap on your feet the shoes of peace, lift up the shield of faith, take the helmet of salvation, wield the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and pray about everything at all times. We are not automatically protected from the wiles of the devil simply because we are believers in Christ. We must exercise our authority, and putting on the armor is one way we do it.

  Since the armor is invisible, one might ask, “How do I put on something I cannot see?” The armor is spiritual and functions to protect us in the spiritual war. The way to put it on is by faith. Believe you have these powerful pieces of armor and walk in obedience to each of the principles they represent.

  The Belt of Truth

  God’s Word is truth, and we are instructed when in battle to tighten the belt of truth around our waist. In other words, hang on to your faith in God’s Word firmly when the devil is attacking you with his lies and deceits. The Word of God tells us that some people have no roots, and when trouble comes, they fall away from their faith in God (see Mark 4:16–17). We need to be deeply planted in the Word of God and firmly convinced of its validity so that even in times of intense trouble we won’t change our minds and begin to doubt what we believe in good times.

  This will require living beyond how we feel or even what we think, but by what we know in our hearts to be true. Each of us will have times when what we believe will be tested, and it is important for us to pass those tests. Each time we do, the devil realizes more and more that he is losing his grip on us and that he is indeed a defeated foe.

  The Breastplate of Righteousness

  We have been given right standing with God through our faith in Jesus (see Rom. 5:17). Jesus took our sins and gave us His righteousness (see 2 Cor. 5:21). We need to believe this truth and refuse to live under the guilt and condemnation of sins for which we have repented and received forgiveness.

  Jesus not only bore our iniquities, He also bore the guilt and the consequences of them (see Isa. 53:11). If our sins are forgiven and forgotten, according to God’s Word, why should we continue to feel guilty about them? God has wiped them away and forgotten them. However, guilt is a huge problem for many people, and it keeps us feeling pressed down and weak. Satan delights in accusing the believer of many faults and errors. He knows that if he can keep us feeling guilty and condemned, we will feel weak and ineffective in doing God’s work, and that just makes us miserable.

  For years, guilt was one of my biggest problems. Because of being sexually abused by my father, I grew up always thinking something was wrong with me and feeling guilty about the things that he told me we had to hide. He tried to tell me that what he was doing to me was a good thing, but at the same time, I had to always keep it a secret. This was confusing to me, and I ended up feeling guilty and responsible for what he was doing.

  Children don’t have the ability to examine an adult’s wrong conduct and think, You have a problem. They take it upon themselves because it is easy for the devil to make them think any problem is their fault. I have heard, for example, that when parents divorce, most children think it is their fault and that if they would have been better, Mom and Dad would still be together. Satan loves to firmly fix wrong thinking in a child. If he makes us believe lies when we are young, we may function with this deception throughout our lives unless we are blessed to learn the Word of God and actually apply it to our lives.

  I carried feelings of guilt until I was well into my forties and was only delivered from it by studying and restudying God’s Word on righteousness. We are not, and never will be, righteous in ourselves. God despises self-righteousness, but we are made righteous through faith in Jesus because He gives us His very own right standing with God.

  Knowing who we are in Christ is imperative if we are to defeat the devil. If he can keep us feeling guilty and condemned, he rules over us, but knowing who we are in Christ makes us strong and gives us an advantage over the enemy. He may tell us countless lies about ourselves, all negative things he wants us to believe, but knowing the truth of our identity in Christ keeps us walking in truth and defeating the lies of the devil. To know that we are the righteousness of God in Christ means that even though we don’t do everything right, we are still viewed as being right with God through our faith. We are not condemned by our faults, but we are thankful when God reveals them because that means we can work with the Holy Spirit, who seeks to set us free and strengthen us.

  The Shoes of Peace

  We have discussed the importance of peace in an earlier chapter, but I like the idea of putting
on our shoes of peace, because we put on our shoes in order to walk around and not injure ourselves. This biblical truth lets us know that if we stay in peace, then no matter what our circumstances, the devil has no power over us. Our natural inclination when trouble comes is to become upset, to be emotional and begin behaving according to how we feel. But that is exactly what God doesn’t want us to do. He encourages us to remain peaceful. By doing so we can sense what He is leading us to do in order to overcome our circumstances. Not only will we be able to hear from God, but if the devil cannot upset or frighten us, then he will go away and wait for another opportunity to gain access into our lives.

  The devil never just decides to leave us alone and not come against us or try to deceive us. We must be ready to stand against him at all times. Remember what Peter said: The devil “prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8).

  Paul wrote to the Philippians that not being frightened in any situation would be a clear sign and proof to their opponents of their destruction, and a sign to them of their salvation from God (see Phil. 1:28). In other words, if we stay in peace, then Satan knows he cannot control us, and that releases God to defeat the devil on our behalf because we have shown that our faith is in Him.

  The Bible says a great deal about the value of peace in spiritual warfare. This is something that we should pray about and strive to maintain with God’s help. Remember, fear gets us upset, but faith keeps us calm.

  The Shield of Faith

  We are instructed to lift up the shield of faith. I emphasize this because simply having faith isn’t enough; we also need to release our faith in God in order to see it work on our behalf. We can release our faith through praying, saying, and doing. What I mean is that prayer offered in true faith is a covering over our lives, and it is one of our best defenses against the plots and strategies of the devil. What we say is also very important. Angels obey the voice of God’s Word (see Ps. 103:20); they don’t listen to us nor are they moved to help us when we complain or speak words of fear, doubt, and unbelief. We are told to hold fast our confession of faith (see Heb. 10:23) during times of trouble and distress.