1.Describe a time when you have stood firm in the power of the Holy Spirit against an attack by Satan. In fact, the Bible repeatedly shows that the world is a warzone, and humans find themselves in the middle of an ongoing battle between God and His enemy, Satan. Satans strategy for the present time (until the final conflict) is that of subversive activity. As we do so now, in these evil days, we prepare ourselves for the great evil day which is yet to come. And seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; and crying out with a loud voice, he said, What do I have to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Spiritual Battles - C.S. Lewis Institute He cannot fathom why anyone would submit to God and worship him. These forces were responsible for tempting humankind to stray from Gods will (Genesis 3) and have worked to undermine Gods plans at every turn. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. 6.According to Ephesians 6:4, what kind of father are you expected to be? 2 And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. The man brought to Jesus in this story is blind and mute. If chapters 1-3 have taken our salvation and its blessings back to its roots in the eternal plan and purpose of God, then chapter 6 takes our struggle with sin back to its sourceSatan. Some blame every sin, every conflict, and every problem on demons that need to be cast out. If not our Lord Himself, this fourth person was surely an angelic being, sent there to save the lives of these faithful men. Every attack Satan launches at you can be blocked by faith. God has purposed to delay casting Satan into the lake of fire because in his freedom to operate as the god of this world he is unwittingly fulfilling Gods purposes. 21:1). Satan sought to tempt our Lord to renounce His submission to the Father by acting independently for His own selfish gain. Pauls instructions concerning the spiritual war are similar, in that Paul is informing every Christian that they have been drafted, not to fight a physical war, but to fight a spiritual war. If we cannot see it, should we believe in it? See Genesis 4:3-7. All too often, when men write about the spiritual warfare, too much prominence is given to Satan and his demons. How to Pray Through Spiritual Warfare | Cru Every gift is DOUBLED up to $50,000 to minister to military families. I would like to suggest that Satan most often employs the world and the flesh to attack the believer. Spiritual warfare is the Christian concept of fighting against the work of preternatural evil forces. (7) The Christians weapons have been divinely provided, in Christ. Dont let anything prevent me from being all that You want me to be or from receiving all that You want me to receive. Then, you have to accept that there are forces set against you to prevent you from having any of theses things fulfilled in you. One did not dare to ignore this letter, without expecting serious consequences. Satans armies can never do anything to take that away from you. It not only assures us that there is a spiritual war, but it warns us that apart from utilizing the weapons which God has provided for us, we are hopelessly underpowered. Or, they will be sown in places where the word is snatched away from them until they fall away. Hes not telling you that you should attack people with Gods Word. Lets step back a minute to assess what we do believe. God did not give the Israelites an immediate and total victory over their adversaries the Canaanites. What are they? And Davids words made it clear that the battle, and the victory was the Lords: 41 Then the Philistine came on and approached David, with the shield-bearer in front of him. As you progress in your study, you'll be developing an action plan for putting on your armor and a strategy to secure victory against the enemy. There, Satan came and tempted Him by showing Him all the kingdoms of the world and saying, I will give You all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. And standing against his attacks in the strength of the full armor of God is our duty. 3 And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; 4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Christians should know that we are in the midst of a great spiritual struggle, although many seem not to believe it. If this is so, then it gives even greater significance to the lessons which the angels are learning from their observation of the church. But now, in Christ, you have not only been reconciled to God, you have been reconciled with His people. Question 9:From 1 Peter 4:1-6, answer the following questions: What is the advantage of suffering in the flesh? At the present, Satans opposition against the church is not a frontal attack, but a subversive attack through intrigue, deception, and trickery. Help others in their faith journey through discipleship and mentoring. In the Gospels of the New Testament the spiritual war is again evident. Then Jesus lays out a fundamental truth: There are no sidelines in this war. How do you resolve conflicts? And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Understanding Spiritual Warfare and the Importance of Prayer. We, as believers, are told to not conform to the norms of how others live but to live to please God, who is not of this world. It does not seem that he needed to know. Live in another country building relationships and ministries with eternal impact. 8.With which of these areas are you now struggling? In some cases, the fight could hardly be called a battle. The Strongs Greek and Hebrew dictionary defines the world as the earth (as moist and therefore inhabited); by extensive the globe; by implication its inhabitants; specifically a participle land, as Babylonia, Palestine: habitable part, world. The world is where people dwell. People often say that a good offense is the best defense. 16 And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him; And His righteousness upheld Him. But Jesus answers them: Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. The Book of Revelation informs us that there will be a time when Satan and his subordinates will appear to triumph over the saints, but this should be viewed as a momentary defeat which accomplishes the purposes of God, and which serves as a prelude to Satans final destruction: 9 And when He broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth? 11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, should be completed also (Revelation 6:9-11). I pray for them. How great is the difference between those who fight with God and those who fight for Him. Some time ago I heard a fine preacher speak of Satan as a wimp. I was shocked. It does not seem advisable to give Satan credit for every evil deed, or to blame him for every instance of opposition, difficulty, or temptation. I want you to note that both of these sins were directly related to his failure to go to war, as was his duty as the king of Israel. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. In her Bible study "The Armor of God," Priscilla Shirer explains how God has provided everything you need to live victoriously. Because ethnicity is part of the good of creation, we seek to honor and celebrate the ethnic identity of those with whom we serve as well as those we seek to reach. In chapter 10 an angel was sent to Daniel, in answer to his prayers (note verse 12). Nevertheless, we shall say it once again. 11 And he said to me, O Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you. And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. You will notice that the subject of demonization is not raised in our text. The same appears to be the case with his affliction of Paul (see 2 Corinthians 12:7). Take the next step in your faith journey with resources on prayer, devotionals and other tools for personal and spiritual growth. 1. Learn to develop your skills, desire and ability to join others on their spiritual journeys and take them closer to Jesus. 18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19 and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. He not only desires to devour, he will devour those who do not take up the whole armor of God.. It would therefore seem that Satan was seeking to employ fallen angels to corrupt the seed of the woman who was promised to defeat Satan and to bring about mans salvation from sin (Genesis 3:15).144. He first links such sins to the pursuit of fleshly pleasures (4:1-3). Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devils schemes. The Christian life is not passive. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. 7.What do you do on a daily basis to instruct your children in the Lord? 1.When your children come home from school, who is there to care for them? He was the one who was in Eden, the garden of God (Ezekiel 28:13). I remember this fascinating event in the Old Testament: 13 Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, Are you for us or for our adversaries? 14 And he said, No, rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, What has my lord to say to his servant? 15 And the captain of the LORDs host said to Joshua, Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy. And Joshua did so (Joshua 5:13-15). Bob is a pastor/teacher and elder at Community Bible Chapel in Richardson, Texas, and has contributed many of his Bible study series for use by the Foundation. Explore resources to help you live out your life and relationships in a way that honors God. Do you need to devote yourself to unselfish religious deeds? Spiritual Warfare. He is engaged in a great struggle, the spiritual war. 4.Do your children have Internet access in their bedrooms? We are sometimes too interested in getting God on our side, rather than getting on His side. This is how God deals with uswith kindness! The weapons which God has provided for us are those weapons which best repel the attacks of Satan, and thus we can learn a great deal about the nature of Satans opposition from simply considering each of the weapons at our disposal. In this case, Matthew says demonic oppression was the reason for these problems. 2.Have you experienced what seemed to be defeat, but was really a victory? No ones looking for my tricks because no one believes in me any more. However, if we choose to ignore or not believe in the spiritual realm, we will find ourselves confused, frustrated, and quenching the peace that God has promised to each of us. I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods! (Daniel 3:24-25). However, since we do not see it, we often fail to believe in it. 2 Spiritual Warfare Examples 2.1 How Satan Came at Me Looking Saint 3 Spiritual Warfare Protection 3.1 Spiritual Warfare Prayers 3.2 Spiritual Warfare Scriptures 3.3 Spiritual Warfare Videos 3.4 Spiritual Warfare Bible Study 4 The Armor of God In Practice 5 Victory In Spiritual Warfare 6 Manual for Spiritual Warfare 7 Summary Helpful Resources Peter had come to learn about Satan the hard way (see Matthew 16:21-23; Luke 22:31). Our lives are thus to be lived in the light of the big picture of what God is doingthe will of God. You lived according to the lusts of your flesh, but in reality you were a pawn of Satan, unwittingly carrying out his plans and purposes, even as he is at work in all the sons of disobedience (2:1-3). God informed Elisha the prophet of all the Syrian kings battle plans in advance, and the prophet conveyed them to the king of Israel, so that all of Syrias attacks were nullified. Actually, the battle began long before the creation of Adam and Eve. 39 Bible Verses about Spiritual Warfare - Online Bible 14.Group Discussion: What cultural influences represent the greatest danger to the spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being of your family? 46 This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you.
Uptown Cocktails Distributor, In The Past The Brilliance And Optical Properties Quizlet, Detroit Lakes Public Schools Staff Directory, Primary Trust Opening Night, Articles E