Exercise Your God-Given Authority

God has given us believers all power and authority over everything that comes against us in this world. This stretches across both the seen and the unseen realms - what we can see and what we can’t.
In the unseen realm, for example, it means we have authority over rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:10-12).

In the seen realm, it means we have authority over our physical and mental health; and in our relationships, resources and influence. But if we don’t exercise any of this authority God has given to us, then it does us no good – and the enemy can have his way in our lives.

None of us want that, of course, but it’s up to us to intentionally exercise our authority over the enemy. Is there some area of your life that’s not going well right now? What comes to mind? Then that is an area of your life where you need to Exercise Your God-Given Authority.

You Were Created To Have Authority

In the beginning – in Genesis, right before God made Adam and Eve, He said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground” (Genesis 1:26).

God created Adam and Eve, and all their descendants after them (which includes you!), to rule, to reign, to have dominion, to Exercise Your God-Given Authority. Granted, Adam and Eve initially lost this authority in the Fall, but through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, it was reclaimed for us.

Psalm 8:5-6 makes it clear that we were created to have dominion: “Yet you made them [mankind] only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honour. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority.”

What is troubling your life right now? What’s coming against you? Is it sickness, lack, worry, fear, anxiety, pain or suffering? Is the need for a new job or a new home? Is it to manage your children better or relate to your spouse in a more peaceable way? If you haven’t been exercising your God-given authority in those areas – against the enemy and his works – then you haven’t been exercising the power God’s given you to overcome and turn things around. Whether you have exercised your God-given authority or not, you have it. It’s already yours. It’s yours because of what Jesus did for us; it’s yours because it’s part of God’s blessing.

Jesus Exercised His Authority

When Jesus walked the earth, He exercised the authority God had given Him. He did it when He cast out demons (Mark 1:21-28; Matthew 8:28-34). He did it when He healed the sick (Matthew 9:20-22; Mark 5:21-24, 35-43; Luke 4:40-41; John 5:1-15). He did it when He told the lame man to “stand up, pick up your mat, and walk” (John 5:8). He did it when a storm terrified the disciples:

As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!” (Mark 4:35-41).

Just like the winds obeyed Jesus, so the winds in your life have to obey you. When things get out of line, you have the authority to get them back into line. When a storm of any kind tries to take you out, you have the right to speak your authority in the face of that storm. You have the right to Exercise Your God-Given Authority by speaking the Word of God in faith.

Jesus Gave You His Authority

When Jesus was getting ready to leave this world, He said to His disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:18-19).

Then, when Jesus left this earth, the Word tells us that He sat down at the right hand of the Father. Paul wrote to the Ephesians saying, “I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honour at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else – not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself” (Ephesians 1:19-23).

Paul also wrote in the book of Hebrews, “But our High Priest [Jesus] offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honour at God’s right hand. There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet” (Hebrews 10:12-13).

The significance of God’s right hand is that it represents the centre of power and authority for the entire universe; it represents the ultimate seat of power and authority over Satan and the kingdom of darkness; it represents our dominion over all things. “Your right hand, O LORD, is glorious in power. Your right hand, O LORD, smashes the enemy” (Exodus 15:6).

By sitting down at the right hand of His heavenly Father, Jesus recovered what was stolen in the Garden of Eden. What’s more, He gave it to us.

You Are Seated With Jesus

When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we became new creations in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). We became sons and daughters of God (2 Corinthians 6:18). We became partakers of God’s great grace (Philippians 1:1-2). And we were seated with Jesus in the heavenly realm – meaning, we were given all authority and power just as He was.

“For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6).

You’ve been seated! Still, it’s up to you to Exercise Your God-Given Authority. Jesus suffered for us; He hung on the cross for us; He died for us; He went to hell for us; He was raised from the dead for us. And then, He raised us up with Him. We are now positionally seated with Him at the right hand of the Father with the power and responsibility of exercising authority over darkness.

It was John who wrote, “And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God and they will reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:10).

Where is it in your life that you need to reign? To have dominion? To take authority – the authority that Jesus gave you? Start speaking the Word of God in faith to that part of your life. And don’t stop until it turns around. Exercise Your God-Given Authority.

To help you make this part of your daily walk with God, speak the following confession at the start of your day…as well as Scriptures specific to what you want to overcome.

“The authority of the believer is mine. I have received it. I take dominion over evil spirits, over sickness and disease, over lack and debt. I take authority over fear. I plead the blood of Jesus over my family, over my business, over my church, house and money. I am a tither, and I remind the devourer that he is rebuked in the Name which is above every name – the Name of Jesus. Amen.”