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                                                                                      (Part 5)

“And the Lord answered me, and said, write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” (Habakkuk 2: 2-3)

In our last discussion, I indicated that we will discuss how to do warfare against the enemy who is ever ready to fight against the fulfilment of the prophecy we have received. I will speak about two important tools we must employ to overcome demonic attacks on personal prophecies. However, before that, let me say that the only sure way to overcome the enemy is to resist him. The real enemy of man is the devil. Until we learn how to resist his works against us, we can never make progress in our walk with the Lord. 

The Bible says that when we resist the devil, he will flee from us. Every other strategy to overcome the enemy would work if we  know how to resist him.

How do we resist the devil?

The Apostle James gives perfect advice on how to resist the devil.

“But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:6 – 7)

The above scripture speaks about two things in particular. On one hand, it speaks about the danger associated with pride. God hates pride and will always resist the proud. A prideful person is someone who is not submissive to a constituted authority. A perfect example of what pride can do is the fall of Lucifer. Lucifer was highly regarded in heaven, but when he became proud and sought to be like God, he lost his coveted position and was thrown out of God’s glorious presence.

As humans, we are subject to the authority of God. Whoever fails to submit to God’s authority is prideful. That person cannot enjoy the grace of God. If we want to overcome Satan, we must eschew pride. That takes us to the second thing Apostle James said in the above scripture. That is “humility”.

Humility is the opposite of pride. Whoever is not “prideful” is certainly “humble”. In the scripture above, James, the Apostle of God, stated unequivocally that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. He therefore advised that believers in Christ should submit ourselves to God’s authority if we want to receive the grace of God to excel in life.

The benefit of submitting to God’s authority is that God will grant us the grace to resist the devil. When we resist the devil, he will flee from us. This, however, can only be achieved when we have eschewed pride and humbly submitted ourselves to God’s authority.

To submit oneself to God simply means to walk in obedience to his word. In other words, we submit to God by obeying his commandments. When Apostle James stated that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble, he simply said that God will not help someone who does not submit to his authority. Indeed, if a loyal servant is going to a battle, his master will give him all the support he needs to win the battle. However, he won’t do the same with a disloyal servant.

Therefore, when we refuse to subject ourselves to God’s authority, he will not give us the grace to resist the enemy because we have become one with the enemy. Like already stated, the devil will not flee from us until we have resisted him. We equally cannot resist the devil without submitting ourselves to God. Apostle Paul clearly stated that our warfare with the enemy is spiritual and not flesh and blood.

“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:11-12)

Yes, our warfare with the enemy is not one of flesh and blood. It is spiritual. Unless God is on our side, we can never overcome the enemy. If we therefore want to overcome Satan and his attacks, we must humble ourselves before the Lord, so he can give us the grace to do so.

How does that affect prophecy? When we receive a prophecy about what God wants to do in our lives, it is important to know that though the prophecy is about us, the purpose is to reveal to us how God wants to use us to advance his kingdom. That means that once a prophecy is uttered, God wants to see it fulfilled. However, we have a role to play to make it happen. If we do not play our role effectively, the prophecy may either delay or not manifest at all. In that case, God will use someone else to do what he would have done through us. 

When Judas betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ and committed suicide, the position he occupied was given to someone else. When Elijah was about to finish his work on earth, God asked him to anoint Elisha to take his place. God rejected Saul and anointed David to take his place. After Moses was taken away, God appointed Joshua to lead the Israelites to the promised land. 

Truth be told, God always have an alternative. Nothing can stop his work from moving forward. If we fail to do what he has asked us to do for the kingdom, God will give our place to someone else because nothing can stop what he has designed to happen. However, God does not want us to fail. That is why he reveals his plans to us through his prophets. Our duty is to make sure that we do not allow the enemy to stop us. The only way to avoid such is by submitting our will to His. If we receive a prophecy, we need God’s grace to accomplish it. Without God’s grace, the enemy will either delay or destroy the prophecy.  

The point I am making is that prophecy attracts attacks from Satan. This is because he is opposed to God’s plan. When a prophecy is given concerning someone, Satan will launch a warfare against that person to make sure he or she does not play his role towards the fulfilment of the prophecy. Therefore, if we want to overcome the enemy’s attack which is designed to cause the prophecy we have received to delay or fail totally, we must be ready to do warfare against Satan. However, we bear must bear in mind that we cannot win a war against Satan except we are totally submitted to God and his will for us. The only way to do that is to humble ourselves before the Lord and submit to his authority.

The perfect example of a man who submitted all to God is our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that God gave him a name above all names because of his obedience to the Father.

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2: 5-11)  

The above scripture clearly states that our Lord Jesus Christ walked in obedience to the will of the Father. Based on that, the Father gave him a name above all names. Whilst he walked the earth, God was with him in all his battle against the enemy. That was because of his humility and obedience to the Father. He was so focused on finishing the assignment the Father gave him to the point that he considered it his food.

“In the meanwhile his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. Therefore, said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? Jesus saith unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” (John 4: 31-34) 

He who considers the Father’s work his food is someone who has totally surrendered his own will to him. The total submission of his will to the Father was the reason God gave him the grace to overcome the enemy. It was the unlimited grace of God in his life that gave him the upper hand against Satan each time he tried to take him down. 

In part 2 of the series, we shall discuss one of the tools which the parents of Baby Jesus used to win the warfare launched by the enemy against the prophecy that the Lord Jesus Christ would save the world from sin. 

Source:  “Truth be told (TBT) Series” 

Author:    Apostle Frank B. Ogbu
                 Head Pastor/Overseer

                 Champion Grace Eternal Ministries

                 Ayikai Doblo, Amasaman 
                 Accra, Ghana