The Spiritual Battle

There's a conflict taking place around us continually, a spiritual conflict. Invisible to our physical eyes is the spirit world which is divided into two categories: the forces of good and the forces of evil. These are in constant combat with one another and diametrically opposed to each other. When I enter into intercessory prayer I step right into the battle and begin to fight in this spiritual warfare.

Paul the apostle said, "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 place." (Ephesians 6:12). Therefore, we're to put on the whole armor of God. Paul then goes on to list the armor of God that should clothe a Christian for battle.

For, the apostle said, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, because we're not in a physical battle. If we were, then we'd have worldly weapons. But because we're in a spiritual battle, the weapons and armor of our warfare must be spiritual. They have divine power to pull down the strongholds of the enemy (II Corinthians 10:4).

Once you're fully equipped with all this spiritual armor of Ephesians 6, what are you to do? Just stand there? No! Get into the fight! How do you get into the fight? "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:18). You've been girded for the battle - now go to it!

THE Battle Scenario

The scene of the spiritual conflict is right here on the earth. The purpose of the conflict is the control of the earth and the individual lives upon it.

The earth rightfully belongs to Jesus Christ. He created it and gave it to man. But man forfeited it to Satan. Jesus came and purchased it back for Himself. He redeemed us and the world through His blood at Calvary. For a while as Jesus hung on the cross, Satan thought he was the victor. But on the third day Jesus rose again, triumphing over death, hell, the grave, and Satan.

John tells us in I John 3:8 that Jesus was manifested to destroy the works of the devil. This He did through His death on the cross (Hebrews 2:14). He conquered Satan's forces - spoiled the principalities and powers that were against us, nailed them to His cross, triumphed over them, and made an open display of His victory (Colossians 2:14,15). Though the world rightfully belongs to Jesus Christ now, Satan seeks to maintain control and power over it by force. Much as when God had rejected King Saul from reigning over Israel and had the prophet Samuel anoint David in his stead, Saul, by force, tried to hold on to that which was no longer rightfully his, and sought to drive David from the kingdom. So Satan seeks to hold on to that which is no longer rightfully his.

Jesus Christ also has a method of winning the world, but not by force. Jesus seeks to draw men unto Himself and into His kingdom through love. Thus, the warfare continues in this world for the control of lives. Satan applies tremendous force and pressure to keep people in his camp. Jesus, wooing and drawing through gentle love, seeks to persuade men to submit their lives to Him.

As you enter into intercessory prayer, you rush into the thick of the battle. It becomes work because you're engaged against the forces of darkness and hell. You're going against the enemy's strongholds with prayer. You witness the grip of power that Satan has on the lives of those “around you. Through prayer you can advance with the battering ram and demolish the strongholds the enemy has on those individual lives - freeing them from the power that holds them captive.

This kind of prayer, the warfare praying in the Spirit, becomes real work. You begin to understand what Paul meant when he said that Epaphras was "laboring fervently" in prayer. But it's glorious to realize that prayer is the deciding factor in this spiritual warfare.

Satan is a very stubborn enemy and an obstinate fighter. He yields only what and when he must. Therefore, your prayers must be very specific. Vague, general prayers like "God, save the world" won't even dent the enemy. But when you bring before the Lord an individual life and lay claim to that person for Jesus Christ, you begin to be specific in prayer, Satan must yield.

"Lord, my friend, John, is bound by the power of Satan. His life is being ruined and twisted. I come against that work of Satan in the name of Jesus Christ and in the victory of the cross of Jesus Christ. I ask you, Father, to free him from this power of Satan that's holding him today. Loose him now, that he may know the love of Jesus Christ. Lord, let your Spirit speak to his heart and bring an end to the work of Satan that's binding him, and blinding him." We thus recover them from the snare of the devil that is holding them as captives.

Realize that Satan is persistent. Even after you begin to see a bit of victory, you must continue in prayer to hold the ground that you've gained. The minute you win ground, Satan will turn right around and counterattack to regain it. Your prayers must be persistent. The ground we have taken from the enemy through prayer, must be held by prayer. Many times we make a serious mistake when we begin seeing signs of victory in the life of one for whom we have been interceeding. Maybe they have gone forward to receive Christ and have started to read their Bibles, so we quit praying for them. Often the seed has not had a chance to take root yet and the enemy comes to take away the seed. We need to “continue to pray long after we begin to see initial signs of victory.

The beautiful truth is that Satan has already been defeated. As we go into battle the outcome has already been determined. Jesus triumphed over Satan and, thus, Satan must yield when we come against him in the power and in the authority of Jesus Christ. Lay claim to the victory in Jesus Christ - and life after life will be set free as you come against the strongholds of Satan and tear them down with this powerful weapon of prayer!

God has made prayer available to the weakest of His children. It's something that every Christian can exercise, regardless of his spiritual state. You don't have to be a spiritual giant to get into spiritual warfare. And you don't have to be afraid of the enemy as you enter in, because he's already been defeated.

Satan knows that prayer spells his defeat. He'll fight you more to keep you from prayer than any other thing you do. Sometimes, he even encourages you to other specific activities because he knows how fruitless they are. You'll be amazed at the disturbances that come your way when you kneel down and start praying. The telephone will ring. Or someone will be at the front door. Or you'll suddenly remember something you've been wanting to do. When I pray I usually take a notepad with me so I can jot down those thoughts of the forgotten things that need attention. Otherwise I'm tempted to get up and do them immediately. Satan will do anything to get you away from prayer.

Intercessory prayer is a real labor. It's a real conflict in the battle against Satan. It's the deciding factor, and that's why Satan fights it so hard. Suppose that someone attacked you on a dark street and started wrestling with you. If he were to pull a knife, the whole battle would suddenly be centered on one thing - control of the knife. All of a sudden, you'd forget about punching him in the nose. You'd be grabbing for his wrist and trying to knock that knife out of his hand for you realize that it is the deciding factor in this battle.”

Satan knows that prayer brings you victory and spells his defeat. He knows it's the deciding factor in this spiritual warfare. That's why he concentrates all his efforts against prayer. He'll do all he can to upset your prayer time, and keep you from praying.

>> Part 3: Coming Soon

This article is an excerpt from the book “Effective Prayer Life” by Pastor Chuck Smith. © The Word for Today. Reproduced with permission. This book is available on iBooks (free) and Kindle ($0.99). Visit pastorchuck.org for this and other great resources from Pastor Chuck Smith.