How can I fight spiritual warfare? As Christians, we can fight spiritual warfare only through the power and leadership of the Holy Spirit of God. If we pursue a righteous lifestyle, led by the Holy Spirit, He will instruct us not only how to fight, but also how to correctly fight. The Holy Spirit will instruct us on how to use the armor of God that Paul describes in Ephesians chapter 6, and He will teach us how to effectively use the gift of prayer.
In Ephesians 6:17, as Paul is identifying the pieces of the armor of God, he gives us the only offensive weapon in his list; “... and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” The Lord Jesus demonstrated proper use of the Word. When Satan came to Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4 and Luke 4), Satan misused the Word in some of what he said to Jesus. But Jesus utilized the Word properly and sent the enemy packing. For us, it is no different. When we are led by the Holy Spirit and properly use Scripture to attack the enemy, the father of lies cannot handle the Word of Truth, and we can be victorious. However, we must keep two things in mind. 1) The power comes from the Holy Spirit and the Word, not us; and 2), we need to be reading and studying God’s Word to know what Bible verses to use.
The term ‘spiritual battle’ declares that we must use spiritual weapons, and that we are led by the Holy Spirit. We must remain in contact with and surrender to the Holy Spirit. This connection is best made through intentional prayer. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.” Praying without ceasing is the constant awareness that God is at work around you, wants to do a work in you, and wants to work through you. So, when you take that attitude toward prayer and put it together with the Word, you have a serious weapon.
There is nothing you can pray to God that is more powerful than His own Word. For instance, if you’re battling anger and the enemy seems to be winning every time, add a verse to your prayer about it; you are about to deal a major blow to the forces of evil. It will look something like this:
“Dear Lord, I am having trouble with my temper. I don’t want to sin in my anger. Your Word says in Ephesians 4:26-27 to “Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.” Help me, Lord, to be obedient to your Word and not give the devil any room for victory in my life. Amen.”
That is spiritual warfare fought properly and powerfully.
