Practically speaking, how in the world does one put all of this into actual actions? On Tuesday this week I did a little demo of what this looks like in my home presently. I will try to summarize in writing but the physical demo I think is the more effective tool. Here is my approach to resisting a physical symptom… Now of course this varies but give you a good visual hopefully and the steps plus the why behind the steps.

James 4:7 King James Version (KJV)”⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

FIRST ABOVE ALL ELSE:  SUBMIT TO GOD

When do I do this…. Sometimes before I do anything else (ideally), sometimes after I have done everything else (more often than I care to admit) and sometimes somewhere in the middle. There is no condemnation is seeking the help of doctors, natural remedies etc… These can cure some things and can often provide varying degrees of relief to what is ailing you. In other words this can be done, before, concurrently or after you have tried everything else. The longer I walk this thing out, the more often I see these steps break the yoke and the symptoms quickly diminish and disappear.

I usually stand up, being on my feet makes me feel more like I am positioned for action instead of passivity and as a victim. I am physically positioning myself for victory even with this tiny step even though it is not necessary.

And then I fix my gaze and heart on God and His Word. I seek to position myself in a position of utter and total submission to who He is (Creator of all and exceedingly more powerful than any other) and what His Word says about me. “By Jesus stripes I was [past tense] healed” Therefore, if I was to base my conclusion of my present state of health or wellness on the Word alone, I would have to conclude that means I am “healthy” today right now.  This is also the perfect time to ask God to reveal to you anything that you may need to repent for, anything that may have opened the door for the symptom to come.  Perhaps you were recently exposed to someone who had a cold and you felt fear that you would catch it…   Simply repent for fearing.   Perhaps you were sharp with someone.    Whatever He reveals to you agree that you have missed the mark and do a 180 mentally rededicating yourself and your hours to holy, blameless and total dedication to serving as God’s child and as His temple.   Remember the annointing with oil is to signify that the one/thing annointed has been set apart as holy, blameless, pure and for the services of the Lord alone.

“Praise You Jehovah Rapha, My Jehovah Nissi (the Lord is my banner/my victory), You have already set me free from all symptoms, all sin, all hell, death and destruction, every element of the Fall.  I praise YOU, you are worthy of all my praise.    Thank you that I am no longer subject to the begarly elements of this world but have been fully redeemed.  I am your beloved child, You uphold me with you right hand so I will not fall.    You strengthen my arm for war, you equip me to scale every wall, and to walk as more than a conqueror.    You are watching over Your Word and have healed me and saved me from my destructions.    Though people are falling all around me, no harm will befall me and no plague will come near my dwelling place.   I submit my body an thoughts to You Lord God and ask that you do all to enforce the victory established by Your son and lead me to take every step necessary now.”

Here are some verses that I meditate on in preparation for these times:

Luke 10:19 King James Version (KJV) “19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you”

Psalm 91 King James Version (KJV)
91 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.   2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.  4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.  5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;  6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.  7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.  8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.  9 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;  10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.  11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.  12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.  13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.  14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.  15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.   16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.”

Colossians 2:15 KJV “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”

Colossians 1:13 13Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:”

Galatians 4 KJV “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:4But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.8Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
9But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?”

Ephesians 4:27-30 King James Version (KJV) “27 Neither give place to the devil. 28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. 29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

John 10:10 King James Version (KJV) “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.”

Romans 6:13 King James Version (KJV) “13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”

Luke 6 kJV “/6 And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered. 7 And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him.   8 But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. 9 Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it? 10 And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other.”

Do note here especially that to leave anyone in a state of infirmity to come into agreement with evil and destroying life which goes completely against what Jesus came to do, to give life and life more abundantly and to agree with the thief who “came to kill, steal and destroy.”   From my unerstanding this means that resisting infirmity and sickness is to be accomplice to Jesus and to not resist is to be accomplice to the thief.     

I also often think about how we got into this mess in the first place. Adam and Eve had been commanded to take dominion over all living things on behalf of God and to subdue them and take the land. To not subdue what God has commanded us to subue is disobedience. So in order for me to subject myself to all of what these scriptures say, and therefore submit to God, I must have these things first fixed in my heart and mind. So pre-meditating on these verses is absolutely essential to position me for victory. Long before the temptations come, we much prepare our hearts and minds to resist effectively.

Once I am have positioned myself in submission to God, I am now walking and acting under HIS BANNER, His authority and His Kingdom.      This is the most essential piece for victory.    In Christ I can do all things…   but human effort, no matter how zealous, accomplishes nothing.    

For me, this has been the hardest part.   I do not naturally submit well to anything or anyone.    Over the last dozen years I think I have been unintentionally trying to strike the balance between being submitted to God in the  ways but still subject to my own appetites and plans in others….    LOL… I have unwittingly  been trying to negociate middle ground, asking God to concede to my flesh and my agendas as I rise up in some areas to His.    That is not the way that Lordship goes though.   I am finally coming to the conclusion that being subject to God means entirely, in all areas, all the time.    GASP, CHOKE AHHHHH (that was my flesh and self’s instant response to realizing that it must absolutely defer to and give way to God).  SIGH……………..   Total relief that the whole thing, every last bit of the burden, of the responsibility, of the results, the full weight of it lies on the Word, on Jesus Christ and on the Father.     The recognition that my victory/ my personal success/ my personal responsibility is not the outcome… but the simple act of submitting and doing what God calls me to do.  Every other part of the equations is HIS.  THANK GOD!  Now I am positioned to fight from a place of REST and utter confidence in Him as my Saviour and Deliverer.

2ND PIECE OF THE PUZZLE:  Spend lots and lots of time pre-meditating on the faithfulness, on the promises, on the things that please God, on His Capacity, on His Love and His nature especially as expressed through Jesus Christ.      All Fear is disarmed when we realize that our Abba Father is the one who has already established and will enforce the victory.  Too many verses to list here. That handout of the Father’s Love Letter is a perfect one to meditate on.

1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”

Psalm 63:8 “My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.”

Jeremiah 1:12 English Standard Version (ESV)  “12 Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”

2nd  Resist the Devil

So now that I am submitted, I view myself merely as an extension of the Lord, His Words and body in action on earth.    I am simply enforcing what He has done and is watching over to ensure.    

Me “You weak and begarly symptom (s), I am subject to what the Lord says about me, I am healthy, I am immune to any harm you can bring against me, I am subject to Him alone and have been completely delivered from the dominion of darkness.   You publicly shamed and utterly defeated nothing, get off/out of God’s temple (my body).   Jesus nailed you to that cross, with His blood, by laying down His life for mine.   I died with Him in baptism, and rose up with Him from the waters in resurrection.  I am immune from all the elements of darkness and the fallen world.   I am truly free and YOU have no place here.    Get back on the other side of the blood, you have NO authority hear.   I have yielded my body and thoughts and heart to the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Third  Deny Yourself, CommanSd Your Body to Line Up with Scripture

“Body, listen up, you are subject to the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word.   Be healed, be filled with SOZO (health and utter wholeness), be completely free of all pain, all discomforts, all infirmities, all afflictions, etc.  Be healthy, in perfect balance, whatever is lacking be multiplied now (as in the miracle of the loaves and fish), whatever is harmful or on assignment against my body be cursed to utter destruction.  Every evil assignment, every soulish prayer, every evil prayer, every curse that has been sent against my body be annulled now in the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. “

  Body, I commit you and rededicate you, I do NOT yield any member (body part) to anyone other than to my Lord.  I am fully committed to keeping His temple Holy and Set Apart for His purposes.   The LORD rebuke you for attempting to defile and set up camp in HIS temple.”  If the symptoms don’t immediately subside  ” The LORD rebuke you for not honouring HIS NAME, HIS KINGDOM and YOUR sentence as being publicly shamed and disarmed.   I commit my body and wellness to the Lord.”

I am definitely more fiesty when i stop and recognize that my body is the temple of the holy Ghost and these things are actually trying to desecrate the dwelling place of the Most High.

1 Corinthians 6:19 KJV “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”

If my children are the ones tempted, I love referring to Isaiah 54:13 .   If I have been tempted.  I tend to stop with the above declaration and move on with my day, not allowing the sensation of the symptom to change my agenda but essentially ignoring it (not even deeming to give it my slightest attention).   Any remnants of the symptom tend to clear up shortly after (signs that yes indeed the enemy is facing the Lord for His impudence and failure to honour His Word and His name)  If my children are affected, I tend to pray until the symptoms are entirely gone.    

“And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace {shalom}of thy children.”

Finally:  Turn and receive ministry and strenghthening from the Lord

We have at least 2 examples in scripture of times when Jesus was tempted.

Matthew 4:11 “Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.”

And also in the garden after which time the angels came and strengthened Him for the work at hand.   If Jesus Himself needed ministry after temptations, how much more so do we.

“Dear Heavenly Father, I feel weakened and somewhat shakened by this temptation.   Dear Lord, please send your ministering angels to strengthen me and bind up any broken or wounded parts of my heart, and body, that I may be strengthened to serve you and fulfill the plans and purposes you have laid on my life day and life”

This is proving in my own life to be a powerful step.   We actually get stronger and receive healing to a place of better than before we had the encounter when we receive this ministry that the Lord has prepared for us for these occasions.    Jesus was able to walk out what He did in part, because He submitted to and received the strengthening in this way.     This also reveals the reason why we seek restoration.. Not to serve our own pleasures, or be restored to our own agendas but to be effectively about the Father’s business.   

Our eyes often to turn people, either prayer partners (nothing wrong in this but God has more for us than this alone),  or to those that have hurt them.   Sadly, the perpetrators (or more rightly, the spirits behind those who hurt us) are not likely motivated to right the wrongs that they have inflicted.    But in every case, our Heavenly Father wants to mend our broken hearts and set us free from all bondages and wash us clean from all the dust that  inevitably clings to us as we serve in the fallen world.

Hebrews 1:14 KJV “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?”