Jesus' Name

"The Enemy, he has to leave at the sound of of your great Name."

Do y'all take that seriously?

I don't know that I ever did until recently. I don't remember what was happening, but I felt the Enemy in my head so strongly. He was right there, in my thoughts, changing my thoughts, turning me toxic, tearing me down, invading my synapses, wreaking misery in me. I felt so trapped and helpless and frustrated. I wasn't strong enough for it. I didn't feel a way out. I would just have to wait out the storm, wait to feel like myself again.

Then "Your Great Name" by Natalie Grant popped into my head.

No, my thoughts/Satan insisted. That's not really how it works. You don't even want Jesus. Just feel the anger. It's fine. Let yourself be angry. It happens sometimes. You're only human.

You know how you're in a moment of sadness or anger or sin, and for a fleeting second, you remember that Jesus can help you, but then you just throw it in his face and walk away because you don't even want Jesus you're so mad? That's where I was.

But out of nowhere, this tiny tendril of strength, like a plant growing up through a crack in a rock, appeared.

The Enemy, he has to flee at the sound of your great Name.

"Jesus." Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.

The little tendril of strength was so small and so frail and so pixelated that it couldn't do much more. I was afraid that if I hesitated to think of something else to say, the tendril would vanish. No great prayers emerged, no profound thoughts. I had no smart retorts to fling at the Enemy. I just had Jesus' name.

But y'all.

It worked.

*mic drop*

*picks mic back up because I'm not actually done*

The more I said Jesus in my head, the bigger the tendril of strength got. And quickly, I felt Satan let go, lip curled in disgust and defeat. His mantle of evil fell off and I was free to think thoughts that belonged to me and God. I was free. Jesus broke the chains of the Enemy. With just his name.

I'm not kidding. This moment was life-changing.

Obviously I'm still a wreck and screw up all the time. But Satan can't be where God is. That's just the truth. And the more I try to cultivate a space of God in my mind and home, the bigger the tendril of strength is when it appears. Some days I do hesitate and I don't grab onto Jesus' name quickly and it's really, really hard or impossible to throw off the Enemy. But the closer God already is, the more real estate he takes up in my mind and home, the bigger the tendril, the quicker my reaction, the firmer my grasp.

If you can grab that tendril of Holy Spirit strength fast enough next time, just start saying Jesus' name in your head (or out loud). Seriously. If it feels like it's not working, say it louder, faster, stronger, more. Do not let the Enemy lie to you and say it won't work or isn't working. He has to leave at the sound of God's great name. And he does not want you to know that.

~Stephanie