“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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.” (Ephesians 6:10-12 NIV)
Have you ever felt like you were a pawn in a chess game that two powers were playing? Have you ever felt like that every time God would bless you, satan would counter strike? Then God would strike, then Satan would counter-strike again? Well, rest assured, you are not alone. We all have probably felt like that at one time or another. But I want you to see a warfare principle that God has taught to me, and that, my fellow warriors, is “Strike, Counterstrike.”
Too often when satan strikes, we do nothing but take it. And then, when he strikes again, we take it again. But I want you to know that when he strikes, we are to strike back. The question is, though, how do we strike back at satan? There are, in fact, several ways.
- We strike back with the Word of God. Every time that satan came at Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus replied to him, “It is written” every single time. Jesus struck back at satan with the Word of God. The Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit, and with that Sword we can defeat every attack that the enemy brings.
- We strike back with prayer and fasting. Daniel prayed and fasted for 21 days until he got his answer. Jesus told His disciples that certain types of demon power are conquered only by prayer and fasting. Paul admonished us in Ephesians 6:18 to be strong in the Lord by, “praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.”
- We strike back by going into action. We can't win this war if we just sit back and take everything the enemy throws at us. We must arise in the power of God and go into action by counter-striking the enemy. We can resist the devil. We can resist his attacks. We can strike back. But first we must arise and be willing to go to war.
- We strike back by reminding satan of his future. We have read the back of the Book, we have read the end of the story, and we know that the one who is tormented us, the one who has attacked us relentlessly over and over throughout our lives, will one day soon be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where he will spend eternity, separated from the presence of God being tortured for his evil deeds.
- We strike back through the power of the Blood. According to Hebrews 2:14, through the shedding of Christ’s Blood on Calvary, He destroyed him who had the power of death. Because of the Blood, we have redemption. Because of the Blood, we are an overcomer. The Word of God says that we overcome the accuser of the brethren by the Blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. The Blood of Jesus is the most powerful weapon that we have in our arsenal. There is power in the Blood! Wonder, working power in the Blood of Jesus!
Fellow warriors, learn this principle. When satan strikes, counterstrike. Don't just take it. Don't let him just throw strike after strike your way. It is time for the blood bought, blood washed warriors of God to counterstrike and to win the victory!