“Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:10-11)
The verses in Ephesians say that we are to be strong in the power of His might. It also says that we are to put on the full armor of God so that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. In our battles, we are depending on the power of God to take us through certain situations. Why is that? You have to understand that we are working with God. And because God is a spirit, there are some things in the spirit that we cannot do, but we have to depend on Him to do them. However, there are things that God expects us to do and we have to be able to differentiate between what God wants us to do and what we are to back off from and leave for God to do.
One of the things that is our part is to put on the whole armor of God. If you have only half of the armor on, you are in danger. You cannot put on half of the armor and be safe. If your helmet falls off, you are not safe. You have to have on the whole armor of God, because we are not wrestling with natural forces and natural circumstances. I know that sometimes we get sick and the first thing we think of is a doctor. We run to a doctor without praying, because the doctor comes first. We think it is natural, but in reality, it is not natural. If we are spiritual people, the spiritual has power to overcome the natural. Therefore, when you are wrestling with a demon, do not consider going to a doctor thinking that you will get well.
I encountered a case in Africa one time where a brother came up for prayer. He was attacked by an evil spirit who made a wound upon him. He did not bounce himself in any way, he did not get a blow from anything natural, he just woke up one morning and found a wound on his body and it remained there. He tried everything to heal it, but it would not heal. When you looked at it, it had black and blue colors and it was gangrenous. I had seen this before in my ministry so I knew exactly what to do. I remembered a brother I fellowshipped with in my young days, who used to teach us how to cast out devils. He said that sometimes you have to speak aloud, but if you didn’t feel the confidence to speak aloud because of much unbelief around you, you should just place your hand over the sore, put your mouth on your hand, and whisper to him, “Get out!” So, I put my hand over this man’s sore and whispered, “Get out!” There was a brother there with us who saw a serpent crawling out of the wound. The wound got better within seven days. We not only knew that it was the devil, but we even knew where the devil came from. However, the man went to the doctor and the wound came back. As far as I know he has had it up until this day. Why was the result as such? Because a demon is not a physical thing, even though it lives in a physical body. The man stepped to the natural and the demon had an open door to come back.
I saw another similar case, but with a very different result. We were ministering one night in Manchester, Jamaica and they brought in a girl with her foot rotting. It was in a very bad condition. Everybody just held their nose, because the smell was so awful. I don’t know if you know it, but the smell discourages you. As soon as she came in, the people were hoping she would get out as quickly as possible. The smell itself discouraged the people! The thing she was suffering from was a wound caused by a demon. He lived in the wound on her ankle. They tried all kinds of things to heal it, but it wouldn’t get any better. Again, due to my training and understanding about spirits, because there was so much discouragement in the room, I put my hand over the stinking wound and whispered to the demon, “Get out in the name of Jesus!” The girl’s foot could not reach the floor when she came in. After we prayed, immediately, it went down and she walked out of the place. Within three days the wound was gone.
If you understand the weapons you have, you can use them with a great effect against the devil and his forces. Demons have taken charge over all the institutions of the world, and the only place they cannot win is among Christians who come to their senses and realize that they are wrestling against the unseen world of evil. Do you wonder why God allows a demon to deceive you, to give you a false doctrine, to let you be sick, or other things? Because He gives you the weapons of war and says, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19). If you use it, the victory is yours!
Sonlight Devotional 