Spiritual Warfare: A Practical Guide - Part 3

Spiritual Warfare: A Practical Guide - Part 3

In our last part on Spiritual warfare, we took an in depth look at the full armor of God and how to apply it daily. Below is a bonus thought to add even more fuel to your fire for God.

Praise & Worship

The Bible teaches us that the devil is “a roaring lion, roaming around, seeking whom he may devour”. This is a daily thing. Especially if you want to be effective for God’s kingdom, you will have daily resistance, which is why putting on this armor daily is so important. 

In addition to putting on the armor, the following will aid in success against the enemy.

    I recently had dinner with a group of amazing women and picked their brains about what they do daily to stay close to God in the midst of their busyness. What was their daily training? 

Full time mom of three, single mother working more than full time, recent empty nester working full time, and a full time working mother of two college kids and two toddlers.
What do they do daily to connect with God when they didn’t have extra time to spend in long prayers or studying the Bible? 

The answer I got from almost all of them was Worship.

I would define Worship as the giving of our entire self, our thoughts and our emotions, to God's use. All of our life is an act of submission, an act of worship. Our service to God is not centered on a time or a temple, but is done whenever and wherever we are, because we are the temple of God.

There are times we just don’t want to pray. We just don’t feel like it. In the busyness of chasing kids around, cooking, cleaning, laundry, and our corporate job, we’re tired, stressed, drained, and empty. 

So... what? 

So... worship.

These women agreed that in just sitting down with worship music and allowing themselves to get lost in that time with God, even if it’s just for a few minutes, they were allowing God to refill them. They were reconnecting with God. 

In that time of quiet or singing, or even just sighing from the heaviness of life, these women offered themselves to that intimate time with God. They opened up themselves and poured out to God and allowed Him to fill them. 

In that time, Holy Spirit was able to build their faith and discernment, both of which are absolutely needed in spiritual warfare. 

Jesus said “come to me, all who are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” (Matt 11:28-30). 

In battle, in struggle, there needs to be a time of rest and recuperation. And that’s what we find when we dedicate time to worship God, even though we don’t feel like it, we reap the benefits of bringing a sacrifice of our time and attention to the creator of the universe, not because of us, but because He deserves it and He in turn gives us rest and refreshes us for another day.
So when you find yourself in spiritual warfare or even in the hectic day to day, when you find yourself being attacked by the enemy, when you feel beat down, overwhelmed, and scared; get alone. 

Get somewhere void of distractions, play worship music, or don’t, just open up your heart and tell God you miss Him. Tell Him you need Him. Ask Him to surround you with His presence, which of course He will, and then just bask. Take pleasure in your alone time with Him. 

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.

    Praise is also an effective tool against the enemy and goes hand in hand with worship.

I would define praise as more of a vocal proclamation of the truth of who God is. 

Our praise is to shut down the enemy by our reminding them of who our God is and what’s He’s capable of. 

We vocally speak into our situations the promise of who God is and what He promises to do in us and for us.
Praise imposes silence on the enemy. When we praise, we declare the character of God and not only does that change us and remind us, but it reminds the enemy who God is and they cannot argue against the goodness and power of God.

The devil hates when we praise. It’s like nails on a chalkboard to him. He cannot argue with us about God’s goodness and power, so it silences him. 

Also, our praise sends confusion into the enemy’s camp. 

Our praise proclaims the truth of who the One True God is. It aligns us with the Trinity and empowers us towards victory. You may not ‘feel’ anything while you praise and worship, but trust me, ripples are sent through the spirit realm when you purposefully declare the character and promises of God.
The ordained strength of God’s people is perfected praise-that silences the devil.

The reason to use praise and worship as a weapon is that it drives Satan away. Psalm 22:3 tells us that God inhabits the praises of His people. That means that when you praise and worship God, you invite His presence into the room and into your circumstances. And when God is present, Satan has no choice but to flee.     

Don’t forget either that Heaven is a kingdom of continuous praise and worship. So when you worship God, you’re extending His heavenly kingdom to your place on Earth. Satan obviously doesn’t want any part of that.

Worship and praise also change your focus. We stop with the I, I, I, and me, me, me in our prayer life and our ‘woe is me’ mentality, and we turn our focus onto God. Phil 4:8 tells us to focus on what is good, what is pure, what is honest, etc. and who is more good, pure, and honest than the God we serve? 

Praise and worship help us to re-focus on the light and get our minds out of the darkness.

Finally, praise and worship changes those around you. A powerful example of this truth in Acts 16, where Paul and Silas were imprisoned for preaching God’s word. 

Verses 25-26 note, “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.”

How many of you are praying for your family? Even those under the same roof as you? 

Praise and worship changes the atmosphere in your home, driving out the enemy. And even briefly, extending that peace to those around you. 

Because of Paul and Silas’ worship, ‘everyone’s chains came loose’. 

If we can apply that to here and now, by your habitual praise and worship, those around you can experience a loosening of their chains too. A lifting of their burdens and in that, can be a mighty testimony for them to reflect on. 

This can also have affect in your office. You can invite God’s presence into your cubicle or your office, it changes the atmosphere, and even though your coworkers may not hear your words or songs, they’ll feel a shift in the atmosphere and I can tell you, they’ll feel lighter around you. 

That’s a good way to draw people to Jesus and limit the devil’s opportunity to cause trouble where you are.

In Summation:

We are in a constant spiritual battle that we cannot see so we need to put on our armor daily with the expectation that the devil is scheming and prowling around looking for whom he can devour. 

The Bible tells us time and time again to be ready, stand guard, be vigilant. 

Staying close to God, putting on this armor, and practicing praise and worship encourages God’s plans and purposes, and it cripples the enemy’s schemes in our lives and in the lives of those around us. 

Praying and studying our Bible to prepare for spiritual warfare and making all the mentioned common themes habits in your life keeps us in the fight and ahead of the devil. 

We are not to be passive in this world and in our warfare. We are called to be warriors for Christ, we are called to His army, (2 Tim 2:3) and if we don’t fight for ourselves and the people around us, if we don’t fight for our cities and our country, then we are essentially aligning ourselves with the devil’s desires to thwart God’s plans and purposes. 

We need to stand against the schemes of the enemy as the Bible commands us and align with God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit and we’ll begin to see how God can work in and through us to bring those around us to His goodness and mercy.

Let me know what you think of the 3 part series. I'd love comments, feedback, anything!