The Defeated One
“Satan has been really working me over lately. He has overcome me with panic attacks. He has stolen my money and my health. You all better remember me in your prayers!”
It would be useful to refer to Satan as The Defeated One or The One from Whose Kingdom I Have Been Delivered before giving some testimonies. It would change how they sound.
“The Defeated One has been really working me over lately. The Defeated One has overcome me with panic attacks. The One from Whose Kingdom I Have Been Delivered has stolen my money and my health. You all better remember me in your prayers!”
I think the nature of the other church people’s prayers would change to, “Lord, please let this dear person get a grip on what Christ has already done about the devil!”
This kind of substitution would ruin a lot of different prayers that need to be ruined. “Let’s get on our knees and do spiritual warfare to defeat The Defeated One. Let’s pray to roll back the powers of The One from Whose Kingdom I Have Been Delivered. What I’m doing is really making The Defeated One mad, so I need more “prayer covering” so that the One from Whose Kingdom I Have Been Delivered does not overpower me and eat my lunch. Please pray that the Defeated One will be unable to defeat me.”
Now that I’ve gotten you started, I’m sure that you can come up with your own equally ridiculous examples.
It is amazing how many Christians exercise more faith in the devil and his power than in God and His power. Let me give you an illustration to see whether you fall into this category.
Suppose you are sick. Of how much use do you think it would be if you said the following out of your mouth? “Lord, I present my body to you as a living sacrifice. Have Your way in my body! Strengthen it with your life-giving power. I affirm that I am healed by the stripes of Jesus. I confess that I will LIVE!” If you’re like most Christians, you would think, “Well, that might help, but I’m not totally sure that it would change anything.”
Now suppose you are well. Of how much detriment do you think it would be if you said the following out of your mouth? “Satan, I present my body to you as a living sacrifice. Have your way in my body! Kill it with your death-giving power. I deny that I am healed by the stripes of Jesus. I confess that I will DIE!” If you are like most Christians, you would think, “Horrors! Satan would surely take advantage of that and I’d die a quick untimely death for sure!”
Which gets to my point – if you are like most Christians, you have more faith in Satan and his ability to work his will in you than you do in God and His ability to work His will in you. Something is very, very wrong with that! Why can you put more trust in a renegade liar than in God who cannot lie? If you can trust The Defeated One to work his will (sickness) in your body, surely you should be able to trust God – the very One who defeated Satan – to work His will (divine health) in your body!
See also: