“Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits went out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Also, there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus, I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified” Acts 19:11-17.
You can have zeal for kingdom work, but it’s a zeal that is not founded on knowledge and revelation. The sons of Sceva had a desire to do exorcism, but they lacked the authority and power to do so. This had repercussions as the demon spirit beat them. In the spirit realm, we are naked; everything is there for spirits to see. In the spirit realm, you know who has authority and power and who doesn’t. You know who has a demonic spirit and who walks in the power of God. We have those clothed in righteousness and those who walk in a ring of fire. Those who have demons wrapped all around their body and those who walk naked (no protection).
The Foundation for Power and Authority is the Finished Works of Jesus.
The foundation for walking in Authority and power is the finished works of Jesus. It is at the cross that Jesus defeated and disarmed the forces of darkness. Colossians 2:15, “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it (cross). You must realise that, based on the finished work of Jesus, we do not seek victory, but rather come from victory. The cross changes our position from victims of works of darkness to conquerors and victors.
It also says in Ephesians 4:8, “Therefore He says, ‘When he ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men”.
The finished works of Jesus are like a legal degree that we use as believers, and through partnering with the Holy Spirit, we enforce those degrees and dominion on earth.
To Walk in Authority – Know the Person of Jesus Christ.
For you to walk in Authority you need to get a revelation of who Jesus is and what His accomplished at the cross. The error some believers make is they still see Jesus as a crucified Messiah instead of a resurrected being reigning in power. Jesus is risen and he reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
“ and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 19-22.
Philippians 2:10, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and on the earth and under the earth”
You can have a revelation of the risen savior through an encounter with Him in a vision or dream, or you can encounter Him through reading about him in scripture. John 20:29, “Blessed are those who have not seen but yet have believed”. It is this revelation of Jesus’ deity, conquest at the cross, authority and position in the heavenly realms that takes the fear of demons away from you. To walk in authority over powers of darkness, you have to believe that Jesus is the highest authority or spiritual being in the spiritual realm and he is with you and lives in you.
Jesus is at the head in the spiritual realm, having superior power. He says in Matthew 28:18, “All authority (all power of absolute rule) in heaven and earth has been given to me”. This power is available to you and the church, which is his body.
Know Who You are in Him.
As believers, we walk in delegated power just like a policeman operating traffic lights does. The policeman arresting thieves or stopping cars is not using his power but the power delegated to him by the state. As believers, it says in Ephesians 2:6, “And He raised us up together with Him [when we believed], and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, [because we are] in Christ Jesus”
Luke 10:19 Jesus says, “Behold, I give you the authority and power to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”
You are not a nobody but a carrier of God’s divine power and authority. Romans 8:37 AMP, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors and gain an overwhelming victory through Him who loved us [so much that He died for us].
“And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Matthew 16:18
Things to Note to Walk in Power and Authority
Living a Consecrated Life.
The first thing to note is that you cannot exercise authority over a demon you are sleeping with. You can’t even cast it out if you are partners. There is a difference between General and Private consecration. All believers are called to live a consecrated life (set apart). Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service”. There are general consecrations which we are to abide by as believers, like avoiding sexual immorality, drunkenness or avoiding works for darkness. These are for every believer.
However, God may require private consecration to an individual so that they can walk in certain aspects of their anointing and giftings. For instance, He may require one to avoid eating meat or pork, wake up and pray at specific times and hours or abstain from dating for a defined period. The error we make is to impose our private consecration onto people and make it a doctrine. The Nazirites had a private consecration that prevented them from touching dead bodies, drinking wine or cutting their hair. The power was not in the things they did but in their obedience to the consecration. Samson’s power was not in his hair, but in his obedience to the requirements of his consecration not to cut it.
Consecration may look like that season in life where God takes you to the wilderness to be tested. During this time, you are separated from the world so that God can make you a usable vessel by cleansing you. Cleansing involves God dethroning the idols in your life that have taken up his position. Before doing deliverance on others, God ensures that he first does it on you. Before preaching a message, you first become the message. 2 Timothy 2:20 says, “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.”
There is a direct connection between purity and holiness, and power. Purity heightens your level of discernment while perversion weakens it. If you want to walk in godly power, live a pure and holy life. Purity is not just abstinence from penetrative sex but all forms of sexual perversion.
Guard Your Gates.
Demons afflict and interfere in your life to the degree you give them legal access. For them to operate legally in your life, they have to have been invited in. To keep demons away, you need to guard your gates. These are your ears, eyes, and associations. Be aware of the type of content you allow in your life. Ungodly Entertainment is meant to contaminate your spirit. For instance, horror movies bring fear of the demonic into your life – you end up overestimating their strength. Lust can come into your life through the music you listen to. Some movies and games are full of witchcraft and occultism, with people making actual enchantments. Also, you may enter into demonic covenants through the people you associate or sleep with. Sex is a powerful door to initiate you into demonic covenants as you give your consent whenever you fornicate or commit adultery. It’s how Balak lured the Israelites; since he could not curse them, he sent Moabite women to seduce them into sin and idolatry.
Sin, covenants, bloodlines and demonic objects give demons legality in your life. This weakens your authority and power. An example of Achan’s sin with the accursed things caused Joshua and the Israelites to lose in battle. Demonic objects may include talisman, pendants, masonic symbols, energy crystals, omens, native books on spirit guides, witchcraft books, fortune telling items like tarot cards, demonic games like the Ouija board, idols of pagan or ancestral gods, voodoo dolls, dream catchers, jewelry and art dedicated to witchcraft, new age books and shows, and various occultic practices like burning of sage, astrology, astral projection, psychedelic drugs, moon rituals, manifesting, Reiki healing or anything about channeling of energy, hypnosis and Kundalini Yoga.
In the book of Deuteronomy 18:9-12, we are warned against such things, “When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you”
Also, guard your heart from offense, bitterness and unforgiveness. These are gateways and weapons the enemy uses against you. In both realms, anger disarms you and gives the devil a foothold in your life. You know what is leading your life by your appetites. The Spirit and the flesh have opposing desires. Demons also have appetites, and it is for anything unclean, foul and dead things. You don’t fight darkness with darkness but with light. You cannot use Satan’s tools against him. Matthew 12:25, “If a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand”. To get right with God, repent and get rid of these works of darkness. Denounce demonic covenants and plead the blood of Jesus to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:7, “but if we [really] walk in the Light [that is, live every day in conformity with the precepts of God], as He Himself is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another [He with us, and we with Him], and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin [by erasing the stain of sin, keeping us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations]”.
Sensitivity to the Spirit.
Intimacy with the Holy Spirit is the gateway to power. The Holy Spirit is our helper; he is called the “paracletes” which means “one who is called to walk beside another”. The Holy Spirit is the custodian of God’s power. Consecration allows God to dethrone idols in your heart. It also brings you under the governance and authority of the Holy Spirit as He guides your life. This action brings power into your life. We do not have a junior and senior Holy Spirit; we have received the same Spirit that Jesus, Paul and Peter received (Romans 8:11). The reason some walk in greater measures of His power is their yielding and submission to his leading. Every believer has received the Holy Spirit without measure. However, few submit to his authority and leading, and this creates power imbalances. Jesus assures us that since we have the same Holy Spirit that he had, and it is ‘Finished’, then greater works than these shall we do (John 14:12). The Holy Spirit’s love language is submission and obedience to His leading. Submission is not a one-time event but a lifestyle of choosing the will of God over your own.
You can get power through supernatural encounters with Jesus, the person of the Holy Spirit or through the laying of hands of those who walk in various dimensions of powers (Romans 1:11). However, the safest way to get power is intimacy with the Holy Spirit. You should not just seek for power but intimacy, then power becomes an offspring of your relationship with Him. Otherwise, those who seek power alone open themselves up to deceptions from Satan.
Sometimes the Holy Spirit opens us to that spiritual realm through our spiritual senses. You can see demons/angels, smell demons and just see in the realm of the spirit, just like you see in the natural realm. However, it’s the Holy Spirit who decides to do this, and it is not all the time. It is for special purposes. Alternatively, some use demonic powers to access that realm; they do it illegally through occult practices like opening the third eye, astral projection, spirit guides, psychedelic drugs and Hinduism concepts like Kundalini Yoga. These only open your life to demons. Understand that demons fear you to the degree you fear God
Exercising Spiritual Principles: Prayer, Fasting, Confessing the Word and Speaking in Tongues.
Prayer and fasting are powerful tools to access power. Prayer gives you strategies while also equipping the inner man. There is an aspect of prayer that is not about getting things but killing the flesh. Prayer strengthens the spirit man while weakening the flesh. Jesus was full of power when he left the wilderness(Luke 4:14). He also says that this kind does not come without prayer and fasting. The dimension of prayer I am talking about is long prayers.
Speaking in tongues has a special place in equipping you with power. It says in Jude 1:20, “Build up yourself in the most Holy Faith, praying in the spirit. As you speak in tongues, you strengthen the inner man with power. Also, other gifts of the spirit are activated within you, like prophesy, word of knowledge, healing, anointing or the power to drive demons. I Corinthians 14:4 says, “He who speaks in tongues edifies himself”.
To walk in power, you need to equip and build up the inner man. The anointing and your gifts are for public service. However, it’s the strength of character of the inner man that helps you overcome temptations. “Many people live off the anointing while failing to work on their spirit man to be strong. For example, Joseph’s inner man was strong, enabling him to overcome temptation; Samson, on the other hand, lived off the anointing while neglecting his inner man. This means when temptations came, they overpowered him. His soul and body ruled his spirit. Without a strong spirit, the soul and body of man will run wild, bringing destruction. You need both; Joseph had a strong inner man and the anointing “(Roberts Liardon). You build the inner man through prayer, fasting, reading the word, and tongue speaking.
Learn how to use the sword of the Spirit as a weapon. The word of God is not only a weapon but food for the spirit man. Confess it to your situations. To confess is a Greek word that connotes to come into agreement with. In the wilderness, Jesus did not counter the devil with speeches but with the word – it is written. Arm yourself with scriptures on Authority and warfare, then confess them when under attack. The word of God is the only offensive weapon in the armour of God, as mentioned in Ephesians 6:17. Learn how to prepare and use it before battle, not on the day of battle. This requires careful study where you meditate on scriptures.
Lastly, expect counterattacks whenever you engage in spiritual warfare. These are just meant to intimidate and discourage you from pressing on. The word of God/prayer is your defense in these situations. The enemy won’t attack you unless he sees you as a threat. Keep pressing.
