DAILY SPIRITUAL
By Dr. Jerry B. Pena, D.D., D. Min., by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ Apostolic Bishop
“Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven (Luke 10:19-20, KJV). “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12, NIV)
TAKING AUTHORITY AGAINST THE ENEMY "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Matthew 18:18 (NIV)
Lord, you said that, “Whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Therefore, Satan, I bind you, in the name of Jesus. I bind every spiritual force of the darkness, rulers, principalities and wickedness in the high places, in the name of Jesus. I bind every evil spirit assigned against me, against my family, my job, my health, my finances, and my ministry. I bind witchcraft and the spirit of divination trying to control me. I cancel its operation against me, in the name of Jesus. I cast down every authority that rises against and every tongue that accuses me I condemned. I cancel every word spoken against me and my family. I cancel every negative word that I had mistakenly spoken against my life and my family, in the name of Jesus and replace it with what the Lord promised me. I allow these promises spoken by the Lord to happen in my life and my family (speak those promises that God gave you during your meditation Spiritual Warfare Prayer Page 1
time. Those promises are personally given to you. Memorized scripture are very powerful weapon against the enemy).
THREE POWERFUL GOD GIVEN WEAPONS AGAINST THE ENEMY THE WORD OF GOD (EPH. 6:17, HEBREWS 4:12) THE NAME OF JESUS (MARK 16:17-18) THE BLOOD OF JESUS (REVELATION 12:11) QUALIFICATION OF A SPIRITUAL WARRIOR/INTERCESSOR A TRUE BORN AGAIN EXPERIENCE (JOHN 3:3-5) It is impossible to fight and win the battle against the spiritual forces of the darkness without a real and personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. When a person confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord and believes in his heart that He was raised from the dead, he becomes a new creature, the old thing has passed away and his spirit becomes new. His name is written in heaven and he becomes registered as a spiritual warrior and intercessor. He is now Christ’s ambassador assigned to enforce God’s will to be done on earth as it is done in heaven. It is very important that his faith in Jesus Christ must prove to be genuine before he could engage in spiritual warfare. CHRIST-LIKENESS-- the character and walk of our Lord Jesus Christ. As mentioned above, no one could engage in spiritual warfare without a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ, the Commander in-chief. Let’s bear in mind that Jesus Christ has been given a name that is above every name so that at His name, every knee in heaven and on earth and under the earth should bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:10-11, NIV). Not only He was given a name that is above every name, but God put all things under His authority far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come (Ephesians 1:21-22, NLT). Genuine relationship with the Savior and Commander in-chief requires the following:
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SURRENDERED WILL
Our will must be totally surrendered to God if we want to be effective prayer warriors. If our will is not totally surrendered to God it will continue to enforce the desires of our sinful nature and our carnal thoughts, therefore, it becomes impossible to find the will of God. This is the reason why Apostle Paul wrote to the believers telling them not to conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed by renewing their mind. Then they will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:2). When Jesus came to earth, He totally surrendered His will to the Father. “Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, 'Here I am--it is written about me in the scroll-- I have come to do your will, O God.'” (Hebrews 10:5-7, NIV). “Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (Matthew 26:36-39, NLT). HUMILITY & OBEDIENCE
As spiritual warrior and intercessor, we must walk in humility because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Since Jesus, our Lord, walked in humility and obedience, we must also be clothed with the same attitude. “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5-8, NIV) SACRIFICE
Sacrifice involves laying down oneself for the sake of Christ and the gospel. Apostle Paul reminded Timothy, his son in the faith, that as spiritual soldier he should not be involved with civilian affairs because the soldier’s goal is to please his Commanding Officer. “Endure
hardships with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer (2 Timothy 2:3-4, NIV). Spiritual Warfare Prayer Page 3
Our Lord, Jesus, also emphasized to those who want to follow Him that they need to deny self, carry their cross and follow Him. Sacrificing our selfish desires for Christ’s sake must be our priority as spiritual warriors and intercessors.
“Then he said to all, "Anyone who wants to follow me must put aside his own desires and conveniences and carry his cross with him every day and keep close to me! Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it, but whoever insists on keeping his life will lose it; and what profit is there in gaining the whole world when it means forfeiting one’s self? (Luke 9:23-25, TLB) PRAYER LIFE
Prayer is God given spiritual tool to every Christian for their use in times of need. In my limited understanding, it is impossible to live a victorious Christian life without prayer. Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, to be persistent in prayer and not give up. He also taught them the importance of prayer to avoid temptation, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak” (Mark 14:38, NIV). The book of 1 John 5:14-15 tells us that we can be confident when approaching God because He hears us, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him.” There are different types of prayer that God made available for our use. If we are at peace, we use the prayer of thanksgiving and adoration. If we needed help, we use the prayer of petition. If we need forgiveness, we use the prayer of repentance. If we are dealing with the enemy, we use the spiritual warfare prayer. Our Lord demonstrated a life of prayer during His earthly life. “Yet while Christ was here on earth he pleaded with God, praying with tears and agony of soul to the only one who would save him from [premature] death. And God heard his prayers because of his strong desire to obey God at all times” (Hebrews 5:7, TLB). “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35, NIV). “And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray” (Mark 6:46, KJV).
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