Thoughts on the authority of the believer

Have you ever had questions about your authority as a believer…I mean deep questions—questions such as “why didn’t ‘it’ happen when I prayed/declared/confessed/said such and so…?” I sure have.

Last night I was minding my own business, cleaning up after dinner. Down on the inside of me that Voice I’ve grown to recognize spoke directly to me about this very topic:

“I’ve not given you CONTROL on the earth; I’ve given you AUTHORITY. But that authority comes at a cost.”

He had my attention. Before I could dry my hands and sit down to study this further, I heard, “For instance, when My disciples couldn’t cast the demon out of that boy, I told them, ‘This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer and fasting.’ A COST.”

A cost. That intrigued me. I knew that Jesus had already paid the full PRICE for my redemption—I’d freely received salvation through faith in Him and His sacrificial death on the cross. There was nothing else I needed to do to secure my salvation; Jesus paid the entire price.

But I realized this word “cost” held a different connotation. Although Jesus paid the PRICE for our salvation, He was reminding me that to walk effectively in the life and authority He purchased, I…you…would, indeed, incur COST. And, like the verse He pointed out to me, one such cost is prayer and fasting.

I sensed, however, that He wasn’t referring specifically last night to prayer and fasting. Instead, I felt He was shining light on something even more sweeping and overarching—which was to live a prayerful, fasted life unto Him—the kind of life that disciplines itself to listen first before acting or speaking. The kind of life that takes a measured, prayerful approach when pursuing its own interests or asserting its own will.

Then another verse came to me, Luke 14:28. “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?”

Before leaping into authority mode, I could see the Lord was showing me the need to make an honest assessment of my own willingness and ability to follow through—to persevere to the bitter (but preferably, victorious) end. In other words, if I couldn’t stand the heat invariably generated by a pronouncement of authority, it would be better not step into the authority kitchen at all—at least not yet. Many people suffer major setbacks simply by making premature authoritative declarations before counting the cost and preparing themselves for the ensuing battle. They put the cart before the horse…and suffer for it. God doesn’t want that.

Again, another Scripture came to me. First Corinthians 9:24 states, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.”

To win, an athlete incurs cost. Verses 25-27 following this Scripture list several of those costs:

• This athlete exercises self-control in all things.
• The runner avoids aimlessness.
• The boxer resists making empty jabs at the air.
• The athlete disciplines his body and makes it his slave.
• The believer takes great pains not to be disqualified after preaching to others.

Finally, I was directed to 2 Timothy 2:5. It said, “Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.”

There are laws of nature and man. When anyone pushes against or violates any of them, consequences happen. I realize, likewise, that “rules of engagement” govern the Kingdom of God—“rules” such as:

• Follow me as I follow Christ (1 Cor. 11:1)
• Have this mind in you that was in Christ Jesus (Phil. 2:5)
• The greatest among you shall be as the servant (Matt. 23:11)
• Faith works through love (Gal. 5:6)
• Lay aside the old self and put on the new self (Col. 3:9-10)
• Walk by the Spirit and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh (Gal. 5:16)

And perhaps most pertinent to effectively operating in authority:

• Submit therefore to God; resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7)

I must say, I went to bed last night with quite a bit to think about—He’s not given us CONTROL on the earth; He’s given us AUTHORITY.

And that authority comes at a cost.

Dorothy