ALL THINGS ARE SPIRITUAL
There are basically two forces or kingdoms which seek to control the activities , affairs and the lives of men- the Kingdom of God and of the Devil . Both of them have power over what happens in the lives of men . When we come to the issue of life in the spirit , we have the spirit world of God which is the most powerful , as well as the spirit world of the devil . Man chooses to submit to whichever . The spirit world is as real as the physical world , but the physical is subject to the spiritual . Things happen in the spirit first before they manifest in the physical . What we see is not just a coincidence . Things don ’ t just happen ; they are caused to happen by spiritual forces in the spiritual world . A believer who understands this is in a better position to pray because prayer itself is spiritual . Most of us fail to receive answers to our prayers because we stop praying before we get a breakthrough in the spirit .
Consider the story of Daniel for example , he began fasting and praying to God for three weeks , yet despite the fact that God released an answer on the first day , it was delayed .
Then he continued , “ Do not be afraid , Daniel . Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God , your words were heard , and I have come in response to them . But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days . Then Michael , one of the chief princes , came to help me , because I was detained there with the king of Persia ~ Daniel 10:12-13 NIV
There wasn ’ t any form of manifestation because the prince of Persia , who of course was an agent of darkness , hijacked Daniel ’ s answer . It wasn ’ t until God sent Angel Michael to rescue the first Angel that Daniel received his answer . Victory was first achieved in the spirit before it manifested in the physical .
The things we experience and see in our daily lives have already been in existent in the spirit world . It ’ s just a matter of time before they manifest . Many of us have been blinded by the enemy ; kept in the dark and in ignorance , and have been suffering unnecessarily without knowing the real source of our problems . If we did , we won ’ t take what happens around us at face value . We would get on our knees and avert every form of judgment , undo every doing of the enemy and stand against his plans in our lives . We would take our positions in prayer and engage the enemy and his agents in battle . We aren ’ t as helpless as we tend to think !
Much of the barrenness , unfruitfulness , stagnation and cycles of failure we go through or see in our lives are not just physical and we can ’ t deal with them in the physical realm , but from the spiritual realm . It ’ s from here where many have been put in dark prisons , captivity and have been caged , causing their destinies to be delayed or even terminated . Many work hard , but fail to harvest or even bear any fruit simply because in the spirit world , their work has been rendered useless . You may serve in your area of calling and continue being ineffective – unable to make any impact in other people ’ s lives because in the spirit world , you have been rendered ineffective or those you are ministering to are being kept in the dark . You are not the problem ; the truth is that your life is being controlled in the spirit , in this case , by the forces of darkness to keep you down and unfruitful . Such battles are not physical , they are spiritual .
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood , but against the rulers , against the authorities , against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms ~ Ephesians 6:12 NIV
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world . On the contrary , they have divine power to demolish strongholds . We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God , and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ ~ 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NIV
We need to understand that all things are spiritual and ask God to open our spiritual understanding to the realities of the spiritual world . Nothing happens in this world by default . But you who are in Christ Jesus , and call yourself a child of God , must be spiritually alert . The devil is very crafty , but you are not defenceless before him . You must learn and discipline yourself to pray and to use the weapons that God has given us as believers to wage war against him . If you want to live victoriously and see the plans and purposes of God being manifested in your life , you must live a life of prayer . It ’ s only through prayer where you can trouble trouble before trouble comes to trouble you . Stay a few steps ahead of the enemy by praying and things will begin to change .
May God open our understanding and help us to comprehend the things of the spirit , for it ’ s the control centre of everything that happens in our lives . Until you overcome or get a breakthrough in the spiritual realm , nothing can change in the physical . Going to church alone isn ’ t enough . We must learn to seek and hear God for ourselves ; we must learn how things work . Many are living , though dead , because of ignorance . Our lives surely are being destroyed for lack of knowledge . The enemy was defeated at the cross of Calvary , but we must enforce our victory through prayer .
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