Dealing with Counterattacks

After Michael walked for the first time at 22 months old, Janice and I were overjoyed and spent much time praising God.

The doctors had told us if this disease progressed he would never walk. Yet, here he was walking; all praise and glory to God! We felt a great sense of relief. Along with that relief came a temptation to “lay down our guard” spiritually. We had been in such a fierce spiritual battle that we were just glad it was over and were looking forward to some rest from our “fight of faith.” Since that time, I have realized we are actually most vulnerable immediately following a great victory. At these times when we feel invincible, we are more susceptible to deception and giving in to our flesh. We must continue to be vigilant and not let our guard down if we desire to maintain the healing and freedom God has brought to us.

About a month after Michael took his first steps, our pastor, John Osteen, preached a message called, “The Counterattack of the Devil.” Was that ever a timely and applicable message for us! The basis for this “word in season” to us was the following passage from Matthew’s Gospel:

When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation (Matthew 12:43-45, NKJV).

I still have the notes I made from that message. One of the most striking statements Pastor Osteen made in that message was this:

More battles are lost in counterattacks than any other kind of battle. It is true that you and I have authority over the devil because of Jesus. But the devil doesn’t give up just because he leaves you the first time. Demons can’t find rest outside of bodies. Jesus said that there is a demon that calls your body his house. Spirits of infirmity, iniquity, or uncleanness say, ‘I will return to my house.’ Don’t give the devil any room. Whom the Son has set free is free indeed. Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost now and that devil cannot come back if you don’t let him.

Understanding this truth didn’t put fear in Janice and me. Rather, it actually prepared us for future attacks of the enemy and caused us both to be vigilant and ready. In fact, just one month later Michael’s wrist and hand began to swell up again. Instead of allowing fear and doubt to consume us with thoughts that Michael’s healing was short-lived, we just took authority over the enemy, rebuked that swelling, and commanded it to leave his body in Jesus’ name. Within 24 hours the swelling was gone. Praise God!

The point of this chapter is this: Don’t be naïve and don’t let down your spiritual guard once you experience a spiritual victory. The devil will be back. Just be ready for him. At the very least he will attack your mind with thoughts of doubt and defeat. He is after the Word. Don’t let the Word go. When he comes to steal it, stick him with it. He is the one who is in doubt and is already defeated—not you. Be prepared to respond to every counterattack by saying what Jesus said: “It is written” (Matthew 4:4). When you are ready for these counterattacks and you run the enemy off with the Word, it puts fear in him about trying to attack you again. He will think twice about coming to your house to try to steal from you. It would be like a burglar who gets shot and wounded while attempting to break into a home. One thing is for sure: Though he may burglarize other homes, he is definitely going to stay away from that resident who exercised his authority to keep him out. He will go to other houses where it is “easy pickings” and there is no resistance. That is exactly how it is with the devil. If you consistently resist him with the Word, he will flee and go somewhere else.

Jesus told us the kind of house where the devil can regain control. It is a house that is swept and clean, but empty. It is a house that is not filled with the Word and the Spirit. That ex- plains why so many people who are healed by the gifts of the Spirit lose their healing. It is because they have not taken time after receiving their healing to receive instruction in the Word regarding faith and healing. We must take responsibility to fill ourselves up with the Word so the healing God gave us cannot be stolen by the enemy later through a counterattack.

Kenneth E. Hagin describes this responsibility well in his book, How to Keep Your Healing. He writes:

Yes, the devil will try to put things back on you. But if the Word of God has been built into your spirit – if you’ve meditated on it long enough, fed on it, and put it into your spirit until you know it has become a part of your inner consciousness – you can put the devil on the run every time. If temptation comes – if pain comes – instead of being afraid and panicking, you’ll just start laughing.²

It is important that we stay in faith about our healing even after it has manifested.

Peter explains this vital principle in 1 Peter 5:8-9, (NKJV). He says we are to “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him steadfast in the faith…”

The devil can only devour those who are not sober and vigilant—those who do not resist him steadfastly in faith. Stay in faith and in the Word regarding every aspect of your being. Don’t doubt your healing when the devil comes cloaked in a pain or a lying symptom of sickness or disease. Resist him steadfast in the faith. Run him off with the Word and he will mark your house as a place he and all demons will fear to approach again.

Adapted from Greg Mohr’s book, Your Healing Door.