Once upon a time when time wasn't even created yet, spiritual warfare (war in the spiritual realms) first began with a boldly self-centered and fatal proclamation by a high-ranking spirit called Lucifer, the angel of light:

        Lucifer pumped himself up, making himself, his "I", his god, just like the Most High. This rebellion against the natural order and structure of the Kingdom of the Most High, of the Creator of all and in all, was tantamount to a declaration of war, a foolish (especially for an angel of light) and deadly move. The result:

        The book of Revelation summaries this incredible genesis of violence this way: A war broke out in the heavens. Michael and his angels were fighting against the dragon and its angels. But the dragon lost the battle. It and the angels were forced out of their places in heaven and were thrown down to the earth. Yes, that old snake and his angels were thrown out of heaven! That snake, who fools everyone on earth, is known as the devil and Satan. Then I heard a voice from the heaven shout:

        There is an important shift in grammatical tense (from past to present) in that last paragraph, indicating a change from background history to prophesy. Unlike the prevailing ideas of many people, the spiritual realm that is joined to this earthly realm is evidently a very violent place.

        Christ observed that "the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, seizing by force." (Matthew 11:12.) The word translated "assault" or, in the KJV, "suffers", comes from the Greek word, "biazo", meaning to force, crowd or press on. "Biastes" is Greek for "violent", connoting being energetically and aggressively in pursuit of taking.

        In the original Greek sense, perhaps more Christians must also adopt a posture of "sacred violence" or the energetic and aggressive pursuit, of pressing on, of guarding the treasures of the Kingdom! Christ seemed to underscore this stance with His remarkable and provoking exclamation: "Don't think that I came to bring peace on the earth! I came to bring trouble, a sword, not peace…And unless you are willing to take up your cross and come with me, you are not fit to be my disciples. If you try to save your life, you will lose it. But if you give it up for me, you will surely find it." (Matthew 10:34, 38-39.)

        When He said, "I will build my church [body of followers] and the forces of hell shall not prevail against it," ((Matthew 16:19) Christ is implying continued assault. Being a Christian, a follower of Christ, is not for the ego-driven "I"-will stance of Lucifer. That's why it requires an indentificational self-crucifixion, a sharing of the brokenness of Christ's body, a transfusion of His shed blood, symbolized in the communion rite elements of the bread and wine. It requires a dying to self symbolized in the rite of baptism by immersion, a watery burial. It requires a transformation of the self, no less than a rebirth of our spirits, symbolized by being lifted up from out of the water.

        Notice this rite of baptism, practiced by John the Baptist and others to this day, requires the receiver to be passive. You cannot baptize yourself! No more than you can make your way into the Kingdom of heaven by force! You yield, in trust, to the baptizer who lowers you under water and you wait, in trust, for him to lift you up out of the water. You yield, you trust, you let go of yourself and let the Holy Spirit lovingly move in and do the transforming. It is a personal invitation and a leap of faith.

        On the other hand, note that the rite of communion is not passive. You must approach the communion table and partake yourself. No one will feed you! These are outward signs of the beginning of an inner prayer life: A passive yielding of the total self, through prayer (not "words" necessarily, but intimacy with God); and an active participation in the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ through prayers of both intimacy and action.

        "Two way prayer" is not to be neglected. Stillness and listening is an essential part of prayer life. With practice, it becomes easier to "discern the spirits" and learn to recognize that loving, secure, unwavering Voice of God among the voluminous mind chatter and self-talk. Sometimes in the stillness you may experience joy or peace; other times you may suddenly feel a depression or heaviness of heart, or a headache or stomach nausea even. Don't be too quick to dismiss this as a physical thing. Instead, take it as a trigger to pray. Ask God for some more information, as Samuel said when he finally realized it was God and not Eli the priest calling through his sleep to him, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening!" (1 Samuel 3:10.)

        The effectiveness of your prayers may be reflected in the psychosomatic (soul-body connection) changes you experience, which sometimes cycle rapidly. When you feel that "peace that passes understanding" or a little surprise jolt like, "Hey, something's different. Something shifted for the better!" it may be time to stop praying and listen again, listening with the body, the heart, the mind and your very spirit.

        Later, you may again feel that "urge" to pray, coming in the various ways mentioned above and others. Sometimes that feeling urge is so strong that if you don't stop what you are doing and take time to enter the prayer state, you will find yourself quite distracted from the task at hand. You may have had an experience where you had the urge to call someone out of the blue. You may have dismissed it as a weird thought and decided to put it off. But it doesn't easily leave your attention.

        A call to prayer is sometimes like that. These kinds of prayer calling may be indicative of another kind of prayer. Earlier we considered the first prayers of a person called to follow Christ: Yielding, trusting, invitational. (This kind of prayer isn't just our first, for they are often needed for the renewing and healing of our spirits.)

        Now we are considering "spiritual warfare prayer": "The weapons of our warfare are not worldly, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds." (2 Cor. 10:4.) If we listen, pay attention, we can feel the strongholds. Sometimes God calls us to feel them and thus we are called to use the weapons of spiritual warfare: prayer! Sometimes we need to look for the strongholds, or ask God to reveal them, especially when we get the sense that our prayers are not rising to the level needed.

        These may take the form of ego-based conflict or self-assertion (Lucifer's fatal mistake); personal assaults by demonic entities (the American Psychological Association even recognizes "spirit entity attachment" as a reality in certain cultures); or may be a matter of greater evil forces at play ("For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood, physical components, but against the powers, principalities, and rulers of darkness in the supernatural [spiritual] realm." Eph. 6:12.) Life on earth is typically a rocky, challenging, roller coaster of good times and bad, sickness and health, joy and suffering. So is the spiritual realm attached to this earth. So long as violence persists in the spiritual realm, so long as the forces of darkness assault the Kingdom of God, so will the earth experience violence. We receive the fallout as well as direct assaults. So in this model of thought, it is futile to work for peace on earth without working for peace in the spiritual realm. Same goes for healing individuals or communities. ("As above, so below.")

        The medical community is increasingly adopting a microcosm of this. More doctors who were trained in "objective" science and treating the body as only a mechanical item are incorporating and addressing their patients' mental health in treatment, including the prescription of prayer! The earth and the world visible to the physical eye is the body of the spiritual realm, unseen but quite visible to the soul.

        We use physical tools and weapons to manage our earthly resources. By "weapons" I don't mean the destructive kind. I use that term in the same sense as "a flu vaccine is your weapon against the flu virus" or "education is our weapon against destructive ignorance." Weapons are tools. And God has given us an arsenal. Too many of us gaze at them blankly with confusion, fear or a "this doesn't fit into my idea of spirituality" attitude. So should we allow the scriptures to waste the paper they are written on when they call us to "take up the whole armor of God" (Eph. 6:13)?

        Spiritual warfare prayer breaks the pretty decorum of religious posturing. It tears at our closed-eyed, mumbling of recitations that are too often more an extension of preaching than a bold yet humble entry into the Holy of Holies, the heart of the power of the Holy Spirit and our intimacy with the Father. It dwarfs and transcends the emotionality and "spiritual correctness" of our words with the intense passion motivated by battle with forces within and outside of our souls, animated by our Intercessor, the very heart of God!

        "As above, so below" and thus a typical strategy of worldly battle is to weaken the strongholds of a "target" with an air assault, then move in the ground troops. But they are still supported from the air! Alice Smith has a poignant insight on a verse virtually worn out by repetition and familiarity: This kind of intercession requires hard work…which brings us to another interesting verse in this same eleventh chapter of Matthew. Verse 28 says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (KJV). For too long we have used this verse to deal with our stress, financial problems and relational difficulties; but let's dissect it to understand its deeper meaning.

        The word "labor" expresses a continuous and repeated action. "Heavy laden" suggests an overburdened load saddled on an animal. The word "rest" translates as one offering refreshment by giving a drink of water. Therefore, I believe this verse is describing those of us who will be in the battle of violent, forceful prayer for the souls of humanity. Intercession is work! It is labor! Jesus was not removing the reality of aggressive warfare and labor for the kingdom of God to advance. He was telling them that the dynamic, forceful warfare required to overcome the gates of hell leaves an intercessor sapped of his or her strength. So in the midst of the labor and travail for souls, come apart, rest for a time and have a drink of living water before returning to the work of laboring for souls.

        In the midst of our labor, He wants to make sure that we are cared for, because He is a caring God whose heart is filled with compassion. (Beyond the Veil, Regal Books, 1997. This recommended book is available through our web site.)

        Part 3 of this series will take inventory of the "armor of God" and its strategic application.

John S. Hilkevich, Ph.D.
Spiritual Resource Services
www.prayergear.com

July, 1999 © All articles and this web site are copyrighted.