Where is the Enemy Making Claims?
God has been speaking the word “claim”. In true parable-style, I’ve watched God play out this word in life all around me. I was notified of a small sum that was owed to a deceased family member that was mine if I would just claim it. A good friend of ours found out the portion of land she owns is actually much bigger than she thought. As she got the original survey from the courthouse and walked the land, tears brimmed in her eyes realizing she owned all of it. It was sitting unused and unclaimed. My dad then came to visit and was telling a story. A friend of his had purchased several acres of undeveloped land decades ago. It was, at the time, in the middle of nowhere. Eventually, an expensive subdivision was built around it. He was advised that it would be a good time to sell. As he went to see the land in preparation to sell, he noticed a neighbor had built a fence on his property. He approached the neighbor, but the neighbor claimed it was his. They took it all the way to court, and the original surveys were presented. The judge said to my dad’s friend, “The property, as clearly shown in the legal documents, belongs to you. State law, however, states that if someone builds something on the property and it goes uncontested for more than seven years, they then have a rightful claim to that land”. He lost a chunk of the property. Not because it wasn’t rightfully his. He lost it because it went unclaimed.
This season is for searching out all areas in which the enemy has made claims, built fences, or otherwise occupied our land. Maybe it’s been in the form of blocking resources because they haven’t been claimed. Maybe it’s keeping us in the dark about how big our spiritual “land” to occupy and work really is. Maybe it’s luring us into dormancy so he can build on land that is meant for us to own and develop for the Kingdom.
Webster defines a claim as “to assert in the face of possible contradiction” and “to ask for, especially as a right”. It actually comes from the Latin words “clamare”, meaning “to cry out, shout” and “calare”, meaning “to call”. For those who have felt beaten down and lacking confidence, God is encouraging you to assert your claim, even in the face of contradiction. Remember, God has given us all spiritual “territory” to occupy and steward. If you’re claiming what He’s given you, it doesn’t mean it will go without contradiction. It just means the source of the contradiction isn’t coming from God. Stand strong.
For others of you, God is nudging you to ask. Ask Him, seek for it, and then knock (or do the follow-through actions to partner with Him in faith). It’s ok to ask. Contested spiritual territory is depending on you asking, receiving, and stewarding for the Kingdom!
Still others of you will be prompted by calls. New callings are actually coming in the form of invitations to steward talents, gifts, positions, relationships, resources, and any other spiritual “territory” you are entrusted with from the Lord. Lastly, some will be “crying out”. For these, God is rising up within them and saying “enough is enough”. They have taken one thing after another, but as you rise up and roar against the enemy and declare “no more”, the path to stepping into new territory will begin to open up. Where has the enemy tried to make claims in your God-given territory? It’s time those claims are contested.
“Contest” in Strong’s concordance is “athlésis”. It looks like “athlete” because the concept is the same. To struggle, to fight, to endure. Its use is in Hebrews 10:32, but I feel led to include the whole passage here because it seems almost to be a prayer guide in these times of “contesting”.
From Hebrews 10:
"32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For,
“In just a little while,
he who is coming will come
and will not delay.”
38 And,
“But my righteous one will live by faith.
And I take no pleasure
in the one who shrinks back.”
39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
Step 1: REMEMBER (testimonies, times of breakthrough, remember who God is and thank Him for all He’s done!).
Step 2: ENDURE (Remember the lasting possession set aside by God for you, and take a stand through the attacks. Ask God to remind you of these and for endurance.).
Step 3: BE CONFIDENT (don’t throw away your confidence because God says it will be richly rewarded! Ask God to define your territory. Then declare it with confidence!)