Christian

Spiritual Warfare: It’s Not For Everyone

Cindy Dawson

If you are praying for someone who is in bondage, you are engaged in spiritual warfare. It could be bondage to drugs, alcohol, spiritual blindness, pornography, gambling, or something else. There’s a long list of chains.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12 NIV

I have been asking the Lord to teach me about spiritual warfare. I know that countless numbers of books have been written about it, but I want the Holy Spirit to teach me from the Word of God.

This morning my reading passage happened to be Joshua, chapters 3 through 7 – the fall of Jericho. I encourage you to read this and think about how their physical warfare might relate to our spiritual warfare.

The Lord instructed Joshua concerning how they would cross the Jordan and take the city of Jericho. I was struck by several things.

First of all (and most importantly), the battle was won by the Lord, not by the Israelites and their own strength. It is the mighty power of God that breaks yokes.  “The Lord said to Joshua, ‘See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands.” Joshua 6:2 NIV

Insight #1: In spiritual warfare, the battle is won by the Lord.

Secondly, they didn’t always understand why they should do certain things. Obedience was paramount. “March around the city … for six days … Have seven priests carry trumpets …” Joshua 6:3-4 NIV  Many times I have been led by the Holy Spirit to do something and only saw the significance of it months later. They didn’t know why marching around the walls of Jericho was necessary, but they did it anyway.

Insight #2: If you are engaged in spiritual warfare, make sure you are being obedient to God in all things in your life. We can ask for His help to be obedient.

Thirdly, spiritual warfare is not for the immature or half-hearted believer. It’s serious business.

Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city! The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord… Keep away from the devoted things so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury.” Joshua 6:16-19 NIV

When I read this, I immediately thought about the tithe. There have been times in my life when I gave 20%. There have been times when I didn’t give any tithe at all. To be honest, I never thought much about it. I gave when I had plenty and didn’t give when I had little. All I can say is, this hit me so hard that I stopped dead in my tracks, calculated my tithe, and wrote the check for Sunday morning.

Why? Because when Achan kept what belonged to God it brought destruction to the people. They were routed by the enemy when they went up to fight and many were killed. They were defeated in the battle against Ai because of disobedience and greed. Joshua 7:4-5

Insight #3: If you expect to win the battle, make sure you are giving to the Lord what is His.

In Romans 15:4, it says, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us…” What I have written in my blog today is only one small insight into spiritual warfare, but I believe it is what the Holy Spirit is teaching me now. 

Please share the personal insights into spiritual warfare the Holy Spirit has given you. Your thoughts are welcome.

With Love, 

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This is My Journey Unscripted.

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16 thoughts on “Spiritual Warfare: It’s Not For Everyone”

  2. I actually wrote about that story in my book “BARRIERS (So, if prayers are so powerful, how come mine don’t get answered?)” (Chapter on disobedience) What I wondered was, what did Achan think he was going to do with the stuff he took? It’s not like he could wear that beautiful cloak in public, or spend the gold somewhere… Have you ever noticed how STUPID sin can be?

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  3. I was thinking about Achan, too: our secret sins are not secret.
    When I was a brand-new Christian, I did a concordance study on “obedience / obey / obedient.” I didn’t know why, at the time, but boy, did I learn a lot! I can look back now and see why that was such an important issue for God to teach me first. He brought me through many really tough things; obedience was always part of my foundation. He has blessed me, indeed!

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  4. Yes!! we must be obedience. Give that what belongs to God first. It took me a long time to understand that. But God knew it would because I was and still am in the process. I Thank Him for His patience with me. I strongly agree it’s not flesh and blood that we are dealing with. The enemy will use people to do his evil work. Especially when you have not been Born Again, willing to be teachable by the Holy Spirit. Leave our proud behind us, and not in front of us. It was a lesson for me well taught. The devil will use us if we are aren’t careful. I personally have come a long way, and when I say a long way. I meant that I’m growing Spiritually daily. As you shared that we must be mature, equipped for this Spiritual Warfare. I didn’t know nor understood about Spiritual Warfare like I do today. Thank you for sharing, God Bless you. ((Hugs)) May we continue on this Battlefield, because it sure isn’t a playground. 🙂

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  5. I am currently reading Joshua as part of my daily reading and recently read these chapters. I like the insight you bring about Spiritual warfare. I also noted how the city of Jericho had their gates closed and were prepped for a battle with Israel. They were aware of Israel and God’s judgement for decades from the point they crossed the Red Sea, yet they chose to resist God. We need to be aware that the enemy does not want us to take their ground, but as you point out we need to follow God’s lead when we engage in Spiritual battles.

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