Immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, saying, 'Ha! What do we have to do with you, Jesus, you Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know you who you are: the Holy One of God!' Jesus rebuked him, saying, 'Be quiet, and come out of him!' The unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, 'What is this? A new teaching? For with authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him!' Mark 1:23 WEB

There is a spiritual battle going on in the heavens and around us daily. We are involved in it, whether we are aware of it or not. Many churches are playing volleyball in the middle of a battlefield, while the enemy is wreaking havoc in the congregation, all the while unnoticed.

When you begin to do something meaningful for God, there is a backlash of trouble that follows, and you may often become the new target. You cannot see this struggle with the normal eye, but you can certainly feel the effects of it.

God works through His people. The enemy works through people too. Evil spirits will gladly remain invisible and they are perfectly fine with you not believing that they exist at all. When Jesus cast out a demon 2,000 years ago, they asked 'What new teaching is this?' (Mark 1:27) and today, people still ask the same thing if they see it happen.

We were in a church service in Charleston, South Carolina once when the speaker, Mahesh Chavda, asked everyone to say: 'The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.' When we did, a stately lady behind us in her seventies, let out a scream, and fell to floor kicking and screaming 'Nooooooooooo!' as loud as she could. Everyone looked at each other, like 'What new teaching is this?' That was a more rare case, but it goes on every day around us and in the people that we deal with.

It is normal for people to be stirred up against us by the enemy, but even then, we are not to stoop to their level, no matter how much we would like to. Our weapons are spiritual (Ephesians 6). We are to remain humble and pray (2 Chronicles 7:14), which will bring in the help and power of God. Even Jesus had to pray, though God certainly knew everything going on in His life and it was planned long before. With the help of God, we can win this. Without Him, we are nothing but canon fodder for the enemy.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please guide me into all that You have for me. I want more of Your presence in my life. Lord use me in some way. Help me to see the world around me through Your eyes, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.

Note: "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer" (Romans 12:12). If you have a prayer need, we are here for you! We and the prayer team are ready to lift you up at our private prayer page: RHM Prayer Network

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