BORN ON A BATTLEFIELD: 5 strategies for spiritual warfare

5 STRATEGIES TO HELP YOU WIN IN SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Have you ever heard that you were “born on a battlefield?” I know that might sound like CRAZY talk!

But hang with me for a bit…

As a Christian counselor (and having been a Christ-follower for many years), I have encountered many people who have various ideas and opinions on the subject of SPIRITUAL WARFARE.

You may be super familiar with it, or it may sound uber SPOOKY to you or even RIDICULOUS.  No matter what you have been taught or what you know about spiritual warfare it is very much a REALITY, because we see it in Scripture.

And it is not all bad.

Hang on…I’ll show you what I mean in just a minute.

So how did this warfare begin??? 

REWIND… all the way back to BEFORE Creation…before Adam & Eve…before the Garden of Eden, there was an angel in Heaven named Lucifer…a beautiful angel who was in charge of music and worship.

One day, Lucifer rebelled against the GOODNESS and authority of God.  Lucifer was THROWN OUT of Heaven and one third of the angels in Heaven followed him.  These angels became known as demons and other names.

But did you see that two-thirds of the angels did NOT rebel?  If you know your fractions, then you know there are WAY MORE angels than demons, evil powers, and rulers of the darkness.

Keep this is mind as we go forward…

Ephesians 6.12 says “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…”

This next thing is super important for you to know…

Ready??? Here it is…

As a believer and follower of Jesus Christ you have been purchased by His precious Blood and He has given you HIS authority.

But, make no mistake…this is NOT YOUR authority.

As a Christ-follower everything you do… when you eat, sleep, work, rest, even engaging in spiritual warfare…EVERYTHING needs to be under HIS authority.

Also, as Christians every aspect of life is to be navigated WITH HIM.  JESUS does not want us just running off to fight the enemy in His Name.  Any type of spiritual warfare MUST be done from a place of RELATIONSHIP WITH Jesus.  WITH HIM.  Let’s establish what “WITH HIM” looks like.

Here’s what that might look like…

Psalm 23…”The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.”  I love the way The Passion Translation reads…

“Yahweh (another name for God) is my best friend and my Shepherd.  I always have more than enough.

He offers a resting place for me in his luxurious love.

His tracks take me to an oasis of peace near the quiet brook of bliss.

That’s where he restores and revives my life.

He opens before me the right path and leads me along in his footsteps of righteousness so that I can bring honor to His name.”

Wow!  I love this imagery of being in perfect peace and rest AND friendship with our loving and merciful God.  This is our starting point…it’s from THIS PLACE of RELATIONSHIP that we can fight effectively. 

NOT screaming at demons or being frantic over a situation.

Anything… and I mean anything that does not look like RIGHTEOUSNESS and PERFECT PEACE AND JOY IS NOT OF GOD’S KINGDOM.

Keep that in mind!  That’s really important…because if it is chaotic and fearful or strained it’s from satan’s kingdom…NOT GOD’s.

It is also SUPER important that you know this…

Do you know the MAIN TARGET of the enemy…in other words…what is his main focus of attack ???

…YOUR MIND!!!

2 Corinthians 10 says “the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this (physical) world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

What is a STRONGHOLD???

It’s a LIE spoken to your mind that has been told to you by satan and you have agreed with this lie in some way EVEN IF YOU ONLY AGREED WITH IT IN YOUR HEART or mind.

This LIE is heavily fortified OVER and OVER; a LIE that you believed that somehow makes you feel safe; the lie brings your heart a FALSE SECURITY.

This scripture goes on to say “…we take EVERY THOUGHT captive and make it obedient to Christ.”  This means we must line up every thought to the goodness and righteousness of God.  If the thought opposes Christ, then it has to change or leave.

I don’t know about you, but I have definitely experienced this!!!

Satan has spoken a lie to my mind that sounds like MY thoughts.  He says it and repeats the lie at vulnerable times when I feel alone or sad.  In times past, I have come into agreement with him without even realizing it.  It goes something like this….

A friend or someone you thought you could trust betrays you in some way…or something happens that brings a lot of EMOTIONAL HURT.  You are so shocked and even “crushed.”

You hear a thought in your mind say something like…”Oh wow! I can not trust them, in fact, I can’t trust ANYONE!”  You decide that is true in your mind which is AGREEMENT with satan.

Boom! 

Agreement is VERY powerful!

The enemy has created a stronghold.  From then on, you live in a way that is guarded and distrusting and EVENTUALLY ALL OR MANY of your relationships begin to suffer.

Why?

Because an evil power of satan planted a thought in your mind at a VULNERABLE moment and you agreed with him.

Believe me…I am not throwing any condemnation your way.  I have done it too without even realizing it.

The enemy is subtle.  He presents these lies as our own thoughts during a very disappointing or hurtful event.

This is one type of spiritual warfare that is waged against you, and you can bet on it that some evil power was involved.

OKAY here’s the GOOD news!

Remember the two-thirds of ANGELS that did not reject God and His goodness?

Yeah, well they are fighting FOR YOU!  Yep that’s right!  In fact as a Christian their protection over your life is actually a part of YOUR INHERITANCE.

Look at this…

Hebrews 1 says that angels are “ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who will inherit salvation.”  If you’re a Christ-follower, this is YOU!!!

Also, Psalms 91 tells us that the angels “take us up in their hands to protect us so we won’t even dash our foot against a stone.”

There are so many places in scripture that we can learn more about angels.

Angels are FOR YOU and want to HELP YOU and to PROTECT YOU from every evil attack!  They are God’s warriors and servants.

Okay... now onto the strategies…

Here are 5 GREAT but SIMPLE strategies to overcome in spiritual warfare:

STRATEGY #1

Remember to lean in to the HEART of GOD and what GOD’s WORD SAYS ABOUT YOU!!!

He loves you infinitely more than you can imagine!  He thinks about you CONSTANTLY with thoughts of PERFECT, PURE LOVE.

GOD has HOPES and DREAMS to see YOU SUCCEED and ENJOY life as you walk with Him!  For more on this…read Psalm 139 (whole chapter…so good!) and Jeremiah 29.11.

This realization of what His Word says about His love for you will help guard your mind against the lies of the enemy that might try to convince you that God has rejected you or that He is mad at you.

This is simply a lie.

Those types of thoughts are one type of warfare that is being waged against you and God.

The MORE OF GOD’S WORD you have planted in your heart, the less you will be taken advantage of by satan during vulnerable times.

STRATEGY #2

If a painful memory from trauma or rejection keeps replaying in your mind, ask the Lord to show you where He was DURING THAT EVENT.

Allow Him to use your imagination (HE GAVE YOU YOUR IMAGINATION) to see Him there with you in that painful memory.

Ask Him what you need to know about this painful event.  What does His LOVING heart say about it?

Envision yourself letting the pain of that event flow out of your heart and into the Lord’s heart.

It’s why Jesus came to the earth…He came to “heal the brokenhearted.” (Is 61.1; Luke 4:17-18). This is what He said in the Temple as part of his declaration of what He had come to do.

Part of His primary mission to come to the earth was to heal your broken heart. All the brokenness you still carry from living in a fallen world...all the disappointment, rejection, betrayal, loss. ..Jesus came to pay for the legal right for us to be healed. He did this by paying with His blood. (Is. 53.4-5)

Consider letting Jesus take ALL of that pain. This is not a "one and done" kinda thing. You will probably need to do this many times throughout your life.

Remember... Jesus wants to take the brokenness in your soul. It is one of the main reasons that He came to the earth!

STRATEGY #3

When you are AFRAID (another type of warfare), use some of the scriptures that we already stated about the ministry of ANGELS over our lives.

Like this…”Lord, thank you for your angels that are always with me…protecting me and ministering peace to me.”

Read Psalms 91.  This is God’s promise of protection.  ( I particularly like how this chapter in Psalms is written in the NLT and TPT versions.)

STRATEGY #4

ARE YOU AWARE OF THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS given to you by GOD such as praying in an unknown language? Pray in that language and allow the Holy Spirit to pray through you. (Acts 2.1-5; I Corinthians 12.4-11; I Corinthians 14.1-5)

Remember to do it from a place of REST and CONFIDENCE.  A king REIGNS in CONFIDENCE NOT CHAOS. You are a KING under the King of kings, Jesus.

Pray in peace and confidence that the Lord hears your prayers. 

AND…the Bible says that since He hears us then we KNOW we have the answer to our prayers!  I absolutely LOVE the confidence in that statement. (I John 5:14-15)

STRATEGY #5

Ever had those days where you feel like EVERYONE is on your last nerve???

Like REALLY on YOUR. LAST. NERVE…???

I have been THERE!!!

You may be feeling really FRUSTRATED with life…in fact…with everyone!

Here’s a question for you…Are you tired or hungry? Have you been sleeping good?

Sometimes all we need is a good meal, a nap, or a few hours to ourselves to process and rest…and don’t forget to drink enough water too!   

In the Bible, Elijah the prophet had an emotionally and spiritually taxing season in his life.  He was exhausted and felt alone. He even told God to just kill him.

Oh wow!

God sent an ANGEL to make Elijah a good meal and then he took a LONG nap. I would imagine that the world looked much brighter to him after this.

When we are exhausted or malnourished…satan WILL try to take advantage of this opportunity!!

You can count on it!!

This seems so basic…but the enemy will take advantage of any time in our lives that we are in a weakened state.

Do your BEST to not let satan have that opportunity, or when you see it happening stop and take care of your needs.

OKAY…

So...I know I said 5 strategies, but I am going to throw in another one as a BONUS!

This is so practical and you’re probably going to think this is not super spiritual at all, but it really is.

Prepare to be underwhelmed…here it goes…

***BONUS strategy….

LOOK for places in YOUR life… your home, your room, your car, your office…places that you have control over…bring as much order and beauty to it as you can.

We all GET LAZY from time to time…I GET IT!

Or maybe no one ever showed you how to manage your spaces…I HEAR YOU.

…but try to keep it in order as much as possible AND make it a pleasant place to BE!

This is actually a BIG DEAL!!

Satan THRIVES IN CHAOS.  Just by bringing order to your space, wherever it is, you are TAKING DOMINION over what is YOURS.

This will give satan less opportunities to work against YOU through that space just because it is pleasing to the eye and mind.  It’s RESTFUL!

On top of that, when you have an orderly space that is pleasing to the eye and mind IT WILL have a POSITIVE impact on your mental health too.

You will be able to think more clearly and enjoy more peace!

You know…spiritual warfare sounds really bizarre and even completely foreign to some folks and that’s okay.  Although it is a reality based on scripture.

Thank God the Lord prepared us to know that...

#1 it does exist, but also #2 that we have been armed with some great weapons to help us.   

One last thing to remember is that Jesus won THE WAR with the kingdom of darkness. All we have to do now is to TAKE BACK what is ours IN JESUS, help others to know that Jesus has rescued them from the enemy, and bring GOD’S KINGDOM TO THE EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.

As a Christian counselor, I share many of these strategies with my clients.  Also, they have proven to be SUPER effective for them and in my own life.

It’s not an exhaustive list, but if you begin putting some of these strategies into practice they can help you navigate spiritual warfare IN YOUR LIFE.   

Jesus came to bring YOU “life and life abundantly.”

Take a stand on your spiritual ground.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

JESUS HAS ALREADY WON THE WAR!

With CONFIDENCE RULE like a king WITH JESUS!

Blessings to you!

Christy