It is funny how you look at things change as you get older and have more wisdom. When I think of power and authority I think of how I have come full circle. When I was in the third grade my teacher let me be the hall monitor. This was my first memory of having power and authority. That meant that I could talk but no one else could....unless they were talking to me. What a brat, right? (I acted out in second and third grade - my younger brother had just been born and I had been the baby....for six years!) Fast forward to early marriage and I think
"stuff" was my power and authority. We were newly married and there were certain things you did; buy a house, have a baby, buy a minivan, have a second baby, etc. "Stuff" rules a lot of people. Power and authority was in the form of people or things.
As I grew in my relationship with Jesus I started learning more about power and authority. How power and authority could help you in the biggest tragedies of life. One of the first things was a story about a family broken down on the highway. The husband had to leave his wife and two little girls to go get help. This was before cell phones. A man came to the car and broke into the car. Frightened for her girls life and her life, the mother, through tears, said, "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus." The man fled. No one else around. It turned out that this man was a serial killer. That mother had the best defense - the power and authority of Jesus. In the movie, The War Room, a man tried to mug, the elderly, Miss. Clara. She hit the man with her purse and said, "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus." The mugger fled. They used their power and authority given in the name of Jesus.
Whether we realize we have this authority or not, we have it. We do not have to wait and use it for the catastrophes in life. Satan does not want us to learn about the authority we have over him. And he will do all that he can to hide this truth from us. This is a huge threat to him and he will try to blind our eyes to this authority so he can defeat us in every area of our life. Once we know we have this authority it is up to us to "feed it". If we do not use this authority the devil will dominate us. It will not happen automatically - we will have to exercise it to bring results.
Jesus has already won the battle over Satan. He has already been defeated. Satan cannot dominate us unless we allow him to. I will repeat that. Satan cannot dominate us unless we allow him to. When we realize this we can walk in our authority! 2 Timothy 1: 6, "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands." We must continue fanning the flame crying out for Jesus' power in our lives. These times will be moments of personal revival. We may experience the power of the Spirit in new ways. In deeper ways. We may see miracles performed. We must "fan the flame". The more we do this the more we seek to be set on fire for Jesus.
We can use this power and authority in day to day life - with the little stuff. The disciples called out to Jesus in the midst of the storm. We can call on him to bring calm and peace to us. If you think your situation is hopeless -- call on Jesus. If you feel you are the worst person on the earth -- call on Jesus. If you feel alone - call on Jesus. If you see no way out - call on Jesus. If you are overwhelmed - call on Jesus. He may not remove the obstacles the way we understand but He will walk through them with us.
There may be a lot of people who they, and we, think they have power and authority but really only one has power and authority and that is Jesus. And He will let us pray with that power and authority when we pray in His name! Do you use the power and authority you have been given through Jesus?
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