Scripture: Matthew 17 v 18 - 21: "And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."
When we have heavy problems like mountains of debt or much affliction of disease, or anything else insurmountable, we can find an answer in the Bible. Jesus came to show us through demonstrations how we can remove these mountains.
A few years ago Covid-19 pandemic was a mountain affecting the whole world. It came out of the blue and overwhelmed nations in days before we knew what had hit us. Lockdown, masks, social distancing, non-stop news coverage, large businesses closing down, shopping restrictions, field hospitals and rising death toll dominated our landscape. Bigger than Everest this mountain.
How did we flatten this mountain? What kind of faith can conquer a pandemic? Jesus says if we have unbelief we could never achieve it. Unbelief in what? His power and ability which have been given to those who have real faith.
In John 10 v 10: "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."
There are new mountains to conquer. The burden of debt on the whole world is a mountain double the size of Everest. For Believers only strong faith is going to bring this mountain down. South Africa has just been retaliated in world financial circles. We are now on the level of Yemen, Nigeria and Syria.
Yemen and Syria have been bombed to pieces so they have a reason to be problem investment opportunities. South Africa is literally its own worst enemy. The ANC communist government has enriched itself at the expense of every level of society. The State Owned Enterprises have been hollowed out financially, and we are stumbling in the dark. No power, no lights, very little hope.
Jesus says unbelief will not move this mountain so we need to increase our faith to match the faith once given to the first believers in Jesus, who saw Him open blind eyes and heal lepers, and raise the dead. Our faith will not grow if we don't read the Word and apply it to our daily lives. If we don't resist Satan he wins without raising a sweat.
Europe and the USA are also facing times of recession. Russia is wasting its people and resources on a truly insane war against Ukraine. This has caused another kind of power struggle with shortages of gas, fuel and oil due to sanctions on all sides. The nuclear option sabres are being rattled too. How Satan would love to bring on the end of the world on his evil terms.
Jesus resisted Satan for 40 days in the Wilderness where He was subjected to every temptation without sin. He did this as the Son of Man not the Son of God, meaning He did not use supernatural power to withstand Satan, He used only the Word of God in His human strength. That's where we can do as He did.
And take it from there to believe in greater things. That He gave us authority in the unseen realm. He gave us the gifts of the Holy Spirit to discern these unseen beings, which are disembodied spirits, or demons that can only manifest their nature through living human or animal flesh.
Evil escalates through pride and arrogance. When its a megalomaniac it can be very unpredictable. When demons are in control they have zero feelings for humans. It is seen in the grotesque behaviour of serial killers who seem to thoroughly enjoy the depths of depravity.
The Lord threw me in the deep end 45 years ago. I never knew demons existed except in mythology, until I saw, heard and smelled them and, at a moment of dire need, the gift of discerning of spirits of good and evil landed in my spiritual inbox.
I had to deal with a demon threatening to kill me. Face to face, eyeball to eyeball, the person in front of me was fully possessed and had no knowledge of what was being done through her. When people accused of murder say, 'I don't know what came over me, when I came to myself she was dead and I was holding a bloody knife.' I can believe them.
For forty years I have encountered demons on a daily basis. I met and learned from such giants of the faith as Derek Prince. He also started his quest for knowledge after being dropped into the deep end. It's how we learn by necessity. Right now there is a world-wide necessity to take the bull by the horns and wrestle it to the ground. Spiritually speaking of course!
I was praying for someone who suffered from creeping paralysis. It was up to her neck already and about to stop normal ability to eat and swallow. When I touched the back of her neck I saw a vision. There was a yoke over her neck like oxen in pairs have when pulling a wagon. I then saw that she was spiritually yoked to a terribly old ox almost dead on its feet. I prayed for the yoke to be broken and the ox to be separated from her. The paralysis stopped. It was what she wanted and her faith stopped there. Jesus is mighty and meets the need.
We have choices in this life and if I do not share what I know, even expecting the usual raised eyebrows and small shake of head, I would be disobeying what the Lord Jesus Christ wants me to tell you. Whatever He did on this Earth, we can do too. He showed His disciples what they could do, heal the sick, cast out demons, and sent them out in pairs to obey His teaching. They were amazed.
I was amazed too when evil spirits reacted to me. In praying deliverance for one man the demon spoke out of his mouth and arrogantly said, "This is my house! I have been here 38 years." I stopped praying and asked the man (who had heard nothing) what had happened 38 years before. He said that's when my mother died, I was 10 years old, I never got over it. My wife left me because of it. We drove that squatter demon out and Jesus restored the man's mental state. The transformation was wonderful to behold.
It is never pleasant dealing with demons but the rewards are lovely. To see the change, relief, joy in people is worth the effort. Like a harassed mom in a queue at the till in a store with a 2 year old throwing a tantrum. From wherever you are in the shop you can bind that demon of rage and tantrum. Shut it up! And smile at the results. Jesus is mighty!
I am only giving pointers to show you how God can use you to be creative in your understanding and praying. Be an activist, be a counter-terrorist, for demons are a huge terrorist force sent from Hell to mess up our lives. If you don't know Jesus, change that first. He is essential to this battle.
This type of praying can be used against all sorts of mountains once you know the demon behind it. Drugs, alcoholism grow on the root of bitterness. Bind that root and addicts can be more easily set free.
Divorce is rooted in witchcraft, whoever wants to control the marriage is bound by that demon. Whoever is trying to leave, is wanting to escape that demon.
Jesus is our Saviour, Lord and Deliverer. Demons knew Him and He forbade them to tell people who He was. They know His name and know when He is in us, so we can deal with them just as He did.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank You for Jesus and the power and authority given us by Him to fight the battles in the unseen realm. We wrestle not against flesh but against spirits which have blindfolded us to block us from seeing them. Father Your gifts remove that blindfold and show us just what our power is against them. Help us to move the mountains and win the victory. In Jesus' name. Amen.