Now, what can a two-edged sword do? Well, it can cut both ways because the blade has two sharp sides. But back in Paul’s day, nothing existed in the physical realm that was sharper than any two-edged sword.

However, today, there is something that is sharper than any two-edged sword. It is called a laser. A laser cuts every way and from any direction. In the spiritual realm, the Bible — God’s Word — is sharper than any two-edged sword.

The Bible is to the spiritual world what the laser is to the physical world. It is a precise and extremely powerful tool. The sword of the Word of God can cut the devil to pieces!

To learn how to use this weapon practically, let’s look at the master swordsman, Jesus. When did Jesus use the sword? He used it when He was attacked by the devil in the desert. How did He use it? He used it by saying to the devil, “It is written… it is written… it is written…” You see, Jesus knew what the scriptures taught. He had memorised the scriptures. And when the devil came against Him, He could say, “It is written…”

Now, if the sword is the Word of God and God’s Word sometimes comes to us directly today through the Holy Spirit, then we could suppose that we use the sword against the devil by saying, “Devil, God just told me this morning that…”

But Jesus didn’t talk like that. When He faced the devil in the desert, He didn’t say to him, “Just now, My Father said to Me…” He had good reason to tell the devil what His Father had just told Him after He was baptised in the Jordan river: “You are My beloved Son.” (Matthew 3:17) But Jesus didn’t resort to that. He didn’t resort to the spoken Word of God.

Instead, He resorted to the written Word of God. Three times He said, “It is written”, not “It is spoken”. He said what the scriptures said. He quoted directly from what had already been written in the scriptures.

Now, if the Son of God had to say, “It is written…” to overcome the devil, how much more you and I should quote from the written Word of God! And how much more you and I should memorise scriptures in preparation for battle in the spiritual realm!

You may still ask, “But how do we apply the scriptures, Pastor Prince?” Well, I am going to teach you how because this is the most important part of the use of the sword. This is the part the devil wants you to miss.

How do you apply the sword of the Word of God in your life? Let’s say that you wake up one morning and you read the newspaper. The main story states that one out of every five men by the age of 50 will have XYZ disease. Whoosh! The devil has just thrown a fiery dart at you. You never know when his darts are fired at you. You may be watching a television programme and the presenter says, “This region can expect a big earthquake within the next five years!” Whoosh! The devil has just thrown another fiery dart at you.

When that happens, it is time to declare, “It is written, ‘Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.’” (Psalm 91:3) What are you doing? You are countering the devil’s attack with the sword of the Word of God! You are also deflecting his fiery darts and protecting your heart with the shield of faith!

Here is another scenario: You have just returned from the funeral of a Christian friend who died of a disease. She was the same age as you. By the way, we often don’t know the full story of how and why Christians die. For instance, there are Christians who want to go home to be with the Lord. We are responsible for our own lives. But one thing we do know is that God loves us and He wants us to live long, healthy lives. (Psalm 91:16)

Now, when you walk away from the funeral service, you are all alone and right there, the devil throws a thought at you: “You know, she was such a spiritual Christian, such a nice Christian, such a wonderful Christian…” He throws another fiery dart: “If it can happen to her, it can happen to you.” Now, fear starts to creep in. What must you do? You must say, “It is written, ‘A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.’” (Psalm 91:7) Counter the devil’s move with the sword of the Word of God!

My friend, it is not enough to just know God’s Word in your heart. You have to speak it out. That is when latent power becomes actual power! Jesus in the wilderness did not just think of the scriptures or hum them in His head. He spoke the scriptures out loud.

You can memorise thousands of scriptures, but if you don’t learn to say, “It is written…”, you won’t actually release the Word. Until the Word is released from your mouth, there will
be no actual power, only latent power. In other words, until the Word leaves your mouth, it is just power lying dormant inside you. You have got to speak it out. When you speak it out, it is like God speaking. God’s Word in your mouth is like God speaking.

Here is another situation you may find yourself in: You wake up one day and you don’t know why, but you start to think about your parents and grandparents who all died of a particular disease. Somehow, the thought begins to plague you. The fears are unreasonable, but they still plague you. A thought enters your mind: “You will die of the same disease! You will die young! It’s a generational curse!” What should your response be? Quote Psalm 91:16 out loud: “It is written, ‘With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.’” Speak the Word of God into your fear.

I have discovered that you cannot reason away fear. You cannot analyse it away. There are some fears that come into my mind and I say, “Joseph Prince, what are the chances of that happening?” But it doesn’t help. The fears are still there. I say again, “Come on, Joseph Prince, it will never happen to you.” But the fears remain. So you can’t reason away fear. Because our warfare is spiritual, the only way to defeat fear is to speak the Word of God into the fear by saying, “It is written, ‘For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.’” (2 Timothy 1:7)

That is when it becomes a two-edged sword! That is when it becomes powerful! When you speak His Word, when you agree with it, it becomes a two-edged sword. Sometimes, you have to say it a few times. Sometimes, you have to say it in the morning, then in the afternoon and again in the evening. If the devil wants a fight, give him one! Use the sword of the Spirit against him and he will get the point every time! There is something about the sword of the Spirit that the devil doesn’t like. He doesn’t hang around God’s Word too much. It reminds him of someone — Jesus! And Jesus reminds him of his defeat!

There are many powerful scriptures for every area of need. If you have financial problems, go to the Bible, take out your notebook and write down scriptures on finances. You will find scriptures like, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

Even if your employer retrenches you, say, “My God shall supply all my needs according to His riches”. It is not according to your employer’s riches. Your employer is not your source, God is! If your employer is your source, then you are very poor. If God is your source, then you are very rich! If God is your source, you will no longer be afraid of losing your job. And you will have such a confident expectation of good that if you do lose your job, you know that God has a better one waiting for you.

I recently had a bad case of jet lag. Now, this was spiritual warfare because it was the first time I had experienced jet lag and it was bad! Wendy had it too. We were both so tired. Yet, I couldn’t sleep. So I memorised scriptures. I quoted Psalm 4:8 before I went to bed: “I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” I also quoted Proverbs 3:24: “When you lie down, you will not be afraid; yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.”

I said these scriptures aloud as I lay down, “It is written, ‘You will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.’” After a little while, I got sleepy, and I started slurring and saying, “Your sleeeeep will be sweeeeeet. Your sleeeeeep will be sweeeeeeet.” Then, it became just, “Sweeeeeet…. sweeeeeeeet.” You know, I fell asleep and it was one of the sweetest sleep ever!

Words from the Bible are so powerful. They are pregnant with power because those words came from the same source that created the heavens and the earth. When you declare the scriptures aloud, the Word of God fights for you. The devil has no defence against the Word of God. He has no defence against the sword of the Spirit. It cuts himevery way!

And there is a promise in the Bible for every need. Write them down, memorise them and declare them. If you like, you can start quoting each scripture by saying, “It is written…”

If you are concerned about your family, find scriptures on family life. For instance, Proverbs 11:21 (KJV) says, “…the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.” Psalm 128:3 says, “Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, your children like olive plants all around your table.” If the devil says to you, “You will die young!” your response should be, “It is written, ‘With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.’” (Psalm91:16).

If you are experiencing fear — for example, you may be afraid of your boss — Hebrews 13:6 says, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” If you wake up in the morning and you feel like it is going to be a bad day, declare, “It is written, ‘This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.’” (Psalm118:24)

Prayer

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.”
Ephesians 6:18

The last piece of the armour is prayer — “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit”. Like the sword of the Word of God, it is an offensive weapon. But what does praying in the Spirit mean? It means praying in tongues. (1 Corinthians 14:14)

If you are experiencing a season of evil, my encouragement to you is this: Learn to constantly pray in the Spirit. If you are going through a tough time, pray in tongues whenever you can and wherever you go. When you wake up in the morning, pray in tongues. When you drive your car, pray in tongues. When you are in the train, pray in tongues, but do it under your breath or people may look at you strangely!

Thattallgirl:
Prayer

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.”
Ephesians 6:18

The last piece of the armour is prayer — “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit”. Like the sword of the Word of God, it is an offensive weapon. But what does praying in the Spirit mean? It means praying in tongues. (1 Corinthians 14:14)

If you are experiencing a season of evil, my encouragement to you is this: Learn to constantly pray in the Spirit. If you are going through a tough time, pray in tongues whenever you can and wherever you go. When you wake up in the morning, pray in tongues. When you drive your car, pray in tongues. When you are in the train, pray in tongues, but do it under your breath or people may look at you strangely!

Good evening, or good morning, depending how where you are.

I'll be reading through this topic from the second page, singe I've read the first to completion.
Praying in the spirit is good and I hear that it is better because the devil won't hear or understand what you are telling God through the Holy Spirit. But what if you can't pray in tongues? I can't. Till now. Doesn't mean our regular prayers may encounter opposition and delay? Just like Daniel's prayers were being opposed for more than 20 days.

I'm trying to get back to my old praying ways and renew my relationship with the lord. When is it that this gift of tongues comes upon a person? Even after being baptized (water and Holy Spirit baptisms) Or, maybe it's not for every christian to be able to speak, hence why it's called a " gift " ...? Or am I getting it wrong

Thanks.

PaulOtl:

Good evening, or good morning, depending how where you are.

I'll be reading through this topic from the second page, singe I've read the first to completion.
Praying in the spirit is good and I hear that it is better because the devil won't hear or understand what you are telling God through the Holy Spirit. But what if you can't pray in tongues? I can't. Till now. Doesn't mean our regular prayers may encounter opposition and delay? Just like Daniel's prayers were being opposed for more than 20 days.

I'm trying to get back to my old praying ways and renew my relationship with the lord. When is it that this gift of tongues comes upon a person? Even after being baptized (water and Holy Spirit baptisms) Or, maybe it's not for every christian to be able to speak, hence why it's called a " gift " ...? Or am I getting it wrong

Thanks.

Hi! Receiving the gift of tongues is quite easy. I'd want for you to watch this short video and receive this gift 👇. I began praying in tongues after watching this video for the first time.

https://www.facebook.com/josephprince/videos/726877781196899/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

You can also Google "praying in tongues Joseph Prince" and watch short videos on benefits of praying in the Spirit and more deeper truths concerning it.

Your prayers in English or known language counts. With what I've learned, it's like going to the last floor either through stairs or elevator. You'll get to your destination faster with the elevator and relaxed.

It's for every christian if they want to receive this gift. It can't be earned, you just need to simply receive. Watch the video and other videos and I'm sure your questions will be answered.