Before we move into the weapons of warfare we must first talk about the tactics of the enemy (Satan and his demons) and learning how to recognize them.

2 Corinthians 2:11 “to keep Satan from taking advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his schemes.”

This is a list of some of the tactics used by demons to attack our lives. It is is not a full list, but it will give you an idea what to be on the lookout for.

Attacks the Mind: The first place the enemy attacks is the mind. If they can capture the territory of our mind, our thoughts, and the way we operate, they will soon have us in bondage. We often become exactly what we think. Proverbs 23:7.

Subtle/cunning: They sneak in a little sin here and there. They usually do not approach us full force, but just a little bit at a time. They try to break us down to the point of just allowing in a little sin at a time and before we know it we are in bondage. 2 Corinthians 11:3.

Always on the Prowl: They are constantly looking for a way to get into our lives. They watch us to see our areas of weakness and temptation and then use those weaknesses against us. 1 Peter 5:8.

Distorts/Twist the Word of God: They say things like, “Surely that isn’t really what God means, He won’t mind if you do this just a little bit” If we fall for this scheme before we know it we may not know what we believe anymore and we can end up accepting a lie for the truth. The demons goal is to confuse us to the point we are not even following the Bible anymore and we are not able to share the truth with others. They love for us to share false doctrines that is laced with deception. They promotes those false messages, but they fights against truth that comes from the Word of God. Genesis 3.

Puts Things in Our way to Trip Us Up/Temptation: They are very strategic, and they create events with the hopes of getting us into sin that leads to bondage. We have three plans over our lives: God’s, ours and the enemies. We have to make sure we submit our will to God, walk in His plan and keep our eyes open to the plans of the enemy to guard against the demonic plans for our lives. Matthew 26:41.

Blinds Us to The Truth: They will do their best to use all of the tactics at their disposal to get us distracted and blinded to the truth of who God is, who we are in God, how the Word of God says to live, our authority in Jesus, and that fact that we have an enemy that hates us. They will do anything to keep us from these truths. God’s truth is a very effective weapon, and the enemy knows it so they fight it as hard as they can. They always try to steal the Word of God from us. John 12: 39-40.

Accusing Us: They are always all to ready to tell us how awful we are, how we have messed up too much for God to love or forgive us, that we are worthless and even falsely accuse us of things we have not even done. They will try to bring condemnation that drives us further away from God. The difference between condemnation and conviction is conviction draws us to God and condemnation makes us run from Him. Satan is always telling God how bad we are and pointing out our faults. Revelations 12:10.

False Prophetic Words/False Teaching/False Signs and Wonders: The enemy counterfeits the things of God and often tries to masquerade as the Holy Spirit. We must be very careful to make sure the prophetic words we accept are actually from God, the teaching we listen to lines up with the Word of God, and the signs/wonders/miracles are being done by the Holy Spirit. We must also make sure we are personally being led by the Holy Spirit and not the demons pretending to be Him. If you hear a voice of feel prompted to do something that goes against the Word of God, it is not the Holy Spirit. Everything He says and does will line up with the Word of God. 2 Corinthians 11:14; Matthew 24:24; 2 Timothy 4: 3-4; Acts 20: 28-30; 1 John 4:1-6.

Manipulate/Dominate/Control: They will use people and situations to attempt to manipulate, dominate and control us.

Makes trades: They say you give me this, and I will give you that. They never shows us the cost of the trade until after we make it. Matthew 4:9-10.

Deceives/Lies: Satan and his demons are liars and deceivers. That is who they are and what they do. John 8:44.

Compulsions: They try to put thoughts in our minds that we feel like we cannot control. They also try to compel us to sin and also use compulsions to make us feel like we are losing control of our minds.

Hides in Dark Places: They love to cause nightmares that torture us in our sleep.

Fear: There are tons and tons of fears that demons are at the root of. Fear of the dark, fear of death, fear of losing our salvation, fear of loss, etc.  2 Timothy 1:7; 1 John 4:18.

Physical Illness/Mental Illness: Not all physical or mental illness is from demons, but a lot of times I do believe they are the culprit. If there is any type of illness it should be explored to see if demons are the root cause. Matthew 4:24.

Brings up Our Past: They try to get us stuck in the what ifs of our life. What if we had of done this or said that? We can get stuck in the past and not be able to move forward. Looking back can come in the form of regret or nostalgia.

Creates Chaos: They use chaos to create distorted thought patterns and distract us from the things of God. They love to get us in the patter of going from one crisis to the next.

The next thing I want to talk about is finding out if the attacks are coming from the outside or inside. Knowing the answer to that question will help in knowing how to move forward and defeat the enemy.

Inward: This would be when the enemy has legal rights to our lives which allows them to torment us: We overcome this type of battle through deliverance (having the legal rights removed and the demons cast out) and then we maintain our freedom with the weapons of warfare.

Outward: This is when the enemy does not have legal rights to our lives or our homes. They come and try to torment us, and we must use the weapons of warfare to send them packing. If deliverance is needed no amount of warfare will set you completely free until you go through the personal deliverance.

Weapons of Warfare

Always Remember Who We Fight

Ephesians 6:12 “For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.”

Praise and Worship

It will make the enemy run every time. It is powerful, especially when you do not feel like it. Start verbalizing what all God has done for you. Two things will happen, the enemy will run, and the presence of God will flood the room. God inhabits the praises of His people. When you are in a massive battle, play it in the background while you sleep, and keep praises on your lips all day long.

Word of God

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective]. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as the division of the soul and spirit [the completeness of a person], and of both joints and marrow [the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Speak the word of God out loud. Put yourself in the scriptures and declare them over your life and the lives of your family.

You can also use the Word when you pray: “Lord Your Word says….”

Use the Word against the enemy: “Listen devil, the Word of God says resist the devil and he will flee. I am putting you on notice that I am resisting you and you WILL flee. The Word of God is truth, it does not fail so you will obey His Words.”

Spoken Words

Your words are a major weapon against the enemy. Our words are powerful:

Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
And those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words.”

Get militant in your words against the enemy. Make sure you are speaking life and not death, victory and not defeat.

The Name of Jesus

Philippians 2:9-11 ^“For this reason also [because He obeyed and so completely humbled Himself], God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name, which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow [in submission], of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess and openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord (sovereign God), to the glory of God the Father.”

Jesus gave us authority to act in His name. Luke 10:19 “Listen carefully: I have given you authority [that you now possess] to tread on serpents and scorpions, and [the ability to exercise authority] over all the power of the enemy (Satan); and nothing will [in any way] harm you.”

Mark 16:17-18 “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well.”

The Blood of Jesus

Revelation 12:11 ^“And they overcame and conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, for they did not love their life and renounce their faith even when faced with death.”

Our Faith

1 John 5:4 “For everyone born of God is victorious and overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has conquered and overcome the world—our [continuing, persistent] faith [in Jesus the Son of God].”

Our Testimony

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power and ability when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be My witnesses [to tell people about Me] both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.”

Revelation 12:11 ^“And they overcame and conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, for they did not love their life and renounce their faith even when faced with death.”

Many times, God will use what the enemy tried to destroy you with as a powerful testimony to help others who are going through the same type of battles.

Binding and Rebuking

Matthew 12:29 “Or how can anyone go into a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first overpowers and ties up the strong man? Then he will ransack and rob his house.”

Matthew 16:19 “I will give you the keys (authority) of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind [forbid, declare to be improper and unlawful] on earth will have [already] been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose [permit, declare lawful] on earth will have [already] been loosed in heaven.”

Pray without Ceasing

Lean into God and do not allow the enemy to drive a wedge between you and God. Spend time with Him just setting at His feet and growing in Him. Allow the times of battles to draw you closer to Him and not drive you away from Him. Pray violently and pray with the fire of the Holy Spirit. Passive prayers are not effective against the enemy. Ask God for strength and specific strategies against the enemy and ask Him to send His warring angels to help you. Pray for a hedge of protection around your family, home and self. Anoint your home with oil and put the enemy on notice that your home is off limits.

Right Living with Jesus

If we want to walk in the authority, given to us by Jesus, we must be in right standing with Him. We must live submitted lives to Him and have a real relationship with Him. We cannot access His authority if we are not in a relationship with Him.

Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship. And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs] but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].”

Operate in Discernment

Use discernment and if you do not have it ask for it. Something can look good and sound good, but actually be from the enemy. He counterfeits everything God does so we must be very careful that we are operating with the Holy Spirit and that those around us are also operating with the Holy Spirit and not a demon masquerading as the Holy Spirit. Demons can use others (even Christians in the church) to hurt each other. Watch out for false teachers and false prophets. They may not even realize they are being used by the enemy.

Obedience

We must walk in obedience to the Lord if we ever want to defeat the enemy. We must believe and live the Word of God daily. We must also be humble and submissive to God. Destroy everything and anything in your life that comes between you and God.

Fast

This is so powerful in getting closer to God and defeating the enemy. If you do not know a lot about fasting do a scriptural word search in the Bible and learn what it teaches on fasting.

Armor of God

We probably all know this scripture, but have we really considered why we are told to put on armor. Armor is for battle; it isn’t for sitting on the sidelines. We should verbally put on His full armor daily.

Ephesians 6:13-18 “Therefore, put on the complete armor of God, so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious]. So, stand firm and hold your ground, having tightened the wide band of truth (personal integrity, moral courage) around your waist and having put on the breastplate of righteousness (an upright heart), and having strapped on your feet the gospel of peace in preparation [to face the enemy with firm-footed stability and the readiness produced by the good news]. Above all, lift up the [protective] shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. With all prayer and petition pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all God’s people.”

Thoughts/The Battle in the Mind

2 Corinthians 10:5 “We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ”

A thought is planted, we start dwelling on the thought, we start speaking the thought and then we end up in bondage. To counter that we must stop the thoughts as soon as they start. Jesus used the Word of God against the enemy, and we must do the same thing. Matthew 4.

Negative self-talk is often the enemy speaking to you so whatever the enemy whispers, say the exact opposite: “You are a failure: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. You are going to die: I will live and declare the glorious works of God. Your prayers will never be answered: I will keep on asking, seeking, and knocking”

Matthew 7:7-8 ^“Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened.”

We must make sure everything we allow to occupy our minds fits in the scripture below:

Philippians 4:8 “For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them].” If it does not fit on this list pull it down and do not allow it space in your mind.

I hope this post has been helpful!!

Blessings,

Nichole Henson, Fullness of Joy Ministry