When I was a kid I had this "friend" who used to pick on me. Everyday I would go to school and he would pinch me and it would leave whelps on my arms. I put up with it for awhile but one day I had enough; I went home and talked to my dad about the whole situation - I was expecting him to stick up for me; "fight" my battle for me.

Well my dad did something very different - he explained, in detail, how to throw a punch, how to fight back...to aim right for the nose and follow through...then he told me that next time that boy pinched me to punch him just like he showed me.
The next day the kid pinched me, and I socked him right in the nose. My dad gave me the authority, the tools, and the confidence necessary to handle the situation - needless to say that kid never pinched me again...

To often in our lives we find ourselves being picked on by the enemy of this world. The enemy knows that he cannot steal our salvation; but what he tries to do is hold us captive by having slight control over certain aspects of our lives - fear, hurts, pain, relationships, our past, etc. We then go to God and say "Help, Help!" expecting God to just swoop down and save us.
This type of lifestyle is quite different from that which Jesus had called believers. Like the apostles (Lk 9:1-2) and the seventy (Lk 10) who were told by Jesus to go out and preach and teach about the kingdom of God, and he also said they were to heal the sick and set the captives free. See, what God is telling us is "I have given you the tools to battle, now do it."

We need to go to God for the guidance and power, then go to the enemy and punch him right in the nose. The hands-on approach against our oppressor is the key to freedom. As children of God, He has equipped us with the tools necessary to be "set free" from what is holding us back.
Spiritual warfare is a pro-active approach to our faith. We actively resist the devil when his hosts harass us. We actively pursue spiritual disciplines that will make us stronger and better prepared. We must actively engage the enemy when we are in spiritual bondage.
We need to utilize prayer as a weapon to penetrate strongholds that cannot be reached in any other way. Spiritual warfare is the putting aside of passive attitudes towards faith which keep us from commitment and cause us to pursue only those things that will benefit us.
Matthew 16:19 "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

The words Bound and Loose are both legal terms; Bind - to put under legal obligation, as to keep the peace or appear as a witness. Loose: to release from domination or control; to become free, independent.
See under the Bible (law of God) the enemy has no legal right to try and steal what the Lord has done for us. The Bible says that "where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom." (2 Cr 3:17) So why do we ALLOW the enemy to bind us?
Through the Word of God and the power of prayer we, as believers, have the legal authority to TELL the enemy that he has no power in our lives, to let him know what God has done for us. Its not just a good thought, it's an order from the General Himself.

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