{"id":108,"date":"2016-12-08T15:11:15","date_gmt":"2016-12-08T15:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?p=108"},"modified":"2016-12-08T15:11:15","modified_gmt":"2016-12-08T15:11:15","slug":"engaging-spiritual-warfare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2016\/12\/engaging-spiritual-warfare.html","title":{"rendered":"How Are You Engaging in Spiritual Warfare?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"unsplash.com\"
unsplash.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

12\u00a0<\/span>Then he continued, \u201cDo not be afraid,\u00a0Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble\u00a0yourself before your God, your words\u00a0were heard, and I have come in response to them.<\/span>\u00a013\u00a0<\/span>But the prince\u00a0of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael,\u00a0one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.\u00a0<\/span><\/em>14\u00a0<\/span>Now I have come to explain\u00a0to you what will happen to your people in the future,for the vision concerns a time yet to come.\u201d<\/em> Daniel 10:12-14<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is undeniable proof that the spiritual world exists and warfare is happening all around us. The question is, how are you engaging with it? Paul states in Ephesians 6:12, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,\u00a0but against the rulers, against the authorities,\u00a0against the powers\u00a0of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.<\/em><\/p>\n

Let me quickly give you six ways to engage in spiritual warfare, based off of the armor of God listed in Ephesians 6:14-17:<\/p>\n

1. Saturate yourself with truth (belt of truth<\/em>)<\/strong>. Are you filling your mind with truth or deception? Are you listening to music that tells you lies about relationships or money? Are you filling your mind with television programs that give you a false view of reality? Spiritual warfare starts with you saturating yourself with truth.<\/p>\n

2. Live right (breastplate of righteousness)<\/strong>. Spiritual warfare becomes a lot easier when you get your life right. Any habits, addictions or secrets need to be exposed and dealt with. Confess to someone. Ask for help. Get your life right, and you’ll find yourself protected from spiritual attacks.<\/p>\n

3. Be sensitive to the Spirit (shoes of readiness)<\/strong>. A soldier can fight better when he’s at the right place at the right time. If you’re sensitive to the Spirit, he’ll direct your feet. He’ll tell you where to go, when you’re under attack, and how to fight back.<\/p>\n

4. Choose to actively believe God (shield of faith)<\/strong>. When the enemy attacks he’s going to try to get you to doubt God, that He doesn’t care, that He isn’t strong enough to save you, that God isn’t fighting for you. It’s then that you need to\u00a0make a conscious choice to trust in God. That active trust is a shield to you.<\/p>\n

5. Daily surrender (helmet of salvation)<\/strong>. Salvation is all about surrender. You can’t save yourself. To be saved by someone else you need to surrender yourselves to them. When you daily surrender, you’re crucifying the flesh and choosing to live under God’s authority by the power of His Spirit. That surrender is a helmet of salvation to you.<\/p>\n

6. Wield the Word of God as a weapon (sword of the Spirit)<\/strong>. Know Scripture. Memorize it. Meditate on it. When you’re attacked with lies, fight back with the truth of God’s Word. The truth of God’s Word is how you push back the enemy and cause him to flee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

12\u00a0Then he continued, \u201cDo not be afraid,\u00a0Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble\u00a0yourself before your God, your words\u00a0were heard, and I have come in response to them.\u00a013\u00a0But the prince\u00a0of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael,\u00a0one of the chief princes, came to help me,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[57,56],"class_list":["post-108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-next-steps","tag-armor-of-god","tag-spiritual-warfare"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Are You Engaging in Spiritual Warfare? - Next Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Spiritual warfare is all around you whether you realize it or not. The question is, how are you engaging in spiritual warfare?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Are You Engaging in Spiritual Warfare? - Next Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Spiritual warfare is all around you whether you realize it or not. The question is, how are you engaging in spiritual warfare?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2016\/12\/engaging-spiritual-warfare.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"facebook.com\/drjoshdaffern\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-08T15:11:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/files\/2016\/12\/j_ch0mwbnds-henry-hustava-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Josh Daffern\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@joshdaffern\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Are You Engaging in Spiritual Warfare? - Next Steps","description":"Spiritual warfare is all around you whether you realize it or not. The question is, how are you engaging in spiritual warfare?","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Are You Engaging in Spiritual Warfare? - Next Steps","og_description":"Spiritual warfare is all around you whether you realize it or not. The question is, how are you engaging in spiritual warfare?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2016\/12\/engaging-spiritual-warfare.html","og_site_name":"Next Steps","article_author":"facebook.com\/drjoshdaffern","article_published_time":"2016-12-08T15:11:15+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/files\/2016\/12\/j_ch0mwbnds-henry-hustava-300x200.jpg"}],"author":"Josh Daffern","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@joshdaffern","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2016\/12\/engaging-spiritual-warfare.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2016\/12\/engaging-spiritual-warfare.html","name":"How Are You Engaging in Spiritual Warfare? - Next Steps","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2016\/12\/engaging-spiritual-warfare.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2016\/12\/engaging-spiritual-warfare.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/files\/2016\/12\/j_ch0mwbnds-henry-hustava-300x200.jpg","datePublished":"2016-12-08T15:11:15+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-08T15:11:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/#\/schema\/person\/8ac2e15479ad6a320d2082837203cb7c"},"description":"Spiritual warfare is all around you whether you realize it or not. The question is, how are you engaging in spiritual warfare?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2016\/12\/engaging-spiritual-warfare.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2016\/12\/engaging-spiritual-warfare.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2016\/12\/engaging-spiritual-warfare.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/files\/2016\/12\/j_ch0mwbnds-henry-hustava-300x200.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/files\/2016\/12\/j_ch0mwbnds-henry-hustava-300x200.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2016\/12\/engaging-spiritual-warfare.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Are You Engaging in Spiritual Warfare?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/","name":"Next Steps","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Josh Daffern","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/#\/schema\/person\/8ac2e15479ad6a320d2082837203cb7c","name":"Josh Daffern","description":"Born and raised in California, Josh graduated college from California Baptist University and spent two years as a missionary in Africa before coming back to America and finding the love of his life (Robin). Josh graduated from New Orleans Seminary with a Masters of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry. Josh has been involved in full-time ministry for over twenty years. He enjoys hiking, beach volleyball, reading, playing anything competitive, and rough-housing with his kids. Josh, his gorgeous wife Robin, his outrageously handsome boys Zeke, Shepherd and Lincoln and his princess Elle, live in northern Virginia. Josh also blogs on Patheos as New Wineskins: an Apologist for the Modern Church and you can find links to all his content on joshdaffern.com. Enjoy the blog!","sameAs":["http:\/\/joshdaffern.com","facebook.com\/drjoshdaffern","https:\/\/x.com\/joshdaffern"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/author\/jdaffern"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/607"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions\/110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}