Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Spiritual Warfare Do’s and Don’ts

Spiritual warfare is much like its counterpart in the real world. If we exercise it well according to scripture, we win battles for ourselves and others. If we do it badly, we risk ourselves and our fellow believers falling under what is called in the physical world “friendly fire”, and it can have the same negative results.

Do’s
Pray for your fellow believers. Paul said in Colossians 1:9-10 that he did this continually for them. This is a pattern we should follow. Pray in the spirit for yourself and others. Pray scriptures over yourself and others. Pray for victory for yourself and others.

Don’ts
If you are praying for someone, especially for victory over some sin in their life, keep it between you and God. We can be tempted to “share” with other believers in an attempt to be spiritual. When you talk to someone about someone else’s sin, you violate scripture. It sews discord amongst the brethren, which God hates (Proverbs 6:19). It doesn’t matter that it is true, you are placing a wedge between believers and God hates that. This is particularly true if you are a leader and you get caught up in Matthew 18. In this worst case you are to treat them as unsaved. Do you speak curses over the unsaved, or do you try to reconcile them to God? A simple test: do you talk more TO someone or ABOUT someone. It should be to them. We are to speak to believers only about good things, and good and evil should not come from the same mouth (James 3:10). If we think about it, what good can come from saying the negative that the person is already struggling to overcome. Pray the good thing. Pray victory. Pray the scriptures.

Prayer
father, You are the King of the universe. Help us to pray and use our spiritual weapons only for good. Help us not fall into the temptation of gossip in the name of spirituality. Help us to bring your kingdom on the earth. In Jesus name. Amen.