I know we talk a lot about spiritual warfare and arming yourself with scripture, but not everyone knows what that means. I didn’t. Until recently.
I’m going to explain the spiritual war I recently experienced, in hopes that it will help others understand what this means.
In order to understand spiritual warfare, there are five steps to the whole thing.
First, you have to be able to recognize God. You have to know His ways and know His voice when He talks to you. It is different for each person, but if it lines up with scripture and is holy, it is probably God. I also feel it in my heart, when He is talking to me. That is how I know when it is God.
Second, you have to recognize Satan. If you don’t know the difference between right and wrong, then you’ll never understand a war.
Third, you need to arm yourself. Clearly, you can not go into a spiritual war zone with physical swords and armor. But, as Bev always says, your Bible is your Sword. And God is your armor. By knowing the word of God and being readily equipped with it, you are ready for war.
Fourth, fight. You are ready now. You have recognized God, you have acknowledged the wrong, and you have trained and equipped yourself for war. Make sure as you fight through this battle, you are strong with God. Do not doubt the abilities of your God.
2 Chronicles 15:2
“...the Lord is with you when you are with Him…”
Fifth, recognize the victory. Think about the war. If God won, congratulations! This is a victory for you, too! If this battle went to the enemy, the war is not over. It is time to be still and reconnect with God.
Now that you know these steps, here is my experience.
I was talking with a friend of mine and I said that my faith is everything. Without my faith, I have nothing. (Without God, we have nothing.)
This is step one.
He countered my comment with that it is okay to have Faith, but that it doesn’t have to be my everything. There are still things aside from Faith.
This is step two.
After a few texts of going back and forth stating that my faith is number one and the most important thing I have, I felt a wave rush over me. I recognized it as God preparing me for war.
With my Bible as my sword, God equipped me with the verse Matthew 16:23.
“Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.’”
Very quickly after this I felt Satan’s argument diminish. As he fled from my friend, I realised God’s victory. My victory. And it was amazing.
“You are the only King forever. Almighty God we lift you higher. You are the only King forever. Forevermore, you are victorious.”