STEVE MORGAN

Each day brings a war that every follower of Jesus Christ must face. This is not a physical conflict with weapons and armies, but a spiritual battle that takes place in the realm of thought and belief. Understanding this fight and how to win it makes the difference between living in defeat or walking in victory.

The Christian life involves constant struggle. From the moment we are born, we fight just to breathe. Throughout life, we battle illness, obstacles, discouragement, and countless other challenges. God designed humans to be fighters, and when someone gives up the fight, it signals something has gone wrong. For believers, recognizing this spiritual warfare means grasping what following Christ truly requires.

Some may wonder why Christians engage in battle when we follow the Prince of Peace, the one who promised peace that surpasses understanding. The answer is that both realities exist together. Yes, we follow Jesus who brings peace, but we also face enemies determined to destroy us. These enemies make spiritual combat unavoidable.

Three main enemies wage war against believers. First, the devil himself opposes every Christian. He prowls like a hungry lion, seeking victims to devour. While he cannot steal salvation from those who truly belong to Christ, he can rob believers of joy and vitality. He works to ensure that saved people live in constant defeat rather than experiencing the victory God desires for them.

Second, demon forces serve under Satan’s command. These fallen angels operate as invisible spiritual entities that we cannot see with our eyes but can only discern spiritually. They work as evil rulers and authorities in the unseen world, wielding power in dark places. Though some churches rarely discuss demonic activity, it remains very real. Anyone who walks closely with God recognizes evidence of demonic influence in our world and sometimes even within families.

Third, the world system stands against believers. This does not mean the planet itself, but rather the philosophy and thought patterns that govern those who do not know Christ. Satan, described as the prince of the power of the air, currently holds temporary control over this system. Jesus warned that the world hated him first, so it will also hate his followers. When the world applauds Christians, we should ask why, since they never celebrated Jesus. Our response should be to love people even while recognizing that the system they inhabit opposes God’s truth.

Yet the greatest enemy may not be external at all. Our own sinful nature presents the most difficult challenge. Even after salvation, believers retain a fallen nature that resists serving God. This internal conflict never ends during earthly life. The Holy Spirit living inside Christians produces desires opposite to what the sinful nature wants, creating constant internal warfare. Every believer experiences this struggle regardless of age or spiritual maturity. The battle continues until death, when we finally leave the corrupted flesh behind.

This means every Christian faces an internal tug-of-war each day. The Holy Spirit and the fallen nature both fight for control over our choices. We cast the deciding vote to determine which force wins each moment. Even choosing not to decide represents a choice. This daily reality explains why spiritual combat language appears throughout Scripture.

The encouraging news is that God provides weapons for this fight. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, not natural strategies or human resources. God equips believers with mighty tools to knock down strongholds of false reasoning and destroy arguments that oppose truth.

The Bible itself serves as the primary weapon. Scripture functions as the sword of the Spirit, the only offensive weapon in the armor of God. Jesus demonstrated this when Satan tempted him in the wilderness. Three times the devil attacked, and three times Jesus responded by quoting Scripture, saying “It is written.” He drew his sword and used God’s Word to defeat each temptation. If Jesus needed Scripture to fight spiritual battles, how much more do his followers need it?

Using this weapon effectively requires knowing what the Bible says. The Holy Spirit can only bring to mind verses that we have previously learned. Believers who want victory must spend time studying Scripture, memorizing key passages, and becoming familiar with biblical truth. This means turning off news programs and social media to make time for reading God’s Word. The battle cannot be won with ignorance of Scripture.

Prayer functions as another powerful weapon. When believers pray according to God’s will, their prayers move the hand of Almighty God. Though we may feel insignificant, prayer connects us to the one who holds all power. Prayer unleashes supernatural intervention in impossible situations. It allows us to call down God’s strength into any circumstance.

Prayer works not only to ask for things but also to pray against things. Believers can pray for God to block evil plans, protect loved ones from temptation, and bind the work of the enemy. When we approach God in prayer, we access power that the devil cannot match. Though we cannot defeat Satan on our own, God defeats him on our behalf when we pray.

Praise also serves as a weapon in spiritual warfare. When we praise God, we shift our focus from circumstances to the character of God himself. Worship aligns us with what happens constantly in heaven, where created beings endlessly declare God’s holiness and worthiness. By praising God on earth, we fulfill Jesus’ prayer that God’s will would be done here as it is in heaven.

Praise demonstrates power in Scripture. The walls of Jericho fell when the Israelites shouted praises to God. Paul and Silas sang hymns at midnight while imprisoned, and God sent an earthquake that broke their chains and opened prison doors. Their worship in suffering so impressed the jailer that he asked how to be saved. Even when circumstances seem darkest, praising God becomes a weapon that silences the enemy and opens doors to freedom.

Many believers find praise difficult during trials. When walking through valleys, the last thing we feel like doing is singing. Yet those are precisely the moments when we most need to praise God. We can actually praise our way out of dark places by choosing to worship despite our feelings. When we put praise on our lips, our hearts can follow, but we must begin praising anyway.
All these battles center on one location: the human mind. Our minds serve as the battlefield where spiritual warfare occurs. Strongholds get built in our thinking. Every addiction, every destructive pattern, every wrong belief system begins with thoughts that were never brought under control. The mind is where we must fight.

Taking thoughts captive to Christ means examining each thought to determine whether it represents obedience to God. Renegade thoughts must be lassoed and brought under Jesus’ control. When someone says “My life has no meaning” or “God doesn’t love me,” those thoughts need to be captured and submitted to biblical truth. Our thoughts determine how we view ourselves, others, relationships, money, and every area of life.

If we do not take our thoughts captive, our thoughts will take us captive. Undisciplined thinking leads to strongholds that keep believers in defeat. But God has provided everything necessary for victory. The war has already been won through Jesus Christ. Believers simply need to fight the daily battle using the weapons God supplies.

This fight never ends until we reach heaven. But each day presents a fresh opportunity to choose victory.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage battle according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

2 Corinthians 10:3-5