The Unseen Realm: Fighting in Victory & Authority

September 30th, 2025
by T.J. Nichols

Quick Glance: For Your Heart Today

Victory in the unseen realm doesn’t come from our strength, strategies, or even our best spiritual practices. It flows from relationship — belonging to the One who holds all authority, who bestows authority on us.

Jesus reminds His disciples not to rejoice only in what they accomplished but in who they belong to. Our true joy is not in power over the enemy, but in knowing that our names are written in heaven. Followers of Jesus are part of the beloved family of God. And from that place of belonging, Paul shows us how to live and fight — clothed in the armor of God and strengthened through prayer.

Prayer is not an afterthought. Prayer is the strategy. It undergirds the armor, activates the Spirit’s power, and unites us as one shield wall of faith.

Because of Jesus, the enemy is already falling. Our victory and authority are secure in Him.

3 Takeaways

Victory flows from our relationship with God. Our greatest joy is not what we can do, but in who we belong to.
Authority is given, not earned. Jesus has entrusted us with His authority to stand and resist the enemy.
Prayer is the strategy. Through the power of the Spirit, it undergirds and empowers the armor, anchoring us in the victory that has already been accomplished in Christ.

If You Only Have a Moment

Take a breath and pray this truth today:

Inhale: Jesus, the victory is yours
Exhale: And I belong to You

Full Sermon Manuscript (Estimated reading time: 18 minutes)

Surrounded by God’s Love

The verses we’ve just heard in the song Surrounded are from the 23rd Psalm, reminding us that even when we find ourselves surrounded by enemies, seen or unseen, we are never alone. God prepares a table before us, His presence is with us, caring for us, and His goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives. That’s the confidence we have as we face our battles. God’s love surrounds us on every side.

This truth is at the heart of this series we’ve been in together, The Unseen Realm: Discerning the Spirits and Ready for Battle. Over these past weeks, we’ve been learning how to see the battle behind the battle. We explored discerning true and false spirits, both within and without, and identified the enemy’s tired, same-old schemes. We watched as Jesus engaged with the unseen realm with confidence and final authority.

A Picture of the Battle

Before we turn to our scripture texts for this morning, I want to set the stage by returning to one more scene from the novel Piercing the Darkness by Frank Peretti. Near the end of the book, there’s a picture of angels standing ready for the next battle, while dark spirits are also gathering and gearing up. But something else is also happening. God’s people are mobilizing prayer. And as they do, there’s a change in the heavenly realms.

The saints of Community Church were on their knees, and their division was fading. Pastor Mark had poured countless hours, with steady, prayerful concern, into healing and restoring the hurting and wounded in his flock — undoing the tangled mess that the dark spirit Destroyer and his evil hordes had created. It had taken breaking, repenting, and forgiving on all sides. But it was happening — one heart at a time. The Jessups were so wounded it took careful, loving appeals just to bring them back into fellowship. Judy Waring carried bitterness against Donna Hemphile, who had used her — and her mouth — to wound God’s people. But Judy had to admit, in the end, it was her mouth and her heart, and so she began her turnabout right there.

Every one of them had to reevaluate their opinion of Principal Tom Harris, caught in the middle of an ugly lawsuit and falsely accused. That process was still underway, even as they prayed. Restoration was not easy for anyone. But when the enemy was revealed, they had a clear choice: rejoin God’s army and fight the evil that was destroying their lives, their families, and their faith … or proceed with being destroyed. They chose to rejoin God’s army with a vengeance and were now on their knees in prayer.

At the same time, in the unseen realm, angels waited in their strategic points around the town. Ready, quiet, and staying low until it was time to strike, they were watching and strengthened as the tide of prayer from the reunited saints began to rise. And now, because of those prayers, there were more than enough warrior angels to cover the battle that was ensuing. Terga — the enemy’s spirit prince over the town — grew edgy at this sudden flood of prayer but could not sense what was truly happening — what all that prayer was about to unleash.

Brothers and sisters, this is a fictional story, of course, but it paints a powerful picture of what Scripture tells us is happening in the unseen realm. As we engage in this battle, our part is not only to be aware, to stand and resist, but also to fight from a place of authority and victory. And prayer matters.

Scripture Readings

Luke 10:17-20

Ephesians 6:18

Victory Flows From Relationship

Family, let me set the context of this passage. Earlier in Luke 10, Jesus appoints seventy-two of His followers — not just the twelve, but a wider circle of disciples — and sends them out two by two to go ahead of Him into every town and village where He planned to preach and teach about the Kingdom of God. And they went. They were faithful to what Jesus asked, and this is where we enter into our text.

Luke tells us they return from their mission with joy and report, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name!” Can you hear their excitement and amazement? They discovered that in Jesus’ name, the unseen powers of darkness had no choice but to flee, and they were thrilled. They had experienced first-hand Jesus’ power and authority at work in them and through them.

And Jesus shares in their joy. He says, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” Now that may seem like a strange thing to say – what exactly does Jesus mean? Well, we don’t exactly know. Biblical scholars offer several possibilities. Some believe Jesus is pointing to Isaiah 14, a vision of Satan’s ultimate fall at the hand of the Messiah. Others suggest Jesus is recalling a vision of Satan’s defeat before creation. Both of which could be true. I also appreciate the insight that Jesus was responding to what had just happened through their mission as a present-time comment, too.

Think about it this way: their faithfulness to Jesus’ instructions, their proclamation of the kingdom, and their victory over demons was a decisive strike against Satan. From the outside in the seen realm, it looked like a few ragtag Jesus followers had visited a bunch of small towns and spread His message. But in the unseen realm, the enemy had suffered a notable blow and was falling.

What the disciples didn’t fully realize, Jesus saw and affirmed: their obedience in the seen realm weakened Satan’s grip in the unseen realm. Satan’s downfall had begun. Not the defining victory yet — that would come through the cross and resurrection — but the Kingdom of God was breaking in, the power of the Holy Spirit was advancing, the soldiers of God had struck a blow, and the enemy was on his way down.

Then in verse 19, Jesus names the reality of what they had experienced. He says, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” In other words, their victory wasn’t just a fleeting moment tied to a specific mission; it was rooted in the authority He had given them. That authority was not going away.

But notice this — as exciting as all of this was, Jesus doesn’t let them rest their joy only in what they accomplished. He points them to something greater: “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Family, let’s think about what Jesus is saying here. He’s saying our greatest joy isn’t about what we can do, but in who we belong to. He’s talking about an eternal relationship with God that begins the moment we say yes to Jesus. And He’s not talking about going to heaven someday. This is about the God who spoke galaxies into being, knowing you personally by name, and recording your name among those who have been reunited with the Creator of the universe as sons and daughters. This relationship isn’t distant or formal; it’s personal and intimate.

The disciples had just come back from a mountaintop experience — a moment of joy and power unlike anything they had known. Now on earth, mountaintop experiences don’t last forever. But what will last forever is our relationship with the One who has all power in His hands. The joy in the victory of their mission was genuine, but Jesus wanted them to realize that the actual reason to rejoice was far greater.

When we consider victory and authority in the unseen battle realm, we must understand that without Jesus and the presence of the Spirit, we have no victory or authority. Victory and authority flow from our relationship with the One who holds all authority and bestows it upon us, just like He did the disciples. We, too, have been given victory and authority in Jesus’ name because we belong to Him, which leads us to Paul, who teaches us how to fight from that place of victory and authority in our Ephesians text.

Living in Victory and Authority

Now you may have noticed that we didn’t begin the service this morning with our anchor scripture, as we’ve been doing each week in this series. But we’re going to do that now, because that scripture, Ephesians 6:10-12, and the verses that follow take us exactly where we want to go. They show us how to fight in victory with the authority we’ve just seen with Jesus and the disciples.

Ephesians 6:10-18

Sisters and brothers, we’ve been reading this passage every week, and today we heard it in its full context. Did you notice how Paul ends his instructions? After naming the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, Paul doesn’t stop there. He says, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

Some people have ascribed prayer as another piece of armor. However, prayer actually undergirds the gear. Prayer is what empowers the armor by the power of the Spirit. And prayer is how we live into the victory and authority we’ve been given in Christ.

A Prayer Strategy for the Battle

In this short verse, Paul outlines a prayer strategy for the battle. First, he says, “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions.” Prayer is not a side task. It is our lifeline in battle. Just as soldiers keep constant contact with their commander, prayer keeps us aligned with our General, Jesus Christ, through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

Paul shares the same idea with the believers in Philippi when he says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” And then he adds the promise: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-8)

Prayer steadies and anchors us, initiating the victory we already have. God’s own peace becomes a shield, guarding our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus while the battle rages. We experience peace that passes understanding.

Next, Paul says to pray, “with all kinds of prayers and requests.” This is not only day-to-day prayer, but battlefield prayer. It encompasses everything from whispered prayers in times of crisis to intercessions that cover entire communities, to bold prayers that push back the enemy’s schemes. Nothing is too small, and nothing is too big for prayer.

And as we engage in prayer, Paul says to “be alert.” Prayer sharpens our awareness. On the battlefield, a drowsy soldier is vulnerable. In the same way, prayer keeps us spiritually awake — discerning where the enemy is moving as well as where God is calling us to stand firm and fight. Jesus told His disciples in Gethsemane to “watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation” (Matthew 26:41).

Finally, Paul concludes with, “always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Our battle in the seen and unseen realm is not a solo fight. Prayer is how we cover one another. One soldier’s shield can block a few arrows, but when shields are locked together, they can stop an onslaught. Corporate prayer is that shield wall in the Spirit.

This isn’t a new idea. Back in Exodus 17, Israel fought the Amalekites, but the battle didn’t turn on Joshua’s sword; it turned on Moses’ hands, lifted in prayer. And he didn’t do it alone. Victory came because Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ arms in a posture of prayer. As long as his hands were raised, Israel prevailed; when they fell, the enemy advanced. Prayer is more than just words — it’s a heart posture that can shift the battle in the unseen realms.

So Paul’s point is clear: prayer is not a battle strategy; it is the strategy. It is how we fight the enemy, advance the Kingdom of God, and live into the victory and authority we have been given in Christ. In fact, prayer ties together everything we’ve been learning in this series.

We began by becoming ARMed — aware that the realm is real, refusing to fear, and mobilizing prayer. Prayer was present from the beginning and continues through to the end. We’ve learned to discern the spirits within and without — prayer sharpens that discernment to distinguish false spirits from true spirits. We practiced how to Stop, Listen, and Look — stop to pay attention, and listen to the movement of our hearts toward or away from God. Prayer is what makes noticing those movements possible. We uncovered schemes of the enemy — prayer is what exposes them and strengthens us to wield the sword of the Spirit and resist. Prayer is the thread that ties the entire battle plan together in communion and communication with our Commander.

So what does that mean for you exactly? I want to leave you with four prayer strategies that you can begin today, if they are not already part of your battle plan.

Four Prayer Strategies

1. Embrace Prayer as a Way of Life

Paul said, “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions.” Prayer is not an event reserved for morning devotions or mealtimes; it’s a way of life. It’s about a 24/7 heart-connection with God — whispering thanks in the car, pausing for breath prayers in stressful moments, turning every worry into a prayer, and remembering to thank Him along the way. Prayer is the rhythm that keeps us anchored and our armor battle-ready as the Spirit leads and guides us.

2. Practice Intercessory Prayer

Some of our most powerful prayers are the ones we pray for others. In Job 1, even Satan complained that God had placed a hedge of protection around Job — shielding him from attack. Intercession can unleash that same spiritual power on behalf of others, creating protection and breakthroughs where the enemy wants to sow destruction. Our prayers cannot force outcomes, but they can stand in the gap on behalf of others, inviting God’s will and God’s way to break in on their behalf.

3. Pray in Community

Paul also said, “Pray for all the Lord’s people.” This is the shield wall in action. When we pray in community, our faith joins together like shields interlocked to form a barrier against the forces of the enemy.

Scripture shows us this in the story of Aaron and Hur holding up Moses’ arms so Israel could prevail. We see it in our own church when iPray requests go out — the church family rallies, and testimony after testimony comes back of God moving in response to His people’s prayers. Even popular culture reminds us of its power. In It’s a Wonderful Life, the film opens with voices rising to heaven in the middle of the night. And soon we realize people are praying for George Bailey, who has lost a large sum of money and is so desperate that he contemplates ending his life. Their prayers invite heaven’s intervention that saves him. It’s a fictional story, but it mirrors the truth Scripture shows us: when God’s people pray together, heaven moves.

4. Persevere in Prayer — P.U.S.H.: Pray Until Something Happens

Paul said, “Always keep on praying.” Listen to the “alls” and “always” in verse 18: pray on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers, always keep on praying, for all the Lord’s people. Prayer is pervasive and perpetual. It is how we hold the line. Don’t give up, don’t grow weary, don’t stop short. Keep praying. Pray Until Something Happens.

Closing

Family, prayer is not an afterthought. It’s not what we reach for only when we’re out of options — it is our first line of defense for the battles, seen and unseen. Prayer is how we live in the authority Jesus has given us and how we walk in victory. The enemy really doesn’t stand a chance when God’s people pray.

So this morning, that’s exactly what we’re going to do. We’re not just going to talk about prayer — we’re going to pray. Not just individually, but together, creating that shield of faith. I want to invite you now to form groups of three or four. Pray for one another — for strength, for covering, for protection, for the Spirit’s guidance. Pray for our church family, for the battles we face together, and for God’s kingdom to advance. After a few minutes of praying together, we’ll come back for our closing time of worship.