Spiritual Warfare: What You Really Need to Know!

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Ephesians 6:10 (NIV)

 We've been studying spiritual warfare for a few months now in our Wednesday night Bible study at church and for the past few weeks we've been studying the Armor of God. Before that we spent several weeks talking about our enemy - his nature, purposes and strategies. In a previous blog I wrote about the purpose of the enemy being to "steal, kill and destroy" (John 10:10) and what that looked like in my own experiences. For me, the enemy seeks to steal my joy, so he can kill my peace, and ultimately destroy my confidence and contentment in the Lord. He wants to move me from being unhappy, to unsettled, to uncertain. He's good at what he does because he's been doing it a long time.

But God has not left us defenseless against the attacks against the enemy. Ephesians 6 10-20 is the pinnacle passage on spiritual warfare (though not the only one). Lately our study has focused on the various pieces on the Armor of God, but the foundation to standing against the attacks of enemy is found in v.10 of that passage - "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power." The word translated "be strong" is written in passive form, meaning that it is something that happens TO you, not BY you. It literally means to be empowered by the Lord, or to be strengthened by Him. In other words, He doesn't just tell you to be strong in Him, He also does the strengthening. To be clear - this isn't about OUR strength and mighty power, it is about HIS strength and mighty power being manifest in us.

But how does He strengthen us? Does He just magically make us strong and powerful? That's not been my experience - in my life God has worked through the Holy Spirit to strengthen me through my obedience to His word. In other words, He tells me what I need to do and as I do it, His Spirit empowers me to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. It is a cooperative effort; He's doing the work as I am obeying the word. 

So how does He empower us to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power? Again, this is my experience and not an exhaustive study on spiritual warfare and how to defeat the devil, but this is how God has worked in my life when I'm facing the foe. This is how He has made me to be strong in the Lord. I'm strong in the Lord when ...

1. I rejoice in Him - As I said in the previous post, the enemy wants to steal my joy, because the joy of the Lord is my strength (Nehemiah 8:10). If he can rob me of my joy, he can weaken my confidence in God. Joy is a powerful weapon in the war against the enemy. That's why the Bible repeatedly tells us to "rejoice in the Lord." In fact, that exact phrase is used at least 12 times in Scripture (Psalm 32:11, 35:9, 64:10, 97:12, 104:34; Isaiah 29:10, 41:16; Joel 2:23; Habakkuk 3:18; Zechariah 10:7; Philippians 3:1, 4:4). When the Bible repeats something that many times, it is important!

My "life passage" is Habakkuk 3:18-19 - (Paraphrased) "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation, for the Lord God is my strength and He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and makes me walk upon my (spiritually) high places." God gave me that passage more than 30 years ago, and when I've practiced it (rejoicing in the Lord), He has strengthened me and empowered me with His mighty power, and He will do it for you as well.

BTW - rejoicing in the Lord isn't a suggestion ("try this and see if it works"), it is a command from God. And it isn't something we do on our own, but something He does within us. When I choose to rejoice - choose to be joyful instead of fearful, frustrated, anxious, worried, discouraged, etc. God grows my joy and I am strengthened in the Lord. When we face attacks from the enemy, we may not FEEL like rejoicing, but OUR FEELINGS ARE NOT GOD - God is God and He is greater than our feelings and His commands are greater than our feelings. So do what God commands us to do - rejoice in Him because the joy of the Lord is our strength. (Jim Johnston has written an excellent article on "Why Are So Many Christians Unhappy?" on the Desiring God website; it's a great encouragement on this subject).

       Secondly, I'm strong in the Lord when ...
2. I obey His commands - This kind of piggy backs on the previous point, but it is important. When God elevated Joshua to the leadership of the Israelites after the death of Moses, He gives him clear instructions about what Joshua is to do to lead the people into the Promised Land. Twice in two verses (6&7) He tells Joshua to "be strong and courageous." Then, to drive home the point in v.9 God says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid, nor be discouraged..." In other words, "Joshua, do what I am telling you to do! Be strong and be courageous!"

Honestly, for most of my life when I read or heard the word "commands" from the Bible, I thought of the Ten Commandments, and I generally thought of them as a list of "don'ts" - don't steal, don't kill, don't commit adultery, don't lie, etc. To me, obeying God's commands was about not doing bad things. But as I read the Bible and grew in my relationship with the Lord, I realized there were a lot more "DO's" in the commands of God, than there were "DON'Ts". Contemporary writer Eric Metaxas says, “Being a Christian is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively doing God's will.” When I actively obey God's commands, I grow strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

     Finally, I'm strong in the Lord when ... 
3. I rest in the promise of His presence - A tactic of the enemy is to isolate his prey and cause him/her to feel like they are alone, perhaps even that God has abandoned them. When we are experiencing trials, going through life storms, or if we have sinned against God, he (the devil) whispers things like "God has given up on you. If God really cared about you, you wouldn't be having such a hard time. He's abandoned you because you've failed Him again. If He loved you, you wouldn't have so many problems." His goal is to cause you to doubt God's presence and power in your life.

But multiple times in His word God says, "I will never leave you, or forsake you" (Deuteronomy 31:6,8; Joshua 1:5; 1 Chronicles 28:20; Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5 just to name a few). In Joshua 1, God gave Joshua his marching orders, commanded him to be strong and courageous, and then assured Joshua that He would be with him wherever he would go (Joshua 1:9). God's response to our every need and in every circumstance is "I am with you," and if God is with us, we can be strong in the Lord.

I've never served in the military, but I have a lot of friends and family who have and I am thankful for their willingness to serve our nation. One of the things I've picked up over the years is that being a good soldier is more of a mindset than almost anything else. As a soldier, you can have the strongest armor, the latest and most effective weapons, but if you don't have confidence in your commander, faith in your mission, and courage in your heart, you're probably not going to be very effective on the battlefield. You will make decisions based on fear instead of faith which will probably lead to your defeat.

I think there is a correlation to spiritual warfare - you can appreciate all the promises in the Bible, understand all the strategies of the enemy, and know all the pieces of the armor of God, but if you aren't first "strong in the Lord and in His mighty power" you're not going to be very successful in the battle. You will make decisions based on fear instead of faith, which will probably lead to your defeat.

The really GOOD NEWS is that the ultimate battle has been won by Christ, and if you are in Christ you ultimately win over the enemy. But if we "win in the end" shouldn't we also be winning the daily battles against the attacks of the enemy? Does God want us to live defeated, discouraged and disappointed lives until we die and go to heaven? I don't think so, or else why would He teach us so much about spiritual warfare in His word? Make no mistake about it, we won't live our "best life now" in this world - it is fallen and broken and is governed by the enemy (John 12:31-33, 14:13, 16:11; Ephesians 2:1-3, 6:12-13), but we also don't have to live our "worst life now." God has won the ultimate victory for us, and we can live in victory now as well! BE STRONG IN THE LORD AND IN HIS MIGHTY POWER!

Spiritual Warfare: What's Going On Here?

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy...  John 10:10 ESV

On Wednesday nights we have been studying Scriptures on spiritual warfare. Ephesians 6 tells us that "... we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places." (v.12, NLT) The battle is real and the enemy is real. In John 10:10 Jesus tells us about the nature of the enemy and what his primary goals are in fighting against us; "The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy." (NLT) Our enemy is a thief, and he wants only to steal, kill and destroy.

Because everyone is different, the enemy attacks in different ways, and through different means, but his goal is always the same - steal, kill and destroy. Last Wednesday I shared how I have experienced his attacks in my life, following those three purposes.

1. He wants to steal our joy - joy is an incredibly important component in the Christian life. Jesus tells us in John 15:11 that He gives us His joy so that we can be full of joy. Nehemiah 8:10 reminds us that the "joy of the Lord" is our strength. We draw spiritual strength when rejoice in the Lord. That's why we are told repeatedly in the Bible "to rejoice," "to count it all joy" or to "rejoice in the Lord." Spiritual strength comes from rejoicing in the Lord.

So, in my experience, one of the primary ways the enemy attacks is to create situations, in my life where I am tempted to lose my joy. Sometimes these are big things like the loss of a job, the loss of a loved one, or a broken relationship. But often they're smaller situations like having a flat tire when you're late for work, losing your keys, staining your favorite shirt, or an argument with your spouse over something stupid like which way the toilet paper roll goes on the holder (BTW, the correct way is "over"). These are not major catastrophes, just little irritating episodes, and often one right after another; anything to cause us to become frustrated, unhappy or react with a negative attitude, anything to steal our joy, because the joy of the Lord is our strength.

2. If the enemy can steal our joy, he makes an easy transition to killing our peace. Once I've lost my joy, I become unsettled, anxious, worried and maybe even fearful. Peace is another wonderful gift that Jesus gives us (see John 14:27, and Romans 5:1), but when we've lost our joy, we almost always lose our peace as well. For me, a lack of peace is manifested in chronic worrying - I start mulling over negative situations in my mind, usually creating "worst-case-scenarios", wondering why "bad things" are happening, and how am I (emphasis on me) going to fix things. I stress, and fret, and overthink situations to the point where I become discouraged ore even mildly depressed. If I continue down that road, I start to withdraw and cut myself off from friends and family, which is just what the enemy wants - isolation, which makes it easy for him to transition to the next phase of attack...

3. He wants to destroy our confidence and trust in God. This is his ultimate goal. If you are a follower of Christ, he can't destroy your salvation (because your salvation isn't based on what you've done for Christ, but on what Christ has done for you), so he wants to cause you to doubt or question God's goodness, His love for you, or His sovereign grace in your life. You begin to think, does God love me? Have I done something wrong that has made Him made at me? If He is good, then why are these bad things happening to me? Can I really trust God? Does God even care about me or my situation?

Again, I'm speaking for myself, but in reflection this is how the enemy has often worked in my life - he causes or creates situations where I allow myself to become unhappy - sometimes big events, but usually a series of smaller, irritating episodes in my day or week. His goal is to cause me to lose my joy and when that happens I become anxious and unsettled (worried and stressed); and from there I begin to lose my confidence and trust in the goodness, love and sovereignty of God, and I become a pretty miserable person. He hasn't destroyed my salvation (because he can't) but he has stolen my joy, killed my peace and destroyed my trust in God. I've moved from unhappy, to unsettled to uncertain.

Unfortunately, I've allowed this cycle to repeat too many times in my life as a follower of Christ, but in the last few years God has been revealing the enemies strategies and showing me how to defend myself against his attacks, which I'll talk about next time ... but for now, "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8 (NLT) AND if you are experiencing spiritual warfare in your life right now and needing someone to pray with and fight alongside of you, please reach out to me, you can comment on this blog or email me at glmiller1965@gmail.com ... I'm not from the government, but I am here to help ( I know... not everyone will get that joke, 😁).

Worry into Worship - Battles into Blessings

As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.  When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset.  So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. Exodus 17:11-13 (NIV)

I have several friends and family members who are facing some tough times and much of it is spiritual warfare. As I was praying this morning God brought to mind the story of the Israelites battling the Amalekites in the Valley of Rephidim. It was the first major conflict the Israelites had experienced since coming out of Egypt. According to Deuteronomy 25:18 the Amalekites attacked Israel from the rear, attacking first those who were weary and worn out from the journey. The enemy often focuses on those who are tired and struggling. 

Moses called on Joshua to choose out some men for battle and go fight the Amalekites at Rephidim, and Moses would go to the hilltop and stand with the staff of God in his hand. As the battle rages, as long as Moses holds his hands in the air, the Israelites have the upper hand. But when his arms get tired and his hands are lower, the Amalekites have the advantage. Moses is joined by his brother Aaron and another man, Hur. When they realized what was happening, Aaron and Hur brought a stone for Moses to sit on and they stood one on each side and helped him keep his hands in the air. As a result, Joshua defeated the Amalekites at Rephidim. 

As I was reading the story again, it hit me that raised hands are often a sign of praying, worshiping, and praising God (see Nehemiah 8:6, Psalm 134:2, 1 Timothy 2:8, and others...) As long as Moses' hands were raised, God's people were winning the battle, but when the hands dropped, the enemy gained control of the conflict. As long as God's people are praying and praising God we are winning the battles, but when we stop praying and praising we begin to be defeated by the enemy. 

In this world, we will have trouble. We have been set free from the Egypt of our sin and we are journeying to a Promised Land of eternal salvation, but for now we live in a world infected by sin and infested by an enemy who seeks to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10). There will be battles, and they will come when we are weary, tired and worn out from the journey. The key to victory in the battles is to pray, worship and praise the Lord until the victory comes. 

Sometimes we will grow tired in the battle, and we will need some "Aarons" and "Hurs" to help us. We were never meant to fight alone, so don't resist help from God's people. And sometimes it will you who need to be an Aaron of Hur for someone else; don't let those opportunities pass you up - others need you too. 

By the way, though the Amalekites were defeated that day, that wasn't the last time the Israelites had to fight them. But God made a promise that one day He would "completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.” (Ex. 17:14) The battle you are going through now won't be the last one you will fight; the enemy will continue to harrass and attack as long as he can; but we have a promise from God that one day the enemy will be removed and will never disturb the people of God again (Revelation 20:10). Until that day, fight the good fight of faith, and use the weapons pf prayer, worship and praise to experience the victory God has promised you!

Spiritual Warfare: Prison, Prayer and Praise (Pt 3)

Sunday afternoon was a beautiful day and I thought I would take advantage of the nice weather and sit out on the carport to read. Unfortunately the nice weather also brought the bees out. Several large yellow jackets flew into the carport, and began to hover close to the ground near where I was sitting. I looked around to see what I had to defend myself, and found a can of bug killer. When I sprayed it, it came out as a fog so it was hard to make a direct hit on the bees. I noticed though, that some of the bees continued to hover close to the ground as the fog came over them. In just a short time, the spray covered their wings and body and they went to the ground where they were easy prey for my flip-flop. However, some of the bees didn't stay close to the ground; as soon as the fog began to encroach upon them they flew upward and out of the carport to the safety of a tree. 
         As I was thinking about why some immediately flew away to safety while others lingered near the ground till they were covered and killed, the Spirit spoke to me in that still, small voice - those who linger too long near the ground end up being covered by the spray and destroyed, while those who fly upward get to safety. In the same way, those who are under spiritual attack and linger too long trying to fight the battle in the fog are defeated and sometimes destroyed. But those who fly upward as soon as they sense the attack coming are safe. In spiritual warfare, those who "fly upward" do so in prayer and praise to the Lord. As we praise the Lord, He lifts us above the fog of the enemies attack. 
       In our study of this section of Acts 16 we have noticed some of the weapons of the enemies warfare - intimidation, incarceration and isolation. In a physical sense, he tried all three on Paul and Silas, and in a spiritual sense he continues to use those weapons against God's people. But, as with Paul and Silas, God gives us weapons to fight back with...

1. Prayer - v.25a
The Bible says in v.25, at midnight Paul and Silas are praying. If I’m Paul or Silas I’m emotionally and physically and spiritually spent. I’m drained to the last drop. I’ve got nothing left to give. Their backs are bleeding from their beating. They are black and blue all over. And they had to be ticked off. I’ve never had a mob form against me, but I’m guessing that’ll set you off emotionally. And to top it off they land in the maximum security cell in stocks! It just doesn’t get much worse than that.
       But instead of complaining or just crashing, Paul and Silas are praying to God. Why? Because they understood that spiritual strength comes from communication with God. There is power in prayer. Prayer connects you to the Creator of the universe, and opens the floodgates of His spiritual power in your lives. Paul and Silas had no strength, they had been accused, abused and beaten - they had no strength, so they drew on a power beyond their ability, they were praying to God. 
Prayer connects you to the greatest person and the greatest power in the universe. The writer of Hebrews says,  "Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." - Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)
        The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God, and one of the greatest weapons we have is the weapon of prayer. But for prayer to be effective, you have to utilize it, and you have to do it even when you don’t feel like it, even when you don’t have ideal circumstances, even when you are under spiritual attack or oppression. When you fail to pray because you don’t feel like it, or because your circumstances are hard, you’ve just handed the enemy a victory in your life, because he has gotten you to disconnect from the Person and power that can rescue you from your prison. Give attention to prayer, especially when it is hardest to pray. 

2. Praise - v. 25b
Not only were they praying, but they were praising God. Through praise, we acknowledge the power of God. Praise focuses our attention away from our problems to God's sovereign power. It causes us to be reminded that God is on His throne and that He is in control. Through praise, we are enabled to surrender to His divine purpose and abandon ourselves to His sovereign will.
        Praise is also a declaration of faith by which we declare the greatness of our God. Charles Swindoll has said, "Every problem is an opportunity to prove God's power. Every day we encounter countless golden opportunities, brilliantly disguised as insurmountable problems."
       Through prayer we can tell our God how big our problem is; and through praise, we can tell our problems how big our God is. Through praise, I testify to my faith in an all-powerful God who is worth serving, despite the problems I face, because I know that His power is greater than any problem, and that His purpose for my life transcends any difficulty I might encounter. As Paul write in Romans 8:18: "Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later." (NLT) 

3. People - vs. 27-32
       Rather than thinking only of themselves, Paul and Silas concerned themselves with those around them who could be influenced by their testimony in their time of trouble. In this case, it was not only the other prisoners, but the jailer and his family.
      Notice how Paul and Silas were concerned for both the jailer's safety (vs. 26-27); but his salvation (vs. 28-32). In times of trouble, there are many who concern themselves with the safety of their fellow man. And, certainly, the Christian should be concerned for the physical well-being of others. But if that is the limit of our concern, we will have failed to effectively bear the witness that is needed. We must also be concerned about their salvation.
       Difficulties have a dramatic way of causing people to think about eternal things. As Christians, we also must be alert to matters of eternal significance and take advantage of every opportunity we have to urge others to make sure they are prepared for eternity; and to also testify to them about how a personal relationship with God can see you through daily difficulty and troubles in this world. We have a mission given to us by God, to get the gospel to the lost, and we need to be aware of that mission regardless of the circumstances. 

       In spiritual warfare, your internal attitudes are more important than your external circumstances. I think there are two basic types of people in the world: complainers and praisers. Complainers can always find something to complain about. Praisers can always find a way to worship God regardless of circumstances. Worshiping is taking our eyes off of our external circumstances and focusing on God. We stop focusing on what’s wrong with us or with our circumstances. We start focus on what’s right with God.
Worship is refocusing on the fact that two thousand years ago, Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sin. It’s refocusing on the fact that God loves me when I least expect it and least deserve it. It’s refocusing on the fact that God is going to get me where God wants me to go. It’s refocusing on the fact that I have eternity with God to look forward to in a place where there is no mourning or sorrow or pain. Worship releases the power of God in our lives and restores the joy of our salvation. 
Is it easy? Absolutely not. Nothing is more difficult than praising God when everything seems to be going wrong. But one of the purest form of worship is praising God even when you don’t feel like it because it shows God that your worship isn’t based on circumstances. Worship is based on the character of God.
        One of the best books ever written is Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl. Frankl was a Holocaust survivor who wrote about his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp. Everything was taken away from these prisoners. They were stripped of their clothing, their pictures, and their personal belongings. They even took away their names and gave them numbers. Frankl was number 119,104. Everything was taken away except one thing. Frankl said, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.”
         I’m absolutely convinced that the most important choice you make everyday is your attitude. Your internal attitudes are more important than your external circumstances. The outcome of your life will be determined by your outlook on life. If you have a critical or complaining spirit you’ll complain till the day you die. Your life will get worse and worse because you’ll accumulate more and more negative experiences. But if you have a worshipful spirit life gets better and better. Why? Because you accumulate positive memories. At the end of the day, one way or the other, your focus determines your reality!
        Paul and Silas were in prison. Their bodies were chained. But you can’t chain the human spirit. That’s what Victor Frankl discovered in the concentration camp. That’s what Paul and Silas modeled over two thousand years ago. Their bodies were chained, but their spirits soared.   And when you worship God in the worst of Circumstances you never know what is going to happen. Worship sets the stage for miracles! Worship causes spiritual earthquakes that can change the topography of your life. It may or may not change your circumstances. But it will change your life.

Spiritual Warfare: Prison, Prayer and Praise (Pt 2)

And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. Acts 16:23-24 (ESV)

In my last post I began talking about spiritual warfare. Whenever we act in obedience to the Lord and pursue Him and His will for our lives, we are going to encounter opposition from the enemy. That truth is clearly seen in the account of Paul and Silas preaching in Philippi where they ended up in prison.

This is sometimes hard for us to get our mind around because we live in such prosperity gospel culture, but when you follow Christ, and when you live out the mission, you will experience opposition. It may be in the form of persecution by people, but more than likely the opposition we experience will be spiritual and circumstantial. What I mean by that is that the enemy will seek to use our circumstances to oppose us and hinder our ministry for the Lord.

From the story of Paul and Silas, we see some of the methods the enemy uses in his battle to hinder or stop our obedience to the Lord. In the last post I talked about the enemy's Intimidation - planting negative thoughts and self talk in our minds. Looking at the rest of the passage we see two other methods the enemy uses.

2. Incarceration (locking,binding)

v23 “they cast them into prison” Again, don’t think in terms if a physical prison; there are many other types of prisons we find ourselves in.

1. Some people are imprisoned by their past. Something has happened to you, or you’ve done something and that event has defined you. You may have committed a grievous sin, or you may have been in an abusive relationship, you may have endured a divorce, and the enemy is always reminding you of that event. In fact he is trying to define you by your past, he’s saying this isn’t just something you’ve done, or something that has been done to you, this is who you are and you will never be better than your past. You are imprisoned by your past.
2. Some are imprisoned by pain. You’ve experienced great emotional pain in your life, and you can’t seem to overcome it. The pain may come out of a broken relationship, or the loss of a significant person in your life. It may come out of a dream that has been shattered or never fulfilled. The hurt is real, but the enemy wants you to keep dwelling on the loss. He wants to keep the wound fresh, he wants you to dwell on the pain because it paralyzes you, it imprisons you and keeps you from living out the purpose for which you were created. He wants you to stay in a prison of pain.
3. Some are imprisoned by fear. It may be the fear of failure, you’ve attempted something in the past and it didn’t work out and now the enemy has convinced you that you can’t do anything. You’ve failed once, you will probably fail again so you just don’t try. It may be a fear of success, you’re afraid to succeed because then you think more will be expected of you, and you don’t want that pressure. You are afraid of expectations, so you just don’t have any or try to live up to any.

There are many prisons that the enemy tries to incarcerate us in to keep us from serving the Lord.

3.Isolation (separation)

v24 “the inner prison”  This may be the enemy’s greatest tactic. When he wants to hinder you from serving God and fulfilling the mission God has called you to, he seeks to isolate you from others in the body of Christ. The enemy is described as a roaring lion, and when lions hunt they isolate their prey from the rest of the pack and then devour them. And the devil works the same way - he gets you in a funk and gets you to withdraw from the body to isolate you.

In my nearly 30 years of ministry, one of the first indicators of spiritual attack and oppression on a Christian, is a regular absence in the weekly assembly. The thing is, God created us for community, He created it in such away that we can’t fulfill His purposes for our lives apart from the body of believers. God calls us to love Him and then love one another, we can’t do that apart from community. But the enemy wants to isolate us in order to have his way with us.

Intimidation, incarceration and isolation are tactics of the enemy that he uses to oppress us and hinder our ability to serve the Lord. He means to use these things for our harm; but God causes all things to work together for our good;even those things that don’t seem good at the time.What the enemy intends for harm, God can use for good. The enemy has Paul and Silas arrested and thrown in jail; he’s trying to stop them from sharing the gospel and seeing people saved, but did it work? No, because Paul and Silas didn’t respond the way normal people would respond. Normal, unsaved people would respond in anger, frustration, and pity. But the Bible says that at midnight Paul and Silas are praying and singing praises to the Lord.

Next time we will let’s look at what we can learn from Paul and Silas response to their prison situation. God's design is for Christians to bear testimony in troubled times to the difference God makes. And God uses our "tests" to allow us to present a "testimony." But how? Let's see what we can learn from the example of Paul and Silas. To bear testimony in troubled times . . .

Spiritual Warfare: Prison, Prayer and Praise (pt.1)

And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. Acts 16:23-24 (ESV)

In 1993, Charles Colson received the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. The $1 million prize was the largest prize for achievement in any field. Colson was a political operative who was involved in the Watergate Scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. In 1974, Colson was convicted on charges of obstructing justice and served seven months in federal prison. Colson was not a follower of Christ at the time, but while he was in prison he was visited and ministered to by several Christian friends, and he would later profess his faith in Christ. His conversion later led to the founding of Prison Fellowship in 1976. In response to this award, Colson said, "Out of tragedy and adversity come great blessings. I shudder to think of what I would have been if I had not gone to prison." 

That is an incredible perspective on a very difficult situation. Church Colson went to prison because he broke the law of the land and he acknowledged that he deserved to be there, but he also acknowledged that without his prison experience he probably wouldn’t have come to know the Lord, or start Prison Fellowship Ministry.

Church Colson thanked God for his prison experience, and Paul and Silas thanked God in spite of their prison experience. In Acts 16 they were arrested and thrown into jail in Philippi. They were not there because they had broken the law of the land, they were there because they had broken down some of the strongholds of the enemy. They had taken territory that had belonged to the enemy when this young girl was set free from the spirit that controlled her. As a result Paul and Silas were beaten and put in prison. You and I will probably never be put in a physical prison for following Jesus, but you can believe we will be opposed by our spiritual enemy. In this passage we see three tactics of the enemy:

1. Intimidation (pressure,threats)
       In v22 the jailer gave instructions to have Paul and Silas beaten. We may not be physically beaten by the enemy, but he may try to intimidate us in other ways. He may try to plant intimidating thoughts in our minds - thoughts like, “God can’t use you to make a difference, you’ve sinned too much, you don’t have enough faith, you don’t have enough talent or ability. You’re not good enough. No one is going to listen to you. You can’t share the gospel because you don’t know enough, no one will listen to you.”

Have you heard any of those talking points in your head? I read a fascinating statistic recently: research indicates that the average person talks to himself or herself about 50,000 times a day and 80% of our self-talk is negative. Where does that come from? It comes from a negative spiritual influence in our lives that is trying to keep us from living the life God desires us to live. We say negative things to ourselves. So here’s what happens: we let what we’re being told is wrong with us, intimidate us and keep is from doing what God has called us to do. We’re focused on the wrong reality, and it intimidates us.

Paul gives some priceless advice in Philippians 4:8. It’ a list of eight premeditated cognitive commitments. He says, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Don’t be intimidated by the negative, focus on the positive.