Exercising Your Authority by Pastor Anwinli Ojeikere: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Luke 10:19 (Amplified) is the foundation of this teaching: "I have given you authority that you now possess to tread on serpents and scorpions, and the ability to exercise it over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will in any way harm you."

You Have a Gift — Authority Already Given

The first thing to see from this scripture is that you have a gift, and that gift is authority. It is not something to ask for, beg for, or purchase. It has already been given. It is your legal right, part of your spiritual birth rights. You own it. It is in your possession, your domain.

Mark 16:17–18 confirms this. Once you say you believe in the Lord Jesus and accept him as personal Lord and Saviour, these signs automatically follow. Those who heal the sick and cast out demons are not superhuman. They simply understood the gift that has been given to them — the same gift given to every believer. They have the same brain, the same hands, the same legs. The difference is they understood and began to exercise.

1 Corinthians 2:9, 12 also speaks to this: the things God has prepared for those who love him — eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man — but now we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit of God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God.

When many believers have not come to this realization, they act as beggars rather than commanders. People who know they have authority are authoritative. They know it. They are not trying to beg for power — they understand they are powerful, and there is a way they behave, a way they act, a way they speak.

Exercise the Authority — Use What Has Been Given

The second thing from the scripture is equally important: it says "I have given you authority" and also "the ability to exercise it." A gift you are not using is useless. It is not for keeps, not for storage — it is meant to be used. If you are not exercising your authority, you are showing those around you that you are powerless. It is one thing to have a gift; it is another thing to use it.

How to Use This Gift

1. Know the Word — Have the Language

   

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   Pastor Anwinli Ojeikere

   The Winlos

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   God gave you the authority, and God gave you the Word. If you do not know the words of the one who gave you the authority, you cannot exercise it. The Word of God gives confidence and assurance.

   A police officer, even out of uniform and without his ID, was able to get through a checkpoint because he knew the language — he spoke it and commanded the situation. As believers, you may not always be able to quote a verse verbatim, but there must be a knowing in your spirit. The knowing that you are well, the knowing that sickness has no claim over you, is born from storing the Word inside you.

   Most believers are riding on empty spiritually. Their spiritual storage has no Scripture stacked up in it. The language of God is his Word, and only when it is inside you can it come out with force in the moment of confrontation.

   Be clear: you can recite Scripture and have no revelation. The goal is not Bible recitation — it is revelation. It is when the Word becomes personal to you, when it is stored and known on the inside, that your speech becomes scripted in Scripture and your confessions become bold.

2. Practice It

   Philippians 4:9 (Amplified) says: "The things which you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things in your daily life, and the God who is a source of peace and well-being will be with you."

   The word is "practice." Sometimes just wake up and exercise your authority. Command the cold to die. Speak to sickness in your home. Lay hands on someone. It is like singing — you have to rehearse. The more you practice the supernatural, the more you begin to climb. It is not for people with two heads. It is for every one of us.

   The centurion in Matthew 8:5–10 had practiced command so thoroughly that he told Jesus he did not need to come to his house — just speak the word. He was a man under authority with soldiers under him who understood the power of command. Because he had practiced it, he was certain it would work. Jesus marvelled and said he had found no such great faith in all of Israel. When you begin to exercise authority, you marvel Jesus. You get categorized as a person of great faith.

3. Have the Lifestyle

   Ephesians 6:13–14 (Amplified) says: "Having done everything that the crisis demands to stand firm in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious — having tightened the wide band of Truth around your waist, having put on righteousness."

   You cannot exercise the authority of a believer if you do not behave like one. Personal integrity, moral courage, righteousness — these are not optional accessories. They are the dress code of authority.

   2 Timothy 3:5 warns about those who have the form of godliness but deny its power. If you are given to anger, immorality, lies, greed, and deception, how can you command in your field when you are not like the Commander? The devil knows light. When you carry light, darkness recognizes it. Even the sons of Sceva found out that the enemy knows who you are — and who you are not.

   The lifestyle is not just for Sunday. It is outside of the church. It is in your office, in traffic, in private. Who people know you to be when you are not preaching is the real authority walking into the room. A policeman has the attitude and conduct of a policeman. You must have the behavior and attitude of a believer.

Receive and Walk in Your Authority