Spiritual Warfare 101

Spiritual Warfare 101
Ephesians 6:11-12 (NKJV)
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 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.

I recently has a close friend who really did something mean and hurtful to me. It hurt very much and I was angry as well as hurt. I was reminded of these verses in Ephesians, so I told myself “My battle is not with my friend but with spiritual forces”. “I need to come against and bind these wicked spirits that are influencing my friend and causing him to act this way”. As I began to pray, I suddenly had a new thought that came into my mind. I know it was Holy Spirit speaking to me, but this is how He spoke to me, a sudden and different change of thought. “Instead of binding the spirit governing him, why not bind the spirit governing you?” I asked “What do you mean?” He said to me, “You are the one hurt, you are the one offended, you are the one angry. This is a spirit influencing your thinking to cause you to be hurt, offended and angry.” All of a sudden a light went off inside me. I saw it. No wonder I have struggled so long doing spiritual warfare with intermittent success. I was trying to control someone else instead of using self-control. I decided I would begin to use this weapon that God has given me, also known as a fruit of the spirit.

I get it. Spiritual Warfare is about me using the weapons of the Word of God, fruit of the spirit and prayer to combat the forces that are trying to influence me. These forces or spirits try to influence me to get angry, hold grudges, be resentful, unforgiving, get hurt, feel lonely and hopeless. These are not God’s fruit but they affect me. Then I saw something I had not seen before in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. In chapter 6 he begins summarizing and giving some ways to achieve what he just outlined in chapters 4 & 5. ““How to “put off the old man and put on the new””. And he follows that up with how to view things after you have done so. This is about me warring against the spirits that are trying to influence me, not everyone else. You will notice in verse 11, he says that YOU may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Not as many of us have been taught that you can stand against the spirits influencing someone else.
Ephesians 6:10-18 (NKJV)
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 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.
13 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.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints–

So now instead of praying that God will change someone else, or that the spirits will stop influencing someone else, I pray that God will help me see what I can do to change the way I am thinking. To help me forgive and walk in love so that I don’t hold grudges or resentments and bind the spirits that are trying to influence me to be hurtful, angry, resentful. When I bind them I am doing true biblical spiritual warfare and using self control.