Front Page 

        

Introduction

We now move on to the 3rd page about how we actually go about fighting in the spiritual world.  These four pages will cover Our Position, Our Protection, our Weapons, and Spirit-led Prayer

On this page we continue by considering Our Weapons.

1. What we fight against

Consider 2 Cor 10:3-5

There the apostle, Paul,  says that we fight in a different way to the way the material world does. The things we fight with in the spiritual world have power to destroy spiritual strongholds, demolishing arguments against God and instead take every thought captive to come in line with God's will.

Question:   What does Paul obviously consider the fight is against?

Answer: Thoughts

Question: And where does the battle obviously take place?

Answer: In our minds.

NB. We do not use the weapons the world would use, e.g. criticism, deceit, deviousness, scheming, cunning etc. but we are to use the weapons that God gives us.

   

2. The Weapons we use

2.1 Righteousness

2 Cor 6:7

•  This verse speaks of "weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left."

•  A warrior had a sword in one hand and a shield in the other.

•  In other words, Paul is saying "use righteousness as both a defensive tool and an attacking weapon!"

Question: So what is righteousness?

Answer: It is the declaration by God that in Christ you have been made good in His sight, and from now on you are living God's way (led by God's Spirit and following God's laws).

Question: So how do we "use" righteousness defensively?

Answer: When the enemy attacks with his lies, seeking to create doubt or uncertainty in us, questioning us or even accusing us - "You're a failure, you're a mess, call yourself a Christian!" - we reply with the truth - "I am accepted by God because of what Christ has done for me, and He is changing me into His likeness, but it is taking time, but we're working on it together!"  In other words, you don't let him put you down!

Question: So how do we "use" righteousness to attack.

Answer: When all others around you are acting unrighteously, you continue to act righteously. Your righteous acts will act as light, and darkness has to flee before light (Mt 5:16).  Or as it says in Rom 12:21b, we are to overcome evil by being and doing good.

In other words, we are to first to overcome wrong by doing what is right!   i.e. our righteous acts, blessed by God, will bring down other people's wrongs.

We need to determine in our mind that we will only act righteously.

2.2 Prayer

Eph 6:18

When we pray as the Lord leads us, we will be praying out the Lord's will and we will be opening the way for Him to change things and overcome the enemy.

We'll consider the whole subject of Spirit-led pray in the fourth of these pages.

2.3 The Sword = the word of God

Eph 6:17

This means that as the Holy Spirit places His word in your mind in any particular situation and we apply it (believe it and speak it out), He applies it with power to change that person or situation.

That word may be:

•  a remembrance of specific Scripture verses that apply, or

•  a prophetic word of instruction or declaration, or

•  a word of wisdom, to know how to proceed, or

•  a word of knowledge, opening up the situation.

Depending on the way the Holy Spirit leads us we may:

•  PROCLAIM the truth to set free ( Jn 8:32 )

  •  this often releases faith and action

•  TESTIFY to the truth of the situation (see Rev 12:11 )

  •  this overcomes the lies of the enemy

•  COMMAND something to happen (see Mt 21:21 )

  •  giving instructions by faith as led by the Spirit to remove an obstacle

•  BIND the enemy (see Mt 18:18 )

  •  we declare on earth what has been decreed in heaven

•  LOOSE people or situations (see Mt 18:18)

  •  we release people who have been bound up by the enemy

•  PRONOUNCE the name of Jesus into a situation (“in Jesus name”)

  •  we speak as Jesus into the situation

  

   

3. The Act and the Effect

•  Remember, these things we do as we learn to let the Holy Spirit lead us by putting these things into our minds at the appropriate moments.

•  In each case it is the WORD OF GOD, from God for us at that moment, imparted by the Spirit TO HAVE EFFECT.

•  When we speak out the word BY FAITH in response to the Spirit's prompting, we may expect things to change in the heavenly realm, which in turn will change things here on earth.

•  Remember, it is AS WE ARE LEAD BY THE SPIRIT that these words are released in us so that we may release them OUT LOUD, either to PRAY or to PROCLAIM.

•  It is speaking them out that is the act of faith on our behalf which enables the Lord to bring change. In this way our words act as weapons of the Spirit and the enemy is defeated.