How can you prepare for spiritual warfare?

Last week, we learned that we are in a spiritual war, and that we must be prepared for the war. The Scripture below tells us how we can prepare ourselves to engage in the combat:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

Ephesians 6:10-18 NKJV

The Scripture above gives us 10 strategies for preparing ourselves for spiritual warfare:

1. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might and put on the whole armour of God:

To be strong in The Lord means that you recognise your strength does not come from you but it comes from God:

The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him

Psalm 28:7

2. Stand having girded your waist with truth

The first part of the armour is the belt of truth. To wear the belt of truth means to equip yourself with the knowledge of the truth and we know that Jesus Christ who is also the Word of God is truth (John 17:17). We must know Jesus as the truth and that truth will set us free (John 8:32):

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”

John 14:6

3. Put on the breastplate of righteousness

The breastplate protects the chest right down to the hip. Righteousness is living right with God. When you wear the protection of right living on your chest it will protect your heart and its emotions from the attacks of the enemy. You can only live right with God when you are clothed with His righteousness which we obtain through the blood of Jesus Christ:

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him

2 Corinthians 5:21

4. Have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace

The feet is an important but often neglected part of the body. A soldier must be able to stand in order to wage a good warfare. The Lord wants you to wear the Good News of peace to help you stand strong:

And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:

“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

Romans 10:15

5. Above all take the shield of faith

The shield is large and is shaped like a door. It was large enough to provide full protection from attack. The shield of faith then protects the whole believer and covers the whole person in spiritual warfare.

The reason it says ‘above all’ is that faith is one weapon a Christian cannot do without in this battle to reach our promised land. We must take it everywhere we go because we never know when it will be needed, and it is faith that extinguishes or takes the fire out of the missals of the enemy (Ephesians 6:16).

Faith is confidence in God and without faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6).

6. Take the helmet of salvation

A helmet is a protective gear that protects your head in battle. The Lord here is telling us that we need to be assured of our salvation in Him. This assurance will protect our minds when the enemy comes in with all his accusations and discouragement. In the day of battle you need to have the assurance that The Lord is The One who will save you:

O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle

Psalm 140:7

7. Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God

The sword of the Spirit which is the word of God is the only offensive weapon in the armour of God. In Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness it is the Word of God that He used to overpower satan. You use the Word of God offensively when you confess it to whatever situations you are facing. The Word of God is sharp and it will cut from the roots any plant (i.e. sickness, discouragement, pride, poverty etc.) that the Father has not planted (Matthew 15:13):

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

8. Pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit

The Bible says we should pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). To pray in The Spirit is to pray the heart and mind of God. His heart and mind can be found in the Bible and when you pray in tongues you are also praying in the Spirit:

For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries

1 Corinthians 14:2

9. Be watchful to the end

We are given a charge to be watchful. A soldier on the battlefront knows that he or she cannot afford to sleep or slumber because the enemy could attack at any time. Likewise as Soldiers in the army of God we are charged to be watchful and not to sleep because we do not know when our Lord is coming (Matthew 24:42) however we are also warned to be sober and vigilant because we have an enemy who prowls around like a lion seeking someone to destroy:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour

1 Peter 5:8

10. Persevere and make supplication for all saints

The final charge is that we must be patient or persevere and make supplication for all saints. We are told to persevere because the race is not for the swift (Ecclesiastes 9:11) but it takes endurance (2 Timothy 2:12).

Just to recap, this is how we can prepare for war:

1. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might and put on the whole armour of God
2. Stand having girded your waist with truth
3. Put on the breastplate of righteousness
4. Have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace
5. Above all take the shield of faith
6. Take the helmet of salvation
7. Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God
8. Pray always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit
9. Be watchful to the end
10. Persevere and make supplication for all saints.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, I thank You for Your Word. Please help me to daily put on the whole armour of God that I may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. I stand therefore, having girded my waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod my feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which I will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And I take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints in Jesus name, amen.

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Are You Prepared for War?

The men from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh obeyed Moses. These men crossed the river in front of the other people. These men were prepared for war. They were going to help the rest of the Israelites take the land God had promised to give them. About 40,000 soldiers, prepared for war, passed before the Lord. They were marching toward the plains of Jericho.

Joshua 4:12-13

In this story we are told that the children of Israel were about to cross the river Jordan to go into Jericho, to take the first city that God had promised them.

Even though the men from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh had already secured their land on the other side of the river, they did not just sit and wait for their brothers to capture their promised land alone. Instead these men were prepared for war.

As Christians, we also have a promised land ahead of us that we have to reach. Our promised land is not made by human hands, for its architect and builder is God Himself (Hebrews 11:10); it is the New Jerusalem which is coming from heaven down to earth:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had disappeared. Now there was no sea. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It was prepared like a bride dressed for her husband.

I heard a loud voice from the throne. It said, “Now God’s home is with people. He will live with them. They will be his people. God Himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, sadness, crying, or pain. All the old ways are gone.”

Revelation 21:1-4

This New Jerusalem, just like the promised land of old, is not easy to attain, we also must be prepared for war in order to reach it. Just like the children of Israel had to destroy the inhabitants of the land before they could possess their land, we too have spiritual giants that we must destroy in order to possess our promised land.

However unlike the Children of Israel who fought a physical fight using natural weapons with their enemies, the Bible tells us that our fight is not against human beings but spiritual forces:

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places

Ephesians 6:12

What Does It Mean To Be Prepared?

To be prepared is to be ready “standing by,” ready to meet the opportunity (challenge) at hand; ready because the necessary preparations are done (or are sure to happen as needed).

What Is The War About?

War is a conflict between opposing forces.

You will see from the scripture we are about to read that the war is between God and Satan, and the war started in heaven however it has moved down to earth and we human beings are caught in it, whether we like it or not:

And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,

but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”

Revelation 12:7-12

So, the forces involved in this war are:

1. Two Kingdoms – the Kingdom of God with Jesus Christ as its King and the kingdom of darkness with the great dragon, that old serpent called the Devil and Satan as its king.
2. Two opposing Angels – Michael, the Archangel and his angels and Satan and his angels.
3. The battlefield – the war started in heaven however the battlefield is now the earth and people in the earth.
4. Battle strategy – Satan is out to deceive as many human beings as he can so that he can drag them down to hell. He continually accuses the children of God day and night. Satan’s strategy is to steal, kill and destroy but Jesus has come that we may have life in its fullness:

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly

John 10:10

God in His love has provided salvation, strength, Kingdom of God and the power of His Christ to all humanity who choose to believe in Jesus Christ His Son:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

How Do We Overcome Satan?

We overcome him by:

1. The Blood of The Lamb – we apply the blood of Jesus Christ when we accept that we are sinners and ask Him to forgive us and wash us clean with His blood. When we accept Him He becomes our sacrificial lamb (Hebrews 10:10).
2. The Word of our testimony – we testify when we confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead (Romans 10:9).
3. We do not love our lives to the death – this means that we will be willing to lay down our lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are also encouraged to die daily to our flesh or natural desires (1 Corinthians 15:31).

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

Matthew 16:25

Next week we’ll be looking at how you can prepare for war.

Prayer:

Dear Lord please help me to be prepared for war as the men from the tribe of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh. Please help me to always be ready to fight the good fight of faith and lay hold on eternal life, in Jesus name.

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Do you know God’s purpose for your life? If not, please download your free book: How to Discover Your Life’s Purpose Through Dreams