When the Syrians were at war with Israel, the Lord would reveal their plans to the prophet. Time and again, Elisha warned Israel’s king of the Syrians’
strategies, thereby avoiding attack. So accurate was this information that the king of Syria assumed there was a secret informant among them. When
the king discovered it was Elisha warning Israel, he sent his army to seize the prophet.
One morning when Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, went outside, he saw troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. Panic hit Gehazi as he related the desperate scene
to Elisha. The prophet merely prayed that Gehazi’s eyes would be opened to see—and when Gehazi looked up, he saw that the hillside was filled
with horses and chariots of fire. Elisha viewed spiritual resistance through the eye of faith!
There is more going on in the unseen realm than we realize!
With that in mind, let’s go back to Moses and notice how he and Aaron are described in Exodus 6:27: “They are the ones who went to Pharaoh to ask permission
to lead the people from the land of Egypt” (NLT). God didn’t tell Moses and Aaron to ask permission, He told them to demand it.
There is a huge difference in the attitude, posture, and tone of someone
asking permission versus someone demanding it. Moses stood before Pharaoh with little or no confidence in what he asked. As a result, Pharaoh put an
even greater burden on the Hebrews than before.
Although Moses didn’t see the Lord at work, he heard God’s response to his accusation that He had done nothing to rescue His people (Exodus 5:23 NLT):
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pay close attention to this. I will make you seem like God to Pharaoh…'” (Exodus 7:1 NLT).
Moses’ focus on his own inability caused him to lack the confidence that God would do what He said. I can imagine God’s finger pointed in Moses’ face when
He spoke those powerful words: “…I will make you seem like God to Pharaoh….” What a statement! Demonic forces are unable to tell the
difference between our voice and God’s voice when we speak what He tells us to speak—so they must obey.
If we ask the enemy to give us what God has promised, he’ll slap us down with an unbearable burden, hoping to silence us forever! God didn’t tell
us to ask permission, He said to demand.
Smith Wigglesworth tells about a woman whose dog followed her to the bus stop. Along the way she would turn to the dog saying, “Go home, little doggie,”
but the dog would just wag its tail and keep following her. This happened several times until the bus arrived, at which time she turned to the dog,
stomped her foot, and said: “Get!” At her command of authority, the dog immediately turned around and ran home.
We need to stop acting like that woman did before the bus ever arrived. It does absolutely no good at all to ask the devil, “Please leave me alone.” We
need to stomp our feet and make the kingdom of darkness obey God’s Word!
