A man needs not only to know the strategy of the devil and the purpose of his actions but also needs to know the Word very well. “… and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph. 6:17 NIV).
In the 4th chapter of Luke it is described how Jesus Christ was led by the Spirit into the desert and tempted by satan. Since He knew the Word perfectly, He destroyed the traps of the devil by the Word. Satan can approach any man in the same way, but the man, being led by the Holy Spirit, has to fight him back by the Word and defeat his plans.
Let me give an example from my life. I was suffering from severe headaches when I was 15-16 years old. I would apply to doctors for years, but they wouldn’t offer any solution, they would just prescribe medicine, which did not bring any significant change in my health.
Years passed. I dedicated my whole life to serving God. I served Him literally day and night. My headaches became even more frequent. Within a few years that frequency turned into a daily severe and unbearable pain. At the suggestion of doctors, I got injections every day, slept for two hours after those injections and then went on with my work. I would spend the next day according to the same schedule. Terrible headaches in the morning, injections, and the mandatory two-hour sleep became an integral part of my life.
I prayed, but without any results. Then I stopped praying, thinking that I served the Lord of lords, Who searches the heart, examines the mind. He knew my dedication and fear towards Him, therefore, someday He would heal me in a miraculous way. Years passed. I had been suffering for about thirty years. Of course, the so-called suffering gradually entered my life: at first, the pain would occur 2-3 times a month, then 4-5 times a month, until it received a status of a daily companion. My medical examinations in Armenia yielded no results, and so I left for Brussels, Belgium to be examined.
I received a package with all the necessary results of my medical examination. I was looking forward to hearing the conclusion of the doctor, who had led the examination phase. He did not know me and the nature of my work. According to the results of the examination, he presented his conclusion to me, according to which, nothing was threatening my life, but I had to change my medical treatment. He named several diseases associated with my head, and said that I had to change my job by all means. He did not even ask what the nature of my work was at that time, he simply emphasized: “Completely change the type of your activity”.
I returned to Armenia. As for severe headaches, no changes occurred in the rhythm of my life. According to the doctor, a change would occur only if I changed the type of my activity. Almost a week passed. Once, in the middle of the night I started having headaches again, then the pain began to spread and not only my head was aching but also the pain spread throughout my body. I gathered all my strength and sat on the bed.
I started praying in tongues of the Holy Spirit. That prayer resembled a murmur. The pain was horrible. I put on my clothes and stood by my bed in an indescribable suffering. I continued praying in a low voice. I gathered all my strength and turned to the devil and declared in the name of Jesus Christ: “The ministry work that I do, is my calling from heaven. The Lord of lords has appointed me to serve Him in this sphere and help the orphans, the sick, the needy, children and women, who are subjected to violence.
I will not give up this ministry because it is not a job for me but a calling, predetermined by God. And because these terrible pains cause me to suffer and prevent me from serving my Lord fully, it means that “satan, whether you want it or not, you must get out of my life!”. I continued praying and reminded the devil of the healing that belonged to me by the power of the cross of Calvary. I kept repeating: “Thanks to the cross of Calvary, by the stripes of Jesus Christ, I am healed. Jesus the Savior paid the price on the cross so that I would not suffer. I believe in the power of the Cross and the blood, shed by Jesus Christ”.
The more I prayed, the worse the pain became. My tongue got swollen so much that I could barely utter my words. I continued my declarations: “Satan, you are the author of my suffering. John 10:10 says: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…” (NIV), you have no power to be plunged into my life, steal my health, lose my happiness and kill my calling. My Lord is Jesus the Savior, Who has already given me victory on Calvary for all the spheres of my life”.
At that moment, the following Bible verses sounded in my mind: “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, and the fields produce no food … yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior (Habakkuk 3:17-18 NIV). I became numb for a moment. Is this from God?
Thoughts began to flow like a flood: do you serve God only because it is good for you? Look, the Word of God says that you should always rejoice, even if you are sick and have no food to eat … . The thoughts continued: they began to remind me, how the apostles had been arrested, what blows they had endured. My headaches were nothing. Could they be compared to what the apostles had endured? I obeyed those thoughts for a few minutes and at one point I even decided to accept those pains, thinking that I had been bearing them for 30 years, so I would keep bearing them for the sake of the love for my God.
But then I remembered the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, which says that I am healed by the stripes of Jesus Christ, and I was awakened. I continued my declarations about the love of God, the mercy and the cross of Jesus Christ. I went on with my declarations and said: “Satan, as you are completely defeated and are trying to deceive me with the Words from the Bible, know that I will not call any ambulance, I will no longer get any injections, and these medications will no longer remain in my house”.
Having said that, I broke all the medicine and along with syringes I threw them in the trash. Then I called upon the name of Jesus Christ and worshipped Him in a terrible pain, repeating that by the stripes of Jesus Christ, I was healed. I can’t say how long my struggle, prayer, worship and proclamations lasted, forty minutes or maybe an hour …
Suddenly, an indescribable peace came down on me. It completely embraced me, and my headache was immediately gone, and it seemed as though my whole body got rid of the chains of the oppressing pain. My body had not been healed so completely for a long time. I had already forgotten what life was like without a headache. I didn’t even imagine that it is so blessed. On that day, the healing that belonged to me was brought into manifestation by the power of the Cross of Jesus Christ.
Soon it will be five years since the day when I received my healing. Of course, the devil tried to repeat that disease for 2-3 times in my life, I felt pain in my head, but I rebuked the devil in the name of Jesus Christ and commanded him to no longer try to steal my time, since I wasn’t idle to stand for even several minutes and drive him away from my life in the name of Jesus the Savior.
There are cases when we have to stand up on our feet resolutely and seize the victory that the devil is trying to steal from us. Moreover, he is deceiving us to endure, tolerate and accept the existing problem. We have to know the Word well enough and the Holy Spirit will give us a corresponding Word for that particular moment, we just have to be led by Him.