Prayer of Defense Before Sleeping

Prayer of Defense Before Sleeping

                "Father, I come before you in prayer. I enter into your gates with thanksgiving and enter into your courts with praise¹. I praise you because you are worthy, holy, righteous, and just. I plead the blood  of Jesus over myself, my dwelling place, my spouse, my children, my car, my bank account and everything under my stewardship². I pray that your heavenly hosts, your angels, would guard this dwelling place round about, both above and below³. I will say of the Lord that you are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in you will I trust⁴. I thank you that you set a hedge of protection round about me and that no plague will come near my dwelling⁵. I thank you in advance that every curse, hex, spell, incantation, voodoo, sorcery, form of witchcraft, dark art or other form of weaponized demonic activity sent against me would be reversed upon the heads of the senders seven-fold that they would know that Jesus is Lord⁶. Moreover, I pray that every human spirit, fallen angelic spirit, or otherwise malevolent spirit attempting to come against me or my household would be apprehended by your heavenly hosts such that they cannot so much as set foot upon this property⁷. I pray that they would be escorted out to wherever the Lord Jesus sends them, pierced through with many arrows and discomfited by your lightning in the process, that they would know that Jesus is Lord⁸. Furthermore, I cancel and render powerless all attempts at mind-to-mind communication, dream manipulation, and all other forms of psychic and telepathic intrusion in the name of Jesus⁹. I thank you that all of my dreams are inspired by your Holy Spirit¹⁰. I declare that my sleep will be sweet, uninterrupted, and that upon waking I will be well rested¹¹. I also put on the armor of light¹². I take up the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, I declare that my feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and I take up the shield of faith to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one, and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God¹³. I pray all of this in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen¹⁴.

Notes on the Prayer

¹ "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name." (Psalm 100:4). Never stop giving thanks and praising God. I open every prayer with praise and thanksgiving. This will always lead to more powerful and effective prayers.

² "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." (Revelation 12:10) The enemy hates the blood of Jesus because he is overcome by it. The power of His blood is an inarguable weapon in the believer's arsenal. The life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11) and so every time the blood of Jesus is applied it is an application of the very life of Jesus Christ. It is an application of the power to cleanse sin (Colossians 1:14) and bring healing (1 Peter 2:24). It is one of three that bear witness to the resurrection and victory of Jesus Christ "in the earth" along with the water and the Spirit (1 John 5:8). When the angel of death, otherwise called the destroyer, was sent out in the book of Exodus, he passed over every household displaying the blood of a lamb on its door post (Exodus 12:23). This was a type and shadow of what the blood of Jesus would one day accomplish. Even death must respect the blood. Why wouldn't we plead it over everything? Frankly, to do otherwise as believers is a waste of God's resources.

³ "And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." (2 Kings 6:17). God set His heavenly army in battle array round about the prophet Elisha. Centuries later, Jesus went on to say that John the Baptist was the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, and that the least in the Kingdom was greater than him (Luke 7:28). What kind of angelic host do you think God will set about his spiritual children? He will send armies to war on our behalf! Moreover, angels are ministering spirits sent forth to minister to the heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:14). Part of this ministry is protection. Psalm 91:11-12 declares that His angels will keep us in our ways and bear us up in their hands lest we should dash our foot upon a stone. This is why I set an angelic guard around my location (whether it is my house, a hotel room, or wherever I happen to be sleeping). Notice that I set them round about, both above and below. I have learned that above and below deals with dimensional access points, and that if I say the prayer in this way, I am employing protection against attacks entering from other dimensions.

⁴ " I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust." (Psalm 91:2). The fortress of God, who wouldn't want to sleep there?

⁵ "There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling." (Psalm 91:10). This is self explanatory.

⁶ This is a list of common forms of weaponized demonic attacks. It is by no means complete, but usually gets the job done. I used to pray that any curse sent would be stopped, but now I pray that they would be reversed. Why? One, when a curse is reversed upon the head of a sender it serves as strong discouragement to continue. Two, when a curse is reversed with the purpose of revealing the power of Jesus, I believe that Jesus will honor this prayer and make sure that every reversal creates this testimony. On what scriptural grounds can a curse be reversed? The Bible is clear that we are partakers of the blessing of Abraham (Galatians 3:14). Part of Abraham's blessing included the promise that those that cursed him would be cursed and those that blessed him would be blessed (Genesis 12:3). Why do I say seven-fold? This is loosely based on the promise that states my enemies will rise up against me in one direction and flee in seven (Deuteronomy 28:7). The Bible also says that when the thief is caught he shall restore seven-fold, even to the whole of his substance (Proverbs 6:31). This speaks of a seven-fold consequence for wrongs committed.

⁷ Demons are not the only spirits lurking around. The Devil also has human agents that do much of their work "out-of-body." This is sometimes called "astral projection." When a human is out-of-body they are in spirit form, yet dealing with this type of spirit is not the same as dealing with a demonic spirit because they are not under the same jurisdiction as demons. They have free will and do not necessarily respond to the name of Jesus in the same way that demons do because of their human nature. Just like I can't necessarily command people around in the name of Jesus when they're in their bodies, a degree of this remains true when they are in the spirit. This is why I assign angels to apprehend them and escort them out if they attempt to come against me. This is not a theory, the effectiveness of this prayer has been proven by experience. I also assign angels to apprehend fallen angels and other malevolent spirits attempting to come against me. A battle with a fallen angel will be many times more intense than a demonic attack. If I can assign angels to take care of the battle before it comes to me, why wouldn't I?

⁸ "Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them." (Psalm 18:14). Yes, God does have arrows and lightening and yes, we can use them. The fiery darts of the enemy (Ephesians 6:16) that many believer's have been taught about are only a counterfeit to the arrows of God. These arrows will deal great damage to the armies of darkness. If a person comes out-of-body to attack me and winds up getting apprehended by heavenly angels and failing in their assignment it will frustrate them. If in addition they receive the chastisement of heaven's arrows and the lightening of God with the purpose that their discomfort will be evidence of the supreme power of Jesus, they will not be likely to return.

⁹ Psychic phenomena, telepathy and other forms of mind-to-mind communication do not necessarily fall under the same category as curses and weaponized demonic attacks. They also do not require that the perpetrator be out-of-body and attempting to spiritually attack their target. For this reason I list these issues separately, simply "cutting the enemy's phone lines" if you will. This is a part of the prayer that I have incorporated due to experience. Before adding this section, I had several experiences involving the enemy trying to speak to my mind in my sleep. I was left trying to figure out how he got in until I realized that I should pray in this manner. "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1Peter 1:13).

¹⁰ God spoke on many occasions in the Bible through dreams. For instance, He spoke to Jacob in a dream in Genesis 46:2 and He spoke to Daniel in a dream in Daniel 7:7 and 7:13. Pray that God would do the same for you, and that your dreams would be limited to His influence.

^{11 "}When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet." (Proverbs 3:24). Sweet sleep is a promise from God to His children! Don't ever think otherwise. The devil is a liar and he will try to cheat you out of what is rightfully yours if he can. Don't let him. Demand your inheritance in Christ!

¹² "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light." (Romans 13:12)

¹³ "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:13-17). Note: In my prayer I list these in a different order simply because I go from head to foot as I am taking up the armor. If using the order the apostle lists them in Scripture feels better for you, simply use his listing order.

¹⁴ "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." (John 14:13). Ask everything in the name of Jesus. His name reflects His character. It contains the power of His supreme authority.

Happy Sleeping!!

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Overcoming Discouragement

Greetings,

                So you're discouraged. I get that. Life is hard, and anyone that said it was easy—they lied. Maybe you're in the midst of a difficult break-up. Maybe you are watching in disbelief as your marriage is falling to pieces. You may have just found out that you're the next mother of a pregnant teenager, and she's already four-months pregnant. Maybe your children are in gross rebellion, and while you don't want to admit it, all you can do is blame yourself and your own shortcomings.

                You may be discouraged because of that addiction you can never overcome. Is it alcohol? Maybe it's marijuana? Or is your demon even more insidious, like cocaine or heroin? Maybe your battle is with pornography or masturbation. Maybe, it's simply the cyclical self-defeating ideologies that play over and over in your head like a broken record player. Whatever boat you find yourself in, you are hurting. When you sit back and attempt to assess your life, you are overwhelmed by a horrific sinking feeling. You feel like wasted life.

                Discouragement is difficult. When a person is engaged in this battle, it is like trying to wrestle their way out from under a ten thousand pound cinder block. I've been there. Weakness overtakes us no matter what strategy we attempt to implement. It's like trying to start a car with no gas. Even with a fresh coat of wax and brand new rims—even with a pricy clean up job—it's not going anywhere. The engine will try to start: but it will fail. As the driver, you eventually give up, lean back in your chair, and resolve that under the present circumstances, you are not going anywhere.

                Maybe you are the one that has paid for seminars, self-help books, counseling, and still have yet to see the change you need. You are like that freshly waxed car. Your head is full of great advice. You know things that have worked for others. Maybe you even spoke some of that knowledge and watched it bless someone else. But you, that's different. You have no results. You have more failure. You have more discouragement. Discouragement and hopelessness are a dynamic duo, and they dynamically oppress your life. What can you do?

                Unfortunately, I must admit upfront that there is no way a single article can solve all of the complexities of your situation. However, I believe that there are certain key insights that may start you down a path that will ultimately introduce you to the victory you have so longed for. The truth of the matter is that I have battled with discouragement. Frankly put, there are moments that I still battle with discouragement. The difference for me is that I now understand the true nature of my battle with discouragement. Before I realized its true nature, I got my butt kicked every time!

                Before I disclose the true nature of my battle with discouragement I want to make one thing clear. Physiological chemical imbalances can lead to feelings of discouragement. If a simple change in diet or some herbal supplements solve your feelings of discouragement, this is clearly the source of your problems. If these changes have no impact, then your battle with discouragement runs deeper. For you, my personal insights may prove exceptionally helpful.

                In the year of 2011 I went on a unique type of fast. I fasted all media and forms of electronic entertainment. This meant no movies, no TV, no video games, etc. I took it a step further and even fasted entertainment in the form of fiction novels and other publications designed to provide entertainment. This may have been easier if I was working a full-time job, but for the majority of the year I wasn't working at all. I literally prayed, studied, and wrote all day long. Can you imagine? It was the ultimate attempt to sever myself from all things worldly and totally immerse myself into the things of God. This fast went on without interruption for a literal 365 days. Under such circumstances, most would simply assume that I ate and slept the glory and presence of God.

                Contrary to popular thought, this was not quite the case. Don't get me wrong, it worked to greatly accelerate certain works of God in my personal life, and I did have incredible moments with God that in some ways are impossible to describe with words. However, the majority of my day-to-day life was repetitive. I read so many non-fiction books on God and the Bible that all of the information began to repeat itself. There were many times that I found myself incredibly bored. However, the biggest challenge (at least initially) was discouragement. About three months into the fast discouragement hung onto me so heavily that felt like my physical body would literally collapse under the weight of it. Where was this discouragement coming from?

                This is when I began to understand in a very personal way that my battle with discouragement was spiritual. It was an attack on my life because the enemy hated the way I was sacrificing myself to go deeper with God. Thus discouragement was given an assignment to not only stifle my ability to engage God during the fast but also to interrupt the fast if at all possible.

                It was a few days into this horrific attack that God spoke to me about starting a prayer team. I contacted several close and trusted believers and formed a team of people to pray me through that year. I want to take a moment to give a very special shout-out to my Mom, Fabienne, Martyne, Becky, and my Grandparents for making up my prayer team that year. The impact: within days of linking arms with these other believers the power of discouragement was broken (in addition to numerous other answered prayers). It was a battle I wasn't yet strong enough to win myself. I needed others to stand with me, and in unity there was victory. If you are like I was, and nothing you've done has worked, I urge you to surround yourself with others. Christianity is a team effort. We need the support and prayers of others to win!

___

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How To Stop Nightmares

Greetings,

                You are waking up in a cold sweat. Your heart is frantically beating, trying to escape from its place in your chest. You have stress, anxiety and fear all at the same time. Surrounded by darkness, you are trying to collect your thoughts. Your palms are sweating,  and you're breathing is heavy. What is going on? As the moments pass ,you begin to settle down. There is no threat. You are safely in your bed. Then you realize that it was all a dream. Or should I say, a nightmare?

                Nightmares are the dreams that no one wants to have. They are scary, disturbing, and unpleasant. The evil that accompanies them can be felt, sometimes even after we have awakened from them. We have been in a long series on spiritual warfare. This week we will learn how to apply spiritual warfare techniques to solve the problem of nightmares.

                The first thing that we need to understand about dreams is that they have three main sources.

1.       Dreams can be inspired by the Holy Spirit (the kingdom of light)

2.       Dreams can be inspired by our own anxieties, passions, and experiences

3.       Dreams can be inspired by demonic entities (the kingdom of darkness)

True nightmares are often inspired from the kingdom of darkness. While we can have "nightmares" that are not inspired by the kingdom of darkness, these are not the ones that this email is going to focus on. How can we tell the difference? When the nightmares include a component of evil that can be "felt," it is a good indicator that the dream has been inspired by the kingdom of darkness. If the source is normal stress or anxiety, the dreams are typically not much more than unpleasant.

For instance, when I was waiting tables years ago I had a dream that I was waiting on two tables at opposite ends of a mall! No matter how hard I tried it was impossible to keep up with the pace of the meal that these guests were trying to enjoy. This dream was unpleasant by every definition, and I could feel overwhelming stress the whole time. However, without a "presence" of evil in dream, this "nightmare" was most likely not inspired by the kingdom of darkness.

On another occasion (years ago) I had what I will consider a true nightmare. In this situation, I had a sinking feeling throughout the entire dream. As it continued, I kept going lower and lower into this sewer type area. The lower I went, the more threatened I felt. Eventually I encountered this guy that keep pushing me back. The further back I was pushed, the more the feeling of threat increased. At the end of the dream I found myself isolated in what seemed like a cell, awaiting impending doom. Instead of sticking around for the inevitable, I woke myself up. I immediately began to pray.

I have had many unpleasant experiences in my sleep that were distributed to me by the kingdom of darkness. Some of you reading this may be resonating with my experience. You may have experienced death, torture, terror, worst case scenarios, violence, humiliation, or things that are even worse in dreams.

I have learned that the enemy is always going to be a coward. Instead of confronting peoples strongest points, he will always prey on their weaknesses. He also never sleeps. The enemy is just as interested in attacking people in their sleep as he is during their waking hours. In order to sabotage his efforts to attack me in my sleep, what I do is prepare. Since I am not going to be conscious in order to conduct any necessary spiritual warfare, I have to make sure that I won't have to. You can think about it like this. Who is safer: the man who sleeps in the grass in the middle of a large field or the man who sleeps in a fortress surrounded by armed guards.

Many people don't consider that because we are members of the kingdom of light, we actually have the ability to go to sleep in a spiritual fortress. Instead of taking advantage of these potential sleeping conditions, many Christians opt to simply sleep with no defenses. These vulnerable Christians will inevitably suffer more attacks in their sleep. This will be especially true when personal revival for the individual begins to take place.

In order to go to sleep in a spiritual fortress, we have to rely on the spiritual principles that God has given us. He gave us a tongue with which to speak. As we speak in faith, our spoken (not politely thought in our head) words will actually create realities in the spirit realm. This is why the Bible says death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those that love it will eat of its fruit (Proverbs 18:21). We use our tongue to speak out the situation that we will be sleeping in.

The next step is to use the promises that God has given us. The way promises work in the Christian faith is that we have to give our yes to God's yes. In other words, there are promises that are waiting for us to grab a hold of. However, before we experience their impact we have to agree with them and begin to declare them with our mouths. According to the following verse, we see that God has already given His yes and His Amen to all of His promises towards us. By agreeing with His promises and experiencing their impact, we will actually bring God glory.

"For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us." (2 Corinthians 1:20)

Understanding this, our next step is to find our ideal sleeping conditions in His Word. The following are the scriptures and quotes that I speak over myself before going to sleep every night. By doing this prior to going to sleep every night, I rarely if ever have to deal with nightmares.

Scriptures

"When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet." (Proverbs 3:24)

"There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling." (Psalm 91:10)

"No weapon formed against thee shall prosper" (Isaiah 54 :17)

"I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust." (Psalm 91:2)

"So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him." (Isaiah 59:19)

Quotes

"Father, I cancel all nightmares in Jesus' name. I thank you in advance that tonight all of my dreams will be inspired by Your Holy Spirit."

"Father, I pray right now that a hedge of protection is established round about my house (based on Job 1:10)"

"Father, I pray that angels would guard this house round about, both above and below, in the name of Jesus (based on Psalm 91:11, Matthew 26:53, Hebrews 1:14)"

"Father, I plead the blood of Jesus over myself, my house, and all of my property in the name of Jesus (based on Revelation 12:11)"

"Father, I pray that every curse, hex, spell, divination, demon, human spirit, form of voodoo, spiritual assignment, and any other unnamed work of darkness sent against me be rendered powerless in the name of Jesus (based on Luke 10:19)" [note: in some cases you can even pray that these things would be reversed upon the heads of the senders that they would know that Jesus is Lord... it works]

Happy sleeping!

The Importance of Accuracy

Greetings,

                There are many excuses that people use to write off what is actually a spiritual attack. Some might call it bad luck. Others might just blame everyone around them—calling them incompetent. Still others will blame God. They will call the problem everything but what it is—a spiritual attack.

                Spiritual attacks can come in a variety of ways. They can come as an assault on our thought lives. They can be the cause of unexplainable fear or anxiety. Spiritual attacks can be the driving force behind a failing marriage or a broken family. They can even cause lost opportunities. When we are faced with difficult situations that come as a result of spiritual attacks it is essential for us to discern them as such.

                The lesson I want to communicate is not simply that we need to call spiritual attacks what they are. We must also identify what kind of spiritual attack we are trying to overcome and deal with the attack specifically. Believer's, regardless of how closely they walk with God, will come under attack from the enemy. Even if the enemy can't get to them, he can give them a hard time by afflicting those around them.

                When believer's have the sense to identify that they are experiencing a spiritual attack, they must specifically confront the source of the attack. We must avoid seeing people or situations as the problem and start seeing the problem for what it is. The devil has destroyed many solid families and relationships by attacking people and making them blame their experience on those around them. Don't take the bait. He has also sabotaged many legitimate opportunities. Don't sit back and let the devil walk all over you.

                Before going any further I must address an issue that may arise in some of you reading this. The question is, why should we be responsible to confront the enemy? Isn't that the job of Jesus? Doesn't He have all of the power and authority meaning "without Him we can do nothing"?

                These questions, when answered incorrectly, have led many believer's to accept a very flawed perspective regarding their relationship to God and the spirit realm. Some people have been led to believe that since Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth, they should have no role in spiritual warfare. This has led people to take a stance of powerlessness. It has also caused many people to struggle to hold onto their faith when their problems don't just evaporate.

                What we as believer's must realize is that we have authority in Christ. While entire books have been written to make this one point, we are going to simply focus on two passages. In the following verse, the apostle Paul makes it clear that he was operating in an authority given to him by God. God gives believer's authority, plain and simple.

                "For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed" (2 Corinthians 10:8)

                The Bible goes on to say that we have been given the power over all the power of the enemy. This is God's authorization for us to go forth in the name of Jesus Christ and confront the powers of darkness in the spirit realm. In other words we are granted authority for a reason.

                "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you." (Luke 10:19)

                When it comes to using the power we have been given "over the power of the enemy", we must learn to be specific. This will ensure our effectiveness when engaging in spiritual warfare. For instance, I can bind a spirit of alcoholism all day long, but if a spirit of drug abuse is the problem, nothing will happen. This is why we have to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, who will always reveal to us the source of the attack.

                When the source of the attack is revealed, we will be empowered to know the name of the spirit or spirits that are involved in the spiritual attack. When it comes to addressing demons by name, we don't necessarily need to know their actual name. This is something I have learned from experience. For instance, there are specific names for spirits in the Bible such as Abaddon, Beelzebub and Legion. However, instead of wasting time trying to figure out names we simply need to know the realm of activity that a spirit is working in.

                The Bible is clear that this is a biblical strategy. For instance, the Bible refers to the spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7). In this case the Bible doesn't tell us a specific name like "Sam." It simply says "spirit of fear". Any number of spirits could be at work under the guise of fear, but when we address "fear" in the name of Jesus they will all have to go.

                In closing, I will share a short personal story in order to illustrate the application of this principle. When I first moved into the house that I am living in now, my wife and I started to have a lot of arguments. While it is true that all couples will disagree and get frustrated with each other at times, things got unusually bad for us. After a week or so, I had a revelation that a spirit of strife was at work in the house. I prayed through the house, anointing it with oil, specifically naming "strife" and casting it out in the name of Jesus. After I did this, the excessive arguments stopped.

                 I later came to find out that the people who lived in the house before us had a lot of problems. They used to fight all the time and apparently it was pretty bad. It was necessary for me to confront the evil spirit according to its realm of activity and kick it out in the name of Jesus. However, if I had missed it and attempted to drive out "alcoholism" my issues would not have been solved because "strife" would not have had to leave. The effectiveness of our spiritual warfare often depends on our willingness to be led by the Holy Spirit and to specifically address the attacks, calling them by name. When we begin to do this, we release the power of God according to our authority in order for Him to change our situation and set us free.

The Armor of God and the Shield of Faith

Greetings,

                A shield is an indispensible asset to have, particularly when engaging in extremely dangerous combat situations. In the past, soldiers went out to war with a sword and a shield. The shield was to ensure that they wouldn't have to block swords, arrows, and spears with the face and chest. Today police forces will have SWAT teams that use shields to block bullets. No one wants to block bullets with their face and chest, even if they do have a helmet or body armor. Have you ever blocked something with your face? It's not pleasant. Just like there are shields in the natural, there is also a shield in the spirit. It is called the shield of faith.

                "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" (Ephesians 6:13-18)

                A friend of mine has an interesting story. Due to the fact that it ties in so perfectly with our study, I am going to provide you with the cliff notes. This particular testimony helps us to understand the nature of just how the armor of God works. Understand that by providing this testimony certain assumptions are being made. The first is that demons are just as real today as they were when Jesus walked the earth. The second is that the Bible is very clear about what we as believers are expected to do with our salvation.

                "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues" (Mark 16:17)

                This friend was conducting a deliverance session with a man that was demonized. A deliverance session is when an individual receives personal ministry for the express purpose of breaking demonic strongholds and casting out demons. At one point the head demon manifested and began speaking through the man's mouth. A head demon is a spirit that holds authority and control over weaker spirits that are also at work in a person or situation. My friend (who happens to be an expert in this area of ministry) was questioning the spirit as to how he entered the man. During the explanation, the spirit mentioned that the man's shield (of faith) was extremely small and so it was very easy to get around. The spirit also mentioned that my friend's shield (of faith) extended from the floor to the ceiling.

                My friend was successfully able to get this man delivered in the name of Jesus, but I use this story here to bring out two important points. The first point is that the demon could only see the armor because in the spirit realm the armor was literal. Both my friend's spirit and the man's spirit literally had on spiritual armor. As I have shared in previous letters, while we can glean great lessons by studying out the meaning of the armor, the fact of the matter is that it literally exists in the spirit realm. The second point is very interesting. It seems that the effectiveness of the armor we have is directly related to the type of relationship we share with Jesus. Could it be that my friend's shield was much larger than the shield of the man he was delivering? Keeping in mind the source of the information, the only thing I can say is that it is certainly possible.

                In any case, the Bible distinguishes between different types of faith. Some people have strong faith and some people have weak faith. The closer we walk with Jesus, the more real He becomes to us, and the more faith we will have. It's pretty simple. Due to the fact that my friend had a very close walk with Jesus, his shield of faith was very effective. The man he was ministering to, on the other hand, had weak faith.

                "Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations" (Romans 14:1)

                You may be reading this letter and realizing that your faith tends towards he weak end of the spectrum. If so there is a solution to the problem! The Bible says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). When we begin to hear (and read) what the Bible says about what God can do, we are hearing by the Word of God. When we enter into prayer and begin to hear the Word of God ministering to our spirit, we are also hearing by the Word of God. This activity will grow our faith.

                As our faith grows it becomes a shield against the attacks of the enemy. Instead of fighting like Rocky (who blocked punches with his face) we will begin fighting like a professional SWAT team in the spirit. After our battles, we won't be a bloody mess. Doesn't that sound nice!

                The Bible says that the shield of faith quenches the fiery darts of the wicked one. Other translations render this as fiery arrows. These spiritual weapons can take many forms in the natural. They can come as groundless accusations, unexpected job loss, betrayal, rejection, discouragement, and a broken marriage. However these fiery darts manifest, their purpose is to be an offensive maneuver. They either wound us and keep us out of the spiritual fight, or force us to fight at a severe disadvantage. For this reason, the Bible says "above all else" take up the shield of faith.

                When we maintain our faith we rise above the circumstances that we are faced with. We have the ability to replace rejection in the natural with the spiritual fact that we are accepted in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6). We have the ability to overcome unexpected job loss because we have confidence that God will provide our every need (Philippians 4:19). We easily overcome groundless accusations because we have faith that we have been justified by the grace of God (Romans 3:24). Faith allows our supernatural inheritance in Christ to overpower our natural circumstances. This is why we need to take up the shield of faith.

                A final point regarding the shield of faith the word translated as shield. It is the Greek word is thureos and it denotes a very large shield. It was large enough to completely shield an entire body ducked behind it (something like 4 feet by 2 feet). It contained an outer layer of leather that was treated with oil and water so that if fiery arrows struck the shield the fire would be quickly extinguished. Furthermore, when a group of soldiers were trapped under enemy fire they would create a circle, protecting themselves with the shields. Those that were in the middle of the circle would hold their shields above their heads creating an impenetrable fortress of defense. The lesson: our faith isn't only for us, it's for our brothers and sisters in Christ with whom we are fighting side-by-side. Your words of faith spoken into the life of a struggling brother or sister in Christ can make all the difference.