A Powerful Weapon (I): The Word of God
You may or may not know already that you should read, meditate on, memorise, and use the Word of God to your advantage. The Word of God is quick, powerful, and sharper than a two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). There is power in the tongue as well (Proverbs 18:21). Even the ungodly know this, which is why they use incantations and text from books and other materials to bring their plans to fulfilment.
Once, I was grading students' exam sheets in a higher institution of learning. As I was going about my business, I stumbled on a particular sheet with a few strange sentences. It took a few minutes to realise they were verses from the Quran - not meant to bless me; but we thank God for the Blood of Jesus. There were sheets from other students as well, with sentences, right at the beginning of the answer sheets (some at the end), written in Hindi, Arabic, etc. I mean, those students were bold! These were English-Speaking students, though from foreign nations – they certainly spoke English in class. Whether they were good students or not, is irrelevant here; but I can tell you that most, if not all of them, failed the course. The point I’m making here is this: Those students knew certain words were powerful and were ready to use them to make things happen. Now, the effectiveness of the word used by a person for whatever reason, will of course depend on its source and the power backing the one who is using it.
The ungodly curse, cast spells, and control or manipulate their victims, using words. If they know well enough to do these, why would we, followers of Christ, who have authority, not use the Word of God for our own good? If you have not started already, learn to use the Word of God to your advantage.
The Bible made it clear that satan is our enemy – cunning and hostile to the core (John 10:10, 1 Peter 5:8), yet some believers do not fight back when he attempts to execute his plans for their lives. Not only do we have the authority to overcome the power of satan, as followers of Christ (Luke 10:19) – we have also been given the full armour of God as a means of defence against his schemes (Ephesians 6:10-18).
A piece of this armour is the Word of God (also called the Sword of the Spirit) – a powerful offensive weapon through and through! Use the Word of God to counter satan’s plans, his accusations, and temptations. Jesus Christ used no miraculous power to overcome the temptations of satan in the wilderness, even though He could have. He simply used the Word of God (Matthew 4:1-11). We are to do the same, as His followers.
There are times when the war between the Kingdom of Light and the kingdom of darkness is verbal – an exchange of words (so to speak). Again, the Word of God is available to you. Use it! Spoken words are powerful; either for good or for evil (Proverbs 8:21). They have the potential to build and to destroy. This is why those who are spiritually conscious respond with positive statements when people give them evil reports or utter negative statements to them. They are never in agreement with these. You have not taken vengeance when you do that; you have simply responded and stepped over what was said to you. Being silent means that you are in agreement with what they said. The ungodly have no power over you, unless you choose to let them. Jesus Christ gave you power to tread upon serpents, scorpions, and all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19). Exercise that power to the fullest. Speak the Word like Christ did.
Pray the Word, accordingly. Learn to use verses from the Bible (the written Word of God). If you find yourself in a difficult situation, pick a verse that speaks to the situation, and say for example: It is written in <quote the verse>, and so I take authority over <mention the situation>. We take authority over situations by releasing the Word of God upon them. Another example is to pray in this manner: Father, it is written in Your Word that those who seek You will never lack anything good - then continue by making your request known to Him with this. There are many verses available to you.
You also have the liberty to seek the counsel of the Holy Spirit on a situation through Bible verses. He will prompt or lead you to verses that address the situation. He can speak to you audibly as well, if you are spiritually-alert. I experienced this some years ago. He gave me a particular verse in my sleep. He only mentioned the verse. So, I had to grab my Bible when I woke up, since I was not doing a good job of memorising Bible verses at the time and didn’t know what the text in the verse was. I understood what His counsel was for me after I read it, and then did the needful. I triumphed over the situation I was having, shortly afterwards; all glory to God! It was amazing.
There are other ways the Lord speaks to His beloved, besides the three I mentioned.
Another advantage you have, is to confess the promises of God to you. You will find them all in His written Word (the Bible). Confess the promises, whether you are in a mode of prayer or not. Meditate on them; memorise them; and confess them to remain victorious. His promises are “Yes” and “Amen” in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20), beloved!
Feel free to visit our other website, www.doveletters.org for Bible Verses on different situations.
Shalom!
Deborah O Daniel (Toyin)
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