I told my brother, “I am learning so much about prayer. I know God hears us when we pray and I don’t need to beg Him to do something His Word clearly says is already His desire. Instead, I feel like my prayers have become a warfare against all the fiery darts of the enemy.”
On August 11, 2021, I took my mom to the emergency room thinking she was dehydrated from a stomach virus. Instead, we found out she had Covid. My mom was in the hospital a total of 89 days— over two weeks of that on a ventilator and three weeks with a tracheotomy. She made the voluntary decision to be placed on a ventilator as a help measure and flown to a hospital five hours from our home. As I made the drive to be with her, I was thankful for all the family and believing friends praying for mom’s recovery, but the odds were certainly stacked against her.
There are many types of prayer. Paul told the Ephesians, regarding warfare with the enemy, “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18). There are prayers of thanksgiving, prayers of intercession, and prayers for wisdom, revelation, and help— each powerful in their own right.
But the prayer of authority is the most crucial.
Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 18:18). In other words, there are times when you and I need to use our authority in Jesus’ name and put a stop to the enemy’s devices.
Thankfully, I know God’s Word on healing. During my mom’s ordeal, I never felt like I needed to beg God to heal her. Not only does His Word say this is His desire and that He sent His Word to heal us all (Psalm 107:20), but I have personally seen God restore many lives. My faith for mom’s healing wasn’t the issue. The real battle was in the daily ups and downs of her recovery.
Jesus perfectly described this battle when the religious scholars accused Him of being filled with a demon spirit. He said, “Really?” (my paraphrase) “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house” (Mark 3:23-27).
The New Living says, “Let me illustrate this further. Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house” (verse 27).
We are stronger.
Jesus told His disciples that believers have authority over ALL the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19) but unfortunately, many people don’t understand their authority in His name. Notice how Jesus affirmed to the religious scholars that Satan is indeed strong— but CHRISTIANS are stronger if they’ll believe and use what has been given to them.
When we learn to tie up the enemy in prayer, we’ll put an end to his strategies against us.
Remember, we are called believers, not beggars. There is no need to beg God for something He has already provided for us through Christ Jesus. But that doesn’t mean we won’t have to stand in faith.
I’m so thankful to report my mom is home now, off all oxygen, and growing stronger every day. She is now exercising her own faith in her recovery. And we know God is faithful to help.
I want to encourage you to use the authority Jesus has given us in His name. Bind the enemy in prayer and you’ll plunder his house instead of him plundering yours!
