10. Power in His Name

There is power in the name of Jesus

To break every chain, break every chain, break every chain.

Break Every Chain – Tasha Cobbs

As Christians we know that there is constant spiritual warfare in play. And my own personal experience has been that the stronger my fellowship with God, the more in tune I am with walking in the steps He sets out or ordains for me, the more likely it is that I may come under spiritual attack. This is not something to fear- particularly as the enemy thrives on fear, confusion, doubt, and all those negative emotions aiming to distract, mislead and unsettle. Rather, it is a reality to be aware of and prepared for.

I was recently reading the familiar passage in Matthew 4, of Jesus being tempted in the desert. The devil persisted in attacking/ tempting him three times. Each time, Jesus relied on His strong foundation in the Word, to resist the attacks. Even when the devil slyly twisted the word of God in his favour, Jesus in His knowledge from a sound foundation and preparation of studying the Word, was able to respond with a combating Word. After the third time, when Jesus commanded, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only”, we then read, ‘Then the devil left Him, and angels came and attended Him’ (Matthew 4:10, 4:11).

We need to build a strong foundation; we need to be spiritually strong in order to resist attack. This requires diligent and consistent preparation and building up of the armour of God.

‘Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock’. Matthew 7:24-25

But another means of protection during spiritual attack which I want to focus on, has been strongly highlighted to me recently. I want to talk about the POWER of the name of Jesus, and the effectiveness of speaking the name of Jesus, with AUTHORITY.

We sing about it, we talk about the power of Jesus’ name, we pray it- “… in Jesus’ name I pray, Amen”. But I recently experienced the immediate power of His name.

‘The men were amazed and asked, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey Him!’ Matthew 8:27

I occasionally experience being overtly spiritually attacked while half asleep/dozing, or during dreams. I tend to sense the difference between an unpleasant dream and a spiritual attack in a very real way. My usual method of combating it, is to follow advice my mother gave me, and to speak aloud something along the lines of, ‘In the name of Jesus, go!’ At this point, the demons are usually revealed to me, the masks give way, and I wake up fully and ‘escape’ the attack. I then spend some time reading my Bible, praying, listening to worship music, and focus on rebuking and not allowing any fear that threatens to creep into my heart or mind, to draw near. This sort of thing doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, this is how I tackle it.

‘Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me’. Psalm 23:4

Recently I had a spiritual attack while sleeping. The enemy was trying to thwart me with regards to a path I was following that I knew to be directly in line with God’s guidance. The moment my spirit sensed I was under attack, I commanded with POWER and AUTHORITY, using a degree of strength I had not employed in the past- “In Jesus’ name, leave me!”

And, here’s the amazing thing.

INSTANTLY, there was silence. Deafening silence. It was like someone had hit the mute button. Everything stopped.

Silence.

The chitter chatter of voices, the backgound noise, even some pleasant piano-based music that was playing in the background- everything suddenly came to a halt with a deafening silence. I was initially acutely aware of all the noise in its individual parts, and then acutely aware of the noise being SILENCED, being STILLED, by the power of the name of Jesus. I sensed the shocked fear from the demons. I saw their weakness and powerlessness as they cowered meekly at the sound of His name. Wow!

‘The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name’.

‘I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you’. Luke 10:17, 19

There is very real power in the name of Jesus. Not only that, there is power in speaking the name of Jesus with authority and with fearless command.

Often times in the Bible, when Jesus is speaking, He starts by saying, “Therefore, I tell you…” He speaks with authority. He uses His voice to command. He doesn’t say, “Ok so, this is basically what I’m trying to say. I get if you don’t feel the same, but what I’m trying to suggest is…”

NO! He affirmatively states, “I tell you”. No two ways about it.

When we affirmatively use the name of Jesus, the enemy will flee like a scared animal with its tail between its legs. The enemy has no authority in our lives. He has no real power. The only power he has, is power we enable him to grasp and clutch at if we leave ourselves open to attack by not remaining spiritually strong and walking in fellowship with Christ. Cover yourselves with the precious blood of Jesus. Be vigilant and take action to protect yourselves.

‘And these signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on people who are ill, and they will get well’. Mark 16:17-18

Let our spirits be in tune with the Holy Spirit.

Let our spirits be entwined and as one with the Holy Spirit.

Let our spirits be in communion with the Holy Spirit who lives within us. We do this by practising the fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We do this by reading the Bible and by trying to live as God wants us to live.

‘Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit’. Galations 5:25

‘You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ’. Romans 8:9

‘In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God’. Romans 8:26-27

Let fear not threaten to creep in. Command it to go in Jesus’ name. Be spiritually strong. Have strong foundation in the Word. Be mentally strong.

‘For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ‘. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Abbie x