August 25, 2022 - Acts‬ ‭19:13-15

The Battle – Prayer #11

“A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?”” Acts 19:13-15 NLT

Lord, we praise you that we are known by you. We praise you for how you want to use us and see us rise up to be a person who makes a big impact for your kingdom. We want to change history. Lord, we don’t want this so our names can be written in the history books or known to the far corners of the earth; but we want to be known and feared in the spiritual realm. When we show up in a place, we want the evil spirits to start to tremble. We want them to flee out of fear of your power that resides in us before we ever speak a word. Lord, you have given each one of us your power and authority, but just having it doesn’t make evil fear us. Even swinging our sword around won’t necessarily make him fear. Just like a master swordsman will not fear a child standing before him with a sword, even if the sword is expertly made and sharp. Teach us how to wield our sword and authority in an expert way.

Lord, as we talked about yesterday, learning to walk in your authority comes from knowing you. We must spend time in your Word and at your feet getting to know you. We must allow you to change us. We must be willing to lay aside whatever is necessary to walk in righteousness. We must let go of anything that pulls us away from your presence. We must be willing to walk the narrow road that leads to more of you, even if we walk it alone. You are worthy of our lives and we want to change this world for you more than we want its approval.

In Jesus name, amen.