When you are under attack
Dr.D.K.Olukoya
Isaiah 59: 19 says">
When you are under
attack
Dr.D.K.Olukoya
Isaiah 59: 19 says, “So shall they
fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the
sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall
lift up a standard against him.” Many people do not understand this
Scripture because they do not read it correctly. It is the Spirit of the Lord
that shall rise like a flood, not the enemy. People usually say, “When the enemy
shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard
against him.” But the original version says, “When the enemy shall come in, like
a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall raise up a standard against him.” That is
our working verse in this message.
WHY DOES A PERSON COME UNDER ATTACK?
A person comes under attack because the
enemy wants to conquer him.
A person comes under attack because the
enemy wants to suppress him.
A person comes under attack because the
enemy wants to contend with his destiny.
A person comes under attack because his
existence is threatening the existence of another person.
A person comes under attack because his
destiny is an eagle destiny.
A person comes under attack because he
is trying to escape from the hands of a slave master.
A person comes under attack because
somewhere somehow some persons, powers or personalities do not want to see him
around.
Two years ago, I prayed with a man who
was completely down. As he continued to pray, the Lord showed him a vision of
himself the day he was born and was taken to a herbalist. Like the practice of
many tribes in this country, his parents took him to a herbalist where they
enquired about his future and the herbalist said, “This one is the saviour of
the family. All of you without exception will benefit from him. You shall bow
down to him. He will be your anchor in the family.” Unfortunately when the
herbalist was saying this the other seven wives of his father were around. His
mother was the last wife. His battle started not because he had offended anybody
but because of his divine destiny.
Of all cities in the world, none has
been so frequently attacked like Jerusalem. Why is it so? It is because the
place has a prophetic destiny. So, as a child of God, in case you are seriously
under attack or you are wondering why you are sweating and struggling, it means
that there is something in your destiny that the enemy does not want to happen.
The enemies dealt with this man; he spent 14 years in the primary school and
eight years in the university to get a degree that usually takes four years.
They bombarded him right, left and centre. He could hardly feed when he was the
angel who was supposed to feed his family. His family was very poor, until God
showed him that vision, and he started praying that all the agents of the enemy
that were present when his destiny was being proclaimed should lose the
information from their memory, in Jesus’ name. Then he began to possess his
possessions.
The problem is that at the baby stage,
there is nothing a baby can do. People would come and say, “Let me carry the
baby, let me put the baby here, let me give the baby food,” and little by
little, they would be destroying him. So as this man started praying, God
started blessing him. All the attacks he had were not his fault. His destiny was
proclaimed in the presence of his enemies.
Beloved, be rest assured that you will
be under attack from time to time. Jesus was under attack most of the time. Many
Christians make the wrong decision when they are under attack. As Christians,
our decisions should be based on some principles when we find that we are under
attack.
1. Our decision must be based on what
the Holy Spirit is prompting us to do.
2. It must be based on the word of
God.
3. It must be based on biblical
principles.
Any time a person comes under attack and
he does not listen to the Holy Spirit, he would have problems. If you do
something outside the word of God, you will have problems. If you do something
contrary to biblical principles there would be problems. When people come under
attack, they sometimes forget these principles. In Exodus 14, we see a beautiful
example of how somebody can be under attack. The Israelites marched out of
Egypt. An angel and a pillar of fire went back and forth to lead them. When the
pillar wanted them to move, it would move and when it did not want them to move,
it would stay. There was also an angel attached to their camp and something
happened. The angel and the pillar led them to a place where they could march no
further, where there was no door of escape. In front was the Red Sea, by the
sides were walls of rock which they could not surmount and at the rear was their
deadly foe with a deadly rage, pursuing them. It was a time when all hope should
be lost. The attackers were ready to devour. Every true child of God, at one
time or the other in life, can find himself in this situation I have just
described. For many years the devil had kept the Israelites in Egypt moulding
bricks and all of a sudden, their eyes opened and they escaped. But before they
knew it, fresh terrors had gathered around
them again. What do you do when you are under this kind of attack? The
most costly mistake that people make usually occurs during the first few moments
of any attack. Once you make that initial mistake, you get into trouble. The
enemy uses the weapon of fear.
WHEN YOU ARE UNDER ATTACK WHAT DO YOU
DO?
1. Do not panic:
Be calm. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be
still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be
exalted in the earth.” Do not panic, rather praise the Lord. Panic will
always lead to trouble. There is this testimony of a woman who did not know that
the man next door was a satanic agent. Her child was convulsing and she was
praying for the child. She did not know that the man had a nail in the wall and
anytime he banged the nail the convulsion would start but as she prayed, the
nail would come out of the wall. Whenever the nail came down, the boy would
recover. The man would take the nail again and bang it in the wall and the
convulsion would start. This went on for five hours. When the herbalist saw that
the nail kept coming out, he took a bottle of concoction and knocked at the door
of the woman, saying, “Madam, any problem?” The woman answered, “No problem.”
The man said, “But something is happening here.” He gave her a container and
said, “Give the child this medicine to drink.” She rejected it. If she had
accepted it the child would have been well but another problem would have been
planted in him. So, when there is an attack put your ear in the neutral position
and listen carefully to the inner voice of the Holy Spirit.
2. Analyse it by the wisdom of God:
Ecclesiastes 7:14 says, “In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the
day of adversity consider." We should know that any working system
would occasionally develop crises. So, sit down to analyse it and see what you
have learnt from what has happened.
3. Seek for godly counsel:
Proverbs 11:4 says, “Where no
counsel is, the people fall; but in the multitude of counsellors there is
safety.” So, ignorance is destructive. Don’t neglect knowledge. Somebody
somewhere will know something that would help you to survive. Try and reach out
for people with such information.
4. As a child of God, expect the
power of God to move: It is
easy to sit down and believe that all hope is lost. But, as a child of God, if
you read your Bible well, you will find that anytime the devil was preparing his
soup, it was usually scary but by the time the God who delivered Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego arose, He would just take the enemy’s pot of soup and
smashed it to the ground. Expect the power of God to move. Adversity is the
enemy’s reaction to your progress. It is the enemy’s attempt to steal your
approaching blessing.
5. Fight back:
James 4:7, a very popular verse says:
“Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” When you say resist, a
lot of things are involved. To resist means to fight. Somebody cannot just
stroll into your sitting room and carry your T.V. set, video machine and all you
have in the room and walk out. You have to resist him. To stop him might require
that you fight. The Bible says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the
devil and he will flee from you.” This means that if the devil is not fleeing
from you, you should check whether you are really resisting him. What some of us
call resistance is to stand up and start praying when you have a bad dream. No.
You should pray before the bad dreams come. Satan loves very fearful people but
real fighters intimidate him.
6. Use your spiritual weapons:
2 Corinthians 10:4 says, “For
the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling
down of strong holds.” The weapons of our warfare are: The word of God,
the fire of God, the name of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, praises, testimonies,
prayers, etc. Learn how to use them.
7. Soak yourself in the Scriptures:
When some people have one or two problems, they stop reading their Bibles. Some
people would say to them, “Since you have been reading it what have you got out
of it? Don’t waste you time.” Psalm 119:92 says, “Unless thy law had been
my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.” Your mind
is like a garden, it would grow any seed you plant there, good or bad. Plant
words spoken by God in your heart, then you have sown energy, life and hope in
your spirit. Be a Scripture addict.
8. Remember that seasons change:
Psalm 30:5 says, “For his anger endureth but a moment, in his favour is
life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
Know that as a child of God the attack will not last forever. People change, so
also circumstances. Therefore, expect God to change things on your behalf.
9. Be spiritually tough:
Life is a battle and the violent takes it by force. God is in control and is
bigger than whoever you are dealing with. He is stronger than any enemy you are
fighting with. Hebrew 13:5-6 says, “Let your conversation be without
covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have; for he hath said, I
will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is
my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
10. Guard your mind with all
diligence: You will never be
defeated as long as you are victorious in your mind. But if you are defeated in
the battle of the mind, you will lose all the battles everywhere. Isaiah 26:3
says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee:
because he trusteth in thee.” Everybody ought to memorize this
scripture. The only people God would keep in perfect peace are those whose minds
are stayed on Him.
11. Never give up:
2 Timothy 4:7 says, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my
course, I have kept the faith.” He did not give up. Luke 9:62 also says,
“And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and
looking back, is fit for the
kingdom of God.”
So, your perseverance destabilises the
enemy. Therefore, other people stone of adversity will just be your stone of
promotion. If the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Paul is your God, you
will certainly overcome.
12. Pray to locate and fire at the
unprotected forehead of your enemies:
No matter how strong your enemy is, he must have some weak points. You pray to
locate those points and then fire at them.
I counsel you to read through this
message again. Then tell the Lord to forgive you for the various ways you have
failed when you were under attack. When you are supposed to be the David to kill
the Goliath, the Goliath was boasting all over the place because your strategy
was wrong. Talk to God to forgive you. I want you to pray with the spirit that
believes that your God is a God that knows no impossibilities. There is no
situation that is beyond His power, no matter how strong it may be. The battle
is not greater than the One described as the Almighty. The battle is not higher
than Him who is the highest. The following prayer points are powerful and
effective. Pray them aggressively.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Every arrow fired into my destiny
this year, backfire, in the name of Jesus.
2. Every power that stole my destiny
when I was a baby, return it by fire, in the name of Jesus.
3. I possess all my blessings for this
week, in the name of Jesus.
4. Every wall of Jericho standing
against my progress, fall, in the name of Jesus.
5. Every hidden authority and stubborn
pursuer that is following me, I command you to die, in the name of Jesus.
6. Every garment of wickedness and
shame, be roasted, in the name of Jesus.
7. The glory of the protection
of the Almighty shall be upon my life, in the name of Jesus.