Offense and Defense
How do you do that? Get in God’s Word. Read. Pray. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says to “pray without ceasing.” But how do we pray without stopping? It’s very simple. I used to get so confused when trying to figure out how to continually pray. My worst time with having negative, oppressive thoughts pop into my head are when I’m doing dishes, laundry, or when I lay down in bed at night. Those are the times when little things pop in there. I’m not even going to write them because once they start it’s like a snowball effect and they keep growing and growing. It’s best to stay away from them and not make them a rerun in your head. So what I’m going to tell you instead is, THIS is when you have to put a stop to it. If you have to, say out loud, “NO!”
The enemy only has the power that you give to him. So…DON’T GIVE IT TO HIM! We have been beat down so much that we think God can’t fix our problem, or that He doesn’t care, or that our problems are too many and God can’t take care of all of them at once. That is a LIE. You and I have more power in the tips of our little finger than the devil does in his whole body! Yes, we do! You do NOT have to be oppressed anymore! You do NOT have to listen to the lies the enemy tells you! When you begin to have those crippling thoughts, say out loud, NO! Shake your head no. And start calling out to God. This is praying without ceasing! This is what I mean by it. Every time the negativity starts, YOU start talking to God. Whether you have to speak out loud, or pray in your thoughts, God can hear you no matter what. When my mind was so full of junk that I couldn’t concentrate on praying silently, I prayed out loud. I would whisper, or talk normal, or sometimes even cry out with a loud voice. But you have to stand up for yourself both in the flesh and in the spirit. Take back your life and hand it over to God. He can do so much more with it than we can!
A lifetime of oppression, hurt, anger, depression, and all those nit-picky little things that go with it will not necessarily leave you all at once. But one by one, they will begin to dissipate. When they do, replace them with the Word of God. Hide it (memorize) in your heart (Psalm 119:11). Because the enemy will try to dredge it back up. It may come in the form of thoughts. It may come through people, family members and “friends” who try to say, “Well I know what you’re REALLY like!” No, they don’t. You know that. God knows that. And so does the enemy. Don’t give him a toe-hold. Don’t let him drag you back into the trenches. You’ve been liberated by the Living God! Stand! And when you’ve done all you can do….STAND! Let HIM be your defense, and never be offended again!