Christian Living

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Releasing God’s Power and Ability in You

The Battle is not Yours

By: Rick L. King
Sept 22, 2009

Have you ever faced a battle and felt that you didn’t or just couldn’t win it?

2Ch 20:15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

Have you ever considered that the battle is really the Lord’s to fight? What I am going to do say may bother some, but if you will consider what I am saying that is verified through scripture, you may find victories that you never dreamed that could be.

First of all, we must understand a basic truth that is not taught or preached often. The reason being it requires us to give up self. Much of what we hear taught is feeding self and is in opposition to God’s Word and intent. Jesus was our example when He said in Joh 5:30, I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. Do you see what Jesus said? He said that of his own self that he could do nothing. He was the Son of God. He was all powerful yet he said of himself that he could do nothing. He came not to do his own will but the will of the Father that sent him. If Jesus had to do this then where does it leave the Christian (one that is saved or born-again)?

We are told in, Mt 16:25, For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. We must lose our life to find it. This does not mean our physical life on earth; it means our carnal natural life. Otherwise none of us would find life until we went to Heaven. We are told in, Ro 8:7, Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. The carnal mind refers to our flesh or natural mind. Ro 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Ro 8:8 states, so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. The word flesh means our carnal natural mind. It does not mean flesh as in our body. If we cannot please God in our flesh and being in the flesh is enmity against God, then how are we to live? Ga 5:16 states, This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. The only way to not walk in the flesh is to walk in the spirit. The reason God is not pleased when we walk in the flesh is because it is self-pleasing. It puts everything in our ability instead of God’s. Ro 7:18 states, For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. No good thing is in our flesh. We must lose our life therefore to find real life.

Ga 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

The above scripture is a real key to our victory. Many seem to believe that once they accept Jesus that they are crucified with Christ. This is not a true belief. We receive a new nature and desire, but it does not mean that we are dead to our flesh. Note that the scripture says that we live by the faith “of” the Son of God. It cannot be our faith if we are crucified. A dead man cannot have faith. The faith is God’s faith through the Spirit. Faith is one of the fruits of the Spirit. Getting out of the flesh and into the Spirit will cause faith within us, as it is God’s faith. Jude says: Jude 1:20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. Praying in the Holy Ghost produces faith as it gets us out of our natural carnal mind and into the Spirit where God dwells and gives revelation knowledge and His will.

Php 2:5 says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. We are to make a choice to have the mind of Jesus. It is not automatic once saved. It is a choice. So what was the mind of Jesus? His mind was a surrendered mind to the will of God alone. It was not about what He wanted. He came to do God’s will not His own. He did what He saw the Father do and spoke what He heard the Father speak. He was just a conduit for God to work through on earth. He was our example. If we are crucified and it is He alone living in us, then the same thing will be happening through us as what we read about Jesus. Jesus depended on the Holy Spirit to flow through Him. We must depend on the Holy Spirit also. It is His power, not ours. I mentioned earlier that we were to walk in the spirit. This means that we are allowing the Holy Spirit to work in and through us. This means we are seeking the will of God and not our own. This means that we are no longer asking God to come into agreement with what we desire, but we are coming into agreement with what God desires instead. God’s ways and thoughts are much higher than ours are. His plans are much different than ours. Ours are always selfish in some form.

The Battle

2Co 10:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Eph 6:12 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.

If we now understand that it is only God by the Holy Spirit that works through us, then we should be able to understand who is actually fighting the battles. Our weapons are not carnal. This means they are not fleshly weapons like guns, and bombs, etc. They are spiritual weapons. It says that they are mighty through God. Through God means He is doing the fighting. He does this through us just as He did through Jesus. He pulls down strongholds. A stronghold can really be two things. First in the spirit realm demon spirits will rule or reign over cities, houses, places, etc. They have a strong hold over the area and their being there restricts and keeps God’s power and blessing from manifesting. See Ephesians 6:12. Secondly, a thought is an imagination. An unscriptural thought believed can become a stronghold in one’s mind. It has a strong hold over the person. It is a thought that they run their life by even though it may be a lie that they have called true. When this happens, the lie from the devil is the stronghold. It says that what God’s Word says is not true. This lie believed and acted upon allows an open door for the enemy to bring in a demonic spirit to keep the person in bondage to the thought or imagination. We are told to cast down the imagination. Once we cast it down, we gain the knowledge of God. This is not knowledge about God; it is His knowledge in us. We now have allowed or “let” the mind of Christ be in us.

In order to accomplish this is allowing the Holy Spirit to rule and reign. We must get out of the flesh and into the spirit. How do we accomplish this? I find that there are at least two ways. One is praise and worship. When we learn to praise and worship the Lord, God shows up, and changes us because we are drawing near to Him. Change always occurs when we get into His presence. Secondly, we get into the spirit by praying in the spirit. Praying in the spirit is praying in tongues. Praying this way gets us past our natural mind. It allows our spirit man to rule rather than our carnal mind. We become spiritually minded. Ro 8:6 says, For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. When we pray in the spirit we release God’s ability to work in and through us. It takes us into the spirit realm and out of our flesh. God then prays through us. God’s authority works through us to deal with spiritual foes. It causes us to know things that God thinks and knows. It allows us to see the root cause of many things and how to pray and do warfare concerning them. We just become the conduit for the Holy Spirit to pray and do warfare through us. It is here that we find that it is no longer I that liveth, but it is Christ that liveth within me. If we try to do the warfare in the flesh, we don’t get far. God desires to do the warfare in and through us by His Spirit. This way works. This way pulls down strongholds. This way sets the captives free. This way will bring revival. The way will change cities and nations for God. This way is His way. It is His plans not ours. It is His ability and power, not ours. It is Him battling the enemy, not us. In order to win, we must flow in His power.

Ac 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Joh 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
Joh 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

Eph 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

All of the above scriptures refer to the Holy Spirit and His power. All of the next
scriptures tell of how we receive this power.

Lu 11:13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
Joh 1:33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
Joh 7:39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Ac 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

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