In my last post, we talked about I Peter 5:7 about casting our anxiety upon the Lord. The next verse after that shouldn’t surprise us. It’s so logical that Peter next says, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
The Holy Spirit through Peter writes those words immediately after giving us a big exhortation to trust God! We can easily see that Satan wants to defeat us by keeping us worried so that we are pitiful representatives of the Kingdom. We lose our confidence and we shamefully hide from expressing our trust in God to others. Yet, most of us don’t really take Satan very seriously; after all, who am I to think Satan is earmarking me for attention? But each warrior in God’s army is important and Satan isn’t selective in who he wants to subvert. He’ll take you and me!
We can fight him through the power of God’s Word. When worry assails me, I begin to mull the fear over and over. Even when I identify it as worry and sometimes even when I turn it over to the Lord, the fear still haunt me.
But victory comes from the truth in Revelation 12:10-11: “And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. ‘And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death.’” (NASB)
I apply these verses by rebuking Satan out loud saying something like (and sometimes it’s loud!): “Satan, in the Name of Jesus and through the blood that Jesus shed for me, I tell you to leave me alone! You’re not going to accuse and hassle me any more about this situation. I trust God for it! Get away from me!” (This is the being “sober and alert” part of the verse!)
Invariably, several minutes later, I mentally “wake up” and think, “Hey, wasn’t I worried about something a short time ago!? I can’t remember what it was!” Or if I remember what it was, the confusion, tension and anxiety over it are no longer there. Peace has begun to reign in my heart.
This is a powerful promise from God that we need to implement. In fact, why don’t you practice it right now? Unless someone is going to stare at you (and even if they are—who cares?), say out loud what I wrote about rebuking Satan. You can, of course, shape your own wording but remember to rebuke and resist Satan through the blood of the Lamb and your testimony (which means reviewing how God has helped you in the past).
I guarantee that whatever you were worried about will either lose its anxious power over you or you won’t even remember what you were so worried about!
Kathy, this goes right along with my pastor's mini-series titled "The Remedy for Anxiety". Good stuff!
I believe there is such power in speaking the name of Jesus and telling the enemy to flee.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Rachel. I'm glad to join you in that truth of God's power to fight the Enemy and glad to hear your pastor is equipping the Body of Christ.