Christians, what is "spiritual warfare"?

The difference between deliverance and spiritual warfare is that deliverance is dealing with demonic bondage's, and getting a person set free, whereas spiritual warfare is resisting, overcoming and defeating the enemy's lies (in the form of deception, temptations and accusations) that he sends our way. Deliverance involves the breaking up of legal grounds, the tearing down of strongholds (offensive spiritual warfare), and the casting out of demons. Spiritual warfare on the other hand, is dealing with three key things the enemy sends at us: temptations, deception and accusations.

The enemy's three primary weapons

There are three things that we can expect from the devil. The Bible tells us that we struggle not against flesh and blood, but against demonic forces. Ephesians 6:12, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." The three primary things we struggle against include:

#1 Deception: To deceive somebody means to make another person believe a lie or something that is not true. When the enemy sends deception your way, it is an attempt to deceive you into believing something that is not true, so you will fall into error. Strongholds are built through deception. A stronghold is formed when deception takes hold in a person's mind. A stronghold is an incorrect thinking pattern that stems from believing something that is not true.

From the very beginning, Satan deceived Eve into believing that God's Word was not true. In Genesis 3:4, the devil told her that she will not surely die as God said she would in Genesis 2:17.

#2 Temptation: Temptation often follows deception. First the enemy tells us, "You won't surely die!", then he makes the fruit on the forbidden tree look good to us. Since Eve accepted Satan's deception (his lie), now the tree that she was not supposed to touch looked good to her. She was tempted (enticed) to sin, because she allowed herself to first be deceived. Temptation is when we are enticed or encouraged to sin in one way or another.

In Matthew 4, Jesus was led out in the desert to be tempted by the devil. The devil tried to convince Jesus that it would be harmless to jump off a building. Often people will be so drawn to sex with their boyfriend/girlfriend when the enemy tries to convince them that it is all harmless and fun, when it's not harmless at all, but an open door to the devil. Jesus saw through Satan's deception, and resisted the temptation by speaking God's Word. King David said in Psalms 119:11, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."

When the enemy tempts you, he's showing you the worm... but behind that worm is a hook. The Word of God helps you see the hook behind the worm.

#3 Accusations: The devil is known as the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10). He is known to take a believer who has done an embarrassing or gross sin in their past, and continue to rub it in their faces and beat them down with guilt and condemnation over their past.

The weapon we use to tear down strongholds is found in Ephesians 6:17, "...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." A sword is an offensive weapon and is meant to tear down and kill the enemy's troops. Strongholds are the devil's assets in war, and he uses them against us. Take up the sword of the Spirit (God's Word) today, and start slaughtering the enemy's assets that he's been using against you!

Thanks Sis, great Bible Study to free those in warfare today.

Some give the devil more credit/blame than necessary. Some talk as if it is a constant battle between them and Satan. Well, to those who think that way, you obviously do not know what scripture teaches us and that Jesus won the battle.

Satan wants to keep us from God. In that I have no doubt. He will present us with temptations in order to entice us away from God, to look to put anything or anyone else up on the throne instead of God. But, that is only temptation - Satan cannot do any dragging himself - we have to yield to the lure.

One weapon we have against the enemy is our way of thinking. You brought up the verse of casting down imaginations - this goes into avoiding wrong doctrines, etc. You also cited pulling down strongholds, which is a mindset. I would remind you of the verse which speaks of the "renewing of our minds" (which Joyce Meyers points out is not the "removal of our minds"). There is also one important verse, "Resist the devil and he will flee".

So, spiritual warfare is mostly gaining a new way of thinking. God's way. Get to know your scriptures. Spend time and get to know the Lord. Live the scriptures - take on a new attitude and take on new actions. Then, when that crafty critter comes along to sway, distract or tempt you, you can resist him because you are secure in the work Jesus already did to defeat him.

The devil is a problem. But, the battle has been won. Most of the issues we face are just life in this fallen society. God did not tell us that every sniffle is an attack of the enemy. However, if we find ourselves being bitter, unforgiving, selfish, looking away from God when we should look toward Him - then we have the enemy sitting on our front porch, looking to entice us further away, desiring us to go as far as to deny God.

One thing we also have to remember is that the devil is not an independent agent running around countering all of God's moves. He can do nothing unless God authorizes it. So, if God authorizes it, do we not have a way through it? Those attacks come by God's authorization in order to test and mature us - which happens as we embrace His way of thinking and seek Him in all situations, denying false doctrines and "stinkin' thinkin' ".

Real spiritual warfare happens in your mind. You know it's there when you seem like you don't know if you should do something or not. It is the thing that makes you feel guilty when you do something bad but also proud. It is the devils only way of interpreting sin to people in a pleasant way. But it is also a chance for God to pull through. If you've ever seen a cartoon where a devil and an angel are arguing and the person must choose, that is what really happens only not so dramatic. and in today's society, most of the time people choose the bad side.

Of course Satan is that much of a problem. If you ever look at the world and see what true evil it posses: war, famine, crimes, teenage pregnancy, abortion, over 1000 different religions, and most of all, hatred. Back before these things were even thought of, back when time for this world began, two people who were dumb but perfect and loved God in any way they could had no religion, because religion is a man made thing. I hope I have answered your question and given you as much detail as possible.

We fight not with swords or guns, but rather with spiritual weapons ( Ephesians 6: 10-20 ) like faith, hope, and love, which are powerful and destroy the strongholds of the Lord's enemies.

Even our thought life can be the scene of a spiritual battle. Our minds are the scenes of a struggle as our Christian view of the world comes into conflict with secular thinking. Just as in Israel's wars against the Canaanites in the Old Testament, it is the Lord's Power, not our own, that wins the victory. We are not the ones to humble like the proud (Job 40: 12 ). But since we have been sent by the Lord ( 2 Corinthians 5: 20 ), we use " power from the Lord ' to show the weaknesses in the arguments people use in support of their proud rebellion against the Lord.

Spiritual warfare means that we do not fight against flesh and blood ie other human beings but against the evil spirits in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12). The war is not a war in the natural but a war in the spiritual.

New Testament spiritual warriors must be:

1. Strong in the Lord and in the power of HIs might (Ephesians 6:10);

2. Fully clad in the armor of God and stand on his ground of victory in the kingdom of the Son of God (Ephesians 6:13, Colossians 1:13); and

3. Praying always with all prayers and supplication in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18). We need the help of the Holy Spirit to pray since only He can know what is happening in the realm of the spirit.

The devil is defeated enemy (Colossians15)

God bless you sister Grace.

Spiritual warfare exist within each of us..and it is different for all of us depending on what our stronghold is..spiritual warfare can be something as simply as dealing with a co-worker who you don't like..finding a way to deal with her/him in a loving way when you can't find one redeeming quality about that person...to dealing with people on this site who question and sometimes slander our God..dealing with those situations the way Jesus would have..those are just small examples of how simple spiritual warfare can be..Yes the devil is a problem if you give him the power to be one. Every time you have to deal with an issue in your life and you deal with it in the flesh..the carnal way..then the devil has a victory..

There are many forms. Some are chosen to intercede thru prayer, others are in Deliverance Ministry, where the casting out of demons comes in, then others, like me, war in the Spiritual Realm. We actually stand in the Gap for salvation, deliverance, healing, for our Pastors, our nation,anything that God needs us for. Sometimes we can actually see whats going on or sometimes we just know it by how we feel or in slight glimpses. It can be a very exhausting ministry at times, but I feel very Blessed to know I have been chosen for such!!

In the book of Ephesians Paul describes how to stand up against Satan and his influence on authorities and governments:

Eph 6:10 Finally, go on acquiring power in [the] Lord and in the mightiness of his strength. 11 Put on the complete suit of armor from God that YOU may be able to stand firm against the machinations of the Devil; 12 because we have a wrestling, not against blood and flesh, but against the governments, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places. 13 On this account take up the complete suit of armor from God, that YOU may be able to resist in the wicked day and, after YOU have done all things thoroughly, to stand firm.

14 Stand firm, therefore, with YOUR loins girded about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and with YOUR feet shod with the equipment of the good news of peace. 16 Above all things, take up the large shield of faith, with which YOU will be able to quench all the wicked one’s burning missiles. 17 Also, accept the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, that is, God’s word, 18 while with every form of prayer and supplication YOU carry on prayer on every occasion in spirit.

Personal spiritual warfare is in the mind where Satan can and does plant wrong thoughts. We through Christ are stronger and already have victory over Satan and can overcome his attacks and even block the wrong thoughts.

Kind of funny to see Dynamic Love & Warfare used in the same sentence like that...