We know the Bible talks about spiritual warfare
We have seen it in the Bible,
when God sent His angels to fight for the people
When Daniel was fasting, Michael, the archangel, told Daniel
he had to fight for several days to get through to him, to bring God’s answer
Daniel’s job was to fast and pray
Michael did the battling
And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold,
the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
2 Kings 6:17
Elisha understood the spiritual world
He also understood that God was much more powerful
than anything the enemy could come up with
Lifting up Jesus is a very important part of spiritual warfare
Fighting the devil is not profitable without elevating the Lord
Because if we are doing things in our own might, we will fail
We always need Jesus in the battle with us, after all, it’s His battle, ultimately
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal,
but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing
that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God,
and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Casting down imaginations is mentioned here,
because often, the battle takes place in our mind,
in our ability or inability to humble ourselves before God’s word,
we might think more highly of ourselves than we ought
Have you ever tried to gauge yourself and check your thoughts?
You may find many that are exalting themselves against the Lord or His word
When Jesus cast out a demon:
And when He was come into the house, His disciples asked him privately,
Why could not we cast him out?
And He said unto them,
This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting. Mark 9:28-29
Learn your weapons
They may not be as they seem
When Satan was tempting Jesus in Luke 4 with all the riches of the world
Jesus also didn’t waste much time arguing with the devil:
And Jesus answered and said unto him,
Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. Luke 4:8
Michael, the archangel, similarly resisted Satan:
Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil
he disputed about the body of Moses,
durst not bring against him a railing accusation,
but said, The Lord rebuke thee. Jude 1:22
Be armored up, meaning, be walking in the spiritual truths
that are listed in Ephesians 6
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness,
and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. v 12
The Belt of Truth
The Breastplate of Righteousness v 14
The Gospel of Peace v 15
The Shield of Faith v 16
The Helmet of Salvation
The Sword of the Spirit, the word of God v 17
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 1 Peter 5:8
He’s always watching, waiting for a breach in each of us
Remain under the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus:
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2
Keep your nose clean before the Lord as any sin we entertain will grip us
Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
Neither give place to the devil. Ephesians 4:27
It is up to us to continue to repent and bring any sin before the Lord
as He will continue to cleanse us and give us the strength that we need
Hiding sin will get you nowhere
Then, you’ll be battling the devil on your own, and that won’t work
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:7
Jesus is always there for us:
Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Matthew 11:28-29
Scriptural References:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
Put on the full armor of God,
so that you can make 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 world’s darkness,
and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground,
and having done everything, to stand.
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist,
with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed,
and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace.
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God.
Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition.
To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.
Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth,
words may be given me
so that I will boldly make known the mystery of the gospel,
for which I am an ambassador in chains.
Pray that I may proclaim it fearlessly, as I should.
Ephesians 6:10-20