Prayer and Authority (13) Resisting Evil

The New Testament method for dealing with evil is to resist it.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7).

Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith (1 Pet 5:8-9).

The Greek word for resist is the word “stand” with a prefix meaning “against” attached. When we resist the enemy in prayer, we are standing on ground that legally belongs to us and forcing him to leave it. When we resist evil, the Holy Spirit comes in beside us like a bailiff, and forces it to retreat. Our resistance give the Spirit authority to apply his power against the powers that oppose us.

The forces of evil have no authority on earth, but they will refuse to give up their ground as long as they can get away with it. The role of the church is to enforce the victory of Jesus against the principalities and powers.

His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Eph 3:10).

This promise is for “now”. A key task of the church is to put the victory of the Jesus into effect by resisting the forces of evil and forcing them out of the territory they have lost. Prayer established Jesus victory in the world. We must persist in resisting the forces of the enemy until that enemy is complete.