Do you want to know how to defend yourself against the enemy? Do you want us to sum it up for you in one simple sentence?
We’re about to do it, so get out your notepad. Write this down. Commit it to memory.
We simply say “yes” to God and “no” to the devil!
You may be thinking to yourself, “That sounds so simple. Of course, I should say ‘yes’ to God and say ‘no’ to the devil.” But really take a look at your life. Do a quick inventory. Are you putting this into practice?
We believe the Holy Spirit is going to bring to your mind the areas you need to reinforce your “yes” and your “no”.
We want to let you in on a formula the enemy often uses. He offers you this thought: “___________ doesn’t work for me or for my _______”.
You can fill those blanks in with a variety of words. “The promises of God don’t work for me or for my family”, “Love doesn’t work for me or my marriage”, and “Scripture doesn’t work for me or my situation at work”.
So in these cases, how do you say “yes” to God and “no” to the devil? First, you must identify the lie. What is the area that came to mind when you started reading? Assess the situation and consider “What lie thought has the enemy offered me?”
Once you have it identified you can put the Word on it. This is how you say “no” to the enemy and “yes” to God!
If the lie is that love won’t heal the hurt in your marriage, you could use 1 Peter 4:8 which says “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.””
If the lie is that the promises of God aren’t true for you, you could use 2 Corinthians 1:20: “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”
If the lie is that Scripture doesn’t work for you, you can quote the Word from Jeremiah 1:12: “Then said the Lord to me, you have seen well, for I am alert and active, watching over My word to perform it.”
Let’s talk a little more about that last verse. The Lord said to Jeremiah that He is actively watching over His word to perform it. He is watching for you to speak out His word! When you use your voice to give volume to His word, He comes behind it with power and performs it! When we don’t speak His word over our lives but instead, use our words to align with the enemy, we are giving power to those words instead. Luke 10:19 says “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you”. We have authority over the power of the enemy! We exercise this authority by speaking it out! We say yes to God by speaking His word! When you get in agreement with the schemes of the enemy you are using your authority to boost the power of the enemy instead of trampling over him. The enemy is defeated. It’s our responsibility to enforce that defeat!
We’ve discussed a formula that the enemy often uses to con us. Now we want to show you a formula in the Word that works against the enemy. Romans 10:9 says “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” If you’re a born-again believer, this will sound familiar to you. It’s the scripture we base salvation on. It’s a formula. “Speak the Word. Believe the Word. See the Word work.”
What’s interesting about this Scripture is the order. It doesn’t say, “Once you’re saved, believe that you’ve been saved and then speak it out”. It doesn’t even say “Believe that you’re saved, then speak it out, and then you’re saved.” No, it says instead “Speak it out, then believe it, then you are saved”.
This is such an important distinction! If you’re struggling to believe the Word due to a lie of the enemy, we want to encourage you to speak the Word out! This formula of speaking, then believing, then seeing isn’t only for salvation. This formula is exactly how we say “no” to the enemy and “yes” to God! If you don’t believe a promise is true for you, start speaking it out. This is how your faith will grow! The more you speak it, the more your heart will begin to believe it!
We don’t wait to see the results before we speak and believe; we put our faith in action & use our words and our belief to speak life over our circumstances. That is when we will see the victory!
