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Empowerment Through Spiritual Warfare: Praying for Transformation

Navigate spiritual battles with insights on emptiness, fear, hatred, and longing for power. Discover the profound significance of spiritual warfare and practical steps for inner growth and resilience in a tumultuous world.

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Empowerment Through Spiritual Warfare: Praying for Transformation

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  1. Spiritual Warfare Praying through emptiness, fear, hatred, lust and longing for power

  2. Jesus in the wilderness • Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

  3. Why spiritual warfare? • Know the seriousness of the battle (a lot is at stake) • Know the right enemy (and who the enemy isn’t)

  4. Why spiritual warfare on 4th advent? • A) just worked out that way • B) the ends and the means are love • C) the incarnation is exactly what spiritual warfare looks like (sneaky subversive love) • D) all of the above

  5. Manual for spiritual warfare • The beatitudes • Phil. 2 – self-emptying love (mutual submission – Eph 5) • Phil. 4 – rejoice in everything • Gal. 5 - fruit of the Spirit • Eph. 6 – whole armour of God (truth, just living, words of peace/reconciliation, etc.) • Basically the New Testament...

  6. One big bonus • We always have a common enemy

  7. Richard Beck

  8. Reviving Old Scratch • Spiritual warfare is political, economic and relational • Spiritual warfare is personal, moral and (duh!) spiritual • Spiritual warfare is the integration of the above in relation to forces internal and external that are “bigger than us”

  9. Reviving Old Scratch • For example, the power of a Zeitgeist (spirit of the times) • E.g. – Nazism, racism, consumerism, Trumpism and “political correctness” • The latter two represent how fighting an “evil spirit” in a worldly way can make one evil

  10. Political Correctness as a Zeitgeist • (Trumpism contains so much evil it needs no examples) • Implicit in many of these (past Democrat) statements is the idea that abortion is not really the right choice—but that women should be allowed to make it anyway. • Last night, on the national stage, Clinton rejected this implication....she did not promote the idea that abortions should, or even can, be avoided. • Being concerned about forced use of new neutral pronouns is “hate speech” • “Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster,” – Nietzsche (unless you fight with the tools of spiritual warfare)

  11. Emptiness(tired, lonely, chronic pain, broke) • Accepting the present moment and holding our emotions (“Life is difficult”) • Turning our attention to gratitude • (Or fighting back with good, honest lament)

  12. Fears • Accept fear and seek courage and trust • Remember who is with you - Emmanuel • Recall and celebrate past victories • If you accept the present moment with gratitude there is less to be afraid of

  13. Hatred • Remember our own need to be forgiven • Remember the real enemy • Work toward forgiveness

  14. Lust (strongly wanting what is not rightly ours) • Normal desire short cuts (illicit pleasure) dependence addiction exploitation & self-destruction

  15. Lust • Remember approach to emptiness • “Resist the devil” - avoid temptation, and self – justification • Seek positive alternatives and accountability

  16. Longing for Power • Avoid power-seeking • When you have legitimate power be wary

  17. Practical Prayer Steps • 1. Remember spiritual warfare “begins at home” (start with yourself) • 2. Choose and practice gratitude (lament/forgive as necessary) • 3. Worship as choice of allegiance • 4. Use music, art, poetry, story (celebrate all that’s good) • 5. Bear honest witness – tell the truth • 6. Do “tactics of love” – be subversive in your actions

  18. Worship as allegiance“You Gotta Serve Somebody...” Idol Love of Self minus others Family minus others Community minus enemies God Love of God/self/neighbour/enemy/creation Idol = anything less than all of God “God Alone” = Everyone & Everything (nothing less than God) Other common idols = most “isms”

  19. O Day of Peace • O day of peace that dimly shinesThrough all our hopes and prayers and dreamsGuide us to justice, truth and loveDelivered from our selfish schemes • May swords of hate fall from our handsOur hearts from envy find releaseTill by God's grace our warring worldShall see Christ promised reign of peace

  20. O Day of Peace • Then shall the wolf dwell with the lambNor shall the fierce devour the smallAs beasts and cattle calmly grazeA little child shall lead them all • Then enemies shall learn to loveAll creatures find their true accordThe hope of peace shall be fulfilledFor all the earth shall know the Lord – Carl Daw Jr

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