“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:12-13 NIV)
In the midst of our busy lives, it’s easy focus on the things we see in front of us and lose sight of the unseen, yet very real, struggle that exists in the spiritual realm. This battle is not new. The book of Job describes the battle between God and Satan for a human life thousands of years before Christ. The fight continues in each of our lives today, and in the power of our Lord Jesus, we can have confidence that we stand with Him on the side of victory. However, we only live in this victory to the extent we open our eyes and ears to what is happening around us and call out to Jesus for His intervention of strength, power, and presence.
As a worship leader, it is crucial to be “spiritually aware” when the church gathers to seek God. We worship together and we invite His presence to be among us. The presence of God cannot coexist with the presence of “spiritual forces of evil,” as Ephesians 6 describes the enemy of our souls. However, it is possible to simply sing songs and miss the spiritual impact of worship. We are all susceptible to being “spiritually asleep” from time to time, and it takes wisdom and courage to “hear” the Holy Spirit challenge us in this area and respond with humble prayers that invite God to do battle on our behalf. We cannot see His warriors, but their impact to our lives is real, and God’s power will defeat the enemy every time. There is a great example of this awareness in an Old Testament story, where the prophet Elisha asks God to open the eyes (spiritually) of his servant so he can see the armies of God outnumbering a seemingly insurmountable enemy camped outside the city walls. (2 Kings 6:8-18) We have the same weapons and power available to us, and God will respond when we call out to Him in prayer.
This past Tuesday evening, we had our monthly evening of worship and prayer at the church. (As an aside, if you’ve not been to one of these, I highly encourage you to join us. I met 2 people who were new this past week, and they were strongly impacted by the presence of God and unified hearts of people seeking Him). As leaders, we felt God encouraging us to call out and ask Him to do battle on our behalf. We sang a couple songs with these themes, and we were encouraged with a couple of words:
>>> We must remember that we live in a world where there is a battle for people’s lives everyday. Although we might think our enemies are found in the people or events we see in the news, we must remember that God is fighting a far larger battle with eternal consequences. We cannot fight that battle in the flesh. We must fight in the Spirit. HIS Spirit.
>>> We get to be part of God’s army as He fights for us. Someone mentioned the story of Israelites fighting Jericho in Joshua chapter 6. God commanded the priests and worship leaders to lead the army, and when they marched around the city and gave a shout of praise (Joshua 6:20), God knocked the walls down. God didn’t need their earthly weapons and might. God wanted their worship and praise.
We can all improve our spiritual sensitivity and ability to recognize what is happening in the battle, and this comes from a daily commitment to spend quiet time in God’s Word and prayer. The more we listen for His voice, the easier it becomes to recognize it. The battle will continue to rage on, but we will get to see more of the victory as we fight in the Spirit.
I’ve collected a few songs that could be helpful as you use praise and worship to partner with God in the battles of your life. You can listen to them for free by clicking this Spotify link:
I’m thankful to be a fellow soldier with you,
Brentbmills@b4church.org
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