Take Your Seat: Stop Fighting From Beneath Your Circumstances
Spiritual Warfare, Part 2
When we talk about spiritual warfare, we often think about the things we are fighting against.
We think about the enemy.
We think about opposition.
We think about the problems, challenges, fears, and circumstances that seem to stand in our way.
But there is another question we need to ask:
From what position are we fighting?
Because sometimes the greatest mistake we make is allowing the problem to determine our position.
We see the problem, and then we begin to think from the problem.
We talk from the problem.
We imagine life according to the problem.
We allow fear, lack, uncertainty, or opposition to create a picture in our minds, and eventually, we begin responding to life from that picture.
In a sense, we have taken our seat beneath the circumstance.
But Scripture tells us something very different about our position in Christ.
“And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
— Ephesians 2:6, KJV
This means that the circumstances around us do not have the right to determine our spiritual position.
The question is not whether the problem is real.
The question is:
Am I looking at this problem from beneath it, or am I facing it from my position in Christ?
Don’t Let the Problem Determine Where You Sit
Problems have a way of demanding our attention.
A financial need can create an imagination of lack.
A negative report can create an imagination of failure.
A difficult relationship can create an imagination of rejection or hopelessness.
Opposition can create an imagination that says, “Nothing is ever going to change.”
The circumstance may be real, but the picture it creates in your mind does not automatically become the truth.
This is why Paul wrote:
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh… 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.”
— 2 Corinthians 10:3–5, KJV
Spiritual warfare involves what we allow to occupy our thinking.
The problem may present itself to you, but you do not have to allow the problem to take the highest position in your mind.
You do not have to sit beneath it.
You do not have to allow it to become the throne from which you see everything else.
Instead, you must remember where you have been positioned.
You are seated in Christ.
That changes how you look at the problem.
Take Your Position Before You Address the Problem
Before you can effectively confront a circumstance, you need to remember who you are in Christ.
Ephesians tells us that God:
“…hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.”
— Ephesians 1:3, KJV
And Scripture tells us:
“For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen…”
— 2 Corinthians 1:20, KJV
When the problem comes, don’t allow the problem to become the starting point of your thinking.
Start with what God has said.
Ask yourself:
- What is my position in Christ?
- What has God promised?
- What has Christ accomplished?
- What belongs to me because I am in Him?
- What does God’s Word say about this situation?
You cannot effectively confront a mountain if all you know about is the mountain.
At some point, you need to stop studying the size of the problem and begin remembering the greatness of the One in whom you are seated.
The problem may be in front of you.
But it should not determine where you sit.
Your Authority Is Found in Your Inheritance
Jesus said:
“All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”
— Matthew 28:18, KJV
All authority ultimately belongs to Him.
Our authority is not something we create for ourselves. It is not based on our personality, emotions, volume, or ability to make a powerful declaration.
Our authority is connected to our relationship with Christ.
It is inherited authority.
Because we are in Christ, we have an inheritance.
Revelation says that He:
“…hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father…”
— Revelation 1:6, KJV
We do not operate independently from the King.
We operate from our position in Him.
That means spiritual authority is never about ego.
It is not about demanding that God do whatever we want.
It is about understanding what God has said, recognizing what Christ has accomplished, and responding in agreement with the authority of the King.
That is why our position matters.
You cannot separate spiritual authority from your identity in Christ.
There Is a Time to Pray and a Time to Say
Prayer is essential.
We are instructed to bring our requests before God.
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
— Philippians 4:6, KJV
There is a time to pray.
But there is also a time to say.
Jesus said:
“Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea…”
— Mark 11:23, KJV
Notice that Jesus spoke about saying something to the mountain.
There are moments when we need to bring our concerns, questions, and requests before God.
But there are also moments when, having received and understood what God has said, we need to stop continually rehearsing the problem and begin saying what agrees with His Word.
We need to stop describing the mountain and start speaking to it.
There is a time to pray, and there is a time to say.
This is not about pretending the problem does not exist.
And it is not about using our words like a magical formula.
It is about allowing our words to come into agreement with what we believe.
Faith has a voice.
What we truly believe eventually affects what we say.
The question is: Are you speaking from fear, or are you speaking from faith?
Stop Talking From Beneath the Mountain
Sometimes the issue is not that we are silent.
The issue is that we are talking from the wrong position.
We are describing the problem.
Repeating the problem.
Meditating on the problem.
And eventually, the problem becomes bigger in our thinking than the promise of God.
But what if we changed positions?
What if, instead of looking up at the mountain from beneath it, we remembered that we are seated in Christ?
Then we could look at the same problem from a completely different perspective.
The mountain may still be there.
The bill may still be there.
The report may still be there.
The opposition may still be there.
But you are no longer allowing those things to define your position.
Instead of saying, “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” you can remember:
“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
— Philippians 4:19, KJV
Instead of allowing the word impossible to become your conclusion, you can remember:
“The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”
— Luke 18:27, KJV
The situation may not immediately change.
But your position changes your perspective.
And your perspective will eventually influence your thoughts, your words, and your actions.
David Saw the Giant Through His Covenant
David and the army of Israel were looking at the same giant.
Goliath was real.
The threat was real.
The opposition was real.
But David refused to see the situation from the same position as everyone else.
While others were intimidated by the size of the giant, David understood his covenant with God.
He said:
“For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
— 1 Samuel 17:26, KJV
David did not deny that Goliath existed.
He simply refused to allow Goliath to become greater in his mind than the God with whom he had a covenant.
That is an important principle in spiritual warfare.
You don’t have to deny the existence of the giant. You simply refuse to bow beneath it.
The giant does not determine your identity.
The mountain does not determine your position.
The problem does not have the right to rewrite what God has said.
Submit to God, Then Resist
James gives us an important order:
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
— James 4:7, KJV
First, we submit ourselves to God.
Then we resist the enemy.
That order matters.
Our inherited authority is always connected to the One from whom that inheritance comes.
We do not operate independently from Christ.
We do not exercise authority apart from submission to God.
So spiritual warfare is not simply about shouting at the devil or making emotional declarations.
It begins with knowing:
Who am I submitted to?
What has God said?
Who am I in Christ?
What is my inheritance?
And then, from that position, we resist whatever seeks to oppose the truth and purposes of God.
Take Your Seat
Maybe the greatest lesson here is simply this:
Don’t allow the problem to determine where you sit.
When a circumstance produces fear, remember where you are seated.
When a negative report begins creating an imagination of defeat, cast that thought down and return to what God has said.
When the mountain looks too large, don’t bow beneath it.
Take your seat.
Remember your position in Christ.
Find the promise that speaks to your situation.
Bring your request before God.
And when it is time to say something, don’t continue speaking from fear.
Speak from faith.
You are not ignoring the problem.
You are refusing to allow the problem to become your highest reality.
You are not pretending the mountain is not there.
You are refusing to sit beneath it.
Spiritual warfare is not about fighting to earn a position with God.
It is about learning to stand and respond from the position Christ has already given you.
So when the battle comes, remember:
Take your seat.
Know your inheritance.
Know the promise.
Cast down the imagination.
Pray—and then say.
And when you face the mountain, don’t face it from beneath your circumstances.
Face it from your position in Christ.