I suffered from many diseases when I was in medical school–all of them imaginary, and all based on the most painful and potentially fatal conditions I happened to be studying at the time. But the fear was not imaginary–it was frequently crippling and overwhelming.
I had a spirit of fear.
One day, the realization came to me. “None of these fatal illnesses have come to pass. The problem is in my thinking.” I recognized that demonic powers were behind the fear.
I remembered that Jesus had used the Word of God when he fought Satan in the wilderness. “It is written…” and he would quote Scripture.
So I armed myself with several verses that talk about how Jesus has overcome Satan, and I set out to do battle. As soon as a fearful thought came into my mind, I would quote verses–“It is written that God has not given me a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Tim 1:7). I stand against every fearful thought and spirit of fear in Jesus’ name.” And the fear would leave. Sometimes it would come back again within a few minutes. “God’s word says that if I resist the devil, he has to flee from me (James 4:7). I resist you in Jesus’ name.” Always the fear would go.
At the beginning, I had to battle many times a day, but as the days went by, it became less and less frequent, until after a couple of months I was set completely free.
Second Corinthians 10:4 says that the weapons of our warfare are not natural, but they are spiritual and can pull down strongholds. The Word of God is one of the most powerful weapons in our armory. It is our sword (Ephesians 6:17; Psalm 149:6-9). As we learn to wield these spiritual weapons God has given us, he trains us to wage warfare effectively (Psalm 18:34).
Have you found the Word to be effective in your battle against the enemy?