This story centers around a blind man who also couldn't speak. An evil spirit or demon or devil possessed him causing these problems. Jesus set him free from the evil spirits and the man was instantly healed. The crowd was delighted. The Pharisees were jealous and said Jesus got His power from Satan (Beelzebub). They were attributing to Satan the work of God's Holy Spirit! Jesus exposed their error explaining that a divided kingdom cannot stand. (The same is true with a family, church, country or any organization.) If He were casting out evil spirits through the power of Satan, then Satan's kingdom would be fighting against itself, and being divided, it would fall.

In verse 29 He explained what was actually happening, "Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house." If I were going to break into your house and steal your TV I would first have to tie you up because you're not going to sit around and watch me steal your TV. Now in order to tie you up, I would have to be stronger than you. So if I were stronger than you and tied you up, I could then take whatever I wanted from your house. But what does that have to do with our story?

Becoming a strong man necessitates cleansing your own life. How can we pray that our children won't lie if we lie? How can we pray that our wife won't be unfaithful when our own heart is full of lust? How can we expect our grandchildren to say "No" to drugs when we're hooked on nicotine? How can we expect our children to respect their teachers when we despise authority?

One lady I knew was angry with her son for stealing. But she had been stealing from the nursing home where she worked. What a hypocrite! Her son was just like her. The first thing she needed to do to help her son conquer his stealing was to repent of her own. Her son turned out to be a thief just like his mom. The right response would have been to first confess her own sin, and then with love and understanding, pray for her son.

Trying to straighten out others without first of all cleansing our own heart will bring us into one of the most dangerous pitfalls of the Christian life. . . hypocrisy!

"You hypocrite, first remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother's eye." Matthew 7:5

One day when Satan appeared before the throne of God, he complained that he couldn't get to Job (pronounced Jobe) or his family or possessions because of the spiritual hedge God had built around them. Wouldn't that be exciting to have God build a hedge around you and your family and your possessions so that even Satan complained! That's the power of the prayers of a strong man! What was Job's secret to his strength with God?

Job was said to be "perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil." (Job 1:1) "Perfect" doesn't mean he never sinned, but it means one who holds nothing back from God. He was totally sincere and dedicated to God. "Upright" refers to his character. He lived in such an honest way that everyone who knew him respected him. To "fear God" doesn't mean to be afraid of God, but to have as our first and primary concern in every decision what God thinks about it. To fear men is to make decisions based on what men will think of us. "Eschew" means to flee from or avoid. One application of this is to avoid places where evil music is played and profane language is used (such as on the TV).

The next important note about Job is that he arose early to pray for his family (verse 5). It appears that Job's children didn't share the faith of their father. Perhaps after their party they were suffering with a hangover while Job was up praying for them. These are common traits of the righteous and of sinners. The righteous tend to arise early to seek God. The wicked like to sleep during the day and practice their evil deeds at night.

"Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. (1 Thessalonians 5:6-8)

And lastly, he offered burnt offerings for his children (verse 5). That would get expensive, but Job loved his family more than money. Now why was Job sacrificing all those animals? He was interceding for his children (standing between them and God, asking Him to be merciful). The sacrifices pictured Christ whom He knew was coming to sacrifice Himself for us. Job was asking God to turn away His wrath from his children because of the coming sacrifice. Jesus interceded for us in the same way, asking His Father to turn away His wrath from us because of His sacrifice on the cross.

"Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." (Hebrews 7:25)

A godly man therefore is also a great intercessor.

Because of these qualities, Job had power with God . . . so much that God powerfully answered his prayers. Wouldn't it be great if God would build such spiritual protection around your family that Satan would again be frustrated! This power is available to each one of us because in Jesus we have access to the very throne of God.

The greatest battle any of us face is the battle in our thoughts. If we can conquer that battle, we can conquer anything. If we are going to be a strong man we must learn to recognize thoughts which come from Satan and cast them out of our minds. We can only keep wrong thoughts out of our minds as we learn to meditate on things that are wholesome (Philippians 4:8). This battle is described in II Corinthians 10:4-5.

"(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;...."

Here is a three-step prayer summarizing what we've said.

* 1. Ask God to bind Satan.

* 2. Ask God to build a hedge around your family and a wall between them and anyone who would influence them in a wrong way.

* 3. Ask God to cast down any lies in their minds and show them the truth.