One of my dearest friends believed a terrible lie about me. Because she wouldn’t take my calls, I couldn’t address her misperception or even apologize for our apparent misunderstanding. All I could do was pray.
Sure, I asked God to restore our friendship with peace, but I also did something a lot of Christians are afraid to do. I called out to the enemy of my soul; the very one who comes to steal, kill and destroy, to push him out of the situation. “Enemy,” I told him, “I see your handiwork here and I cancel your lies that my dear friend believes about me in the power and authority of the name and the blood of Jesus. Instead of lies, I call forth God’s spirit of truth and peace.”
Days, weeks, and months went by and there was no change. Yet I continued in my prayer and warfare.
Then one day, months after the original miscommunication, the phone rang. My friend gushed, “I now know what I believed about you isn’t true. I’m so sorry I pushed you away. Please forgive me!”
I replied, “Of course! I love you and I am so sorry for the pain our miscommunication caused you. I’m so glad to be your friend.”
Why would I forgive her for believing a lie about me? I did so because forgiveness breaks the enemy’s strategies against us. But so does praise. How I rejoiced that the enemy’s power was no match for the power and the blood of Jesus (see Rev. 12:11).
Sure, there are battles of all sorts, but our battles are easily won when we:
- Recognize that we have an enemy.
- Become wise to spirits such as strife, lies and confusion when they begin to operate against us or our loved ones.
- Close all doors to attacks with tools such as God’s love, forgiveness, truth and joy.
- Pray truth, freedom and forgiveness over the people involved in these difficulties.
- Invoke the power of the name and the blood of Jesus as we cancel all assignments of the enemy against us.
- Praise God for the victory.
Believe it or not, this friend is not the first or only person who has ever believed a lie about me. But each time I’ve faced this type of warfare, God has given me victory.
So if you need to fight for peace, try this battle cry:
Dear Lord,
Thank you that greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. So in your power and authority, I declare victory over the enemy; the spirit of lies, strife and confusion harassing me or my loved ones. I replace these spirits with your love, peace, forgiveness, truth and joy.
I cancel all the assignments of these unclean spirits over me and my loved ones—in the power and authority of the name and the blood of Jesus.
I praise you, Lord, that the enemy is defeated.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
Linda Evans Shepherd is a nationally known Christian speaker and a best-selling author of over 30 books. She’s the president of Right to the Heart Ministries, founder of the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association (AWSA) and the founder of GodTest.com. Her online and speaking ministries have seen well over 350,000 people come to Christ and are seen by over 45,000 people daily.
This article originally appeared at gottopray.com.
