Spirit 3: The Spirit is a Warrior, episode 62

0:00 If you love a prodigal, you can discover help and hope for your wilderness journey right here at When You Love a Prodigal, and also help and hope for your own life journey. Today we continue our look at our most important resource in the battle we fight for our prodigals, the Holy Spirit. I especially love that the Spirit is the warrior we need in this war. As I mention all the ways that this warrior fights for us and with us, beside us, jot down what you need to hold on to.

0:45 The way that the Holy Spirit is available, don't lose that. Write it down so you can make sure you can be living it out as you continue this hard journey. The night our prodigal came to Christ, two additional greatly significant events occurred. First, I had a wonderful vision in which God poured out his love for Josh into me. It was like he opened me up and he had this huge vat and he poured the love into me. And then he assured me I was going to need it. And yes, I have needed that love of God's that he shared with me for our prodigal.

1:32 Second, that began three sleepless nights engaged in a fierce battle with the powers and principalities of the Prince of the Air, the minions of the devil himself. My understanding was that the evil one had always assumed that this boy was his. His birth heritage and his early life in very unhealthy places put him undeniably in Satan's domain. So when prayers were answered and Josh said yes to Jesus, the devil was not happy.

2:13 Perhaps he thought if he could defeat me, he would regain control over our son. If I'd been battling on my own, I would surely have lost. But no, I had a far more powerful warrior on my side, the Spirit himself. He was my defense and also our boy's defense, shielding us from the fiery darts sent our way. And he was on the attack, giving me words of truth, courage, fearlessness, wisdom, whatever I needed and any skirmish in the battle.

2:56 I watched in wonder as I lived out the magnificent truth that the Holy Spirit is our warrior. That part of the battle lasted for three nights and then I was given rest. But the conflict continued more suddenly usually. Many fears and tears revealed my weakness, but unceasing prayer and supernatural strength and wisdom from the Spirit enabled me to stand in the gap for my son. And he still enables me for our enemy is relentless.

3:38 The Holy Spirit is also relentless. He is always with me and in me and for you as well. He was the warrior I needed in this ongoing spiritual war. And as he fought for me and through me, he was also the warrior my son needed. And he still is, even as Satan continues to pursue our son. You too are in a battle, as is the prodigal or prodigals you love and pray for. Unfortunately, we too often try to win the war on our own.

4:20 We forget that we are completely outmatched in the struggle for our loved ones and in all the other ways the evil one seeks to defeat us and our wanderers. We cannot do it alone. Gratefully, our loving Father and beloved Savior have sent the Spirit to be in us and with us, to fight for us, to fight beside us, to fight through us. And he, the Spirit, is far greater than our enemy. See what he promises us.

5:00 In 2 Chronicles, we read that this is what the Lord says to you. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army that was there. He says, for the battle is not yours, but God's. And in 1 John, we read, You are from God, little children, and have overcome them. Because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. And in Zechariah, we read this wonderful verse, a promise for us. Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

5:45 Again, we can't do it, but God in us, the Spirit working through us, wins the battle. It's important to remember that we face a defeated enemy, but he is still powerful and we are still in the battle. God himself has provided for us the required armor, which I have pointed out in earlier episodes, but we need to remember it. We would do well to read this passage in Ephesians 6 often, so we know what we have in the battle. We read here in Ephesians, Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

6:33 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, the authorities, the powers of the dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, because there's this battle between God and the evil of the devil in the heavenly realms as well as here on earth among us, he says, Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, and if you have a prodigal, you're probably seeing it already, you may be able to stand your ground and after you have done everything, to still be standing.

7:23 Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up your shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Isn't that a really cool picture? You get to extinguish those arrows that the evil one sends because of your shield of faith. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and pray in the Spirit at all occasions with all kinds of prayer and requests.

8:13 That's in Ephesians 6 verses 11 to 18. So let's look at each of these pieces of armor that God provides for us through his Spirit. These are our weapons, our armor. The first is truth. The devil is a liar, but Jesus told us he is the truth. And the Spirit living in us will guide us to all the truth that we need, so that we will know how to respond to the evil one when he tells us his lies, and we can speak the truth because the Spirit of truth is in us.

8:57 He says we have righteousness. The righteousness of Christ has been gifted to those of us who have believed and received Christ. We have his righteousness. It belongs to us. Amazing to me. But he says it's like a breastplate to protect us from the devil's darts, the things he's shooting at us, trying to discourage us, trying to harm us and our loved ones. Oh, but then he says another weapon you have is peace. Satan comes to kill and destroy. That's his whole objective.

9:40 Our Lord, we find out here, covers our feet with the gospel of peace, so we can stand strong and withstand the devil's efforts to destroy us and those we love. Peace in the middle of the battle. Faith. Our faith, our trust in God, and his promises given to us through the Holy Spirit. This faith is a shield to deflect the enemy's arrows, because we're trusting God is like a shield that's protecting us.

10:20 Salvation. The helmet of salvation is our assurance that we have received the mercy purchased by Jesus for us and our loved ones. That helmet will protect our thoughts. It's covering our thinking area, our brain. It's going to protect our thoughts from Satan's attempts to convince us that we have failed and are not worthy of the redemption that Jesus has given us. And also to believe his lies. We've got something a head covering, and it's our salvation.

11:00 We have also the word of God. This is our offensive weapon. The sword of the Spirit. It's like a sword to allow us to be on the offensive to the evil one. And do you know how we do that? We speak the word of God, and the devil doesn't like to hear it, and he flees, we are told. And God has told us to resist the devil, and we do it with the word of God, and this evil one, he takes off. Then we have prayer. Even with all the weapons, we must not go to battle in our own strength or wisdom.

11:46 Not anger or retribution or revenge, not our cleverness nor our power. Because you see, the work of God is done not when we are powerful, but when we are on our knees. So the work of God is done when we pray, and then we go find out what God has done. And most important, he gives us his Spirit, a warrior to fight for us in the battle for the souls of our loved ones. It's still not easy, you know. I've been fighting this battle for a long time.

12:26 Our son is in a good place, but so many things happen to discourage him and to pull him away. The most recent is his truck keeps breaking down, and his truck is necessary for his job and for the farm that they have. So it's been a hard thing for him to keep having to deal with that. And so we see that our enemy doesn't quit just because our prodigal has come back, perhaps, or is doing better and making better choices. We need to remember the enemy isn't happy that that's happening, and he is not going to give up.

13:08 He sends his minions, his demons, to keep after those we love. And that is, I think, one of the reasons there's so much relapse when people come out of addictions of some kind or other choices that they have made, is that the evil one doesn't quit. And so we need to be on our knees, and we need to be claiming these armor pieces to keep us strong, and for them as well, especially as they know the Lord and seek to grow and change, that they still need that.

13:48 And so don't think the battle is over when your prodigal comes back. Just remember, the evil one doesn't quit, but our God is as relentless, more relentless than the devil, and he has given us the spirit in us to enable us to be in the battle in his power, not in our power. So to wrap up here, ponder or think about the idea of a gracious, gentle, peace-giving spirit as a warrior, your warrior.

14:32 What thoughts come to your mind? Because the spirit is gracious, and he gives us grace, and the spirit is gentle like Jesus, and the spirit is peace-giving, and yet he's a warrior, and he goes to fight for us and for our loved ones. So how do you put all that together in your mind? Then pray through the passage in Ephesians 6 about the armor of God. Which weapon or piece of protection do you need the most today, and how can you put that on?

15:13 Next week, we will continue with our fourth session on spirit, and we'll be talking about two more wonderful gifts that we get from the Spirit of God. If this session today, our episode, has encouraged or blessed you, please take a minute to rate the podcast, and if you're listening on Apple, you can actually write a review. I will be very grateful. God bless you. Stay strong in the spirit.