Stand Up and Fight Back: How to Take Authority over Satan and Win was written by New York Times best-selling author Ken Abraham. I had heard of this author, but never read any of his material. Since I write extensively about spiritual warfare as well as teaching about it in church, the title immediately caught my attention and I knew I’d need to read it.
In Stand Up and Fight Back, the author shows us how we can recognize Satan’s constant attacks in our lives, how we can protect ourselves, and how to draw on the power of the Holy Spirit to defeat our greatest Enemy. Personally I feel as if the author delivered on most of these counts fairly well.
First of all, I was happy to see this book because I believe the topic of spiritual warfare is grossly underrated in the church community. Generally we like to talk about the armor of God with no real intent to use it daily. I believe Ken Abraham does an excellent job addressing the need for Christians to wake up and realize, whether they like it or not, they are under attack.
I was particularly pleased with the author’s insight into the familiar story of Adam and Eve. Having been in church most of my life and read an extensive amount of material on spiritual warfare, I cringed a bit when I started reading, again, about Adam and Eve. However, I was quite surprised at how much I learned from Abraham’s perspective of what happened in the Garden of Eden. He managed to take an overused story and bring it to life, shedding new light on old truths. I thought this area of the book was brilliantly written and well explained. I have to admit, I learned a great deal from it.
The author also uses thought-provoking illustrations throughout the book, many of which enhanced my understanding of familiar truths. One topic in particular stood out to me: repentance. This is something very few writers mention when dealing with spiritual warfare, but something Ken Abraham wisely addressed. In order to effectively fight against Satan and his cohorts, we must first come to God with an attitude of repentance. This is, of course, a biblical mandate (see Psalm 66:18) of which few teachers like to talk about. Before we can take authority over evil spirits, our lives must be cleansed of known sin and be in agreement with God, otherwise we can claim all the authority we want with little success. Confession should always be the first step when we approach God’s throne, whether we’re dealing with spiritual warfare or not. Thank you, Ken Abraham, for highlighting this important truth.
My only critique of this book is the author’s focus on the “big” sins: sexual promiscuity, drugs, alcohol, and involvement with the occult. Obviously these things are deadly and allow Satan a beachhead (foothold) in our lives. BUT, they are not the only areas of oppression the devil uses. Countless believers are daily living under accusation and oppression from demonic spirits who have successfully lulled them into complacency over their spiritual lives. I wish the author had offered more examples of the “every-day” battles common to most believers. I fear some may read this and get the idea that, because they have never struggled with the “big” sins, they are free and clear. This is not the case! Satan can and does attempt to deceive and mislead us in the mundane issues of life.
Overall I really did enjoy this book and learned some new things, so I would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to understand how Satan could be working in their lives and how they can combat the Enemy with the truth.
Stand Up and Fight Back was released by Charisma House on February 5th, 2013 and is currently available for purchase. I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. The opinions here are strictly my own.
