PICKING UP AUTHORITY

PICKING UP AUTHORITY

  • Authority, This Is War

PICKING UP AUTHORITY

A mom in our parenting class shared this powerful testimony, but she isn’t the only one who has experienced this, as I hear it often. As she drove home from class the previous week, the tears began to fall. She started to worship, and then laugh, and then cry harder. Words began to fall out of her mouth as she told Satan she was done with the battle and taking back her authority. She cried and worshiped some more. She walked into the house, and instead of finding the unusual defiance and chaos, she found peace – a peace that remained all week long. I had chills as she shared the story because GOD was moving in this mom to bring her back into alignment with Him. 

Hear this – it isn’t that she took back what the enemy stole. She picked up what SHE LAID DOWN – her God-given authority. Kids can tucker you out day in and day out. The conflict, endless need for training, and demanding that their needs are met can wear heavily on a parent. And inch by inch, we begin to lay down our authority feeling defeated and tuckered out. If there was ever a time parents must find their authority again, it is today, as there is an all-out war against this generation. God designed for your family to have a wall around it. Not all walls are negative. Walls protect, cover, and give assurance of peace. Picture a front door on a home that is the gateway to letting things come and go inside the home. Authority is the homeowner who confidently opens the doors and has the power to decide what comes in, what stays in, and what must get out of your home. If the door remains open all the time, bad things will wander in simply because nothing stops it. If the door is locked shut, nothing will be able to enter or leave. Authority is the God-given role of overseer, helping direct the traffic of what comes and what goes. When parents shrink back from their position of authority, it is like a disc being out in their spine. It will affect the rest of the body, causing great hardship. When a parent lays down their authority, children feel insecure and unsafe. I don’t need to tell you that they will act out their worry and anxiety, causing you greater hardship and the family more chaos. Not walking in your authority does NOT bring peace to your heart, children, or family. Imagine your family on a boat ride off the coast, enjoying the salty water and warm breeze. Peace and joy flow naturally with ease because all is well. As any waterman knows, the weather can turn quickly, making the sky dark and the waters choppy. Everyone feels the storm as the boat is tossed from side to side. How would you feel if the captain began to pace the deck, spewing his anxiety and fear? What if he called his friends and spoke words of death and doom? How would you feel about the storm? What if the captain saw the rain clouds and immediately jumped up to steer the boat in the opposite direction, whizzing past other boats headed towards the storm? How would you feel if he assured you of who he is and that he is well-equipped and trained to keep his passengers safe and out of the storm? In the first scene, it would not take long for you to partner and come under his fear and anxiety. With the second, you may still feel some uncertainty, but you are anchored to the one with the authority to steer the boat to safety. 

AT THE HELM – At the helm means the position or place of command or leadership. Who is at the helm of your family? Oh yes, we know God is, but having your hands positioned off the wheel and putting the entire responsibility on God denies your role and responsibility. Passive parenting isn’t going to produce the fruit God has called you and your children to bear. You will stand before Him at the end of your life and give an account for the children He has entrusted you to steward and won’t be able to say, “We just trusted You to do it all.” 

I want to invite you to encounter God by telling Him how you feel: “I am tired, I need help, I am scared, I am overwhelmed, I am exhausted, I feel burned out, I feel like quitting. I didn’t sign up for this, I feel ill-equipped…” Tell Him what you need: “I need Your help, I need tools, I need grace, I need a reboot, I need Your power, I need to hear from You, I need to know my children are going to be okay, I need to know I have not ruined them…” 

Watch this clip from the movie War Room and let Holy Spirit lead you in TAKING BACK YOUR AUTHORITY IN YOUR HOME. WAR ROOM | Elizabeth Jordan sends the devil out of her house – YouTube

FEAR, I SEE YOU

I loved receiving this testimony!!! Crawl into the world of this little boy and how his mom responded to his real heart. 

“Hi Lisa, I’m not sure you’ll get this, I know you receive a lot of messages but I just finished your JOURNEY course and had to share something that happened today. My three-year-old has been struggling in Sunday school for the last month or so. When I signed him in he immediately cried and clung to me. I told the teacher I would keep him for worship and try again in a bit. We went in and started singing and he just hugged me and snuggled through two songs. I brought it up that I would take him after singing and he started fussing again. The band started singing Jeremy Camp “Same Power” right then and it hit me – your authority lesson! I asked him if he wanted to not be afraid and then I said, ‘Fear, I see you,’ and commanded it to leave and then ushered in peace. After the song I asked if he was ready and he was a completely different kid!! He walked to the room holding my hand and didn’t look back after saying bye to me. I am embarrassed to say I’m shocked, I shouldn’t be, because this is our God, but I just can’t recall ever feeling this powerful before in my parenting. I’m just so excited to have done this class and learn things I can use to help my kids through life! Thank you, thank you!!!”

WE WELCOME WHAT WE FEAR

I once asked several seasoned parents for parenting advice, and all of them said, “The one thing I feared is the ONE thing that happened.” I feared that my children would consume drugs, drop out of college, and get discovered, and in each case, it happened. We welcome what we fear. Something happened with my son, and I called my mentor, saying, “My worst fear came true.” We talked it out, and it ended up being a much smaller ordeal than my heart originally felt. At the end of the conversation, she said, “Lisa, the problem with this whole thing is your opening statement. You were carrying around fear over your son.” She was right. I was partnering with fear long before anything happened. We invite what we believe and partnering with fear actually gives it a legal right to influence circumstances. God has not designed us to manage fear but to trust Him in all circumstances. Peace and authority are my weapons in the face of fear. 

HeartWork – Whatever your greatest fear is, surrender it to God and declare His truth over the situation. Fear is not your friend. Spend some intentional time today surrendering the fear and exchanging it with His Truth.

DANCE, EMMA, DANCE!

Emma, my second twin, wiggled in my womb so much it could easily take the nurses 45 minutes just to get an ultrasound of her. She hasn’t stopped moving since. Not in a hyper way (she is actually very mellow), but she is always dancing. I was never allowed to be carefree as a child, and the creative arts aren’t my natural bent, so it somewhat agitated me that she couldn’t just walk through the grocery store but always had to be leaping and twirling. I used to try to teach her to control herself and walk like a lady. It caused tension between us at times. Finally, God began to show me that her dancing is a gift from Him. It is almost warfare in nature. Something shifts in the atmosphere when she dances, which is so powerful.

I sensed Holy Spirit calling me to worship Him despite the heaviness of my heart. I found myself calling my daughter from the other room, “Dance, Emma, DANCE!” Within a few moments, something broke in the atmosphere. Interestingly, I endured a lot of grief while pregnant with her, and I sincerely believe all of the ‘movement’ was her dancing in the womb. I don’t always understand what is going on, but I DO know this – children are powerful carriers of the Kingdom, and when we as parents learn to steward their gifts vs. trying to control them, WE are the ones who are blessed.

NO JUNIOR AUTHORITY

Children so desperately need to be taught their authority. If they do not get a junior Holy Spirit, they do not get junior authority either. How many of us were taught that when we were afraid at night to say, “In the name of Jesus, Satan flee?” While few of us deeply understand our authority, the enemy still had to obey and flee when we used the authority paid for us by the blood of Jesus. Imagine how powerful this next generation would be if children would see the enemy’s tricks for what they were and step over it!? How will they know unless we teach them? Isaiah 11:8.

“My son told my husband there was a ‘bumblebee’ in the corner of his bed, and it was so scary that he couldn’t sleep. My husband first prayed over it and then taught our son to say, ‘Go away in Jesus’ name.’ He fell right asleep after that. Praise God!!”

Kids have a limited vocabulary and range of understanding, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t seeing/hearing things in the spiritual realm. It takes a wise parent to really ‘hear’ what the child is saying. It had nothing to do with bumblebees and everything to do with fear of being in the room. Kudos to this father for ‘hearing’ his son.

BABY FEAR

I once saw a young single mom asking for help on Facebook. She told this story: Suddenly, her baby daughter didn’t like her car seat and was having difficulty getting her strapped in. There were THIRTY-FOUR responses: give her a treat when you put her in, give her a new toy, etc. One response even said to give her Tylenol every time they had to go somewhere. The key word in her story was “suddenly.” I asked her what happened leading up to it. And she explained that the baby had been really sick for a week with a high fever. They all were itching to get out after a week at home and thought the baby was well enough to go to Wal-Mart. The minute they pulled onto the highway, the baby started violently throwing up. And since then, she wouldn’t sit in her car seat. Can you picture being so small and having your body violently throwing up for the first time? You are strapped tightly into a car seat and can’t fully heave forward (talk about restraint!). You have vomit all over you and aren’t old enough to communicate with your mom. That is a scary situation for anyone, much less a helpless baby. I told her that I believed she was dealing with a spirit of fear. The enemy doesn’t care how little or cute she is. She opened the door by being afraid, and he jumped! It’s his job, and he does it well. A week later, I ran into the grandma and asked how it was going, and she told me that now the baby would scratch herself to the point of bleeding, and it took two adults to get her strapped in. I will be honest in saying that my blood boils when the enemy is all over our children, and parents are clueless! This is where we have been so duped by the church and need to wake up!

I asked Grandma if she knew how to take authority over the spirit of fear, and she said she didn’t. I walked her through her authority and the prayer that said something like, “Fear, I see you, and you have to go. In the name of Jesus, you have no authority in my vehicle or over my granddaughter. I release peace now over my granddaughter and her car seat.” Done! She messaged me later to say they did it on the way out of church, and the granddaughter immediately went right into the car seat as if nothing had happened. It wasn’t the car seat she was reacting to. It was a demonic spirit that was sitting there waiting to torment her because it had a legal right to be there. Fear is not an emotion; it is a spirit that must be dealt with using our authority in Jesus.

THIS IS YOUR CHILD’S FUTURE

Sometimes I think the most powerful prayer we can pray is simply, “That which is in darkness bring into the light.” The enemy works in the dark to keep things hidden. God brings things into the light so they can heal. Teach your children this declaration prayer over their future and DECLARE it every time you feel the injustice of what is happening around us. 

THAT WHICH IS IN THE DARKNESS BRING INTO THE LIGHT!!!

I RELEASE REST OVER YOU

Testimony from mom in class: “Ok, this is really awesome and timely because AGAIN, I have been having some trouble with my daughter taking naps, and I got to the point of frustration where I just had to leave the room for about 10 minutes. I got so tired that I finally texted my friend to ask for prayer for it – she said, ‘I release rest over you,’ and no more than 10 minutes later, she calmed down, and she was nursing and then fell asleep! AWESOME! Thank You, Lord. I needed to hear this because I have a tendency to be timid in my prayers, but like you said, ‘Your kingdom come your will be done **on earth as it is in heaven**’ So yes, Jesus came to give LIFE, and we have the authority to ask for that (John 10:10)! I love that. I need to take authority over anxiety and anger!”

BLESS YOUR BODY

Every month my daughter laments about how bad her cramps are. She asks to stay at home rather than go out with us for dinner or join in any fun. I finally told her, “Sweetie, I know this isn’t fun, but your period is a BLESSING and not a curse. Why don’t you start blessing your body and how it was designed.” She took it to heart and the next day said this was her first month ever where the pain went away. Honestly, I am not surprised. We call it a curse and then wonder why we are racked in pain. Your words are powerful and carry life and death. Be careful what you are speaking out over your own body.

NOTHING IS WRONG WITH YOU

Maybe we should stop asking, “What is wrong with me?” and begin to ask, “What is going on that You are allowing me to feel?” God allows His children to feel the atmosphere so they can be agents of change on earth. I went away for 24 hours alone and felt great. I was beaming with excitement and joy, but I felt heavy and super sad when I walked into my room. I went to sleep and had a strange dream about death. I woke up, unable to shake this heaviness. Finally, I got the sense, “this is not me, but the atmosphere.” I prayed for the OPPOSITE to come and fill the place, and immediately it shifted.

We do not need to understand every detail of what is going on for God to use us. Heaviness is not His Kingdom, and I had authority in Jesus to release it to go and invite His peace, joy, and comfort.