Submit, Resist, Fight

Ministering on the front lines, I have learned a thing or two about spiritual warfare. I am in no way an expert, but the Lord has been faithful to “train my hands for war and my fingers for battle” just as He was with King David (Psalm 144:1).

The world is a painful place. Daily we are wounded by the devil’s fiery arrows, the assaults from the world and even our own sinful flesh. When wounding happens, the devil is right there to introduce his narrative: it was all your fault, you deserved it, this happened because you are bad, you may as well quit.         

Submit

The Word of God says, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). To SUBMIT to God is first and foremost is to listen for His narrative about the situation. We must train ourselves to, at the point of injury, immediately listen for the healing word the Lord is always speaking. Submission does not end there. We must believe what the Lord is saying and come into agreement with His Word. This establishes a boundary with the enemy. We are essentially saying “no” to His lies and “yes” to the truth that will set us free.

Resist

Unfortunately, the battle doesn’t end there. The devil will put up a fight, and so we must RESIST. To resist is to look to God and hold fast to the Lord’s narrative. We say, “Jesus, You are the only One who gets to interpret my pain and life circumstances.”

Our resisting is not a passive exercise but an active one. We must enter the battle as warriors and fight. We must wield the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God in our mouths. We pray the Lord’s narrative, and we declare it over ourselves. The truth will prevent strongholds from being erected, and it will tear down ones that already exist. We worship the Lord with hearts full of gratitude for the deliverance that is ours in Jesus—even if we don’t feel it yet.

Fight

This is the most important part: all of this we do UNTIL the devil flees. If we don’t quit, we win. Beloved, like it or not, we have been born into a war. As believers, we must be warfare minded as the Apostle Peter exhorts us, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8.) In doing this, we truly can be “more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37).

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About Nate O.

Nate O. was formerly Outpost's Director and Senior Pastor of the Twin Cities Justice House of Prayer.