“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the Heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12, NIV
There is more to the world than what you can see with your eyes or touch with your hands.
The spiritual battle is real, and so is our enemy: Satan. As believers, he has lost the war for our eternal salvation. But in the present, he is working to make us ineffective for Kingdom work. To fight the spiritual war, you need to do two things on a continual basis.
Consistently take every thought captive. The battlefield for spiritual warfare is primarily in your thought life. Our enemy is the father of lies. Some things sound true on the surface, but in the light of truth they don’t stand up. We need God’s truth to transform Satan’s lies.
In addition, put on God’s armor. In Ephesians 6, Paul says that just as the Roman soldier is dressed for the battle, we also need to be appropriately dressed for our spiritual battle. You can prepare yourself by praying:
“Lord, help me resist the enemy. I want to put on the belt of truth to fight the devil’s lies. I want put to put on the breastplate of righteousness to protect my heart. I want to put on the shoes of peace to tell others the Good News. I want to hold up the shield of faith to block the devil’s arrows – life’s setbacks and temptations. I want to put on the helmet of salvation to protect me from doubts about Jesus and my salvation. And I want to take the sword of the Spirit to help me trust in His Word. Amen.”