THE BATTLE BELONGS TO THE LORD

Knowing how to obtain victory in battle is of great importance to every Christian. There is no gainsaying the fact that we are constantly engaged in warfare.The good news is that every child of God has access to a warrior who has never lost before. The bible states that Jehovah is a man of war.Equally, the bible informs that the Lord will fight our battles for us. Exodus 14 states:Exodus 14: 14The lord shall fight for you and you shall hold your peaceThe problem however, is that many of us are not patient enough to allow the Lord to fight on our behalf. We feel the Lord is too slow in reacting and would rather fight ourselves. The bible states in the book of Isaiah:(Isaiah 63:4)For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.While further in Romans we read:(Romans 12:19)Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.From the preceding verses not only do we learn that revenge is of the Lord, it is made clear that he has appointed a day to execute such judgment on our behalf.Below are eight ways the Lord fights for His children. The list indeed is not exhaustive.Before we proceed, please let us take these prayer points:Oh Lord arise, and fight my battle for me in the name of Jesus.The Lord will fight my battle and I will hold my peace.1) The Lord will trouble your enemy.A classical example is seen in the book of Exodus. The children of Israel, having left Egypt, walked through the Red Sea on dry land. The Egyptians, failing to pause and consider what was responsible for this feat, took it for granted. They chose to follow in hot pursuit. The latter had horses and chariots and would have caught up with the Israelites. But at this point the Lord pulled out his joker:Exodus 14:24-26(24) And it came to pass, that in the morning watch the LORD looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians.(25) And took off their chariot wheels, that they drave them heavily: so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the LORD fighteth for them against the Egyptians.(26) And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.When the Lord noticed that the Egyptians were catching up with His children He troubled them. He took off their chariot wheels and made them drive heavily. Even the Egyptians recognised that there was something wrong. But it was too late! They could not move forward or backwards. The Lord overthrew them in the Red sea:Exodus 14:27-28(27) And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.(28) And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.If the Israelites had faced the enemy themselves is there any way the victory would have been more effective?If I were you I would take the next prayer point:Oh Lord, overthrow my stubborn pursuer in the name of Jesus.2) The Lord will send His Angel ahead to fight your enemyThere are cases where the Lord sends his angel ahead of you to do the actual fighting. We read of such in the book of 2 Samuel. David was planning to go out against the Philistines. Already they had engaged in an initial battle. David enquired of the Lord and was told to fight the enemy. The Israelites won but the enemy refused to give up. However, the Lord changed tactics. When David enquired the second time the Lord said he should not go. He was told to fetch a compass behind them and come over the mulberry tree:2 Samuel 5:23-25(23) And when David enquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees.(24) And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.(25) And David did so, as the LORD had commanded him; and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer.In this case it was the angels that did the fighting. David and his men just finished off and claimed the victory!Please take this prayer point:Oh Lord, send your angel ahead of me to fight my battle in the name of JesusThis reminds one of the story of a brother who attended a deliverance programme in one of our branches in Nigeria. He was a contractor, but most of the companies that employed his services, for no apparent reason, disengaged him.The above prayer point was one of those mentioned during the programme.The brother and his wife prayed very well.There was particular company where this brother was formerly the main contractor. While the deliverance programme took place the company held a board meeting. The Managing Director wanted to know why the electrical equipment in the company broke down so often. He noted that when the former contractor (the brother) was handling their maintenance they did not have such problems. The Maintenance Manager (M.M) in-charge of the contracts lied that the brother just stopped coming. (The truth was that he terminated the brother’s contract and employed the services of a relative.) The M.D, however insisted that the brother should be sought for. He gave the M.M an ultimatum to produce the brother before the next Board Meeting or face being sacked.The M.M went to look for the brother at his former residence but was told he had packed out. At the brother’s new abode he did not meet him since he was still at the deliverance ground. The M.M started to panic as the ultimatum was fast approaching yet he could not locate this brother. Eventually our Christian brother got the message that he was needed at the company. He arrived there just a few minutes before the next board meeting commenced. When the Maintenance Manager (M.M) spotted the brother he almost jumped through the window to meet him. Just then the M.D drove in and asked the brother where he had been. As the brother tried to explain the M.M hurriedly told the M.D that it had been sorted out. He quickly took our brother to his office and promised to let him handle projects ten times more than he was given initially. He however pleaded that the latter would not tell anyone that he had terminated the contract in the first place.What happened? While our brother was praying the Lord sent an angel to fight on his behalf. It was the angel that made the Managing Director remember the good deeds of this Christian during the board meeting.Please take this prayer point:Oh Lord, Send your angel ahead to fight my battle for me.3) The Lord will make your enemy to hear a terrifying noiseYet another way the Lord fights our battle is to cause our enemy to hear a terrifying noise. In 2 Kings this was the strategy the Lord employed to provide abundance in the land of Israel during the time of famine:2 Kings 7:5-7(5) And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there.(6) For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.(7) Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.The noise of chariots scared the Syrians and made them abandon their property. Power changed hands in favour of the Israelites.There was this sister who had rented an apartment in Lagos, Nigeria. On her first day in the apartment she conducted a vigil expressing thanks to God. However, the landlord showed up at her door the following morning. He wanted to know what was responsible for the noise emanating from her flat in the night. When our sister explained that she was only praying the landlord got angry. He promptly told her not to conduct such prayer sessions in his house again.Not perturbed, the following day the sister invited a few members of her church for a vigil in her home. As expected her landlord showed up the following morning threatening to throw her out of the house. Not wanting to give up the following night the sister invited as many members from her church that her apartment could take. The vigil was conducted successfully but a strange occurrence took place the following morning.Before the sister woke up the landlord had packed out of his own house! Brethren, till this moment the sister is the only person in the house. Not even a relative of the landlord has shown up to claim the property. The sister is presently the landlady. The Lord caused the landlord, to hear terrifying noises and leave his own house!Please take these prayer points:Oh Lord cause the enemy of my progress to hear a terrifying noise and leave me alone in the name of Jesus.4) The Lord will send an Angel to slay your enemyA fourth way the Lord could fight your battle for you is to send an angel to slay your enemy. In the book of Chronicles the bible records something similar happening. The King of Assyria sent a threatening letter to Hezekiah, King of Israel. But the Lord assured Hezekiah that he would fight the battle for him. Indeed when the enemy camped against Israel the angel of the Lord went out to slay the opponents of the children. By the morning all of the strongmen in the enemy’s camp were dead:2 Chronicles 32:21(21) And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword.The Lord also caused the king of Assyria’s own son to kill him. What a mighty God we serve?5) The Lord will cause your enemies to have a terrifying dreamHere we come to the story of Gideon. Gideon was chosen by God to deliver the Israelites from the hand of the Midianites. The young man did not see himself fit for this assignment. When he selected an army of thirty- two thousand soldiers, the Lord reduced this to just 300 men. The Lord had yet a different strategy through which he planned to deliver the children of Israel, one he was yet to disclose.Food for thought: When it seems that everything is working in the enemies, favour do not worry, the Lord is up to something!Judges 7:9-10(9) And it came to pass the same night that the LORD said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand.(10) But if thou fear to go down, go thou with Phurah thy servant down to the host:It was at this moment the Lord moved. Going further we read:Judges 7:13-14(13) And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.(14) And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.This dream alone put the fear of Gideon and the Israelites into the hearts of their opponents. Though they were few they were able to overcome the Midianites, who on hearing the sound of the trumpet of the Israelites ran, cried and fled!Take the following prayer point:Oh Lord, cause my enemy to hear a terrifying noise and to run, cry and flee from me in the name of Jesus. 6) He will stone the enemy with stones from heavenThere have been cases where the lord has stoned the enemy with hailstones or thunder. The following example in Joshua shows how far the Lord can go to obtain victory for His children:Joshua 10:10-11(10) And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah.(11) And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.7) He will cause natural causes to destroy the enemyAs we have seen in the forgoing, victory obtained during battles the Lord fights for us are the most effective. In the following passage the Lord gave victory to the Israelites while Ahab was king. Though a good number were slain by the Israelites army, many of the opponents fled to safety. The Lord was not done yet as He caused a wall to fall upon the head of those who fled, killing 27,000 of them at a go. It is indeed a dangerous thing to tamper with the children of God.1 Kings 20:29-30(29) And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians a hundred thousand footmen in one day.(30) But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.8) The Lord will cause your enemies to destroy each otherYet once again there are cases where we need not to fight and the Lord will not use his angels. This is because the enemy will turn upon and fight each other. Though there are many examples in the bible, one that readily comes to mind is that recorded in 2 Chronicles:2 Chronicles 20:17(17) Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.Here, God assures the Israelites that they would not need to fight this battle.2 Chronicles 20:22-25(22) And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.(23) For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.(24) And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.(25) And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.Not only did God cause the enemy to fight each other He made them go to war with all of their jewelry so that at the end of the day the Israelites went home rich!The Lord caused the wealth of the enemies of His children, to be converted to the latter.Wealth- and once again power- changed hands!In conclusion, why should we ask God to fight our battles for us?Why Ask God to fight your battleThere are some battles we cannot fight ourselves.Most spiritual battles can only be won through divine intervention.It is through such that God’s name is glorified.When the Lord fights your battle Satan will learn not to joke with you.So, how do we ensure we win every battle? By asking the Lord to fight on our behalf. Please take the following concluding praying points:• In my present battle I will hold my peace and God will fight for me.• You enemies of my peace repent or eliminate each other. • My enemies make mistakes that will lead to my victory in the name of Jesus.• Those in the camp of my enemy shall run cry and flee.Postscript: Repent and believe, remember hell is real, heaven is real. No matter how long we spend here on earth it cannot be compared to the time we shall spend in eternity. Hebrews 12:14 states: Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.Oh, my brethren and sisters in Christ, it is not your business to fight your own battles, not even in defense of your own character. If you be maligned and slandered, let the slanderer alone. His malignity will but be increased by any attempt that you shall make to defend yourself. As a soldier of Christ you are to fight for your Master, not for yourself. You are not to carry on a private warfare for your own honor, but all your time and all your power is to be given to his defense and his war. You are not to have a word to speak for yourselves.Full often, when we get into little tempers, and our blood is roused, we are apt to think that we are fighting the cause of truth, when we are really maintaining our own pride. We imagine that we are defending our Master, but we are defending our own little selves. Too often the anger rises against an adversary not because his words reflect dishonor upon the glorious Christ, but because they dishonor us. Oh! let us not be so little as to fight our own battles! Depend upon it, the noblest means of conquest for a Christian in the matter of calumny and falsehood, is to stand still and see the salvation of God. Sheathe thine own sword, put away all thine own weapons, when thou comest to fight thine own battle, and let God fight for thee, and thou shalt be more than conqueror.