My first encounter with an evil spirit occurred at the moment of meditation on the amazing works of God of healings and miracles.

I had just returned from some crusade meetings, and I was tired from the long journey, so I decided to take a nap after spending some time praying in other tongues.

When I woke up and started reflecting on what the Lord had done in those meetings, something strange occurred in the room where I was staying.

I first saw a shadow reflection of what looked like a human being on the wall beside the couch. Immediately this caught my attention the shadow started moving quickly towards me.

At first it looked like the shadow of a man; but it soon turned into a monster with about four horns and two long ears.

As it advanced towards me, it stretched its’ hands out to me as if it was going to grab a hold of me.

Without any thought about it I shouted: “In the name of Jesus”.

Before I could finish the sentence, the monster disappeared through the wall.

As I thought about that encounter, I began to understand the enormous power in the name of Jesus and the response of the enemy to His name.

I thought about how people had often reacted under the influence of demonic activities while I am praying for them.

There was one clear lesson that the Lord taught me with that encounter with the enemy. The devil is not only afraid of who I am in Christ Jesus, he trembles and is terrified at the mention of the name of Jesus from my lips.

I realized immediately that if I had done nothing to resist him at that moment, there was nothing Jesus could had done about that encounter.

He had given me the dominion and authority over the devil.

It’s the Name above all names!

There are many believers in the name of Jesus today, who had been brainwashed with certain doctrines of their denominations, not to believe that they do have power over Satan and his forces of evil.

Spiritual ignorance is destroying their faith in the power that they do have by using the name of Jesus in prayer.

There are others also who will only react by speaking in other tongues, in situations like the one that I had encountered, without using the authority which they have in the name of Jesus against the enemy.

The truth is that Jesus had given you and me His name to be using against the enemy. You’ve got to exercise your authority boldly in the name of Jesus against him.

Jesus expects you to make use of the keys to the Kingdom of God, which He gave to you as the tools to be using against the enemy in enforcing His Kingdom on this earth. He said:

“And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Matthew 16:19 NKJV

It is not in all instances that the Lord will lead you against the enemy by the power of the Holy Spirit.

That is why it is important to live and walk by faith always. The devil cannot stand before a Christian, who lives and walks by faith in the name of Jesus.

It is also weird when people do try to confront spiritual problems with natural solutions.

I have often heard Christians saying things like: “We are not praying enough”; “We need more people to pray with us”. And their list of excuses is endless for not using their authority in the name of Jesus.

Jesus said:

“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.””
Matthew 18:20 NIV

It takes two people and not a crowd to agree and pray in the name of Jesus.

It is the prayer of just one righteous man that makes tremendous power available (James 5:16).

Jesus hears when two Christians agree together using His name. God is not looking for a crowd before doing anything on the earth.

He is looking for one or two people to agree in the name of Jesus with Him.

Jesus had given us the authority and victory over the evil one. We must always be ready to use our authority to walk in that victory.

Jesus gave us His Word on this when He said:

“And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.””
Mark 16:17-18 NIV

Every child of God can perform wonders in the name of Jesus. No one of God’s children is ever exempted by God from doing miracles, signs and wonders.

The Source of His Name.

For you as a Christian you need to know how Jesus got His name.

His name is so powerful that any newly born-again child of God can use it to get anything from our Heavenly Father.

The scriptures say:

“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Philippians 2:6-11 NIV

There can be no clearer and no other precise explanation of how Jesus received His name, that is stronger than this. The scriptures also testify about what exactly He did to get that name. It says:

“And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
Colossians 2:15 NIV

His victory over the enemy on the cross was very unique. He did what no one had never done before.

For us to be able to walk in that victory with Him, we must recognize the authority behind His name.

Jesus possessed His authority from the place of His dominion in heaven.

We need to be walking in the attitude of Jesus as described above by Paul in Philippians 2:6-9.

His victory on the cross is unparalleled in history. No one has ever been able to achieve such a feat.

The Bible says:

“And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.”
Colossians 1:18 NIV

In using the name of Jesus while praying, we are not expecting something else apart from what we ask for in prayer.

Jesus’ name has the supremacy in every situation that we bring before Him in prayer.

When as believers in His name we pray, Jesus will always manifest himself in glory because we are making a demand on His name.

Be Specific in Prayer with His Name.

He said:

““Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
Matthew 7:9-11 NIV

Spiritual truth is often revealed to the heart, in ways by which only the spiritually alert person is able to discern its meaning.

Bread as in the example by Jesus here is different from a stone. A child knows the different between the two, just as much as God, the Father in heaven does also.

In praying for whatever we have at heart, Jesus has given us the authority to use His name. His name is available to every believer to use at any time.

He also declared:

“In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, My Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”
John 16:23-24 NIV

His name is always there for us to use at all times. Every believer in Christ Jesus has faith in His name when we first believed. It is ours to use always and at any time.

See all things through the eyes of Jesus.

How you see the name of Jesus when you received Him as Lord and Savior, will always have an effect on how powerful your use of that name will be in reality.

Moses (as an example) was given an image by God on the mount Sinai, of what the Tabernacle was supposed to look like. He was directed by God as the scripture says:

“And you shall raise up the tabernacle according to its pattern which you were shown on the mountain.”
Exodus 26:30 NKJV

From that moment Moses knew exactly what the Tabernacle looked like. He believed in the image that was shown to him.

He meditated on that image within his heart, until it was physically completed to be exactly like what God had shown to him.

In the same manner, you had received the name of Jesus for you to be using whenever you need Him.

His name is not meant to be placed on a brooch or in a showcase, in order to show off to the world that we have His name. It is meant to be used at all times so as to be walking victoriously here on the earth.

Moses never had the name of Jesus to use in building the first Tabernacle; but he had the words of the True and Faithful God, who revealed the image of the Tabernacle to him on the mountain.

That was all the authority that he needed to do what he had to do in building the Tabernacle.

The words of God were the authority behind the construction of the Tabernacle by Moses.

You also have the words of Jesus as your guarantee and authority against the enemy.

The seventy disciples who were sent out by Jesus to use His name to heal the sick and cast out demons, returned with this testimony:

“Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”
Luke 10:17 NKJV

It’s what you call it that you’ll get.

The Lord God brought every animal that were created to Adam to give each one of them a name. The Bible says:

“Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So, Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.”
Genesis 2:19-20 NKJV

In everything that were created by God, Adam agreed with God by calling them the names which fits into the heart of God when they were created.

Adam saw what God saw in each animal when He created them as he gave each one of them a name.

Adam and God were in agreement together. They fellowshipped daily together in the cool of each day at the garden of Eden. They saw things together in unison, until the serpent came in with his temptation.

It was this position of union in fellowship between God and Adam, that moved God to give Adam dominion and authority over all of His creation.

Adam had the authority to create and name things just as God did at creation.

He was unlimited in his ability before the serpent came with the temptation, which led to the fall of man.

Today that authority belongs to every believer in the name of Jesus.

Have faith in His name!

When you create an image in your heart of what the name of Jesus can accomplish for you, you are empowered to name that image to fit into what you had seen, just as Adam called what he saw by name.

The name of Jesus works for you in the same manner also. What is the picture in your heart about that name right now.

The name of Jesus will always fit into that image in your heart about who He is and what His name can do for you.

If you see Him in your heart hanging on the cross, that is all about Jesus that will work for you.

But He is more than that. He is also risen from the dead. He took all your infirmities upon Himself when they crucified Him on that cross, but He is alive today if you believe that He is alive within your heart.

For example, the Bible says that we are seated with Him in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6).

If you cannot create that image about yourself being seated with Him in the heavenly places within your heart, then in reality you cannot declare that you are seated with Him in the heavenly places.

You will not be empowered to be in that position of authority and power, because you do not see yourself in the heavenly places yet with Him.

Christ will be to you who you envision Him to be in your life.

There are many believers who proclaim Him to be, who they are not seeing Him to be within their hearts.

They are limiting God’s ability in their lives, because they are not paying attention to the blueprint of God for them in the Bible.

Jesus will always be to you, who you see Him to be in the blueprint of God to you personally in the Bible.

See yourself healed to be healed!

But it is important for example to not only be seeing healing. You’ve got to be naming your healing, so that it can manifest itself in power to you, as you’re paying attention to the blueprint of God concerning your healing.

Moses was able to build the Tabernacle of God, because he had paid attention to the image that God had showed him on the mountain.

Jesus got His name from God, the Father after Joseph had received the vision of His birth.

At that moment God, the Father revealed Jesus’ calling in life, to the ones who were to raise Him up on this earth:

“And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.””
Matthew 1:21 NKJV

The power in any name is in what the bearer of the name is doing.

“Christ” is not the last name of Jesus; but the name tells us what He does.

It literally means the anointed One and His anointing. Jesus is anointed to save His people from their sins.

Jesus used that anointing not only to save us from sin, but in that word – to be “saved” are other meanings also. It also means to be healed, to be delivered, to be at peace and much more.

Salvation comes in a package to the whole world.

If you can see the image of what you want in that package, you can take the blueprint of it from the Bible and maximize it to your own advantage.

By calling His name people are being saved daily all over the world.

Peter testified about His name after the healing of the crippled man by the Beautiful Gate:

“By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.”
Acts 3:16 NIV

Yes, faith in the name of Jesus made the crippled man whole.

When we have a picture at heart of what we expect the name of Jesus to do for us, we are empowered to call that name in manifesting what we are seeing in His name.

Live and walk daily in the power of His holy name within your heart.