Chapter 1 of 2 Kings recounts the brief reign of Ahaziah, king of Israel. 1 Kings 22:52 records that he “did evil in the sight of the Lord.” We read in the text that he once sent messengers to Ekron to inquire of Baal-Zebub, a false god, whether or not he would survive an injury that he had suffered. The Lord sent the prophet Elijah (cue raucous southern rock theme music) to intercept the messengers. When the messengers returned to Ahaziah, they relayed the prophet’s rebuke to him. The king asked who the man was. Upon hearing the man’s description, Ahaziah immediately knew that it had been Elijah (2 Kings 1:8).

Elijah was known to Ahaziah’s father King Ahab as well, for the same reason. Both of them were evil men who led Israel astray. Elijah, a man and a spiritual warrior of God, stood in their way as they worked to oppose the Lord, whose people they were leading to hell. So, we have to ask ourselves: For what are we known? Do the people in your life (some of whom you may not even know) know you as a servant and a warrior of God? Does evil oppose you or even avoid you? Do the seeking know that they can come to you? Do the fearful know that you will pray? Do the brokenhearted know that you will forgive? Can the lost see your light, and thereby find their way home? Do those who peddle lies hate to see you coming?

In Acts 19:14-16, a group of men attempted to cast out an evil spirit “by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” The incident ended with the seven men running for their lives, injured, and without any of their clothes. The demon spoke to the men in verse 15, saying: “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” Then, he proceeded to brutalize them. The men tried to counterfeit the work of the Holy Spirit of God, whom they did not know. They knew of Jesus, but their relationship could only (and generously) be called an acquaintance, and a secondhand one at that. They thought that invoking the name of a man of God would be enough. The demon didn’t even take them seriously. Do you, like the sons of Sceva in Acts 19, have no relationship with and knowledge of the God you claim to serve? Do you rightly divide the word of truth, or are you trying to wield a sword that you have neither trained with nor learned to trust? Do you flee from spiritual battles, wounded and naked, compromising your credibility and your witness all along the way? Give yourself to the Word of the Lord today. Be trained by the Holy Spirit to pray without ceasing. There was a reason that Paul was known to the demon.