Do you know how to use what God has given you so you don't end up powerless? A promise from God is something God does, but authority from God is something we do with what God has given us. Authority is us taking the Word of God and doing something with it. God intends us to use the sword, which is the Word of God, to defeat the enemy.  This is how we move from ignorance and powerlessness to growing in our God given authority.  

There are different arenas in which we can choose to do spiritual warfare. There is agricultural, courtroom, and battlefield warfare. God truly wants prayer to be preventative in our lives. We can have things theologically that we don't yet have experientially. Intercession is meant to bring what we have theologically into reality. Jesus and His 12 never experienced sickness, tragedy, or loss. They were always on the offensive, solving other people's problems, healing the sick, and casting out demons. God desires for us to live in a place of security and safety so we can go out and fight other people's battles, rather than being stuck fighting our own. 

With Rebekah and Isaac and the blessing about to be passed down to the wrong son, there might be a better course of action for Rebekah to have taken, but at the very least, she acted on the Word of God that had been given to her. No action would have been the worst thing she could have done. 

Can we trust Jesus, pray, and do nothing? We all know that action out of the flesh causes problems, but does a Word from God provoke action in us? A group discussion on the theology of Rebekah and Jacob and the "ethics" of what they did to Isaac and Esau to yank the wheel of history toward the Word God had spoken at Esau and Jacob's birth. 

In certain situations, the Bible commands us to be shrewd. Rebekah with Jacob is a timeless example. The Bible commands us to be shrewd towards evil, in emergencies, and when something is about to go down wrong. If you want to have success against evil, you will need to become shrewd. You must have the ability to outthink your enemy. Christianity is not a competition about who has the best ethics. It is about furthering the kingdom of God in the face of evil. 

Have you ever wrestled with God? Have you wrestled with God and prevailed? Few wrestle with God, fewer wrestle with God and win. Jacob wrestled with God for one night, and his life was changed forever. He was given a new name, a new identity, and the name God gave him was given to a whole nation. The Israelis are forever a passionate people, full of fight. When will we, as Gentiles, direct our fight and passion toward our relationship with God? 

The Authority of the believer is thought of as a recent idea in Christian circles, but have you heard of John A McMillan? He was born in 1873 and was a Canadian Presbyterian businessman who walked in the Authority of the Believer. What if you had been given authority from God but never walked in it? Instead of complaining about our problems, if we want results like Jesus, we might want to do it the way Jesus did. Speak to your mountain. Not everything we experience in this life is God's will. Ask yourself, are you asking God to do things for you when He has already given the authority to pull those things down from heaven?

Is there another experience with the Holy Spirit after we are born again? What does the Bible have to say? God gives gifts that seem foolish, only to confound those who think themselves wise. The Holy Spirit is the change we all need. Every character in the Bible who encountered the Holy Spirit was forever changed. Their boldness increased as their fear decreased. Are you asking for more of the Holy Ghost? 

Most Christians live and die in the wilderness, but it was only meant to be temporary. The Promise Land is God's true desire for every believer. People stay in the wilderness for three reasons. 1. They are still attached to Egypt(slavery) in their heart.  2. They are afraid of more of God and losing control. 3. They are afraid of the giants. God truly wants you free of carnal Christianity, free of control, and walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. 

Is your plan for losing weight watching workout videos while eating food? This is how many of us approach faith. We watch sermons, listen to podcasts, attend church, pray, and even read the Word...but there is little to no action. There are two categories of people: those who hear the Word and do nothing, and those who hear and do the Word. Be a doer of the Word.