Practical Spiritual Tactics
The Context
[Reading time: 10 minutes] The social and political turmoil in America is deeply troubling and increasing rapidly. We’re seeing government leaders limit our religious freedom, even verbally attack Christians and anything associated with God. The purpose of this article is to provide insight to what’s really happening and present specific, practical tactics for correcting the problem. Some of this content appears in other articles, but is included here for emphasis.
The Cause
Although humans obviously are creating the turmoil, they are agents, not the problem. They’re responsible for what they do, but they’re simply acting on what they believe, as all of us do. They are following their spiritual leader and emulating his nature.
They may not realize it, but their leader is Satan. He’s the original rebel who wanted to do away with the authority over him, God Almighty (Isa. 14:13-14), so his followers reject governments, and want to free criminals and eliminate law enforcement. He disdains God’s laws and standards, so his followers engage in sin, which is lawlessness, and applaud others who do the same (1 John 3:4; Rom. 1:32). People don’t hate us Christians because of our skin color, political affiliation, or anything else about us; they hate us because the spirit in them hates the Spirit in us.
It’s Satan’s nature to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10), so his followers feel justified in stealing from someone they despise, assassinating their character, or destroying their property or business. He’s a liar (John 8:44), so his followers feel free to lie to destroy someone’s reputation, win an election, or otherwise influence people’s opinions.
People who reject God’s truth are deceived by Satan’s wickedness and his deceiving spirits (2 Thess. 2:10; 1 Tim. 4:1). And because they embrace evil, they deceive others and become more deeply deceived themselves (2 Tim. 3:13).
When people reject God and embrace sin, their thinking becomes worthless and they cannot understand truth (Rom. 1:21). Because they reject God’s truth and choose to believe a lie, God releases them to their degrading passions and depraved minds (Rom. 1:26, 28). If they don’t want what God offers, he allows them to indulge their desires, and their behavior goes from bad to worse (2 Tim. 3:13).
But Satan also deceives Christians. All of us have had discouraging thoughts when we see what’s happening in our nation. We might think, “I’m only one person, so I can’t make any difference.” That is a lie from Satan himself! He’ll do whatever he can to neutralize each of us, including getting us to believe a lie, so we’ll step back and not interfere with what he’s doing. In that sense, the church is allowing the current reign of evil in our nation to continue.
So, what can we do? How can we possibly reduce or eliminate the chaos?
The Tactics
We need to learn and aggressively apply biblical tactics for addressing the lawlessness and anarchy. I strongly recommend applying these tactics now, because our inaction only condones evil and allows it to increase. Also, we learn from experience, so learning to use these tactics now helps us become more effective as circumstances become worse.
Satan has succeeded in fragmenting the church into opposing factions, which is the opposite of God’s will. Jesus said we’re to be one as he and the Father are one, in complete unity, and if we ask for anything in agreement, it’ll be done for us (John 17:22-23; Matt. 18:19). We should strive for full restoration and be of one mind (2 Cor. 13:11). This allows for diversity of motivations, spiritual gifts and convictions, but requires agreement on core beliefs.
We need to realize God gave creation to humanity as our domain, for us to rule over (Gen. 1:26; Ps. 115:16). Satan deceived Adam and Eve, and gained authority over the world to become its prince (Gen. 3:13; Luke 4:5-6; John 12:31). Even before he died at Calvary, however, Jesus’ authority exceeded that of Satan and every evil spirit, because he commanded Satan to leave him and gave his disciples authority over impure spirits (Matt. 4:10; Mark 6:7). Jesus then defeated Satan on the cross and regained all authority on earth, in effect restoring our authority over the earth as our domain (Matt. 28:18).
As members of God’s family and citizens of his kingdom, we’re to use our spiritual authority to promote his will, rather than our own. This includes preventing or stopping Satan’s activity and inviting God’s kingdom to earth, which is our domain (Matt. 6:10). If we focus instead on promoting our own desires, we abuse the authority God gave us, because we use it correctly only if we serve and are submitted to him. Similarly, refusing to use that authority reveals an indifference toward our relationship with him and dishonors him.
Because Satan is at war with him, we’re engaged in that war as God’s family, whether we realize it or not. Scripture provides clear guidelines and examples of how we’re to treat impure, evil spirits. We must declare God’s will firmly, confident of the authority he gave us and his willingness to back what we say. We can command evil spirits to stop their activity in our domain (Mark 1:27; Luke 8:25, 29; Acts 16:18), which includes our family, town, county, state and nation. Evil spirits have permission to be active where people embrace sin and lawlessness, but must leave when ordered by an authority. We are the authority here and we represent God’s kingdom, so what we say produces results.
The Bible also gives us clear guidelines for how we’re to treat and react to other people. We’re to live honorably in every way (Heb. 13:18), show proper respect to everyone (1 Pet. 2:17), and always be ready to explain in a respectful manner why we’re hopeful (1 Pet. 3:15). We’re not to retaliate when people abuse us (Matt. 5:39), or repay evil for evil or insult for insult (1 Pet. 3:9). Instead, we’re to express God’s love to those who want to destroy us, and pray for – not against – those who persecute us (Matt. 5:44). We should even consider ourselves blessed if we’re persecuted because of righteousness or because we’re associated with Jesus (Matt. 5:10-11). It helps if we view people as images of God, regardless of their spiritual condition (Gen. 1:27). We must hate evil, but not the people who do it.
With that as background, it should be clear why we can do what Jesus did and reign as kings in life (John 14:12; Rom. 5:17). Why we have authority over evil spirits and all the enemy’s power (Mark 6:7; Luke 10:19). Why we even have authority over the forces of nature (Mark 4:39).
Such is the authority we have as Jesus’ followers. Failure to exercise that authority properly is to abdicate our position in God’s kingdom and surrender to evil. It’s that simple.
As American citizens, we have rights and responsibilities. We’re to petition God for our government leaders and authorities, pray for them, spiritually intercede for them, and even be thankful for them (1 Tim. 2:1-2). We’re to honor the highest leaders of our nation because of their position, even if we dislike them or disagree with their policies (1 Pet. 2:17). We should stay in touch with our government leaders to influence their decisions and actions, serving as salt and light (Matt. 5:13-14). How can we be salt and light in this world if we remain silent and spiritually passive?
And it’s absolutely essential that we vote! Specifically, vote for candidates who support biblical values and principles. Choosing not to vote shows we don’t care whether corrupt politicians gain power and deprive us of our rights as American citizens.
The Response
Remember, Jesus restored our authority over our domain, which includes our families, towns, counties, states and nation. This is a spiritual war, so target the cause, not the symptoms. Here are suggestions to consider.
Strongly recommended every day, under all circumstances:
- Honor God by spending time with him and devouring his Word as spiritual food.
- Repent of ungodly beliefs and actions.
- Pray that Christians would stand united for God and against evil.
- Pray for wisdom and revelation, especially about our role in these times.
- Pray for righteousness to reign, and for corruption to be exposed and cut off.
- Pray that every leader, every branch of government, and our justice system would honor God’s will.
- Invite the God of love and peace to rule in our domain.
- Refuse to be neutralized by Satan’s lies.
Recommended as needed:
- Choose not to be intimidated by violence; act wisely and trust God to take care of us.
- Decide to be aggressive against the spiritual forces working to destroy everything associated with God.
- Identify evil spirits by their function – anger, hostility, rebellion, chaos, whatever God shows you – and tell them to stop interfering with God’s work in our domain.
- Keep reminding those evil spirits that Jesus defeated them and Satan on the cross, and we’re enforcing that victory, so they must stop creating problems now.
As each of us does our part, our unity will allow God to intervene and invite him to do so. Be spiritually aggressive in support of God’s kingdom and against evil in all its forms. Don’t give up, because the battle against righteousness will continue to escalate until the Lord returns.
Target the cause, not the symptoms.
For more information about the spiritual conflict, see the Spiritual Kingdoms at War article series.
A Spiritual Decree
Consider adapting the following decree and using it daily.
“I’m speaking to the evil spirits that are trying to destroy God’s work in America. Jesus defeated you at the cross, disarmed you, and greatly limited your authority.
“Your efforts to secularize America will completely fail. The people working with you will be put to shame, defeated by their own wickedness. They’ll no longer be in unity and their partners will abandon them. They’ll be confused and not know how to implement your evil plans. Their resources will dry up – finances, supplies, leadership, and all forms of support. They’ll lose their platform and realm of influence, and their followers will abandon them. (Note: This paragraph is based on Clay McLean’s presentation, ‘Praying for the Wicked.’ )
“I stand united with other sons and daughters of God (2 Cor. 13:11) and we have authority over all your power and abilities (Luke 10:19). We destroy every defense you use to protect arguments and arrogant thoughts opposed to the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 10:4-5). We overcome and defeat your evil with good (Rom. 12:21), and free those you oppress (Luke 4:18; 9:1). We invite Father’s kingdom to come and his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt.6:10). We invite his love and peace to fill our domain and affect everyone in it.”
Summary
We must recognize the cause of social and political turmoil in America, and respond biblically.