Spiritual Weapons

UV 997-10,000 Spiritual Weapons For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; 2 Corinthians 10 v 4 Each believer is not called to be passive observors but to join what St Paul called the “good fight.” It is called the good fight as this battle is the Lord’s. It is not shadow boxing or boxing with mirages and illusions but the fight is real. As one man of God told me some twenty years ago, “ The real world is the spiritual world. The physical world is only the shadow of the spiritual world.” Everything happens first in the spiritual world and then in the physical world like a light casts a shadow after its appearance. What triggers changes in real time and eternity is not the intellectual, the political, the scientific, the religious, the social or the emotional but it is the spiritual. The weapons of warfare are spiritual and mighty. The weapons of warfare are praise and worship that breaks spiritual chains, prayer and supplication and the Word of God which is the effective two-edged sword of the spirit. The weapons of defence are a life or armour of righteousness by faith in Jesus, the helmet of knowing for sure that one is saved for ever and that one has eternal life, the belt of truth, the shoes of the readiness to go places for God. He has set us over the nations and over the kingdoms or realms and principalities of darkness to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. Our battle is not against human foes or adversaries but against the very hierarchy of the powers of darkness. We are involved in a spiritual struggle in which we are guaranteed victory. David the shepherd boy went to battle against Goliath armed only with his faith and a sling and a stone. Our sling is our prayer life and our stone is our prayer request. Like David’s stone dented the skull of Goliath, our prayers cause changes in the spiritual world. The words of confession or proclamation we speak from our mouths sets up our victory. David spoke these words as he went to fight Gideon: “ you come to fight with sword and spear and shield. But I come against you in the name of the Lord of the armies of heaven, the Lord God of Israel.. For the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.” Like Gideon’s companies of a hundred men who blew the trumpets after walking around the walls of Jericho seven times, every day of the week we should pray in the spirit once claiming the promises of God in respect of any one challenge. On the seventh day, the Sabbath, we should pray seven times and go around the walls or boundaries of this challenge seven times. The stronghold of darkness will be pulled down, the change we are expecting to see will begin to happen. Spiritual warfare is not waged with violence, hatred and fear but with love and faith. It is fought in stillness and silence. Malcolm Gladwell, the well known author of the best seller, “ The Tipping Point” says that the intention of a mother who wanted to share the love of God with her ten year old son’s murderer restored his faith in God. She was not overcome with hatred but was filled with love for the unknown killer whom she wanted traced so that she could share agape love. Love is the ultimate spiritual weapon by which she overcame both her grief and her desire for revenge or justice. Prateep V Philip