Undoubtedly God is the source of spiritual power.
Therefore the Psalmist chants: “I will love You, O Lord, my strength,” “It is God who arms me with strength,” “God is my refuge and strength,” “The Lord is my strength and song.” (Ps 18:1, 32,34; 46:1; 118:14). And St. Peter tells us that even ministry is with power from God (1 Pet 4: 11).
Every power not from God is futile and will come to an end.
Of this kind was the power of pharaoh, of Satan, of Ahab, of Ahithophel, of Goliath and of all those whose power was from their own cunning and arrogance. Unlike those is the person who has his power from God as St. Paul says: “I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily,” “… according to the power that works in us.” (Col 1:29; Eph 3:20) .
Since power is from God, we ought to ask for it by prayer and receive it through faith and God’s grace.
A spiritual person stands before God, feeling his weakness and asking Him power because without Him we can do nothing (Jn 15:5). So, God responds and gives him power as He responded to the last prayer of Samson (Judg 16:28,30).
Faith gives power, because everything is possible for him who believes (Mk 9:23).
If one weakens at any time, faith will give him power, for the Lord says, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain: Move from here to there, and it will move.” (Mt 17:20) when a spiritual person feels weak, he should say, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.” (Mk 9:24) Faith and prayer give power, so, a person should wrestle with God in prayer with faith till he receives power from Him.
Man receives power through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Whoever takes part with the Spirit in work will certainly be powerful. Samson lost his strength because the Spirit of the Lord had departed from him (Jud 16:20). Hold then to the work of the Spirit in you, and prepare yourself by purity and holiness so that you may deserve to be a devilling place for God’s Spirit, and so you will continue powerful.
• Man will continue in power so long as the word of God is firm in him, the commandments of God are always before his eyes, and so long as he loves God’s word which gives power and is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged award. That is why St. John wrote to the youths his beautiful words : “I have written to you.. because you are strong, and the word of Gob abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.” (1 Jn 2:14; Heb 4:12).
Man can receive power from God through humbleness.
Gob resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (Jas 4:6). The proud depends on his own power, so he fails, but the humble depends on God’s power, so he receives it, and the excellence of power will be of Gov not of him (2 Cor 4 : 7). The devils said to St. Macarius the Great that he overcame them by humbleness. And St. Antonius, seeing the snares of the devils on the whole earth, wondered who can escape them, and the Lord said to him that the humble escape them. God chose the weak of the world to put to shame the mighty (1 Cor 1 : 27), so that no flesh should glory in His presence. The humble never fears because God is with him, but he who feels himself powerful and high in heaven, sitting on God’s throne and the devil has become under his feet, such a person should be afraid. See what St. Paul says: “When I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor 12 : 10).
A spiritual person becomes powerful by the purity o heart.
A pure heart is a strong fortress, for out of it spring the issues of life (Prov 4:23). A pure heart is a continent heart that overcomes desires, so it is powerful. Nothing overcomes it or frightens it, as St. Augustine says : I sat on the top of the world when I felt I desire nothing and fear nothing.
This renunciation of the world and fearlessness gave power to the martyrs and the monks.
The martyrs stood firm before all temptations and all threats and torments, so they faced the kings, the governors, and the judges powerfully. They were stronger than those who persecuted them .
The monks also were strong in enduring solitude, life in mountains and wilderness, and even in tombs. They were strong in fighting the devils and in their spiritual influence over the others. So, princes became months, having prevailed over the best of royalty. St. Antonious was stronger by his humbleness and faith than the devils who tried to frighten him, and St. Macarius was not afraid when he spent the night in a tomb laying his head on a skull and the devils speaking to him.
• Some people are by nature powerful, like Samson, John the Baptist, Elijah, and David.
Elements of Power :
1- The power of love and sacrifice :
Love is strong, as strong as death; many waters cannot quench it (Song 8:6,7). Love never fails (1 Cor 13:8). Such is the true love, not in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth (1 Jor 3:18) . Prominent examples of such love is that of the mother to her suckling, that love exchanged between David and Jonathan, and the love of David to his son Absalom who had betrayed him, yet he wept bitterly when he kirew of his death (2 Sam 1 : 26; 18:33).
Sacrifice is an aspect of love, the strongest of which is self sacrifice. This appears in the biographies of martyrs who sacrificed their life for God, and in the biographies of the father monks and anchorites who left the whole world and dwelt in mountains and deserts out of their love to Christ. The father apostles, likewise, suffered unto death and left everything and followed Christ (Mt 19:29). St. Paul said, “I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ (Phil 3:8).
The power of love appears when it is from all the heart.
We should love the Lord our God with all our heart, our soul, and our mind (Mt 22:37; Deut 6:5). There should be no other love competing the love of God in our heart, for the Lord says, “He who loves father or mother …son or daughter more than He is not worthy of Me.” (Mt 10:37). Also he who loves his life more than the Lord is not worthy of Him, but he who loses his life for His sake will find it (Mt 10:39).
Love leads to sacrifice, and the power of sacrifice has reasons.
One of the reasons of sacrifice is love, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” (Jon 3: 16). For the same reason the martyrs sacrificed their life. Another reason is obedience, as that of our father Abraham who held the knife to sacrifice his only beloved son Asceticism is another reason, as that of the father monks.
The Power of faith:
A person who has strong faith believes that the Lord can open a way in the sea, bring water out of a rock, and work wonders and miracles. With such faith Peter walked on the water (Mt 14:29). It is the trust that the Lord fights for us and we hold our peace (Ex 14:14), that He is with us in the valley of the shadow of death (Ps 23), that all things work together for good to those who love the Lord (Rom 8: 28), that there is an eternal life for which we should work hard to gain, for which we should give our life to the Lord and pay the tithes even out of our need.
The power of prayer:
An example of the powerful prayer is that of the father apostles; for when they had prayed, the place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts :31). Another example is the prayer of Hannah the mother of Samuel the Prophets who prayed and wept, made a vow, and spoke in her heart, and this made Eli the priest think she was drunk (1 Sam 1: 9 – 13).
The powerful pray also is characterized by faith and persistence, contrition and love, humility and fervency, and by understanding while praying, a person is attached to God and feels himself standing in God’s presence. It may also be a type of wrestling with God as our father Jacob did, for the wrestled with God and gained His blessing (Gen 22 : 24-29)
The power of repentance:
This appears in the deep contrition, penitence and tears as was the repentance of David the Prophet (Ps 6). Powerful repentance is continual without return to sin but rather growth in spirituality unto perfection, like that of Augustine, Moses the Black, Mary the Copt, and Pelagia. It turns sinners into saints.
The power of the spiritual person likewise appears in overcoming temptations and prevailing in spiritual wars.
Joseph the Righteous was powerful in his wonderful victory against the temptations of the wife of Potiphar (Gen 39: 9) and in his firm stand against evil and sinning against God. The power of the spiritual persons appears, not in prevailing against the others, but against sin, however hard were the wars from the devil, from the wicked, or from false brethren (2 Cor 11: 26). He who weakens and falls deserves the words of the Scripture, “You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting.” (D 5: 27).
A spiritual person has the ability to confess, as St. Augustin did and published his confessions. If he did wrong to someone, he will apologize and confess his wrongdoing without trying to justify himself or argue. He also can easily turn from his opinion.
Power of self-control:
A spiritual person is powerful within. The Scripture commends such an attribute, “he who rules his spirit is better than he who takes a city.” (Prov 16: 32) Such a person can have control over his thoughts, bringing them to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor 10: 5), and over his senses, his emotions, and his tongue. St. James says, “If anyone does stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.” (Jas 3: 2) Such a person controls his natural impulse and external influences. He repays no evil for evil, but overcomes evil with good (Rom 12: 17,21). He rules over his anger and nervousness .
The power of endurance :
A spiritual person endures hardships and tribulations and is not shaken by them as Job the Righteous did. He endures the sins of the others, and says with the apostle, “We who are strong night to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves.” (Rom 15: 1) He not only endures, but he also forgives those who do wrong to him (Mt 5: 44). Turning the other cheek and walking the second mile and forbearance distinguish him, as he bears with the weak, bears his bad character and faults, and bears his words and behavior.
The power of personality:
A person of strong personality has good mentality and understanding, ability to come to conclusions, strong memory presence of mind, prudence, will power, and good management. He never shakes before any treats. To him applies the words: “Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!” Zeck 4: 7)
Power in bearing responsibility.
However great or serious the responsibility may be a spiritual person shoulders it with all honesty and accuracy. He is firm like a mountain, never hesitating, but laying his trust in God. He has his influence on his community, which may extend for generations. At the same time he is not influenced by the evil surrounding him, not conformed to his generation (Rom 12). This influence extends over generations like Athanasius and Antonious with their good example and writings.
The power of the word, of preaching, and of ministry:
The word that goes from the mouth of a spiritual person is powerful and effective. It does not return void, but accomplishes what pleases the Lord (Isa 55: 11). His ministry is powerful, fervent, and fruitful, like that of Paul the Apostle who stood before Felix in chains, yet his words made Felix afraid (Acts 24: 25), and made King Agrippa ready to be convinced (Acts 26: 28). Time is lacking to speak about the power of St. Paul’s ministry and the ministry in the apostolic era as a whole.
With such powerful ministry Christianity was able to stand firm in the face of the Roman Empire with its authority and cruelty.
It could stand firm in the face of the intrigues and conspiracies of the Jews and in the face of the doctrines of Philosophy of that age. By one sermon St. Peter could bring to faith three thousand souls and baptized them (Acts 2:41). It is the power of the Holy Spirit who worked in the word, so the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saves, the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied (Acts 2:41; 6:7; 9:31) St. Paul says, “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” (1 Cor 15: 58). A spiritual person is powerful in his ministry, in preaching, in the spiritual principles he proclaims, in his influence and fruitfulness, according to the working of God in him powerfully (col 1:29). He is strong in his witnessing to the Lord, and say with the Psalmist, “I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.” (Ps 119: 46).