Enemy-Occupied Territory

Now that we understand that our mission is to reclaim territory that belongs to the Kingdom of God, territory that was lost due to the fall of Adam and Eve, our next step is to identify exactly where that enemy-occupied territory is located. We have to be careful not to let ourselves be distracted by the areas of sin, as though they are the battlefields on which the enemy wages war: abortion, sex-trafficking, our government’s policies that are contrary to God. Believe it or not, these are not the battlefield. These are the results of battles that have been lost to the enemy on the battlefield.

The real battlefield is the MIND. Sin takes place in the mind of the one who is performing abortions, or in the mind of the politicians who have turned a deaf ear to God’s Word. And when sin is given a place in our minds, sin then manifests or shows itself in the evil “works” that are produced by the sin. Scripture has revealed this to us many times over:

2 Cor.4:4 “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the mind of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

Romans 8:5 “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”

Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like, of the which I tell you before as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Titus 1:15 “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure: but even their mind and conscience is defiled.”

Isaiah 17:10 “Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips, in the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow”

The enemy-occupied territory we need to reclaim by our prayers (as well as by our witness of Jesus Christ reigning in our hearts) is the mind. There are millions walking in the world today who, because they do not know Jesus Christ, have not had their mind renewed by the Holy Spirit, transforming it into right thinking. As long as the enemy can keep us blinded by his lies and his deceptions, he is winning on the battlefield, and his dictatorship rules this world and things like murder of innocent babies, alcoholism, drug abuse, murder, homosexuality, sexual promiscuity, banning of Christian beliefs and practices in our country …all these things will continue as long as Satan has control of the minds of the people. Sin is mind-control at it’s worst.

And lest we think that the battlefield of the mind pertains only to unbelievers, listen to what Paul tells us is our own ongoing battle:

Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

2 Cor. 10:3-5 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ…”

If the thoughts that the enemy seduces us with are not taken captive, and even more so, pulled down from their high place of pride against God, then we will be taken captive; for what is not taken captive by us, takes us captive. The battle is then lost and sin reigns in us, and in others, where the Spirit of God ought to reign.

Prayer is our warfare. Prayer is a weapon used against the enemy. Prayer is the blood-soaked privilege earned for us by Jesus Christ. Prayers full of His Word. Prayers powerful in the Holy Spirit, “mighty through God”, resulting in victory over evil…first in us, then in others, then in the world.