God gave us the authority to free ourselves from the shackles of the evil one. ~ Lisa Blair

Freedom is the response to faith and prayer. We pray and pray, but do we operate in God’s authority when we pray? As Christian’s we are seated with Christ in the heavenly place above all principalities and power. Paul pronounces this truth in Ephesians. 

“And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,” Ephesians 2:6 NIV

We sit in a place of authority. When we recognize we have authority, then we should also recognize our prayers are powerful prayers, prayed by a person in authority – you. This power was bestowed upon us when we received Christ as our Lord and Savior. We are authorized to pray using the power bestowed upon us. In short, we all have the potential to be prayer warriors. Galatians explains that we are not weak, but strong. Paul tells us to be strong in the Lord. We are encouraged to pray with authority. We must learn to operate in God’s authority.

An article entitled What does Ephesians 2:6 mean? Knowing-Jesus.com explains it this way:

As believers we are united with Christ, and because the Lord Jesus broke the power of sin and death and hell when He rose from the dead, the strength of sin in our lives has also been broken and we have been raised up into newness of life, in Him.

But God did so much more for us when the Lord Jesus died and rose from the dead (and then ascended into heaven, to sit at the right hand of the Father in great glory and majesty), we discover that we have a new and eternal position, simply because we believe in Jesus. We have been positioned in Christ and exalted together with Him into heavenly places, IN HIM. We have been seated spiritually in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.

Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/ephesians-2-6

Further, Ephesians commands us to be strong…

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:10-18 NIV

John Eckhardt author of Routing Out Demons, explains that “we have the authority to tread on serpents and scorpions”, not because it’s is a mortal thought, but our responsibility as children of God. We are his ambassadors on earth. We are his workers. God gave us authority to overcome the evil ones’ intent to kill, steal and destroy. He empowered us with His Word with is our manual to operate while we live on this earth. The Bible is our shelter. His promises protect us. His commands empower us. I believe that anything that confronts us can be considered serpents and scorpions. We suffer the onslaughts because we fail to live in God’s authority. We do not pray in His power, or His hope for our futures. We do what many call, ‘hoping and a prayin’, as if we are reciting something outside of ourselves. When we treat this as an intellectual practice, we fail to operate un the authority bestowed upon us. We do not do this on our own accord, the Holy Spirit guides our prayers. His Word is nestled in us. His power and authority is in us. We must operate in His power and authority. Jesus shared with his disciples in Luke 6, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. We are the Lord’s present day disciples. Luke explains the same in Luke 10:19,21 NKJV. “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” 

We have the authority given to us through the resurrection of Christ and at the direction of the Holy Spirit to loose ourselves and our loved one from illness, financial burden, loss and spiritual darkness. We have been empowered to pray in God’s Name through continuous and fervent prayer. We are to confess His Word and the promised outcomes for his people. This is not magic. It is not some self proclaimed power. It is a gift from God. His Will may not always align with ours. Our prayer may not be answered immediately. It may not fall in the scope of what God wants for us at a particular time. There will be times that the answer is ‘no’ or ‘not now’. But it is His desire for us to, in modern terminology, activate the promises He has given us. In the Book of Matthew, we read how Christ empowered His disciples with the authority to heal, spiritually and physically. We are His spiritual children and He has empowered us through the Word to do the same, use His authority in praying and confessing His promises when we pray other ourselves and others.   

We can proclaim freedom from the shackles of the evil one, we can tread on serpents and scorpions through prayer with conviction. 

Scriptures – Bible.com