16 Oct Win Your War Foreword – Jimmy Evans
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As a young believer I knew nothing about spiritual warfare. And that is the exact state the devil wanted for me. His dream is for people to be completely ignorant of his evil intent for them and his specific schemes to defeat them and keep them in bondage. Since the Garden of Eden, when the devil took the form of a serpent, stealth has been his greatest advantage. It allows him to wreak havoc on innocent people without ever being suspected as the agent of harm.
And that is exactly what he did in my life and marriage. We were under assault and had no idea what was happening. But an event occurred that exposed the enemy’s hand in our lives. My wife, Karen, and I had a good marriage and had actually experienced a miraculous healing in our relation- ship several years before this particular event.
But one day we started fighting. It just happened, and there really wasn’t any specific reason for it. We were just irritated by each other’s words and actions and our nerves were on edge when we were around each other. This went on for over a week, and it was escalating. Finally, one Wednesday evening around 6:00 p.m., Karen informed me that we needed to get ready to go to our Bible study, which we went to every week. It started at 7:00 p.m., and she didn’t want to be late.
Out of spite I told her I wasn’t going to go. I did it just to irritate her and get back at her, and it worked. She left the house angrily and went to the Bible study without me. Bob and Sarah Key were the leaders of the group, and they were wonderful people. Karen was at their home that night for several hours and then returned home.
I was sitting in the living room when Karen walked in. Her countenance and spirit were completely different than when she had left. She came into the room and sat across from me and said, “I need to tell you what happened at Bible study tonight.” I replied, “OK, what happened?”
She said calmly, “Tonight Sarah Key told me that we had been on her heart all week when she was praying. And she told me that the Lord had showed her a vision of a lion’s head in our living room, roaring, and it was here to destroy our marriage. She said it was a demonic spirit and we needed to hold hands and bind it and command it to leave in the name of Jesus.”
Nothing like this had ever happened to us before. But as Karen spoke, I knew it was true. It was like the Lord was drawing back a drape and let- ting us see what was happening in the realm of the spirit we were ignorant of before. For the first time ever, I held my wife’s hand and we prayed and bound the devil over our marriage and our home. It was a very simple prayer. I said, “Satan, in Jesus’ name we bind you over our marriage and our home. We command you to leave us and never come back. Amen.”
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, the atmosphere in our marriage and home was completely different. Tension was replaced by peace. Anger was replaced by affection. We had experienced an awakening, and our marriage would never be the same again.
In sharing this story, I’m not suggesting that every problem in marriage or life is the devil’s fault. We have to learn many skills and spiritual les- sons on many levels to be successful in life and love. But what I am saying is the devil is real, he is evil, and he is our personal enemy. We must learn to overcome him if we are going to live free, fulfilled, and victorious lives.
Mark and Grace Driscoll are two of my favorite people. I have so much love and respect for them. You can be assured as you read this powerful book that they live these truths out every day in their lives, marriage, family, and relationship with God. They are mature, victorious believers who have the authority to teach on this subject.
As I read through the pages of this book, I thought how I wished I could have read this as a young believer. It would have been such an incredible help then, but it is still a blessing to me today. There are so many rich truths and spiritual insights in this book. Mark and Grace have a unique ability to share deep biblical truths in a very practical manner.
Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave to give us the ability to live an overcoming life of freedom and victory. And that is what this book will help equip you to do. This book is about helping all of us realize our destinies in the Lord and win every war against the enemy!
—Jimmy Evans
Senior Pastor of Gateway Church
Founder and CEO of MarriageToday
Senior Elder of Trinity Fellowship Church, Amarillo, Texas
