Agreements

Before I even start, let me say that I am deeply influenced in this idea by two of the books on my new list: Blessing or Curse, and Walking With God. Both authors express it much more clearly, and with the scriptural background - I recommend them to you if this topic intrigues you. They also use a lot of real-life examples, which helps explain the ideas if they are totally new to you.

So, what about "agreements" is important?  Ephesians 6:12 (just before the part about putting on the full armor of God - like the helmet of salvation and the shield of faith) says, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." When I find myself in a struggle against flesh and blood, sometimes mad at others, sometimes struggling within myself, I have to stop and ask, "Who, or what, am I really struggling against?"

If I'm in conflict with a friend or family member, employer or neighbor. If I have good reasons to be offended. Even if I'm right, for goodness sake, this passage says that my struggle isn't really about the people and the situations. This part of scripture is exposing the root of the problem. The root of the problem in the serpent of old, the devil, who "prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8)  The problem is that we have an enemy who looks for ways to mess up God's plan for us - including damaging healthy relationships and blurring truthful opinions of ourselves and our situations.

So when we find ourselves in conflict, or simply overcome with a feeling of despair - perhaps we're feeling accused, ashamed, like a failure, or just mysteriously yucky - we need to ask ourselves some questions:

Who would want me to feel this way?

Who is accusing me?

What voice am I listening to?

What does God think of me?

What does God think of the person I'm in conflict with?

What spiritual authority is available to me to resolve this situation?

You see, sometimes our self talk - our thoughts - or our spoken word sound something like this: I am so dumb, I can't do this, life is too much for me, he's an idiot, she is so immature, I hate him/her, I'll never forgive that person, God can't use me, I'm so tired, I can't make it through the day, I'll never be happy. . . . and so much more negative stuff. When it does, we are actually agreeing with the devil, because these are thoughts of destruction. When we agree with the devil, we give authority to his accusations. When I wake up in the morning to a grumpy child, stacks of laundry, and exhausted because I went to bed too late (probably staying up blogging) it would be natural to roll over in bed, groan and say, "This is going to be a very hard day." And at the end of the day, I shouldn't be surprised if I've had a very bad day - because I started the day agreeing with the devil's plans for my day.

I don't say all this to stir up fear and confusion, but to make us think. Sometimes we just accept all our thoughts as normal, human, part-of-life thoughts. But I want to ask the question, "Do we have to live there?"  The sub-title of Derek Prince's book is, "Freedom from Pressures You Thought You Had to Live With." Is it possible that we've missed a major portion of walking with Christ and what it means to live in joy and victory because we were afraid to look at the Devil, look at his tactics, and put on the full armor of God? Victory isn't won by ignoring the enemy, but by recognizing the enemy and doing battle successfully. 

The Bible gives us instructions for doing battle successfully. The Ephesians passage about the full armor of God is rich and deep with a plan for a life lived under the armor of God himself. James 4:7-8 says, "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you."  So draw near to God, read His word, spend time praying for yourself and others, and spend time in listening prayer. Ask the Lord to reveal your blind spots - to show you where you are listening to a lie and agreeing with the enemy of your soul. Be open to the gentle nudges of the Spirit - if you ask God to speak to you, He will. We just have to learn how to listen in the spirit. 

And that's probably a topic for another day, because I need to go chase my miracles. But before I do, I'll end on a positive note. When you wake up in the morning and are tempted to agree with the devil, here is a prayer I've been praying lately, "God I choose not to agree with this feeling of despair (fill in your own feeling - bitterness, defeat, resentment, pride. . . .) today. I bring the authority of Christ against the spirit of despair (or what you are struggling against) and I resist the devil in Jesus' Name. I submit myself to You, Lord, and ask You to show me where I'm not in submission to you. Amen" 

And if my inner struggle is against a person - with thoughts that won't shut up - I may pray, "Dear Jesus, I choose to forgive ___________ for _____________. I release him/her and his/her actions, beliefs, thoughts and words to You. Please release me from a spirit of judgement/offense/bitterness/unforgiveness, that I may walk in the freedom of Christ today. Amen."

There's some food for thought today - I'm off to chase my miracles.

Jen  :)