Today’s message is
of great importance to the child of God. It borders on how to confront and defeat the enemy in battle.
Every child of God has
access to a warrior who has never lost a battle. The bible states that Jehovah is a man of war.
Equally, the bible informs
that the Lord will fight for us. Exodus 14 states:
Exodus 14: 14
The lord shall fight for you and you shall hold your
peace
The problem however, is that many are not patient enough to allow the Lord to
fight for them. We feel the Lord is too slow in reacting and would rather fight ourselves. The bible states in the book of
Isaiah:
(Isaiah 63:4)
For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.
While
further in Romans we read:
(Romans 12:19)
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance
is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
From
the preceding verses not only do we learn that revenge is of the Lord, it is made clear that he has appointed a day to execute
such judgement on our behalf.
Below
are eight ways the Lord can fight our battle for us. Before we proceed, please let us take these prayer points:
Oh Lord
arise, and fight my battle for me in the name of Jesus
The
Lord will fight my battle and I will hold my peace.
1) The Lord will Trouble your enemy
A classical example is seen in the book of Exodus. The children of Israel were walking through the Red sea
on dry land. The Egyptians, failing to pause and consider what was responsible for this feat, took it for granted. They chose
to follow in hot pursuit. The Egyptians had horses and chariots and would have caught up with the Israelites. But at this point the Lord pulled out his joker:
Exodus 14:24-26
(24) And
it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of
the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians.
(25) And took off their chariot wheels, that they
drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel;
for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.
(26) And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine
hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.
When
the Lord noticed that the Egyptians were catching with His children He troubled them. He took off their chariot wheels and
made them drive heavily. Even the Egyptians recognised that there was something wrong. But it was too late! They could not
move forward or backwards. The Lord overthrew them in the Red sea:
Exodus 14:27-28
(27) And Moses stretched forth his hand over the
sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew
the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
(28) And the waters returned, and covered the chariots,
and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.
If the
Israelites had faced the enemy themselves is there any way the victory would have been more effective?
If I
were you I would take the next prayer point:
Oh Lord,
overthrow my stubborn pursuer in the name of Jesus.
2) The Lord will send His Angel ahead to fight your enemy
There
are cases where the Lord sends his angel ahead of you to do the actual fighting. We read of such in the book of 2 Samuel.
David was to go out against the Philistines. Already they had engaged in an initial battle. David enquired of the Lord and
was told to fight the enemy. The Israelites won but the enemy refused to give up. However, the Lord changed tactics. When
David enquired the second time the Lord said he should not go. He was told to fetch a compass behind them and come over the
mulberry tree:
2 Samuel 5:23-25
(23) And when David enquired of the LORD, he said,
Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees.
(24) And let it be, when thou hearest the sound
of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee,
to smite the host of the Philistines.
(25) And David did so, as the LORD had commanded
him; and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer.
In this
case it was the angels that did the fighting. David and his men just finished of the victory.
Please
take this prayer point:
Oh Lord
send your angel ahead of me to fight my battle in the name of Jesus
This
reminds one of the story of a brother who went for deliverance in one of our branches in Nigeria. He was a contractor but the most of the companies that had employed his
services for no apparent reason said he was no longer needed.
The
above prayer point was given on the prayer ground and this brother and his wife prayed it very well.
There
was particular company where this brother was formerly the main contractor. At the moment the deliverance programme was the
company held a board meeting. The Managing Director wanted to know why the electrical equipment in the company broke down
so often. He noted that when the former contractor (the brother) was handling their maintenance they did not have such problems.
The Maintenance Manager (M.M) in-charge of the contracts lied that the brother just stopped coming. (The truth was that he
terminated the brother’s contract and gave it to a relative.) The M.D, however insisted that the brother should be sought
for. He gave the M.M an ultimatum to produce the brother before the next Board Meeting or face being sacked.
The
M.M went to look for the brother at home but was told he had packed out. At the brother’s new abode he did not meet
him since he was on the deliverance ground. The M.M started to panic as the ultimatum was fast approaching yet he could not
locate the brother.
Eventually
our brother got the message that he was needed at the company. He got there on the morning minutes before the board meeting.
When the Maintenance Manager (M.M) spotted our brother he almost jumped through the window to meet him. Just then the M.D
drove in and asked the brother where he had been. As the brother tried to explain the M.M hurriedly came out and told the
M.D that it had been sorted out. He quickly took our brother to his office and promised him contracts ten times more than
he had been given initially. He however begged him not to tell anyone that he had terminated the contract in the first place.
What
happened? While our brother was praying the Lord sent an angel to attend the
board meeting and fight the brother’s behalf. It was the angel that brought the brother to the M.D’s remembrance.
Please
take this prayer point:
Oh Lord,
Send your angel ahead to fight my battle for me.
3) The Lord will make your enemy to hear a terrifying noise
Yet
another way the Lord fights our battle is to cause our enemy to hear a terrifying noise.
In 2
Kings this was the strategy the Lord employed to provide abundance in the land
of Israel during the time of famine:
2 Kings 7:5-7
(5) And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto
the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there.
(6) For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians
to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the
king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.
(7) Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight,
and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.
The
noise of chariots scared the Syrians and made them abandon their property. Power changed hands in favour of the Israelites.
There
was this sister who had rented an apartment in Lagos, Nigeria. On her first day in the apartment she conducted a vigil expressing thanks
to God. However, the landlord showed up at her door the following morning. He wanted to know what noise she made in the night.
When our sister explained that she was only praying the landlord promptly told her not to conduct such prayer sessions in
his house again.
Not
perturbed, the following day the sister invited a few members of her church for a vigil in her home. As expected her landlord
showed up the following morning threatening fire and brimstone. Not wanting to give up the following night the sister invited
as many members from her church that her house could take. The vigil was conducted successfully but a strange occurrence took
place the following morning.
Before
the sister woke up the landlord had packed out of his own house.
Brethren,
till this moment the sister is the only person in the house. Not even a relative of the landlord has shown up to claim the
property. The sister is presently the landlord. The Lord had caused the landlord, who hands were not clean to hear terrifying
noises and leave his own house!
Please
take these prayer points:
Oh Lord
cause the enemy of my progress to hear a terrifying noise and leave me alone in the name of Jesus.
4) The Lord will send an Angel to slay your enemy
A fourth
way the Lord could fight your battle for you is to send an angel to slay your enemy. In the book of Chronicles the bible records
something similar happening. The King of Assyria sent a threatening letter to Hezekiah, King of Israel. But the Lord assured Hezekiah
that he would fight the battle for him. Indeed when the enemy camped against Israel
the angel of the Lord went out to slay in the midst of the camp of the enemy. By the morning all of the strongmen of the enemy’s
camp were dead:
2 Chronicles 32:21
(21) And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all
the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria.
So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of
his own bowels slew him there with the sword.
Not
only that, the Lord caused the king of Assyria’s own son to kill him. What a mighty
God we serve?
5) The Lord will cause your enemies to have a terrifying dream
Here
we come to the story of Gideon.
Gideon
was chosen by God to deliver the Israelites from the hand of the Midianites. Gideon did not see himself fit for this assignment.
When he selected an army of thirty- two thousand soldiers, the lord reduced this to just 300 men. The Lord had yet a different
strategy through which he planned to deliver the children of Israel
which He was yet to disclose.
Judges 7:9-10
(9) And it came to pass the same night, that the
LORD said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand.
(10) But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah
thy servant down to the host:
It was
at this moment the Lord moved. Going further we read:
Judges 7:13-14
(13) And when Gideon was come, behold, there was
a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into
the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.
(14) And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing
else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel:
for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.
This
dream alone put the fear of Gideon and the Israelites into the hearts of their opponents. Though they were few they were able
to overcome the Midianites, who on hearing the trumpet sound of the Israelites ran, cried and fled!
Take
the following Prayer Point:
Oh Lord,
cause my enemy to hear a terrifying noise and to run, cry and flee from me in the name of Jesus.
6) He will stone the enemy with stones from heaven
There
have been cases where the lord has stoned the enemy with hailstone or thunder. The following example in Joshua shows how far
the Lord can go to fight for His children:
Joshua 10:10-11
(10) And the LORD discomfited them before Israel,
and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Bethhoron, and smote them to
Azekah, and unto Makkedah.
(11) And it came to pass, as they fled from before
Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and
they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.
7) He will cause natural causes to destroy the enemy
As we
have seen in the forgoing, the battles the Lord helps us to fight are the most effective. In the following passage the Lord
gave victory to the Israelites under the hand of King Ahab. Though a good number were slain by the Israelites army many fled
to safety. The lord caused a wall to fall upon the head of those who fled, killing 27,000 of them at a go. It is indeed dangerous
to tamper with the children of God.
1 Kings 20:29-30
(29) And they pitched one over against the other
seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians a hundred thousand footmen in one day.
(30) But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city;
and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city,
into an inner chamber.
8) The Lord will cause the enemy of your peace to destroy each other
Yet
once again there are cases where we need not to fight and the Lord will not use his angels. This is because the enemy will
turn upon and fight each other.
Though
there are many examples in the bible one that readily comes to mind is that recorded in 2 Chronicles:
2 Chronicles 20:17
(17) Ye shall not need to fight in this battle:
set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed;
tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.
God
first assured the Israelites that they would not need to fight then:
2 Chronicles 20:22-25
(22) And when they began to sing and to praise,
the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab,
and mount Seir, which were come against
Judah; and they were smitten.
(23) For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount
Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end
of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.
(24) And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude,
and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.
(25) And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to
take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which
they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it
was so much.
Not
only did God cause the enemy to fight each other He made them go to war with all of their jewelleries so that at the end of
the day the Israelites went home rich!
In Conclusion,
why should we ask God to fight our battles for us:
Why Ask God to fight your battle
There are some battles we cannot fight ourselves
Most spiritual battles can only be won through divine intervention
It is through such that God’s name is glorified
Satan will learn not to joke with you
Prayer Points
- In this present battle I will not have to lift a finger. God will fight for me
- You my enemies arise and destroy each other
- My enemies shall make mistakes that will lead to my victory
- Those who conspire against me shall fall out or eliminate each other
- Those in the camp of my enemy shall run cry and flee