Spiritual Warfare Basics
9-26-16
Holy Spirit Wind
https://youtu.be/8qy36Lj8jYU
I know that some of your eyes gloss over when you read anything about spiritual warfare.
There have been a lot people say and write a lot of crazy things concerning spiritual warfare. I know this because I have heard them and read them myself. The enemy loves to confuse the followers of Jesus concerning spiritual warfare because when done right it is very powerful against Satan’s kingdom.
But the fact remains whether you know it or not or acknowledge it at all you are in a spiritual war.
Ignorance is not bliss especially when it comes to spiritual matters. Hosea 4:6 says ” My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
Eph 6:10-13 says “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.”
I would like you to notice a few things. Paul doesn’t say IF we wrestle and we are not wrestling with earthly beings we are in a spiritual conflict with the forces of darkness. These evil spirits and fallen angels have a hierarchy just like our Father’s kingdom. Remember Satan has no ideas of his own, he copies and counterfeits everything Father God does. Also notice that you must exert some effort on your part to withstand in the evil day and against the wiles of the devil but the Lord gives us the power Holy Spirit and that is the only way that we can put on the armor of God. If we have His Holy Spirit we have power. Acts 1:8 says “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” The Holy Spirit gives us the power to be led by God and not by our flesh.
Romans 8: 12-17 says “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” I will add here that the suffering spoke of here is in the flesh not in our spirit.
You are either on one side or the other in this war there is no middle, or neutral ground 1 Peter 2:9 says “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light”
I have found that in my walk with Jesus that the easiest way to put my spiritual armor on is to simply begin to worship the Lord with music and singing. I have found that is very beneficial to start every morning with praise, worship and prayer. It sets the tone for the rest of your day, if you start it out in the Spirit. Lam 3:22-23 says “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
The word “Judah” in Hebrew means “praise.” When the children of Israel went into battle against that supposedly impregnable city, Jericho, they sent the praise and worship teams first (priests blowing the trumpets) and the walls fell into the ground! Whenever the children of Israel moved their camp in the wilderness, they were to commence the move with the tribe of Judah going first (Numbers 2:9) Thus we can take their example and praise and worship the Lord first.
There are examples of praise and worship all through the Psalms too numerous to list here but an example is Psalm 150 “Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!”
As well as Eph 5:19, Col 3:16,and Acts 16:25 in the NT. When you worship the Lord in spirit and in truth ( John 4:24) His presence manifests Himself and becomes very real and tangible. There is nothing like it this world! For His manifest presence is heaven on earth. Isaiah 61:3 says “To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness” the spirit of heaviness is an evil spirit. One of my favorite songs that the gathering that I attend sings is “Holy Spirit”. The chorus of that song says “Holy Spirit, You are welcome here. Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for. To be overcome by Your presence, Lord” His presence definitely changes the atmosphere!
Back in July the Holy Spirit spoke this to me early in the morning ” When the name of Jesus is spoken OUT LOUD, the Holy Spirit is released into the spiritual atmosphere, light and life are released and darkness and death FLEE!” The name of Jesus makes the demons flee and clear the spiritual air. Phil 2:9-11 says “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
I read a testimony of an ex satanist:
http://www.divinerevelations.info/how_satan_stops_our_prayers/ He said that in the heavenlies, in the spiritual realm, if the land is covered by a blanket of darkness, the blanket is so dense it is like solid rock. There is only one kind of prayer that can penetrate it. Like it says in James 5:16 “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Fervent means hot and fiery The fiery, hot prayer melts through the rock and you get what is called an “Open Heaven” and the glory of God comes down through it along with the answer to the prayer if we persist.
This why I believe it is a must to begin our spiritual warfare/prayers with praise and worship. Once you begin this practice you will begin to notice when the fire begins right away because you will be able to perceive the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit.
It is at this point that worship and prayer become easy and you can stay in this state for as long as you need to because you have “prayed through“. It is at this point that I usually run out of words in English and begin to speak, pray and in sing in the Spirit, my prayer language, which is also called tongues.
Praying and worshiping in the Spirit is so beautiful because it is perfect and does not involve our mind and thus cannot be hindered by the enemy. The adversary hates this prayer because he cannot understand it and can do nothing to stop it, unless he distracts us and we stop before we feel the “release” in the spirit.
It is also at this point when the Lord may speak to you something you need to do or message you need to write down. After a while of doing this day after day consistently you will learn to hear His voice and you will be able to distinguish His thoughts from your own.
Lastly I believe that a prayer of protection is essential in the days in which we live. I pray something like this at the beginning of the day and before I go to sleep at night.
Father I come before in the name of Jesus, I cover myself in His precious Blood and I repent of my sins and I ask you to take them far away from me and shut every open door that the enemy has in my life because of them. I pray You would surround me with a wall of Holy Spirit fire as shown in Your Word in Zech. 2:5. And I ask for a Hedge of Protection over me, my family, and everything that you have given me, like you surrounded Job with. Thank You Lord!
In the name of Jesus I cancel and break every curse, assignment, plot, plan, and scheme of the enemy and no weapon formed against me shall prosper.
In the Name of Jesus, I bind up every demonic attack that has been sent against me, my family, my household, my job and the ministry work that I do. I ask of you Lord to send your angels to take away any demons that have been sent against us to harm and hinder us in the mighty name of Jesus we command them to Go Now!
Thank you Father for the power and authority that you have given us in the name of Jesus!
Amen
PS – Some are asking questions about what kind of music is the best to use for worship. Music is largely an issue of personal taste. As long as you like it and you can enter into deep worship with it, that’s really all that matters. Here is an example of the kind of music that I listen to.
