Do you remember a childhood game called “King of the mountain”?  When I was a kid, one of the neighbors had a pile of dirt in their yard that had been there a long times and several of us boys would gather there to play King of the Mountain.  All of us would climb toward the top of the pile, and try to push all the others off, until only one person stood at the top.  Every time someone would get close to the top, the one occupying the “Throne” would throw him off.     That worked fine as long as there was only one at a time coming up, he could usually defend his position.  But sometimes several of us would make a run for the top at the same time.  That’s when it got interesting, because the one on top really had his hands full trying to defend his “throne” against several comers. Of course that meant while some were on their way up, others were rolling down in their path, having been pushed from the top by the King. It really got busy on the mountain sometimes.
    Sooner or later the King grew tired of the constant battle, and would get overpowered by the “enemy” that was trying to take over. It didn’t matter how big or strong the King happened to be, enough of us little guys would finally wear him down and dethrone him.  And then there would be a new King….for a while.  Thus it would go back and forth.  And there is a lesson to be learned from that when it comes to spiritual things as well.
    In my years of ministering to the sick, there seems to be a pattern, for the sake of simplicity, we will call the King of the Mountain syndrome.  When people ask for prayer, it’s because they feel they don’t have the strength to overcome the problem on their own, and they’re right…they don’t.  Their desire is to overcome their enemy, sickness, but they need some help to do so, an alliance.  That help comes in the form of the blood of Jesus, and the stripes He took upon His body, for their healing.  You see, there’s only one King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and that is Christ Jesus.  He has NO PROBLEM maintaining His position as King of the Mountain, no matter how many of the enemy attack, or how long the battle.  But we’re not Christ Jesus, we are merely men.
    Often what happens is someone hears the Word of God, believing unto salvation, then the battle is on.  People sometimes think when they get saved their problems will be over.  Not so.  King of the Mountain is the best illustration I can make of the life as a Christian.  Everybody is happy as King, but not everyone is ready to face the duty of defending their Kingdom.  You see, as a Child of God, you’ve been adopted into the Kingdom of heaven.  It’s a wonderful kingdom, having no sickness, poverty, strife or lack, and everyone would like to be there, even the devil.  That’s where your problem as King begins.  Jesus said in John 10:10, The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that thay might have it more abundantly.

   Suppose you’ve become the new King of the Mountain, and the kingdom contains sickness and poverty.  As the new King, you’d want to clean up your kingdom, and get everything out of it that does not meet the specification of what your kingdom should look like.  That means changes are in order.  Let’s start on the sickness first, because if you’re dead, you don’t have to worry about getting rid of poverty.  If you attack the poverty first, you may die in the meantime from the sickness.  So you have to work on getting your priorities straight.  As King, sickness is trying to shove you off the mountain, so it can take over as King, battling with you day and night relentlessly.  You’re reading your Bible, speaking the Word of God over your body.  Now you’re looking at two options: either the sickness flees because it’s tried to dethrone you and failed, or, the sickness just keeps on wearing you down until you tire of trying to defend your mountain, and it becomes King and takes over.  Really, the choice is yours.  But remember, as a child of God, you’re not fighting alone, you have the Holy Spirit standing with you, and He never loses. It’s good to know that in a battle.
Let me tell you something and you’d better get this:  YOU WILL ONLY REMAIN KING OF THE MOUNTAIN FOR AS LONG AS YOU ARE WILLING TO DEFEND YOUR MOUNTAIN.  That means from the moment you have established yourself as being part of the Kingdom of God, the devil begins his ascent to dethrone you from your position.  If you’re smart, the moment you become a child of God, you will get busy learning how to defend your territory.  By that I mean using the tools available to you: Bible study, prayer, putting the Word of God into your mind and heart, and USING it to defend your mountain.  I find some people are happy to let ME defend their mountain while they sit on top sipping a cool glass of water.  Now that’s fine for a while, I don’t mind defending your mountain while you’re learning how to do it for yourself, and in fact, all mature Christians should help others “come up”.  But I expect YOU to be getting yourself ready, for there comes a time when YOU need to take over, because after all, it’s YOUR mountain, not mine.  I have my own to defend, anyway.
    Let’s look at a common scenario.  Suppose you’ve been prayed for, and the sickness leaves.  After a while it comes back again.  Remember, you’re King of the Mountain.  What do you do?  Well, when the devil sets foot on your mountain, boot him off.  He’s a trespasser, he doesn’t belong there.  Don’t wait until he’s made it to your throne, looking you in the face to start doing something about it.  The better foothold he gets on your mountain, the harder it is to throw him off.  Notice I said “harder”. With You and God, NOTHING is impossible.  But the devil brings his helpers to wear you down, discouragement, worry, fear, and pain.  Pain is a biggie, and usually is the first to get your attention.  It’s hard to defend your mountain when you’re in pain.  But that’s when the decision is made who will be King.  Let pain wear you down, and you’ll stop fighting.  How do you fight?  Glad you asked.  With medicine?  NO!!!  With praising God!  Now, you and I both know, nobody wants to praise God when they’re hurting.  It’s easy to praise God when you’re well.  But being King is not about just being King in the good times.  A good King doesn’t cut and run when trouble comes.  No, he stays and defends his kingdom unto victory.  There’s just something about how the words “King” and “victory” go together.
   Is it easy?  Hey, who said being King was easy?  Most people look at the King and admire his power, popularity and riches and think it’s all glamour and good times.  A hint: in the natural, there are often several contenders to the throne of a kingdom, and there are often many members of a royal family, and they all want to be King.  In the end, the one who has prepared, and shown himself valiant and strong for battle is the one who ends up being King.  And that’s the way it should be. 
   It is written in Revelation 21:7, He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and He shall be my son.  You see, you’re not going to be King of the Mountain if you’re lazy and lukewarm about it, because the devil and his crew are ready and waiting to take over the moment you decide to “coast”.  If you’re already inclined to laziness, you’ll need to overcome first and foremost.  The Apostle Paul looked at the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus and saw it was worth whatsoever price he had to pay to attain it.  He endured much suffering and pain for the Kingdom of God, and even to the end, he remained King of the Mountain.  That’s part of being King….enduring.  Who wants to be King for a second?  I don’t, and I’m sure you don’t either.  I’m not trying to scare you off, but only reminding you that if you want to be an overcomer, there will be some overcoming to do, and that requires some effort on your part. 
   When the devil comes to rob you of your health, boot him off your mountain.  When you have more month left over at the end of your money, you have another trespasser to boot off your mountain.  Does it ever end?  Well, it depends whether you want to be King of the Mountain or not.  If so, then no, the battle never ends.  Quitting is always an option though, the easy way out, and multitudes take it.  But then again, multitudes aren’t Kings, they are subjects.  Kings are few and far between because only a few have the wisdom and diligence and royal standing to be King.  You have the “royal standing” automatically as a child of God.  Now, do you have the desire and drive?  You are born into a royal family, but you aren’t born with wisdom and diligence.  That’s something you must develop for yourself by applying the Word of God to yourself.  That’s the difference between a King and a royal family member.  Only one will be King of the Mountain.  It might as well be YOU!
   Remember what I said earlier:  YOU WILL ONLY REMAIN KING OF THE MOUNTAIN FOR AS LONG AS YOU ARE WILLING TO DEFEND YOUR MOUNTAIN.   Jesus said in Matthew 24:43, But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.  You snooze, you lose.  Your choice.