Category: Spiritual Warfare

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A Prayer to Start My Day

Hello Friends! November is my birth month and, in celebration, I would like to bless you with daily posts this month. Each post will be either a prayer, devotional, or a short study that I have taken from my personal prayer journals, spanning the past 7 years. I pray that they will be a source of blessing and inspiration for you, as they have been for me.

Dear Holy Spirit,
I CONFESS! – I have departed from that first instruction You gave me, “Come here! Spend at least one hour with me daily.”

I CONFESS! – I have not been in agreement with You in my actions.

I CONFESS! – I have not been attending to Your voice so I can hear, know and heed Your instructions.

I CONFESS! – I have been doing what was right in my own eyes and, as such, have reaped the fruits of disorder in my life, and have frustrated the grace of God.

Father, please forgive me. Cleanse me from all unrighteousness that I have allowed into my heart and life. Holy Spirit, please come again and make Your abode within me. Please no longer stand afar and watch my demise.

I thank You for speaking to me again, for getting my attention through that dream. Thank you for guiding me with Your eye.

Now, I commit my day into Your hand and ask for sensitivity to Your voice and leading today.
Let Your kingdom come and let Your will be done in me as it is in heaven.
Cause me to walk into those things that You have prepared for me today.

Thank You that Goodness and Mercy are following me today.
Thank You that Your hand of favor and the glow of Your anointing is evident upon my life today.
Thank You that Blessings are attracted to me today.
Favor is attracted to me today.
Money is attracted to me today.
Health is attracted to me today.
Prosperity is attracted to me today.
Good Success is attracted to me today.

The glory of the Lord is upon me, goes before me, and is my rearguard.
Today, I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Today I go forth in expectancy to see all You have prepared for me.
THANK YOU LORD!!!

You are so good and faithful; my heart has no need to fear!
THANK YOU LORD!!!

Amen!

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SCENT MANAGEMENT

My second daughter turned 14 years old over this past weekend. As I watched her enjoy her birthday celebrations, I was reminded of her as a newborn infant, clutching to only me at first, rooting for my breast. Her actions were that of one who could detect the unique signature odor of her mother and rested in the comfort and trust which that scent represented.

I woke this morning being instructed by the Holy Spirit. As I slowly awoke, I heard the statements:
• “Sin multiplies.”
• “Sin carries a stench.”
• “Unclean spirits are attracted to that scent.”
• “Sin, when it is full blown, leads to death.”

I not only heard the statements but saw scripture references simultaneously: Genesis 6; Genesis 4; Romans 6; James 1. So I hopped out of bed, grabbed my study tools and, with the memory of my daughter as an infant and those 4 statements as my focal points, went to studying. I found out something very important: spirits are attracted by the spiritual odor I exude. My scent attracts and repels. Managing my spiritual scent then is another strategy of spiritual warfare.

In my research, I found out that each person has a distinct odor, a natural scent called their signature odor. For newborn infants, though they can’t recognize their mother by sight, their highly sensitive sense of smell causes them to recognize their mother by her natural scent, by her signature odor. I also discovered that my infant becomes so familiar with my scent that she can even detect the difference, in odor, between my breast milk and that of another mother’s. This is why mothers of newborn infants are often cautioned against wearing strong scents such as perfumes or fragrance skin products. The baby’s sense of smell is so sensitive that strong scents/odors can become overwhelming and interfere with their sense of taste.

Wanting to understand what the Spirit was teaching me, I delved further into my research on body odor. You see, I have learned from the word and from experience that the natural, physical world mirrors the spiritual world in some ways. If we exude scents/odors from our bodies from which others can detect and extract accurate information, then our spirits also exude scents/odors from which other spirits can detect and extract accurate information about our condition or state. Our body odor can inform a sensitive or highly trained individual of various body conditions (like problems with specific organs, hormonal changes, disorders), choices (like diet), emotional state, and life stages.

As I thought on this and its parallel in the spiritual realm, I was reminded of the fact that not only am I an ‘ezer, a watcher, but I am also being watched and being targeted. After all, I am in a war. Just as I am studying warfare, so that I would not be ignorant of my adversary’s devices, even so he is studying me as prey (1 Peter 5:8). The clues I give, through the scents my spirit exude, inform that predator of my state. Then he chooses whether to retreat or attack.

But this doesn’t only apply to me. It applies to everyone, even my children who may not be as skilled in the warfare as I am. I thought of my 14-year old daughter, her current stage in life and her hormonal shifts which will likely affect her emotional state. I thought of what “odor” she may be emitting spiritually that may get the attention and “favor” of unwanted spirits. I pictured them, just like the beast who crouched at Cain’s door, waiting for a foothold to enter in and master/overpower him (Genesis 4:5-7).

I thought, “For the sake of my children, I need to manage my spiritual scent so that my children’s spirit can always locate my unique, signature odor AND find that place of safety, comfort and rest.” I cannot afford for my scent to be masked by the cares and stresses of life, lest they would not be able to find their ezer warrior that God has assigned to them for their “help”. For their sake, I must manage my scent so that I do not attract unwanted attention and cause them to have to fight unnecessary battles.

This Mother’s Day 2020, I want to encourage you, as an ezer warrior for your family, to manage your scent. Don’t let your children or those entrusted in your care smell the stench of anxiety or fear exuding from you. Don’t let the cares of life so overwhelm and overcharge you that your environment becomes a beacon for unclean spirits. Fill your space with the aroma of sacrificial praise and sacrificial worship. Attract the presence and favor of God and repel the crouching and stalking of the adversary. This Mother’s Day reproduce for your children the first gift they got from you, after birth, the gift of your scent.

DIG DEEPER:
Bible Study: What’s that Smell?

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TIME MANAGEMENT: Warfare Against The PRESS

I awoke this morning remembering a vision that I awoke to about a year ago. It was a vision showing the state of spiritual activity on Earth. In the vision, I did not see fixed bodily forms but rather an understanding of concepts and truths revealed to us in scripture. In this “vision”, there were three layers of activity in the Earth.

  1. In the first and uppermost layer, there was Jesus seated at God’s right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come, with all things under His feet (Ephesians 1:20-22).
  2. In the second layer, the one far below Jesus Christ’s, there were these principalities, powers, mights, dominions, and all sorts of names actively moving around, influencing the activities of humans on Earth.
  3. The third layer, the lowest of the three, had at its top (just below the bottom of the second layer) the things that consume our daily living: jobs/careers, marriage/relationships, finances, children, desires, emotions, and the list went on and on. They circled and amassed as a crowd at the upper area of that third layer to the point where they became a barrier, a wall. I stood on the floor, at the bottom, of this third layer, with my hands outstretched and my eyes lifted in prayer. Though at my core I am a spirit, my physical body with its dependence on my physical senses to understand and navigate this physical world, kept me grounded, earth-bound, limited in my ability to pierce through the barriers of the second and third layers so as to partner with Jesus Christ in victory, through prayer.

Why did I get this vision? At the time, for about 3 weeks, I had been consistently spending quality time with the Lord, early in the morning, at the beginning of each day. This communion and fellowship with the Holy Spirit was so consistent that I would awake in the morning hearing words of advice, counsel, and admonition.

I experienced what the prophet Isaiah spoke about in Isaiah 50:4 – “The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens me morning by morning, He awakens my ear to hear as the learned.” I like how the NIV translation states it: The Sovereign LORD has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.However, the week prior to my awakening with this vision, the constancy in my communion with the Holy Spirit was broken. The cause? Busyness. That week I was super busy. The busyness so drained me that I became tired and weary. I was so exhausted from the many obligations that I had to fulfill that I would awake late in the morning and not be able to have that quality time with the Holy Spirit. Getting the children to school on time and my arriving to work also on time became a great effort because of how worn out I felt.

Nonetheless, I awoke that morning with this picture in my mind and realized that the Holy Spirit was being my Help. He had penetrated the barrier of tiredness and exhaustion to reveal to me the attack and strategy of the enemy. I later called this strategy The PRESS. You see, the enemy had filled up my atmosphere with busyness so as to cause excessive exertion and lack of sleep. His purpose was to use the PRESS of my daily activities to block my access to the heavenlies. I learned in my Science classes that the atmosphere is very important to life on Earth and does many things to help protect life and help life to survive. The enemy’s agents in the second layer were influencing the timing of these activities to create a PRESS.

That morning the Holy Spirit taught me the importance of being aware of the condition of my atmosphere; the importance of being intentional in my warfare against the PRESS, which manifests as crowdedness. Crowdedness speaks of filling a space almost completely, leaving little or no room for movement.

The enemy’s desire is to keep us Earth-bound by keeping us crowded. When we are blocked in, our movements in the spiritual realm becomes restricted and we are unable to access our true position where we will experience victory. He works with TIME and uses time to frustrate our purposes so as to keep us locked in. The Holy Spirit revealed to me that the weapon of warfare needed to counteract this attack of the PRESS is the discipline of time management. Learning how to be and becoming disciplined as a manager of the time I am given will defeat CROWDEDNESS in my life.

Now why did I awake to this one-year old memory? Because promotion is fast approaching and I will be faced with some new obligations and new battles for which I lack experience. If I am to make my way prosperous and have good success at that new level, then I need to become more skillful in my warfare against the PRESS.

Could it be that the exhaustion and frustrations that you have been feeling lately are a result of the PRESS? Have you been crying to the Lord because you can’t seem to find TIME for Him as you would like? Join me as I continue to explore principles associated with this warfare gleaned from the lives of Zaccheus and Martha.

DIG DEEPER:

  1. Devotional: Isn’t There Anyone to Help Me?
  2. Bible Study: Surrounded? Run Before!

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New Year, New Training

This week has been a week of new year’s resolutions and goals for many. As I move around, I hear some speaking of this year as a time of newness and a fresh start. Others view it as an opportunity to start over or to attempt some things again. For me, this new year – this start of a new decade – is another opportunity to become more skillful in warfare; the kind of warfare which, at its roots, is about listening to and obeying God’s commands. With this year comes new training for battles for which I lack experience.

On New Year’s Day, on our way back from a 3-night revival service in Florida, I came across a passage of scripture that grabbed my attention. I later returned to the passage and dug deeper into it, so I could understand what the Holy Spirit wanted to disclose to me. The passage reads as follows:

Judges 3: 1-4 (NIV) These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan  (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience):  the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath.  They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses.

This passage indicates a few things that called for my consideration:

  1. Warfare is taught.
  2. The teaching of or training in warfare is initiated and facilitated by God.
  3. Battle experience is necessary to develop skill in warfare.
  4. It is imperative that those who have not had previous battle experience be taught warfare.

Upon consideration, I began to ask myself a few questions, in light of the upcoming year:

  1. What battle experience(s) am I lacking?
  2. What has God allowed to remain in my life from the previous year(s) that would give me the necessary training and experience so that I can become more fit for and skilled in warfare?
  3. What “enemy” has been left in my life for testing and proving; to know whether I would listen and obey the commands of the Lord?

I concluded that, although I may have entered a new year, there will still be some old, remaining, or leftover things that I will have to deal with for my betterment. The Holy Spirit was impressing upon me to be careful not to offer wasted prayers, rebuking and cancelling the very things that the Lord has ordained for my growth and development. He cautioned me that, no matter how many people I hear declaring all newness, remember that all things will not be made new just because it is a new year. However, I must be mindful that those things which are not assigned to be made new, are essential for the perfection of my warfare.

Consequently, I look forward in anticipation to the upcoming new training that God has designed for me. I do not fool myself into thinking that it will be a walk in the park. I know that I will have some challenging moments and may even fail some of the lessons and accompanying tests. Nevertheless, I surrender to the training God has chosen for me and expect that, if I tarry, by the end of this year, I will be more skillful and experienced in warfare.  I would have gained more ground for the kingdom.

Therefore, I go forth this year joining with the psalmist David, declaring, “Blessed be the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle” – Psalms 144:1 (NKJV). Will you join me in God’s School of Warfare?

DIG DEEPER:
Bible Study – The Greatest Teacher of Warfare

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Time for a Check-up!

I can’t believe it! The end of the first quarter of the school year here in Berkeley County, South Carolina is fast approaching. I am in the process of entering grades in my gradebook, because report cards will soon be due. The grades represent what the students were able to achieve or learn this quarter and give some indication to areas where they may need extra help or support.

While I am in this mode of thought, I can’t help but think about my spiritual report card, particularly my report in regards to my prayer life, and consequently my warfare. As I meditate on this, two passages of scriptures come to mind.

The first was recorded by the writer of Hebrews where he makes mention of a “report” as well. He states, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report….  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, ….” (Hebrews 11: 1-2, 39)

The second was written by Paul in his letter to the Corinthian church. It was not specifically speaking about a “report” but was encouraging the believers to do some self-examination or self-assessment. This is what he said, according to 2 Corinthians 13:5-6 in the Message translation: “Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it.”

The latter passage was referring to assessing oneself to determine whether or not they are in the faith. Tonight, I am taking heed to this advice and applying it to my prayer life. I am encouraged to take some time out for personal assessment, that is, self-reflection, and self-evaluation. The objective is to determine my areas of strengths and weaknesses, so that I can wage a good warfare (1 Timothy 1:18).

Would you join me as I pull out my ezerWatchers Checklist as my measuring tool and invite the Holy Spirit to be my Evaluator who will reveal and lead me into truth? Consider these indicators/descriptors with me.

Which number best describes your skill level for each statement?
1-Never  2-Rarely  3–Seldom  4-Often 5-Always

  1. I pray according to the will of God.
    – I research God’s word as it pertains to the situation. ________
    – I gather information about the issue/situation before praying.  _________
    – I accept the truth about the information gathered. ________
    – I seek God’s will regarding the situation. ________
  2. I am aware of when I may be contrary or opposed to the will of God.
    – I am honest about my feelings regarding the issue/situation.  ________
    – I war against my contrary will. _______
    – There are times when I war against my intellect. _______
    – I am aware of the distractions in my internal and external environment.  _________
    – I research God’s word as it pertains to distractions in my internal and external environment. ________
  3. I engage in prayer in different dimensions.
    – I pray prayers of confession as it pertains to my perceptions. ________
    – I pray prayers of submission as it pertains to my emotions. ________
    – I use different forms/types of prayer. _______
    – I have a strategy for overcoming these distractions in my internal and external environment. ________
  4. My prayers are led by the Holy Spirit.
    – My spiritual sight is corrected through the lens of my prayer. _________
    – My prayers are guided by my spiritual sight and not my perceptions. ________
    – My prayers are guided by my spiritual sight and not my emotions. ________
    – My prayers are led by the Holy Spirit, proactive – not just reactive. _______
    – I use a weapon in which I am skilled during prayer. ________
  5. Although I pray any and everywhere and at any time, I have routines associated with my communication with God.
    – I have a set place in my home where I meet with God. ________
    – I know the primary channel of communication through which God communes with me. _________
    – I have set times in my daily schedule when I meet with God. _______

So what did your results reveal?
In which of the 5 categories did you see more strengths? In which did you see more weaknesses?
Revisit 2 Corinthians 13: 5-6 (MSG) – “Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, …. If you fail the test, do something about it.”

I borrow this excerpt from The Art of War by Sun-Tzu: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself, but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. Knowing the enemy enables you to take the offensive, knowing yourself enables you to stand on the defensive.”

Getting regular check-ups through self-reflection and self-evaluation positions us for victory in the war.

DIG DEEPER –  For more information on:

1. Praying according to the will of God, check out
– Lord, Please Guard My Focus (1);
– Strategy for Warfare (2)

2. Being aware of when I may be contrary or opposed to the will of God, check out
– Lord, Please Guard My Focus (2);
– It Might Just Be an Illusion;
– The Woman & The Serpent (2);
– Change of Focus = Change of Perspective

3. Engaging in prayer in different dimensions, check out
– Warfare Against Fear;
– Warfare for My Children;
– Warfare: Obedience Conquers Fear;
– Be Rid of The “Thorns”

4. Being Led by the Spirit in Prayer, check out –
A Cry for Discernment;

5. Routines associated with my communication with God, check out –
– Tactical Position: Listen Up!

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Tactical Disposition: LISTEN UP!

As some of you know, I am a special education teacher. I teach students with varying exceptionalities. One such exceptionality is ADHD. Students with ADHD have a difficult time staying focused. Consequently, they struggle with LISTENING UP! Unfortunately for them, they miss a lot of the instruction that is given in their general education classes, not because they were not present but, because they could not focus enough to listen. Thus their achievement at the end of the semester does not accurately reflect their potential.

As I think of my students, I wonder about myself. How many battles have I lost? How many blessings have I forfeited? How many opportunities have I missed? How are my life ‘s achievements much less than my God-given potential? All because I am having difficulty focusing on God’s voice; all because I fail to LISTEN UP!

Life can be really noisy and distracting. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines noisy as, “accompanied by or introducing random fluctuations that obscure the real signal or data.” Noisy! Noisy! Noisy! So many noises; so many loud, sometimes confused and senseless sounds, both on the inside and on the outside. So much noise that we can’t hear the voice of God. But thanks be to God, He has made provision for us to hear, to move past those signals intended to obscure his voice and enter a space where we can hear him clearly.

Jesus modeled this for us: escaping the noise and finding that space. Mark 1:35 states, “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” The time of prayer and the place of prayer are important for how well we are able to hear. Jesus chose a time when the hustle and bustle of life was at a minimum. He also chose a place where he could be alone and undisturbed; a place where noise-infiltration will be reduced.

There is something about the time of prayer. The prophet Isaiah also spoke of this time of prayer, in the morning. He was referring to the Messiah in this passage, but it is also instructive for us. He says, “The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned“ – Isaiah 50:4. The NIV says it this way, “He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.”

In the morning, I awake with a blessing, an anointing, with favor on my ears to hear God clearly; to hear His instructions so that I can be guided for the day. Notice what Isaiah was saying. When I hear as a student, as one being taught, then I am able to know what to say, how to respond in season, that is, what is the appropriate word or action for the occasion. When I hear as a student then God is able to fulfill this promise in my life – “ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye” – Psalms 32:8.

When we position ourselves to LISTEN UP, by choosing our time and place of prayer, we position ourselves to receive instructions for battle, for blessings, and to discern opportunities. If we were to read further in Mark 1, after Jesus came out of that early morning prayer, He was empowered to preach and do miracles. Luke 6:12-13 provides us with another example of Jesus being selective about his time and place of prayer. “And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles….” We see that within that space he was able to hear clearly and receive instructions about who should be on his leadership team.

Position yourself to hear God’s voice; to be instructed!

Be selective about your time and place of prayer!

Make a choice to stop incurring avoidable losses. Make a choice to not forfeit any blessings. Make a choice to put an end to missed opportunities!

LISTEN UP!

What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer.
Oh, what peace we often forfeit; oh what needless pains we bear.
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!

Don’t just carry them to Him in prayer. Create the environment (that time and place of prayer) that will allow you access to hearing His voice so that you can leave with instructions for the manifestation of your victory.

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly – Psalms 5:3 – LISTEN UP!

DIG DEEPER: Bible Study – Did you hear that?

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God’s Choice: Custom-made Battles

“Victory in warfare is a function of superiority of strategy.” – Pastor Sam Adeyemi

Exodus 13:17 – 14:31

God chooses our battles. He chooses when, where, and how we fight. Because the choice is His, if we follow His leading and guidance, we are assured to win.

Jeremiah 10:23 states, “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” The wise man Solomon further explains that, “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps” – Proverbs 16:9.

God, in choosing our battles, considers our frame. He will not allow you to be tempted above that ye are able…. 1 Corinthians 10:13. Our battles are proportional to our strength.

God is not only able but He will. He will use the things in our environment that only He has control of (like the strong east wind) to make a way when none is visible. Solomon says that this ability of God is not just confined to nature, but even the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will (Proverbs 21:1).

The God that divided the waters and made a road in the sea can surely make a way of escape, a way of forward mobility for you. The way that God makes for you is yours. Your battles are custom-made for you, designed just for you. They were made to individual specifications. No one else can fit like you can. When they try to walk where you have walked in battle, they will experience defeat and destruction.

The sea represented the roadblock/obstacle/hindrance to their deliverance. But the sea also became their way of escape. What was their way of escape was the tool of destruction for their pursuers, their enemies. The way that God makes for you is for you. For others, it may be a tool of destruction, but for you a means of deliverance. WALK INTO THE MIDST OF THE SEA!

Your victory is assured this day. All that is required of you is great trust in God and expeditious movement.  Will you trust that God has the superior strategy for your life today?

MOVEMENT + TRUST = VICTORY

DIG DEEPER:

  1. Devotional – All for His Glory!
  2. Bible Study – Superior Strategy
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Something Worth Fighting For

“I live in a patriarchal society. I should leave the fighting, conquering, and building to the men. Nevertheless, I can’t ignore the legacy that pumps within my veins. While I was in the loins of my ancestor Joseph, I received an anointing as a ruler and preserver of nations. Additionally, while I was in the loins of his son Ephraim, I heard the prophetic utterance of greatness to found many nations. My father, brothers, cousins, and uncles are not the only ones to whom this blessing of favor belongs. I am Sherah, a near kinswoman, and I will seize that which was promised to us by God.”
– Sheerah, ~1400BC

The first nine chapters of the book of 1 Chronicles is a compilation of lists of genealogies or historical records of the family lines of the Israelites. Occasionally, the chronicler interrupts the lists of family names to elaborate on an individual in a family line. One such interruption occurs in 1 Chronicles 7:20-24. The author zones in on a tragedy that transpires in the family of Ephraim, during the pre-exodus time period. Then he fast forwards generations later, to the time period of Joshua’s conquest of Canaan and zooms in on a daughter (descendant) of Ephraim, Sherah, also known as Sheerah.

Sherah would have grown up hearing stories about her (many times over great grandfather) ancestor Joseph and also of her many times over grand uncles, Ezer and Elead. On one hand was a story of triumph over impossible odds and, on the other hand, a story of defeat that led to tremendous despair, depression and discouragement.

Which story should she allow to inform her future, to shed light on the path before her? Should she choose to sit in the sidelines and let life happen or should she grab hold of her legacy; that which God had promised her family? Were God’s promises worth fighting for?

I read the story of Sherah in 1 Chronicles 7:20-25 and imagined that the self-talk above might have been the thoughts running through her mind as she watched her kinsman, Joshua son of Nun lead the conquest of Canaan. I imagined that this reflection on who she was motivated her, a woman in a patriarchal society, to fight for her legacy. The story she wrote with her fight was recorded in verse 24 –

“And his daughter was Sherah, who built Bethhoron the nether, and the upper, and Uzzensherah.”

This was unheard of in these times; a woman being the foundress and builder of not one city/town but three, one of which was named after her. For generations after her death, one of these towns, Beth-Horon would be strategic in many battles fought in and by Israel. I am sure if I could sit with Sherah today, she would tell me, that all of that, though difficult, was something worth fighting for!

Do you have something worth fighting for?

DIG DEEPER:
1. Devotional – Hold on to Your Promise!
2. Bible Study – Sherah: Daughter of Ephraim

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TACTICAL DISPOSITION: Being Still

In my previous blog posts, I have been emphasizing the need for strategy as we engage in warfare in the kingdom. When I referred to strategy, I defined it as a plan of action to achieve an overall goal. So, for example, if our goal is the salvation of our spouse or children, our strategy will describe the plan of action that we are putting in place to achieve this. We would ask questions like: What approach will I take? Or What is the general direction I intend to take to achieve this goal?

However, it is not enough to have a strategy or overall plan for our warfare. After we have identified our strategy for warfare, we must then pinpoint the tactics needed to carry out that plan. Tactics are those specific actions that we employ to implement the strategy or plan.

It is important to note that this word, actions, may be misleading in that it implies (1) the process of doing something or (2) an active response or resistance. Scripture reveals a tactical position of seeming inaction or passivity (without active response or resistance). I call it the Tactical Disposition of Being Still.

As women, we often find it hard to “Be Still”. We wear so many hats that, without thinking, we often find our hands dipping in many things simultaneously. Consequently, there are times when our victory lies not in actively doing something or “waging warfare”. There are times when the tactical position for victory is just “being still”.

But what does it mean to be still? Psalms 46:10 as stated in the Amplified Bible says, “Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God”. Being still is leaving off or abandoning our own attempts and allowing God to be God in a situation; trusting that, without our help, He will be exalted in the situation. He will win and so will we.

Being Still is about ceasing from our labors, refraining from making inputs, relaxing our hold, and letting go so that God can show His might and His deliverance in the battle. When we are directed by the Holy Spirit to employ this tactic, we are afforded an opportunity to see God as the King of glory, the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

I must confess that, for me, this has been one of the most difficult tactical dispositions in my warfare: being still. But thanks be to God, through His precious Holy Spirit, I am learning that quietness and confidence can be my strength (Isaiah 30:15). I am learning that as a wife and mother, I have been given a grace of influence that works best in an environment of stillness. I can choose to build my home with this grace, resting confidently in the Lord, or tear down what I am seeking to build by charging loudly and aggressively ahead.

I invite you to come with me as we discover The Power of Quiet Influence (Devotional) and how to be A Wise Builder (Bible Study).

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Do You Have a Strategy for Your Warfare?

To Fight or Not to Fight? That is the question.

Like Goliath, for some of you, the adversary has been challenging you in an area of your life for some time now. For others there is an issue or problem confronting you that you find difficult to overcome or solve. Still for others there is that goal that you want to achieve, but it presents a huge challenge.

In all of these cases, warfare is required. But what do you do? You have two options: To Fight or Not to Fight. Whatever your choice, you will need to decide on a strategy, choose a tactical position for your warfare.

Recently, I have been reading the book, The Art of War by Sun-Tzu, and it confirms so much that I have learned from the word of God as it relates to waging a good warfare. As I read it, I constantly hear the questions ringing in my spirit – Do you have a strategy for your warfare? What is your strategy for your warfare?

Read and ponder on some of what I have been reading from this book:

EXCERPT FROM The Art of War by Sun-Tzu

He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight. If he can fight, he advances and takes the offensive; if he cannot fight, he retreats and remains on the defensive. He will invariably conquer who knows whether it is right to take the offensive or defensive.

Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself, but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. Knowing the enemy enables you to take the offensive, knowing yourself enables you to stand on the defensive.

On the one hand we have ability to protect ourselves; on the other, a victory that is complete.

To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands. Security against defeat implies defensive tactics. The opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself. The ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive.

It is imperative to have a strategy for your warfare. Your choice of strategy will be determined by your knowledge of yourself and your adversary. Until you are able to come to grips with both yourself and the adversary, your strategy for warfare will not result in victory.

This week’s Bible Study and Devotional focus will be on three women (Rebekah, Rachel, and Hannah) who faced a similar adversary but made 3 different decisions on whether To FIGHT or Not To FIGHT. Join me as we use their testimonies to learn how to wage a good warfare against the challenges before us.

DIG DEEPER:

  1. Devotional – To Fight or Not To Fight?
  2. Bible Study – Watch Your Warfare!