The Importance Of Weapons In War

Throughout the history of warfare, weapons plays a important role in determining the outcome of the battle. The army with better and more destructive weapons had a higher chance of winning the battle

A man could be a skilled swordsman, but a boy with a rifle could kill him with one shot in the heart. This example illustrates how weapons determine the outcome of a battle.

This same rules applies in spiritual warfare. Our life of faith is a type of battle, and some may even call it a war. The outcome of the war depends on the weapon we choose to carry.

The saints of old were all able to fight a good fight. They made use of spiritual weapons and with them they lead victorious life. They mentioned of their weapons in the bible.

If Christians today could learn to use the same weapons, they can lead a victorious in  life as well. But the questions is, do we know what they are? Are we willing to use it?

In life, we often feel as though we are fighting a losing battle. Perhaps that’s because we are not equipped with the weapons that are needed. Lets look at the spiritual weapons used by Apostle Paul, if we could use the same weapon, it will help us to be victorious in the battle of faith. 

The Spiritual War Today

Paul described the spiritual battle in his letter to the Corinthians

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war
  according to the flesh.  For the weapons of our
  warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for
  pulling down strongholds,  casting down arguments
  and every high thing that exalts itself against
  the knowledge of God, bringing every thought
  into captivity to the obedience of Christ,” – Paul (2 Cor 10:3-5)

As we are fighting a spiritual war, the weapons we use are not physical weapons. Our mission objectives is not to take prisoners  or to conquer cities. Our true target is to capture the hearts of the people, to lead them to Christ, to teach them to obey him.

But sometimes, no matter how much effort we put in our preaching, we often find it difficult to reach to our friends. No matter how hard we try, we fail to capture their hearts.

As the result. many churches come up with many methods to preach the gospel. But often we do not receive the result that we want.  It looks as if we are attacking a stronghold that will we can never overcome.

Perhaps we rely too much on our own wisdom and strategies and we fail to utilize the spiritual weapons of the apostles. 

The Power Of God And Its Role In Spiritual Warfare

When Paul encounter a similar problem, how did he overcome it? 

Often we are unsure how to win the hearts of people. The modern church advocate that that traditional services can no longer attract people.  They feel that old stories can never move new people. So they plan countless ways to reach out and move people. 

As we see this, sometimes we wonder, “Shall I continue to talk about Jesus and the cross?” “Should we find another way?”  That is how most christians approach their spiritual battle. 

But Paul was different, he relied on the power of God and the power of the Holy spirit. Gods power is still available for us today, just like the days of the Apostles. But the only questions is “How do we unlock it? Is there a secret to unlock the doors of heaven?”

Truth is, we know that there is no secret. If we were to rely on faith and to pray like the way Jesus instructed us, if we can persist in these and not be discouraged, we would be victorious at the end.

But sadly, we often lose faith in our prayers, especially when prayers become a part of routine whenever we gather to worship. So we need to ask ourselves “do you still believe in the power of Prayer? can we still rely on God with our hearts?:

We need to accept the fact that besides God,  no one can overcome the hearts of a fellow man.We can only speak and explain the scriptures. But it is Gods spirit that move the hearts of man

The Power Of God And The Moving Of The Spirit

Paul once said this

“Therefore I make known to you that
  no one speaking by the Spirit of God
  calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say
  that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” – Paul (1 Cor 12:3)

Many of us may think that Paul was exaggerating as we know of many without the Holy spirit  but yet calls Jesus Lord. We also know of Atheist and followers of other religion who would not curse Jesus. But is their actions a moving of the Holy Spirit?

Why did Paul insist that only those moved by the Holy Spirit can call Jesus Lord?

To understand this, we need to consider the historical context of the verse, during that period, Christian were undergoing persecutions. Every Christian must be prepared to be captured and imprisoned.

The Romans devised a ingenious way to single out Christians, they will force people to curse Jesus. They know that whoever who refuses must be a Christian, for they would never blaspheme God. They would also force Christians to declare Jesus as Lord before Caesar  

In those days, Christians who dare call Jesus Lord, pay a great price. Without the moving of the Holy Spirit, many would be afraid to declare Jesus as Lord. During that time, Christians rely on the Holy Spirit to persist in suffering for the Lord. Without the moving of the Holy spirit, man would lack the faith to suffer for the Lord. He would not have the courage and faith to continue practicing his faith.

Christian of today faces lesser physical persecution, however we face persecution in our day to day living, economical and even enjoyment. Sometimes they take away our heart to worship God.

I believe all Christians understood the need to worship Jesus, but sometimes we choose to let go of him in order to receive enjoyment, money and to work.  That is why we  need the Holy Spirit to move us to keep our faith. We need the Holy Spirit to move us to choose God over enjoyment.

But are we willing to come and listen to his words?

Truth is,  there are times we force ourselves to come for service. We do not eagerly desire to come for service, that is why we drag our feet to service. However, when we encounter something that we are passionate about, we becomes eager to do it. 

Christians of today lack the moving the Holy Spirit, sometimes we find our heart swayed by the words of others. There are times we are tempted by friends to skip service. We may be able to resist that temptation once or twice, but we sway at the third and fourth attempt. 

Since our hearts can be swayed, why not let it be moved by God?

Perhaps we sometimes grow tired of listening to God, which explains the need for us to acquire this weapon of Paul 

Prayer As A Spiritual Weapon

In order to rely on Gods power, we need to re-emphasize on prayer once again

For whenever Paul wrote to the church, he will request the church to pray for him. He wanted to them to help him using prayers, and we need this same weapon to fight the spiritual battle today.

Recall the time where John was instructed by God to measure the temple in revelations. (Rev 11:1-3) . God did not want him to just measure the dimension of the temple, he was told to measure the Altar of Incense. which represented the prayers of the saints.

God wanted to find out if we still esteem prayers and if we still believe in it. He wants to know if our prayers are measurable to Gods standards, and if the words we utter during pray aligned with the thoughts of our hearts. 

Perhaps you may ask “Is it possible to pray without the heart?”

For example, we all encounter situations where our heart wanders away in our prayers.  Sometimes we peep at others while praying and sometimes we wonder why is the prayers so long.

When God measures the altar of incense, what is he really measuring?

1. Are you praying sincerely and in accordance to his will ?
2. Are you relying on his power?
3. Is our prayer merely for ourselves or for the others?
4. How much of our prayers is dedicated to God’s kingdom and our salvation? 
5. How much of our prayers is dedicated to asking for wealth and riches. 

Let us learn to use this weapon which Paul uses, let us dedicate ourselves to pray for the kingdom of God as well as salvation, let us pray not just for ourselves but for our fellow brethren