INTRODUCTION TO
SPIRITUAL WARFARE
Pastor Eric J. Hanson
If you are a Christian Believer, you are already in Spiritual Warfare. You already have a commander, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has given you weapons and armor. You are already under orders to use those resources in standing against the kingdom of darkness. You also already have an enemy who is out to destroy you, your witness, and your effectiveness for Christ.
Paul wrote plainly in Ephesians about the truth that we are in a great “wrestling match”. The stakes in wrestling matches in ancient times were often life and death. It was well for each contestant to be as prepared as possible.
For each of us, the only question is “Will I become proficient and effective at this, or will I not?” All of us, as believers in Jesus Christ are called to the battle. This little book is for the purpose of helping you with proper preparation in this matter, so that you can prevail, and be effective for the Lord’s cause.
UNDERSTANDING
SPIRITUAL WARFARE
Pastor Eric J. Hanson
Spiritual warfare is not something that we have a choice about. It comes to us unbidden. If you are a Christian Believer, you are already in God’s Army. You already have a commander, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has given you weapons and armor. You are already under orders to use those resources in standing against the kingdom of darkness. You also already have an enemy who is out to destroy you and all people. Because the Devil hates God, he hates all people. This is because we are created in God’s image, and God loves us.
When you become a follower of Jesus Christ, the Devil and his forces oppose you even more. They seek to find ways to destroy your reputation, character, and effectiveness for Christ. Every believer in Jesus Christ is called to become competent in resisting the forces of darkness and in advancing the Kingdom of Heaven.
Paul wrote plainly in Ephesians about the truth that we are in a great “wrestling match”. The stakes in wrestling matches in ancient times were often life or death. It was essential for each contestant to be as prepared as possible. It is also very important for each of us to also be prepared to wrestle well and effectively in the spiritual battles we all face. The stakes are high for us too; sometimes they are no less than spiritual or physical life or death.
For each of us who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the only question about such things is this: “Will I become proficient and effective at this warfare, or will I not?” All of us, as believers in Jesus Christ are called to the battle. The purpose of this little book is to help you with proper preparation in this matter, so that you can prevail, and be effective for the Lord’s cause.
UNDERSTANDING SPIRITUAL WARFARE
Pastor Eric J. Hanson
To prepare yourself for spiritual warfare, the most important thing that you can do is to develop a life of prayer. Resisting the Devil begins with drawing near to God. When you are close to God, other things take on their true perspective as you consider them. God’s desires, such as the spiritual salvation of people who don’t yet know Him, become big as we draw close to God. James 4:7 & 8 are wonderful verses to always bear in mind. Loving God, and desiring to see His will done in the Earth prepares you to approach this whole endeavor of spiritual warfare with proper motives. Do not engage in spiritual warfare because you are "mad at the Devil", but rather, because you love God.
CHAPTER 1: YOUR ENEMIES
KNOW YOUR ENEMIES
God's word makes clear that every believer in Jesus Christ has three enemies. They are called "the World, the Flesh, and the Devil". Let's take a brief look at them.
I. The World. This can best be defined as the "world system" which operates without regard for God and His standards. The "world system" is under the domination of the Devil. The World here does not mean the people who life on planet Earth. God loves the people, but there are many evil strongholds in all of the dealings of people with one another, ranging in size from groups of nations hating each other, to neighbors or family members relating in wrong ways to one another.
(I John 2:15)
II. The Flesh. This can also be called "the Old Man" or "the Old Nature" and is best defined as "all that any individual is, apart from Jesus Christ". The flesh cannot please God because it is fallen and under the curse of sin and death. People may do many “good things” without knowing the Lord, but all of us have sinned. We all fall short of God’s standard, which is sinless perfection.
(Galatians 5:13-24, Romans 3:10 & 23)
III. The Devil. This is the title of the one who's name is Satan. He is a fallen angel. His origin is explained later in this book. When I refer to the Devil's "work", I am also referring to the work of other fallen creatures who work along with him. These creatures, fallen angels and demons, really do exist.
(Matthew 4:1-11, 9:33, Ephesians 6:12)
THE ORIGIN OF SATAN (THE DEVIL)
Ezekiel chapter 28, verses 13-15 and 17, as well as Isaiah chapter 14, verses 12-17, deal with the fall of the one who was originally called Lucifer. (Light Bearer or Son of the Morning) Before he became the devil, back when he was first created, he was a beautiful angel of light whose chief job was to lead the worship and praise of God in Heaven. He was well suited for his job, and certainly possessed a great talent for it.
We, being here on Earth, don't know how long he kept his original position. At some point, pride erupted in him and he sought to do his own will in Heaven, rather than doing God’s will. He said, "I will cause my throne to ascend, and I will be like the Most-High". In the wake of this, he incited a rebellion in Heaven, an attempt to overthrow God and take the throne of Heaven for himself. His pridefulness, (which was the first sin), had caused him to become foolish. Wisdom dictates that a mere created being would have absolutely no chance of overthrowing the eternal creator: God.
Nevertheless, one third of the angels in Heaven apparently became deluded and followed Satan. As one of my pastor friends recently observed: “Rebellion always seeks recruits.” They were perhaps seduced by his great beauty as Lucifer. This rebellion was doomed from the beginning. Lucifer, together with one third of the angels, was banished. He and they were thrown down out of Heaven.
THE FALLEN ANGELS
It is Revelation 12:4 where we see that one third of the angels joined Satan's rebellion. They are referred to here as "stars". "Star" here is translated from the Greek word "aster" and it means "a luminous thing, a bright point". This word is not a reference to physical stars like the Sun. If those were hurled to the Earth, there would be no Earth by the time they got here, because it would be vaporized. This passage is talking about heavenly angels who rebelled and were banished to the Earth realm, which is their current sphere of influence.
Matthew 24:41 refers to a lake of fire and tells why there is such a thing. It was prepared by God for the Devil and his angels. That is where they will ultimately end up. They had a very good life, but they forfeited that, by attempting to overthrow God and take over. They are banished from citizenship in Heaven forever.
A good biblical example of a fallen angel of great power and authority is "The Prince of Persia" spoken of in the 10th chapter of the book of Daniel. Daniel prayed and asked God for an answer to a question and God immediately dispatched a mighty messenger angel, with the answer to Daniel’s question. Then the “Prince of Persia" withstood this angelic messenger for 21 days. Fortunately, Daniel kept praying, and praying, and God dispatched Michael, an archangel, (which means "over angel"), a ruling angel, who is a warrior and is in charge of protecting Israel. Together, the Godly angels got past the opposing fallen angel, the "Prince of Persia", and the messenger angel got the message to Daniel that he had been asking God for.
Gabriel’s message is also instructional for us. He said “Man of God, from the first day that you set your heart to pray, God sent the answer, but I was withstood for 21 days.” The Bible tells us that Daniel kept on praying. He didn’t quit. He didn’t give up. At some point, God raised the stakes, and Gabriel, now with Michael’s help, finally broke through. After delivering his message to Daniel, Gabriel said “Now I’m going back to fight the prince of Persia, and after I’m gone, the prince of Greece will come. History confirms that the next World Empire to arrive was indeed the Greek empire, one hundred years later. The Prince of Persia and the Prince of Greece are two fallen angels who are rulers of "principalities". It seems clear that fallen angels of various “ranks” seek to dominate regions of the planet, ranging from neighborhoods to whole nations or even blocks of nations which act together.
Genesis 6:2, by the way, speaks of some of the fallen angels who, way back in the days before Noah and the flood, somehow left the second Heaven, entered the first Heaven, and became material beings. They were males. They married women and had children together with them. These children grew up to be giants. These were the "Anakin". The Bible says that they were "mighty men of old, men of renown".
God was greatly displeased because these angels occupied our realm (the physical, visible, material realm) instead of their own invisible (to us) realm. Derek Prince's translation of Ephesians 6 uses the term "rulers in the realms of their authority," to describe those we fight against. Somehow these rulers of the air, these angelic beings, left the realm of their authority and entered the realm of our authority as human beings. God did not allow this transgression to continue.
In Jude 6 we see the result of this episode. These fallen angels are now chained in a place of darkness which is called (in the Greek) Tartarus. It is a special jail for these angels who left the realm of their authority. They will be there until the final Judgment.
I do not believe that fallen angels are the same order of being as are ordinary demons. The Bible doesn’t specifically define these things for us, but it gives us pretty clear indicators that demons operate at a lower level of power than the Prince of Persia, or the Prince of Greece, etc. Let’s look at demons next.
DEMONS
In Matthew 12:43 Jesus said "When the demon has gone out of his home," (meaning a human being that he was in,) "he walks through dry places seeking rest, and finding none he says to himself, "I will go back to my house which I came out of"; and going to his house and finding it swept, garnished, but unoccupied, he says, "I'll go get seven of my friends and we will all move in". So he goes and finds seven other demons, worse than he is, and moves back in, and the latter end of that man is worse than his beginning was". Key term: "he walks". Demons are apparently the Devil's foot soldiers, and the normal place of their dwelling, though they are invisible and non-physical, is the face of the Earth, walking around seeing what trouble they can cause for people. They seem quite different from and less powerful than the fallen angel called "the Prince of Persia" or the fallen angel called "the Prince of Greece".
The Bible doesn't tell us where demons came from, but through research, I've become convinced that “demon” is not simply another name for fallen angels. Some real veterans in deliverance ministries have said, "In many cases demons are deathly afraid of fallen angels who give them assignments. If the demons don't carry them out successfully, it appears that these powerful angels abuse them in very strong ways." The Bible, however, doesn't go into detail about things such as this. The important thing for us to know regarding such matters, is that demons are real, they are part of our invisible enemy, and they are plenty capable of dominating people who have let themselves come under their influence.
Luke 8:30 reveals this about demons: Because they are not made of physical material, they don't take any space up. Therefore, a great many of them can live in one spot. Consider the man whom Jesus expelled many demons from, the man from the Gadarenes. Jesus asked the spirit within him, "What's your name?", and instead of one spirit saying his name, this reply came: "Legion, for we are many." A legion of Roman soldier was several thousand men, so apparently, there were several thousand demons in this one man. Jesus commanded them to go out of the man. While this was happening, the demons begged Him not to judge them before "the time". "The time" is a reference to the final Judgment. Then they begged Him to send them into a nearby herd of pigs, rather than into dry places. Jesus gave them permission to go into the pigs. At that moment, they showed their true nature by causing the pigs to commit suicide. Demons are doing the very same thing to many people today, convincing them to commit suicide. They also influence people to cause many other kinds of misery, ranging from sexual abuse and addictive choices to murder.
Demons accurately reflect the nature of the kingdom of darkness. They are like their king (Satan) who is one of those (along with many earthly religious leaders and various rulers) whom Jesus referred to that came before Him (his incarnation) to planet Earth. Jesus said: "All who came before me were thieves and liars, and the thief comes only to kill, steal, and destroy".
CHAPTER 2: UNDERSTANDING HEAVENLY REALMS
Now let’s consider some other parts of spiritual reality.
THE THREE HEAVENLY REALMS
Before we can properly understand spiritual warfare, we must grasp the natures of the three heavens spoken of in the Bible.
THE THIRD HEAVEN
What we normally refer to just as “Heaven” was called “The Third Heaven” by Paul the apostle. In 2 Corinthians 12:2 he said "I knew a man in Christ." (He was talking about himself, but, according to many Bible commentators whom I have read, was being modest here and was speaking in the third person instead of the first.), "And this man, whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know, was caught up to the third heaven, and there he saw inexpressible things, things a man is not allowed to tell.". Paul was caught up to what he referred to as "the third heaven". The Lord Himself taught Paul many things there!
If there is a third member of any group of things, there must also be a first and a second. Heaven where the throne of God is, Heaven where Jesus is seated at the right hand of power, is the third Heaven. Some people define the third Heaven as "the normal place of God's dwelling", but that is an insufficient definition because God is present everywhere.
Heaven is God's "headquarters" and it is where the spirits of the dead in Christ now live. The Old Testament saints also now live there, since Jesus made this possible. This Heaven is also what John the Apostle saw into in the early chapters of the Revelation. He saw the glorified Lord there, and uncountable numbers of holy angels.
The Third Heaven, otherwise known simply as Heaven, is amazing, but let’s consider the other two heavens which exist.
THE FIRST HEAVEN
What is the first Heaven? It is the air and the space beyond the air. It is the physical or three-dimensional heaven. This is open space and the energy and objects in that open space. This is “heaven” seen with the eye. This is “heaven” perceived with telescopes and other instruments which probe space.
The first Heaven is finite. It had a beginning and will have an end. (Isaiah 34:4, Mark 13:31) It exists in a matrix along with time, as a direct result of Creation. (John 1:1-3) After it is “rolled up” by the Lord, it will be re-created in a perfect sinless state (Revelation 21:1-5). This physical creation is all that we can perceive with our five natural senses, but it is not all there is.
THE SECOND HEAVEN
If there is a third and a first, then there must be a second. Gaining an understanding of this truth is where a glimpse into the nature of spiritual warfare really starts. Ephesians 2:2 calls Satan “the prince of the powers of the air”. Ephesians 6:10-13, which speaks of our warfare, says "We war not against persons of flesh and blood, but against spiritual beings in heavenly places". Perhaps an even better translation of the last two words would be would be "heavenly realms."
These spiritual beings are not in the third Heaven. They were thrown out of there. They are not in the first Heaven or they would be physical and we would see them, and be able to touch them. They are in the second Heaven, which invisibly parallels the first Heaven. They are all around us, but they are in another dimension, such that they can see us and influence us because they are spirit creatures, but because we are bound to a physical body, we can't normally see them.
God has given us weapons to fight against them, and spiritual battle takes place right here where we are. Much of the battle takes place in our own minds, but it is real battle nevertheless. This is because these enemy beings are lobbing their weapons against our minds. Ephesians calls the weapons that these enemy spirits bring, "fiery darts". The "fiery darts" of the enemy break through from the second Heaven into our thought life. These may be fiery darts of unbelief, of lust for money & power, of fear, or whatever other many kinds of such darts there are. Whatever fiery dart comes at us, our thought life is the primary level of spiritual warfare. We shall explore this warfare later.
These "realms" are fixed firmly by God’s design. We are in the first Heaven. Fallen angels and demons, as well as good angels on assignment from God, are in the second Heaven, (except for when angelic assignments from God bring His angels into the our realm) God operates out of the third Heaven, although He fills up all of creation and is greater than our understanding can grasp.
CHAPTER 3: LEGAL AUTHORITY & DEFENSIVE ARMOR
OUR AUTHORITY (read Ephesians 6:10-12)
John 12:31: "Now is the time for judgment on this world. Now the prince of this world (Satan) will be driven out." The legal grounds for the prince of this world to be driven out came about when Jesus, as the second Adam, absolutely, perfectly fulfilled the law of God, given through Moses (the laws contained in the first five books of the Bible), and became qualified to die in our place, in order to pay the penalty for our sin.
Jesus made it possible for all of us to be restored to the perfect relationship with God which Adam enjoyed before the fall. Jesus also made the original divine commission, which God had given to Adam, viable again, by means of His own righteousness. That commission was to rule (have dominion) over the Earth and care for it.
Adam had lost that dominion to the Devil when he did the Devil's bidding instead of obeying God. Jesus bought that dominion back by fulfilling all righteousness, (God’s requirements) and then, though personally sinless, bearing the death penalty punishment for the sins of mankind. Therefore, since Jesus has obtained legal dominion over the entire Earth, the former temporary prince of this World (the Devil) will be driven out by God’s own forces. (John 12:31)
Ever since Jesus rose from the dead, the Devil has been a squatter in the World, having no legal rights. Until the literal angelic army of God comes and drives him out, the squatter is going to stay. In the meantime, you and I are representatives of the legitimate ruler of this world, who is Jesus Christ, "the second Adam". If we are hidden in Him, then His authority extends through us, which is why we can defeat all the powers of the enemy in every encounter, including the personal temptation encounters that come to each of us, if we will just do so God's way. (You can read Psalm 8 for further insight into God's design for mankind.)
Paul’s word choices in verse 12 of our scripture passage for this section, bring to mind the descriptions from Daniel 10. The fallen angels are here referred to, in certain amplified translations, as “world forces of this darkness” and as “spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places”. These forces of evil are NOT flesh and blood. Our enemies whom we war against, are not our fellow humans, but demons and fallen angels. Therefore, it is important that we not allow ourselves to hate people who are “captives of Satan” and are opposing God’s standards and His message of the Gospel. They may hate you. You, however, are called to a higher standard of love in Jesus Christ.
THE ARMOR (Read Ephesians 6:13-18)
When people think about dealing with Satan and his cronies, the first thing that usually comes to mind is a mental picture of someone taking a tormented, demonized individual through a deliverance (expelling of demons) session. Such activities do need to take place, but where spiritual warfare usually is waged, is at the point that any of us decide to stand against the "fiery darts" which come at our thought life from the Devil's forces all the time.
This is a major part of our war against sin. We can't win these battles without our flesh (self apart from Jesus Christ) crucified. (Read Galatians 2:20 for insight.) We must die to self will, put on the armor of God, and take up our spiritual weapons daily, or we are become easy targets for the enemy in this warfare. We may be on our way to Heaven, but without winning the daily battle for our own thought lives, we are ineffective as far as taking ground for the Kingdom of God.
There are many entire books and other teaching resources which deal with the armor of God which is described in the above Bible passage. It might be a good idea for you to read a good book on this topic and become very mindful of such things. I’ll just touch on these matters in this little book.
Please note that Paul borrowed the imagery of a Roman soldier’s personal armor to illustrate the believer’s preparation to resist and prevail against Satan’s attacks. Just as an earthly soldier needed to wear his full armor, to be protected in battle, we need to do the same with our God-given spiritual armor. Let’s consider the pieces now. “Stand firm therefore!”
A. “having girded your loins with truth” -In the realm of spiritual life and struggle, we cannot produce life apart from truth. Throughout the Bible, the mention of “loins” happens in connection with reproduction and new life. If we believers are not firmly rooted in the truth of God’s word, we do not have anything life giving to offer to the spiritually dead. A major purpose of Satan’s attacks against us, is to spiritually neuter us (note the mention of the loins) by getting us away from God’s truth about spiritual matters of eternal life and death. If we begin to doubt that people really need to know Jesus, in order to receive eternal life, we have become separated from bedrock truth, and neutered in the matter of bringing forth new life. (Acts 4:12) How then, can we genuinely lead others to saving faith in Jesus Christ? We must guard our ears and eyes against popular opinion which discounts the reality that a living faith in Jesus is the only way to the Father. Relatives, pastors of churches which have departed from the Bible as God’s word to us, popular culture, and other voices will attempt to weaken our conviction at this point. Thus, we gird our loins with the truth.
B. “having put on the breastplate of righteousness” -the Greek word translated righteousness in this passage is “dikaiosune”, and it is a direct derivative of “dikaios”. These words mean “equitable” in character (innocent, holy), along with having been justified into righteousness. Our “heart” must be into doing God’s will/following the Lord. If not, we lose heart. (Note the position of this piece of armor.) We must be willful about rejecting anything which spoils our equitability of character. This is to say, we must live the same godly way, whether we are in church on Sunday, at work on Monday, or relaxing on Friday night. This requires a focused effort. This is putting on the breastplate of righteousness. Bear in mind, however, that we are not “earning points” with God by self-empowered efforts in righteousness. The main issue here is guarding our heart and continuing to “Wholeheartedly follow Jesus”.
C. “having shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace”- Only the Gospel (the good news) of Jesus Christ can bring peace between God and people. We must dress our spiritual feet properly, to be able to effectively share this life-giving Gospel with others. If our feet are spiritually bare on the battlefield, we will be hobbled and clumsy. We put on this part of the armor by preparing ourselves in prayer and spending time in the Lord’s presence and absorbing His love for people. We become filled with the urgency of the task. Paul was like this all the time. His feet were dressed and ready to go with the good news. Those who draw near to God will overflow with His love for the lost, putting on those “Good News Shoes”.
D. “in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Unlike the other pieces of defensive armor, which cling to the warrior’s body, and do their job automatically if they are firmly attached, the shield is grasped with one’s hand and it is moved around as needed to fend off attacks. When a volley of arrows was incoming in battle, the Roman soldier would crouch behind his shield, so that no arrow could get to him. When an enemy soldier was attacking with sword, dagger, or spear, he would move his shield into position between them so as to block the attacking weapon. The shield of faith is like this. We take it up purposefully and use it in an agile manner, in order to meet each attack that comes at us, with effectiveness.
For instance, the Devil’s forces may hurl flaming arrow “thought bombs” at you such as this one: “God has forsaken you. He’s probably given up on you. He will not meet your need!” -The believer who is hit with such a thought bomb, during a time of great need, will be sorely tempted to agree with this negative attack. If such a believer, however, has an inner store of God’s word studied and memorized for just such an occasion, he can lift that up as a shield, to protect his faith from giving out. He may bring forth this scripture: “My God shall supply all your need, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) Thus, the believer’s faith is bolstered against the fiery lie that the enemy has sent against him (or against her). Right thinking counters wrong thinking in people who are under such attacks, but that right thinking only comes from a good internal store of God’s word and God’s precepts for life. Without that, we have no shield of Faith, because “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”. (Romans 10:17)
E. “and take the helmet of salvation.” When God placed the man Adam and the woman, later named Eve, in the Garden in Eden, at the beginning of humankind, He gave them a commission; an assignment, which was this: (read Genesis 1: 26-28) This passage from the Bible makes clear that God’s plan for mankind, who had been created in God’s image, was to rule this planet, in submission to God, in the perfect wisdom that God would give freely. Unfortunately, mankind lost that authority, that God-given headship on Earth. Adam lost it to Satan by disobeying God and obeying Satan. The whole of Genesis 3 tells of this tragic event. Adam, in effect, “bowed his knee” to Satan in directly going against the one prohibition God had given to him. Thus sin, death, and hardship came to Humankind, and has been our lot throughout history.
Jesus referred to Satan as “the prince of this World”. The temptations Jesus endured in Matthew chapter 3 were real. The Devil was able to offer headship over the Earth to Jesus, because he had it in his grasp at that time. Jesus, however, did not fall for this maximum possible temptation. Jesus earned back headship over the Earth, the hard way. He did it by fulfilling “all righteousness”. Jesus kept the righteous requirements of God’s Law perfectly. He fulfilled God’s Holy Law and thus qualified to buy back Adam’s original God-given headship over this planet by dying for the sins of the people. When he was raised from the dead on the third day, it proved that the job was done!
In this way, He, Jesus became the “Second Adam” who legally bought back the authority over this planet which the first Adam had lost to the Devil. You and I participate (under Jesus) in that authority after we become saved. (Romans 10:9-11) The helmet protects the head and is symbolic of “headship”.
When the day of spiritual battle is at hand, the believer “takes up the helmet of salvation” by remembering who he is in Jesus Christ! The Bible says that we believers are (now!) seated in Christ in Heavenly Places (the third Heaven/ Heaven proper) far above all principality and power. When we take up and wear the helmet, we know our God-given authority and we stand in it! (Ephesians 1: 20-23, 3:10-12)
F. “and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”. Here is a close in weapon of both defense and offence. A sword was used by Roman soldiers to fight against those who were attacking them. It was also used to attack others. Therefore, it was both defensive and offensive. Jesus used the memorized word of God to counter Satan’s temptations. A precise account of this is found In Matthew 4:1-11. Notice that Jesus did not simply use His personal power or position here, He used the very same “sword of the Spirit” that you or I can use. The written word of God, recorded in the Bible, is our weapon for winning those close-up battles against temptations of every type.
G. (verse 18) “With all prayer (types) and petition (formal requests), pray at all times in the Spirit (I Corinthians 14:15) and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance (not quitting in prayer) and petition for all the saints”. Here is our long-distance weapon: Prayer. Prayer of every type, engaged in with a stubborn tenacity by God’s soldiers (us), wins many battles.
PRAYER WITH THE UNDERESTANDING IN PRAYER WITH THE SPIRIT
Both prayer with the Spirit and prayer with the mind are part of this mix of maximizing the results of prayer. Writing about prayer “with (or in) the Spirit”, Paul observed the following: If I pray in an unknown (to me) language, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What shall I do then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with my mind also. I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with my mind also.” (I Corinthians 14:14-15) When you include praying in the spirit as part of your mix of “all kinds of prayer”, you use yet another weapon against Satan’s forces. You cannot comprehend what your spirit, empowered by God’s Holy Spirit is saying in prayer. Therefore, you go beyond your own level of understanding, when guided and empowered be God’s Spirit in this way. This type of prayer is a powerful weapon, and part of God’s plan for your prayer life.
RIGHT PRAYING
Sending distress signals to God out of our uncrucified flesh when something goes wrong is not a powerful effective way to pray. Deliberately building a prayer life, based on the revealed will of God, together with both prayer with the understanding and prayer in the spirit is an effective strategy of prayer.
EXTENDED PRAYER
Another thing that I will mention by way of prayer weaponry, is extended prayer; prayer that does not give up. Daniel practiced this determined kind of prayer. Jesus illustrated this, telling about the person who needed bread in the middle of the night and wouldn't stop knocking on the neighbor’s door. Extended prayer; prayer that does not give up, is an important part of winning the war that we are all in as believers. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5: "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God; and we take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ". Yes folks, the primary arena of personal spiritual warfare is in our own thought life. That is where the battle is fought, and won, or lost.
It is also important to note here that our prayer mix needs to include the following three types of prayer.
1. Each believer needs to develop personal discipline in private prayer. This requires the setting aside of time that is used for nothing else but prayer. Many people who are strong in prayer discipline refer to such prayer when alone with God, as “the prayer closet”. This concept comes from Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:6. He told all who would listen to enter into their closet, shut the door, and pray to the Heavenly Father away from the crowds and the streets…not putting on a show of prayer in the public square in order to impress people, but, instead, seeking God, and praying in seclusion both with your mind’s understanding of needs around you and of God’s will, and beyond your mind’s limits, praying in the spirit, by the Holy Spirit.
2. At other times, the Bible shows us group prayer, such as we find in Acts 12, when Peter was thrown in prison and many in the Church came together and prayed earnestly for his deliverance. In Acts 4, when many leaders of the Church prayed together for God to give them boldness and for God to do healings and other miracles, the place shook and they were all filled (freshly refilled) with the Holy Spirit and spoke God’s word with boldness. Agreement and unity unleash tremendous power in God’s plan. Jesus said “if two of you agree on Earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by my Father who is in Heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in my name, I am there in their midst.” (NASV Matthew 18:19-20) The group prayer of agreement, in line with God’s revealed will, is an essential part of effective prayer.
3. Praying directly for people in person is also an important part of the prayer mix believers need to develop. This is especially effective in small or large gatherings of believers. For any who function in the 5 equipping gifts of Ephesians 4, (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor & Teacher) this matter of prayer in person for people is also to be an integral part of their ministry. In Acts 6:4 the Apostles were seeking to raise up servers in the Church to handle the distribution of food to the widows in the church family, specifically so that they could continue to be devoted to prayer and the ministry of the word.
Conclusion of the Chapter
a. Know your God-given authority in Jesus Christ.
b. Put on the entire armor of God.
c. Take up your close in weapon of the word of God.
d. Wield your long-distance weapon of prayer.
e. Develop into someone who handles the word with great skill and understanding and who is devoted to prayer, alone, in groups, and for people who are present in person.
Chapter 4: THE WAR WITHIN THE BELIEVER
LEVEL 1 OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE
An important principle to be observed in the battle to win against sin is this: The basic set of our will needs to come into line with the basic set of the Lord’s will. He greatly desires to see the people of this World come to faith in Him, and become disciples. He has commanded each of us to be an ambassador of His Kingdom. If we are fearful of people, and therefore ashamed of the Gospel, unconcerned for souls, and self absorbed in our priorities, we cannot hope to gain victory over besetting sins. We must, first of all, as believers in Jesus Christ, call upon the Lord for His desires to be manifested in us and engrafted into us! After all, He is our head, and each of us is a part of His earthly body.
Here are some key questions for each believer. Are you continuously filled with the Holy Spirit? Are you staying filled? Ephesians 5:18 says "Keep on being filled with the Spirit of God". Or is the Spirit of God grieved and quenched (shut down) in you, because your soul is too polluted for Him, due to you making wrong decisions and compromising with sin? If you compromise with sin over time, you are opening the door for demons to get their claws into your mind, and gain some kind of powerful influence over your thought life. When this unfortunate state exists, a Christian can get into bondage to the will of demons.
The issue I raise here is not that of being "possessed of Devils". It is, rather, a matter of being hindered and hassled in your mind, by demons. They attack you in your soul, which is the seat of emotion, intellect, and will. Remember, as I wrote earlier, demons desire so strongly to live in a body or perhaps to destroy things God created, that even a pig will do under the most extreme circumstances. But they much prefer to get attached somehow to your soul, and in such a way that the life you live becomes a mockery to God and to God's grace. Demons cannot totally dominate a believer's life the way they can that of a non-believer who has opened the door to them, but they can hinder you and make life miserable for you. They will tempt you, and if you leave the door open for them to get in, you will fall to the temptation. Then these same demons will condemn you, after they first tempted you.
Please be aware that even serious believers in the Lord, will be tempted. We, however, have been looking at the bondage that comes with giving into the temptations, and coming under their power. Don’t open the door of your life to demons at all! Flee (run away from) temptation!
TEMPTATION AND CONDEMNATION: OUR DAILY BATTLE WITH SIN
Even a vigilant believer slips from time to time. 1 John 1:8 states: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us". This verse is not talking about willfully practicing sin, which chapters 3 and 4 of the same epistle both roundly condemn, but it is saying that we all miss the mark. We slip up now and then. As soon as that happens, any demon that may have been tempting us, will condemn us. Being tempted and condemned doesn't mean that we are demonized. Rather, this is our everyday battle with demons as they attack us from the outside.
God wants us totally free of any demonic influence, but the only way for this to happen is to daily reckon ourselves dead to the old life and alive to the Lord Jesus Christ, and to put on the armor of God and take up the weapons of our warfare that He has given us. We must also get rid of things in our lives which attract demons, such as occult related objects, games, and stories. Viewing of pornography and the practice of entertaining sexual fantasies both attract demons. Run away from any form of fornication. Refuse to entertain hatred, a longing for revenge, envy, and other such things.
THE FLESH (THE SINFUL NATURE)
Why have we Hosanna Church elders spent much more time teaching on the flesh than we have on the Devil through the years? Because we live in our flesh, and that is what we have to deal with everyday. You can't defeat the Devil while your flesh is un-crucified. The flesh has to be dealt with first and foremost. It is the most immediate and insidious of the three enemies. We are in the world, but the flesh is in us. (Romans 8:5-14). The declaration of death to the sinful nature is the only way to deal with it. Every day of our lives we must make the choice talked about in Romans 8:5-14. Galatians 2:20 tells us why we can die to the flesh (sinful nature) each day; namely, "We were crucified with Christ"! (I Corinthians 15:31) Paul knew what it was to die to "self rule" (the flesh/the sinful nature) every day. Apart from this "death", there is no way to live empowered by God, knowing and doing His will in His strength. (Read Romans 6:1-18 for further insight.) Declare God’s truth that the old self-powered (sinful) you is crucified, dead, and powerless.
USING OUR ARMOR
The new you in Christ can put on the armor of God which we studied in the previous chapter! Ephesians 6:10-18 tells us what our spiritual armor is. Verses 10-13 say: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty Power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the Devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, (and it comes often), you may be able to stand your ground. And after you have done everything to stand, stand therefore..."
USING OUR WEAPONS
As we already touched on, God has given specific weapons to us, for our daily battle against sin and demons. These include the Bible, which, verse by verse, becomes our sword, and prayers of various types. There is also the Name of Jesus, which we have not yet touched upon in this book. Here is a quick look at each of these.
1. GOD’S WORD:
We are to take up the word of God, "the sword of the spirit". This is our “hand to hand” weapon, which is for close encounters with the "fiery darts of the wicked one”, with nearby demons, and with our own thoughts. Jesus used God’s word, applied correctly, to defeat the devil during his time of severe temptation recorded in Matthew Chapter 4.
2. PRAYER:
Prayer (all types and petitions) spans the realm of all existence in the third Heaven and releases the power of God.
3. THE NAME OF JESUS:
When those battle encounters come, in which we need to face off against the powers of darkness, we need to be sure that the basics are in place. We need to be sure that we are walking close to God, giving the lordship of Jesus Christ first place, and giving no place to sin in our lives. We need to be sure that we have put off the old self and put on the armor of God. Then we qualify to use the name “Jesus the Christ” as our authority to command the demons to leave. The Bible teaches that it is at the name of Jesus that every knee shall bow on Judgment Day. (Philippians 2:9-11) It is only in Jesus’ name that we can approach the Father in prayer. The name of Jesus carries authority throughout creation.
One important caveat to bear in mind is this: Acts 19:13-16 tell us about 7 young men who tried to expel demons from a certain demonized person. These sons of Sceva (the chief priest in Judea) spoke to the chief demon in the tormented man saying “we command you to come out by “Jesus whom Paul preaches”. They got nowhere. The demon actually answered them saying “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?” Then the demonized man attacked and beat them badly. They did not know Jesus! They tried to use his name as a magic charm. That was a bad mistake. Only those who know Jesus; who are following Him, have the authority to unleash God’s power by invoking Jesus’ name.
THE PLACE OF FASTING
In Isaiah 58:6, God speaks of fasting, saying: "Is this not the fast of which I approve, to let the oppressed go free, to break every yoke?" If we fast without it being an adjunct to our prayer life, then all we are doing is going hungry. If we are fasting about some problem, but our minds are carnal, and our thinking is carnal, then all we are doing is going on a hunger strike. God's plan is "praying with fasting". The order is important. Fasting from food is, in reality, a tool to help us get our minds off from everything else but the presence of God as we seek Him with our whole heart. It is one outworking of Jesus' exhortation to "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness." Jesus modeled the perfect example of fasting with prayer. In His life, we see "the fast which breaks the yoke of oppression and lets the captives go free". The Gospel writers carefully recorded this aspect of Jesus’ earthly life.
There are excellent books by Christian authors on the topic of fasting. I am just touching on it here.
FIGHTING OFFENSIVELY AGAINST DEMONS
LEVEL 2 OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE
Mark 16:17 commissions all believers everywhere to take part in deliverance ministry. "These signs shall follow them that believe"... "They shall cast out demons". About one quarter of Jesus' recorded ministry on Earth was the expelling of demons. It is an important matter, and many people are in bondage to demons. Unfortunately, however, many thousands of Christians, particularly Charismatics, have entered into this deliverance ministry, who were in no way ready to do so. I can name names and make out a list of such people who are divorced now, whose households were destroyed because they entered into this second level of spiritual warfare without being consistent at the first level, the battle for their own minds, which consists of: 1. dying daily to the desires of the flesh, 2. putting on the armor of God each day, and 3. recognizing and deflecting the fiery darts of the devil.
This is an area where a lot of Charismatic teachers have gone wrong. They have taken, people who are like "Tender Foot Boy Scouts" and sent them out on "Eagle" missions. It is really important to be prepared first, then to engage the enemy in the casting out (expelling) of demons. To illustrate this point: In Matthew 17:21, the disciples were trying to cast a demon out of a boy who was repeatedly falling into fires, foaming at the mouth, and exhibiting other destructive behaviors. They did not succeed, even though they had already been sent out and done other deliverance ministry. This was a particularly tough case, and Jesus' exclamation to them was "Oh faithless generation, how long shall I put up with you?! This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting!" Apparently, the prayer life of the disciples left a lot to be desired. They were coasting along on a commission, an authority that they had once received, rather than seeking a fresh closeness with the Father each day.
A lot of believers do that. They coast along on an authority they once exercised. They are not prayed up, and in their spirit, they are "running on empty". Then they wonder why they encounter spiritual defeat. All of this tells us that achieving victory isn't a matter of following formulas, and saying right words, IE: "This worked for me twenty years ago.
I know what to do." It is, rather, a matter of a daily walk with God, wherein we are prayed up all the time.
DEMONIZATION
We've looked briefly at fallen angels and demons, and at the need for deliverance ministry. Here is another point to ponder. I Thessalonians 5:23 says "And may the God of peace sanctify you wholly, (sanctify you completely,) spirit, soul, and body". We are not merely physical beings. We are spirit beings with souls who live in bodies. Hebrews 4:12 gives further insight into the fact that you and I are triune beings. One argument that we need never be involved in is whether a Christian can be demon possessed or not. Expunge from your vocabulary the term "demon possessed," because wherever the King James Bible says, "possessed" it is mistranslating the Greek word "diamonitsion" which has nothing to do with possession or ownership. The only correct translation of "diamonitsion" is "demonized". Not "possessed of Devils". Both "possessed" and "Devils" are mistranslations. "Diabolos" is the Greek word for "Devil", and there is only one devil. "Dimonion", is "demon", and there are many. "Diamonitsion" is built from the word dimonion and it means "demonized" or by amplification, "with demons attached", or "demons in the life".
In the case of a person who does not know the Lord, demons may gain some level of access to that person's spirit, because the person is of his father, the Devil, but in the case of a person who has genuinely been born again, the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in his human spirit. I Corinthians 12:13 says: "For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body and were made to drink of that one Spirit". Therefore, the believer is God's property with the Holy Spirit living inside of him, and cannot be "totally demonized". In spite of this reassuring truth, there is still a war for everyone’s thoughts and decisions even if they are born again.
EXPELLING DEMONS (deliverance ministry)
Dressed in God’s armor, and using the name of Jesus, you can command Demons to leave people who wish to be free, and the demons must do so. Remember, Jesus said that some demons come out only by prayer and fasting. The secret to the believer’s authority being manifested in God’s power over our spiritual enemies is always to do James 4:7: “Submit, therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” A good safety rule is this: Don’t work alone when doing this. There are many reasons why Jesus sent the disciples out two by two. With two working together, one can be praying while the other is speaking into the situation at hand.
When expelling demons, don’t ask the demons for their life history. Don’t play around with them if they speak to you through whomever you are helping. You command them to be quiet and to leave now in Jesus name. You need not be a Bible College graduate or an ordained pastor or evangelist to do this effectively. All you need to be, according to the Lord, is a genuine believer in Him. (Mark 16: 17)
HOW TO RECOGNIZE THE PRESENCE OF DEMONS
In Unbelievers:
Many unsaved people in our day have become demonized through direct involvement in the sins those demons promote. Likely indicators of the presence of demons in a person’s life include the following: sexual addictions, substance addictions, occult involvement, fascination with death, horror, and similar themes, disregard or disdain for decency, and destructiveness toward others or self, crippling levels of hoarding, fixations, hearing voices, unreasonable fears, etc. All of these are indications of probable demon activity.
In Places:
Indicators of demonic strongholds include homes, buildings, or lots where supernatural things happen, such as stuff moving by itself, appearances of “ghosts”, or sounds which seem to have no cause. These places are likely to need to be cleansed of demons. Places where mature people feel unreasonable fear and dread are probably also in need of cleansing from demons which are lurking there.
Hindering Believers:
Believers who can’t break free from some sin and/or addiction even though they wish to do so, may need to be delivered from demonic influence. Smoking is one example of this type of addiction. Many who have been free of smoking for months, go back to it in some high stress moment and then find the addiction to be stronger and worse than in the past. The chemistry hasn’t changed, but something has. The same can be true of sexual problems or of unreasonable fears. These strong bondages are likely to be demonic, not just a matter of brain chemical balance. Severe mood swings, irrational anger, and turning against others can be signs of demon activity also.
When problems such as these are present and persistent, repentance is certainly needed as a first step to break free of such sins, but strong action directly against harassing demons may also be necessary. Additionally, there may indeed be issues of an organic and/or internal chemical nature causing bizarre thinking or behavior in people. Accurate understanding of what is going on is needed. Diagnosis is not simply a matter of following formulas.
AVOIDING DEMONIC INFLUENCE
As a believer in Jesus Christ, it is important for you to avoid certain things in order to walk free from demons. Some of these are internal, thought life pitfalls. Believers in the Lord are commanded to forgive as the Lord has forgiven us. We do not have an option of harboring hatred toward those who have hurt us. (Matthew 18:21-35) Similarly, we are told to think (dwell) on good things and not allow our minds to dwell on evil things. (Philippians 4:8) Extended self-pity over time is another open door to demon inspired reasoning.
Externally, there are many things in the world system which we need to say no to. If we spend time taking in these things, they will tend to corrupt us, and in some cases these things are demonically powered and move people toward demonization. Here is a listing of a few such things.
1. Occult related “entertainment”
-Stephen King books and movies and many other similar ones. Books and items which glorify or claim to be magic(al), empowered by witchcraft or wizardry, charms or other objects which supposedly have supernatural powers. Also avoid children’s books and cartoons which glorify any of these practices and/or objects.
-TV Shows and movies which feature spells, witchcraft, wizardry, or other supernatural practices which God has forbidden. (These practices are demonic. They are, in fact, counterfeits of the gifts and supernatural empowerment of the Holy Spirit.)
-Ouija boards, Dungeons & Dragons games, Tarot cards, Horoscopes, video games which feature sorcery, séances, communicating with “spirit guides”, practicing any of these “magic” arts. These too, are counterfeits of spiritual gifts.
-Music and videos by people who practice any of the above, or worse, who are “Satanists”.
2. Do not take in pornography in any form. It is both addictive and progressive.
- Don’t dress or act in a sexually provocative manner.
- If you are married, do not become emotionally involved with a man or woman who is not your spouse. Sin is crouching at the door! It seems good, but is evil.
- Do not engage in premarital sex, unmarried co-habitation, or extramarital sex.
- Don’t give place to temptation. Avoid situations that lead to sexual temptation.
- Do not engage in homosexual sex practices of any sort.
3. Music, videos, movies, TV, books, internet sites, games, and magazines which promote ungodly values, especially those which glorify lawlessness, denigrate authority, promote illicit sex, degrade people (women, parents, people of a certain race, etc), promote murder, torture, suicide, etc.
4. Don’t be a “fan” of musicians and entertainers, including sports personalities, who live blatantly sinful lives. (They are not heroes!)
5. Have nothing to do with abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, physician assisted suicide. These are each a part of the culture of death.
6. Regarding substances:
- Do not “do illegal drugs”. Do not abuse legal substances (such as glue sniffing or overdosing on pain medicines).
- Do not smoke.
- Do not drink to any excess at all. Many people need to not drink a drop of alcoholic beverages.
- Do not let food dominate your thinking so that you overeat, habitually eat for emotional comfort, starve yourself, or abuse your digestive tract through anorexia nervosa or bulimia.
7. Do not cling to what seem to be “your rights” to remain angry with people over time, to withhold forgiveness, or to have various forms of relational selfishness enthroned within you.
The point here is simply this: Don’t give the devil a foothold in your life! All of the above activities and choices are known to open the door to demons at one level or another. As believers in Jesus Christ, we are called to walk close to the Lord and far from these things.
Instead seek the Lord’s will for your life. Share the good news of the Gospel with others, and if you need help breaking free from some addictions, contact us please and we will help you if you really desire to break free.
OFFENSIVE STRATEGIC SPIRITUAL WARFARE
(LEVEL 3 OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE)
Most of what I have written is to help you to win against sin in your own thought life and motives. In other words, it has been "defense". Another major dimension of life in the Lord is "offence", perhaps best described as "the taking of new ground outside of oneself for the kingdom of Heaven". There are many books out on this subject today, so I will just mention here that it is the will of the Lord that every believer grow in his/her thought life and prayer life to the place of really caring about and praying for others, and acting on those prayers as God directs. "Others" includes people we know and family members. It also includes strangers, neighborhoods, towns, churches, other ministries, national leaders, and even multi-nation regions.
An important part of the offensive dimension of spiritual warfare includes getting involved in covering the elders, teachers, and other leaders of your church in protective prayer. This is because they are on the front lines of preaching, teaching classes and declaring God’s truth in your community. They are special targets of the Devil’s forces.
Serious prayer in support of those people who are laboring in the Gospel in far off corners of the world is also a part of this dimension of spiritual warfare. Prayer which is sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and whatever he may be speaking to you about, is the major starting point for this kind of battle. Once the Holy Spirit gives you a burden to pray about something, it does not matter whether that situation is around the corner, in your own home, or on the other side of the world. You can pray about it with confidence in the Lord’s ability to intervene and bring about something good.
God has often directed people to go to a certain place to pray for that spot, town, country, etc. This is prayer journeying or, more locally, prayer walking. The histories of many moves of God around the World reveal many instances of God directing believers to pray “on site” about various things which needed to happen in order for the Kingdom of Heaven to advance locally or regionally, and for people to be blessed in many ways, such as being set free from politically imposed atheism in their nations.
There are many dimensions to offensive spiritual warfare. The prayer of agreement, with dozens or thousands of other believers concerning situations the Lord is leading in prayer about, is a powerful boost. There is also much more that I cannot even touch on here. As I mentioned earlier, there are great books on this and many historical pieces you may research.
We are living in a time of highly organized offensive prayer movements in various places around the planet. After the fall of the old Soviet Union, many stories came out of secret prayer journeys, even to Lenin’s tomb and other places of false worship within the Communist World of that time. Thousands of believers were also standing in agreement around the World, and praying with their understanding and in the spirit, while also proclaiming the Lordship of Jesus Christ over all the Earth. This increased greatly throughout the 1980s. Then, when the old Soviet order collapsed, the Gospel of Jesus Christ spread mightily in Russia and many former East-Block lands, and many millions came to saving faith in Jesus Christ over the next few years from about 1989-1997.
If you are interested in developing in prayer ministry to a strategic level that deals with whole nations and blocks of nations, as well as whole false and true belief movements within nations, there are resources available today to help you, and put you in touch with key people for effective networking. I’ll not attempt that here.
I have written out a sample prayer you can use if you wish. This is just a suggestion to help you move ahead in the matter of Spiritual Warfare
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A PRAYER CONCERNING THIS WARFARE
Heavenly Father;
You look on us and know that in our flesh we can do nothing, but we thank you that with you, we can do all things. Teach us your ways. May we abide in your victory. May we do your will, even when it seems scary to do so. May the Devil never be able to fool us into thinking that God's will is something frightful when it is actually something glorious! Thank you Lord! Give us courage. Give us perseverance. Give all those good things to each one of us by your Holy Spirit. Lead us in the paths of righteousness for your name’s sake. Bind us together with other believers in the Lord. Multiply our effectiveness in You!
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
SPECIAL NOTE
This document is only an introduction. It is not intended to thoroughly equip anyone in the arena of spiritual warfare. The office and library at Hosanna Church have materials available which can equip you in this area if you apply the teachings in them carefully under the lordship of Jesus Christ. You can contact us at:
HOSANNA CHURCH
109 SCHOOLHOUSE ROAD
OXFORD, ME 04270-3113
(207) 539-2295
