Paradigm Shift

I learned once that in order to rebuke Satan, it needs to be verbal. To me it seems funny to speak it out; after all I serve a God who knows the depths of my heart--verbal and non-verbal both. But it's such a comfort to me to know that God who loves us, loves us to the core of who we are and Satan, who hates us can't read our thoughts or hearts. We must be careful though, because he does lie to us and our thoughts can be tainted and distorted. Ultimately, Satan has no power over us, but sometimes we give him too much. His influence on us maybe external, but we internalize his lies

Looking at scripture I see that whenever Satan was rebuked it wasn't just thought about...it was spoken. Think about it; Jesus wasn't calling Peter "Satan" he was rebuking Satan. He wasn't about to let Satan twist his mind with lies.

So what is all of this about? You might be wondering why I'm writing about this topic. One of the hardest parts about this internship has been making phone calls during the week to the volunteers and parents...even some calls inviting people to serve. Every time Erin has asked me to call I've resisted. I've fought against it and felt almost paralyzed from the fear of initiating those conversations over the phone.

I've taken a hard look at why I've reacted this way to making calls, after all my job at school for two years has been to call prospective students and the main reason I've kept that job is because it's preparing me for this part of ministry. I realize that fear doesn't come from God, which means I've been believing a lie.

Well, I've decided that's not how I'd like to live. I don't want to be ruled by fear and the lies Satan feeds me. So I decided to rebuke him...it may have felt a little funny saying it out loud, but overriding the awkwardness of it was freedom. I've taken away Satan's foothold in my life, no more lies, no more fear binding me to in-action. After all it's not really about me.

Since all of this, I continue to pray over it, but I've noticed a shift in the way I feel towards calling people. The fighting feelings are gone and the paralyzing fear is reduced to nerves, which can be overcome by clearing my throat and breathing deep.

So, what's the point of all of this? Simply to say (out loud, of course) "Shut up Satan, I rebuke you in the name of the Lord."