Contending From Victory: It’s Time to Stand

There comes a time in our walk with God when we have to stop simply allowing the enemy to push us around and begin contending for what God has already declared.

The enemy will try to stop you. He will try to wear you down. He will introduce fear, doubt, discouragement, and circumstances designed to convince you that nothing is changing.

But there comes a moment when you have to plant your feet on the Word of God and declare:

NO MORE.

No more surrendering ground.No more allowing fear to determine what I believe.No more accepting defeat when Jesus has already secured the victory.

We are not fighting for victory.

We are contending FROM victory.

What Does It Mean to Contend?

To contend is an action. It means to struggle against opposition, fight for a position, or strongly assert what you know to be true.

Spiritually, contending means refusing to surrender to the enemy what God has entrusted to us.

There is a difference between contending and allowing.

When we continually allow the enemy to attack our peace, family, finances, calling, or faith without standing on God's Word, we can eventually begin accepting the enemy's activity as normal.

But we weren't created to live according to the enemy's definition of normal.

We are Kingdom people.

There are moments when faith has to rise and say:

“Devil, you cannot have this. God has already spoken.”

Jesus Contended With the Word

Jesus showed us what contention looks like during His temptation in the wilderness.

After fasting, Jesus was hungry and physically weak. That's when Satan came against Him.

Isn't that often how the enemy operates?

He waits until we're tired.

He attacks when we've been waiting.

He whispers when we're discouraged.

He questions God's promises when circumstances don't look anything like what God said.

Yet every time Satan tempted Jesus, Jesus responded:

“It is written.”

Jesus didn't contend with His feelings. He contended with the Word.

When the enemy tells you you're defeated, what does the Word say?

When fear says you're not going to make it, what does the Word say?

When circumstances tell you God isn't providing, what does the Word say?

You cannot effectively contend with a lie if you don't know the truth.

Fight the Good Fight

Paul tells Timothy:

“Fight the good fight of faith…” — 1 Timothy 6:12 NASB

Notice the word fight.

Faith isn't always passive.

Sometimes faith stands its ground when everything around you says to move.

The enemy will introduce doubt when you're believing God for something because doubt is designed to move you away from your position of faith.

He whispers:

What if it doesn't happen?

What if God doesn't come through?

What if you heard God wrong?

But contending faith answers:

“I know what God said, and I'm standing until He tells me to move.”

Get Back Up

Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 to be strong in the Lord and repeatedly emphasizes the need to stand.

Why would we need strength if there were never going to be resistance?

Why would we need armor if there were never going to be a battle?

Being victorious doesn't mean you'll never get hit.

It means getting hit doesn't determine the outcome.

Maybe the enemy hit your finances.

Get back up.

Maybe he attacked your family.

Get back up.

Maybe you've experienced disappointment.

Get back up.

Maybe you've been praying and haven't seen anything change.

Get back up.

The enemy doesn't just want to knock you down. He wants to convince you to stay down.

Contention says:

“You may have knocked me down, but my God is greater than what came against me.”

We Contend Together

Philippians 1:27 speaks about believers striving together for the faith of the Gospel.

We need each other.

The enemy understands the power of unity, which is why he works so hard to produce division, offense, competition, and isolation within the Body of Christ.

Imagine what happens when the Church stops fighting one another and begins contending together.

We pray together.

We worship together.

We believe together.

We stand together.

We declare God's Word together.

A unified Church becomes a powerful force for the advancement of God's Kingdom.

Contend in Prayer

Colossians 4:12 describes Epaphras as one who was always striving for believers in his prayers.

There is a kind of prayer that refuses to quit.

There are things worth contending for:

Our families.

Our children.

Our churches.

Our communities.

Our calling.

Our nation.

Intercession isn't passive. It stands in the gap and says:

“God, I am standing on what You have said.”

Don't Mistake Delay for Denial

Daniel 10 gives us an incredible picture of spiritual resistance.

Daniel prayed, and God heard him. Yet the messenger sent to Daniel encountered spiritual opposition for twenty-one days until Michael came to assist.

Daniel couldn't see what was happening.

He could have assumed:

God didn't hear me.

Nothing is happening.

Maybe I should stop praying.

But heaven had responded from the beginning.

That teaches us something:

Delay does not necessarily mean denial.

You prayed for your family?

Keep praying.

You're believing for breakthrough?

Keep believing.

You're standing on God's promise?

Keep standing.

You haven't seen the answer yet?

Keep contending.

Don't allow what you cannot see to cause you to abandon what God has said.

No Weapon Gets the Final Word

Isaiah 54:17 declares that no weapon formed against God's people will prosper.

Notice that Scripture doesn't say weapons won't form.

Opposition may come.

Attacks may happen.

There may be battles.

But the weapon doesn't get the final word.

God does.

Too often we become afraid of what might happen if we begin standing against the enemy.

But we weren't called to live afraid of the enemy's retaliation.

We were called to live conscious of Christ's victory.

We Contend From Victory

This is the heart of everything.

We aren't trying to convince Jesus to defeat the devil.

Jesus already won.

Colossians 2:15 tells us that Christ disarmed the rulers and authorities and triumphed over them.

And 1 Corinthians 15:57 declares:

“Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” — NASB

Victory isn't something we're trying to manufacture.

Our victory comes through Jesus Christ.

That changes how we approach the battle.

We don't stand wondering who is going to win.

We stand knowing what Jesus accomplished through His death and resurrection.

The enemy may try to stop you.

He may try to wear you down.

He may try to convince you to quit.

He may tell you that you're defeated.

But today, stand up and say:

NO MORE!

No more surrendering my peace.

No more surrendering my family.

No more allowing fear to control me.

No more allowing circumstances to redefine God's Word.

No more allowing delay to convince me that God isn't working.

I will stand.

I will pray.

I will believe.

I will fight the good fight of faith.

Because I know who my God is.

I know what His Word says.

I know who I am in Christ.

And I know how this battle ends.

Jesus wins.

And because I belong to Him:

I DON'T FIGHT FOR VICTORY.

I CONTEND FROM VICTORY.

Pastor Eric Schroeder

Radiant New Life Church

Empowering, Mobilizing, and Reviving the Body of Christ.