Battling demons

As we draw closer to God, we also put ourselves on the spiritual warfare battlefield. While Jesus gives us authority to cast out demons, it might not be our place in certain instances. Consider Gordon Dalbey's story from his book "No Small Snakes: A Journey Into Spiritual Warfare" of trying to counter the demons in Los Angeles:

When I dashed downstairs 20 minutes later to drive to the nursing home, to my shock I found that my car had been burglarized. My $300 guitar (that's in 1979 dollars) and recently repaired car stereo were both gone. I called the police at once, but they could offer no help by that time; in fact, when I reported my address, the dispatcher was surprised. 'We hardly ever get a theft call in that neighborhood!' he declared.

Hanging up in anger, I realized that the enemy had taken away two important weapons that I had been wielding against him: the tape deck with which I played praise songs, and my guitar with which I was even then writing more musical ammunition. How could this have happened, Lord? I cried out.

Simmering quietly, I sensed the answer: 'Don't ever again step out beyond your calling as you did last night.' For an individual to challenge the huge demonic strongholds over Los Angeles, as I had done, was at best naive and at worst suicidal. I was blessed only to have lost a guitar and tape deck for such foolhardiness. That night, I encouraged the speaker to clarify this point in order to save others from my jarring experience.

Since that time, Dalbey has been asking God if he has authority in an area before challenging demons. Dalbey has discovered that he has authority over his family and over people who give him authority by calling for counsel, asking for prayer, or attending one of his conferences.