Authority to Use His Name

Discipleship Devotional, April 7th, 2025

I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
— Luke 10:19 (NIV)

When God gives someone authority and power to take care of issues, He expects them to take care of those issues. He would not bypass them to help them do those things. This is the reason many believers struggle with stubborn adversarial situations. This is also the reason why we don’t pray to God for God to help us cast out devils, because we are to cast them out ourselves by using the authority He already gave us.

In Exodus 4, God put His authority and power in Moses’ staff and told him that with it the children of Israel would be delivered from Egypt. However, something interesting happened when they got to the Red Sea. The Israelites saw the Egyptians pursuing them and murmured to Moses. Moses then began to pray to God, but see God’s response:

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water…”
— Exodus 14:15–16 (NIV)

God expected Moses not to pray at that point, but to use the authority already given to him. This is the problem with many believers today. Instead of addressing the Red Sea, we are begging God. Instead of speaking to the mountain, we are begging God. We see Jesus teach His disciples this same principle in Mark 11 after He cursed the fig tree. Jesus said whoever speaks to the mountain. Not whosoever begs God to speak to the mountain.

The truth is that when we act in faith and speak to the mountain, God backs us up and moves the mountain. However, our exercise of our authority demonstrates our faith in His word. When we learn how to exercise our authority, our prayers to God will be for the more eternal reasons for which He calls us to prayer. Reasons like fellowship with Him, praying for the salvation of souls, praying for missionaries, praying for believers facing persecutions, etc.

Prayer:

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the rod of authority You’ve given me in Christ. Never again will I neglect the authority You have given me. I will put it to use in my daily walk.