MINISTRY IS WARFARE

Leadership Lifter
Ephesians 6:12
Rick Warren
Eph. 6:12 (Ph) For our fight is not against any physical enemy; it is against organizations and
powers that are spiritual. We are up against the unseen power that controls this dark world and
spiritual agents from the very headquarters of evil.
1 Tim. 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith.
HOW TO FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT
1. ACKNOWLEDGE ________________________________________
Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the devil roams around like a roaring lion, looking for
someone to devour. Be firm in your faith and resist him, because you know that your fellow
believers in all the world are going through the same kind of suffering. 1 Peter 5:8-9 (GN)
In every battle you will need faith as a shield to stop the fiery darts aimed at you by
Satan. Eph. 6:16
Darts that Satan may aim at your Ministry:
*
*
*
*
*
2. ACCEPT ________________________________________
Jesus said, `All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and
make disciples of all nations Matt. 28:18-19
We are therefore Christs ambassadors. 2 Cor. 5:20
(Jesus) You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should
go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain. John 15:16 (KJV)
(Jesus) I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Matt. 18:18-19
3. PUT ON ________________________________________

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Put on the full armor of God so you can take your stand against the devils schemes (have)
the belt of Truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of Righteousness, and have
your feet fitted with the Gospel of Peace and take up the shield of Faith and the helmet of
Salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Eph. 6:11, 14-17
4. AIM ________________________________________
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. On the contrary, they have divine
power to tear down strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up
against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Chor. 10:4-5
POINT: The battlefield for spiritual warfare is primarily
____________________________________________________________
Our Weapons

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You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:32
Therefore, prepare your mind for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the
grace to be given you 1 Pet. 1:13
the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. Eph. 6:17

________________________________________

God gives strength to the humble, but sets Himself against the proud and haughty. So
give yourselves humbly to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:6-7

________________________________________

This is how we win the victory over the world; with our faith. 1 John 5:4

________________________________________

They overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their
testimony.. Therefore rejoice you heavens and you who inhabit them! Rev. 12:11-12
5. CALL ON ________________________________________
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You belong to God and have already won your fight because the one who is in you is
greater than the one who is in the world. 1 John 4:4 (LB/NIV)
For the Spirit that God has given us does not make us timid; instead, His Spirit fills us
with power, love, and self-control. 2 Tim. 1:7 (GN)

6. AVOID ________________________________________
Take your share of suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ Do not let yourself
become tied up in worldly affairs, for then you cannot satisfy the one who has enlisted you
into His army. 2 Tim. 2:3-4 (LB)
No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs he wants to please his
commanding officer. (NIV)
What is distracting you from ministry?

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Ephesians 6:12

Care gabungan tutup tahun 6 dec dan buka tahun 6 Jan

Rencana kedepan spy diantisipasi oleh care2 tgl 25-27 Family camp , pas
lebaran, tempat dan harga menyusul
Berhubungandengan akan diadakannya care Award pd care gab. Tutup tahun
( care baru tidak ikut lomba ) tolong kumpulkan ( ingatkan lagi krn sdh
kendor) plg lambat pertengahan Nov.
- Absensi anggota care , daftar nama seluruh Anggota care , anggota yg baru
gabung th ini diberi tanda
- Utk lebih memundahkan sdr menyetor persembahan maka ada 2 staf yg
akan membantu pak Mardanung utk menerima setoran persembahan :
Agustin pagi, junaidi sore

If you were to come to the church office, to my office, five full lengths of filing cabinets one after
another and theyre all jammed with different files I have and Bible studies, ideas, sermons,
messages, research, things Ive done, things like that. But probably one of the most important
files Ive got is a yellow file I call Warnings Lessons to be Learned. Im not going to read
all the contents. It would be too discouraging. Ive kept over the year a file of fallen leaders in
Christianity. Some of them I knew personally, some of them I didnt know. Ive kept a file of
fallen leaders. I review this file every year at the end of the year, just to warn myself Let him
who standeth take heed lest he fall.
We are in a spiritual battle. Thats why that kind of stuff happens. People let down their guard.
If you dont take the Christian life seriously, if you dont take ministry seriously, the devils going
to. You may not mean business but he does.
The Bible teaches that the Christian life is warfare. In fact, the most used analogy in the Bible for
the Christian is that of a soldier. The words that are used to describe the Christian life are war
terms fight, conquer, strive, battle, overcome, victory. Theyre war terms. We are living in
enemy territory when you live in the world. Scripture makes it very clear. Ephesians 6:12
(Phillips) For our fight is not against any physical enemy. It is against organizations and
powers that are spiritual. We are up against the unseen power that controls this dark world and
spiritual agents from the very headquarters of evil.
I saw this article the other day: Winning the Holy war Underneath, it says, Satan also has a
missionary vision. We have the Great Commission. He has a great commission too. That is to
defeat Christians wherever possible.
In 1 Timothy 6:12, Paul told Timothy, Fight the good fight of faith. If you are in ministry,
you are going to face opposition from the devil. If you get up in the morning and you dont
face the devil head on, right at the start of the day, it means youre going in the same direction.
He is opposed to everything you stand for. He hates everybody in this room. He hates anybody
whos sold out to Jesus Christ. He will do anything he can to defeat you.

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I thought wed do a Bible study together on How to Fight the Good Fight. Six steps of spiritual
battle because Ministry is Warfare.
1. ACKNOWLEDGE THE ADVERSARY
Realize that hes real. 1 Peter 5:8-9 Be alert, be on watch. Your enemy the devil roams around
like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Be firm in your faith and resist him because
you know that your fellow believers in all the world are going through the same kind of
suffering.
When youre being attacked, welcome to the club. Its proof that youre a believer. Its proof
that youre making an impact. The fact is the more you make an impact for God, the more the
devil is going to fight you. You never outgrow it. It just gets more intense. If there were no
devil, why would God send His Son to fight that which does not exist? The Bible says God sent
Jesus Christ to defeat the works of Satan. The Bible says that Satan is the prince of this world.
Jesus said so. He never disputed/melawan Satans right to work all across the world. The Bible
says in
1 John 3:8 Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil.
Jesus, at the cross, destroyed the devils works. So Satan is now living on borrowed time. Hes a
lion, hes roaring, but if you are living and walking with Christ, he cant harm you if youre
walking in the spirit, walking in the Spirit of Christ. Hes a lion without teeth, a bee without a
stinger. Hes a snake without fangs.
Ephesians 6:16 In every battle you will need faith as a shield to stop the fiery darts aimed at
you by Satan. Circle fiery darts. It says that Satan is going to have some fiery darts to aim
at you particularly as youre involved in ministry.
What are some of the fiery darts that Satan throws up against Christians in ministry?
Discouragement thats probably the biggest one. Failure nobody shows up for your ministry.
Opposition all kinds of resistance. Rumors. Put-downs. Misunderstandings. Distractions.
Temptation/pencobaan, Low self-esteem attacking your self worth. Compromise.
Deceptions. Sin. Competition. Fatigue. Illness. Fear. (Does Satan ever throw a dart of fear
at you? What do you think youre doing in ministry? Who do you think you are?) Doubt.
Division Does he ever get Christians working against Christians? Ridicule. Half-truths.
Materialism.
Hes got quite an arsenal. Hes going to throw these things at you. If youre going to be
effective in ministry, youve got to learn how to fight back with faith. Acknowledge the adversary.
2. ACCEPT MY AUTHORITY/ mengakui wewenang anda
Most believers are very ignorant/melalaikan about the authority that they have to use against the
devil. Matthew 28:18-19 All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations. How much authority did Jesus have? All.
Where did it come from? Heaven and earth. That covers everything. All authority is given to
Me. Then He says, Therefore go and make disciples ini yg sdr dan saya kerjakan Do
you see the transference of authority? He says, Ive got all authority, therefore you go. Go and
make disciples.
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2 Corinthians 5:20 We are therefore Christs ambassadors. When you send an ambassador to
another country, that ambassador has the full authority to represent that country. The Bible
says that you as a believer on ministry are Christs ambassador. Youre a Christian ambassador.
You represent Christ. That means you are given the authority to represent Him in your ministry.
Look what Jesus said, You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you. I have ordained you
that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain. Circle ordained.
Probably the biggest misconception today is this word ordained. The way most churches talk
about it, whether Protestant or Catholic, is an unbiblical sense ( Cuma keluaran seminari yg
ditetapkan Tuhan utk melayani ). The Bible teaches that if youre a Christian everybodys
ordained. There really is no such thing as an ordained person and a non-ordained person kita
semua adalah hamba Tuhan . Frankly, I dont care if somebody gave me a piece of paper that said
I was ordained or not because the Bible says that every Christian is ordained to ministry. Theres
no special status of those whove got it and those who dont. If anybody ever asks you, Are
you ordained?, say Yes. Absolutely. Im an ordained minister of Jesus Christ. When did it
happen? The moment I became a believer. Theres no such thing as a first class and second class
Christian. Thats why I couldnt care less about a piece of paper. The Bible says you are all
ordained to different kinds of ministries based on what your gifts are.
Jesus says I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Thats strong authority. I dont
understand all of what this scripture talks about but the Bible says if you are a believer you are
given the authority of Christ in spiritual warfare. You have the right to fight back. You have the
right to bind and to loose.
Ephesians 2:6 And God raised us up in Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in
Christ Jesus in order to show that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of
His grace expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. Were seated in the heavenlies, which
means were seated with Christ in heaven. Circle in Christ Jesus.
Four concentric circles: In the middle circle put the word me. In the next circle out put in
Christ. It says that we are in Christ. That is the phrase that is used most often to describe
our position as believers. Its used over 130 times in the New Testament in Christ. The
word Christian is only used a couple of times but in Christ is used over 130 times. We are in
Christ. In the next circle out put hid with Christ in God/ tersembunyi bersama kristus
didalam Allah. Thats what Colossians 3:3 says. For you died and your life is now hidden
with Christ in God. The next circle out write sealed with the Holy Spirit. Thats what
Ephesians 1:13 says. And you were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation, having believed you were marked in Him with the seal, the promised
Holy Spirit.
I am in Christ and Christ is in God and we are sealed through the Holy Spirit. That means
for the devil to get at you as a believer, hes got to go through the trinity. The Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit. He cannot get at you as long as you are walking in His Spirit. Were in
Christ who is in God who is sealed by the Holy Spirit. Hed have to go through the trinity to get
at you. You dont have to fear the devil. You just have to be alert to him.
I understand who the adversary is. I identify him, I acknowledge him, I accept my authority.
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3. I PUT ON THE ARMOR
The famous passage on armor is Ephesians 6:11-17. Put on the full armor of God so that you
can take your stand against the devils schemes. Have the belt of truth buckled around your
waste and the breastplate of righteousness and have your feet fitted with the gospel of peace.
Take up the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the
word of God. There are six pieces of armor here. Circle truth, righteousness, gospel of
peace, faith, salvation, the word of God. Thats the spiritual armor that youre to put on.
When Paul wrote this, he was in prison. He was chained 24-hours a day to a Roman guard. As
he wrote this, he sat there, chained to this man, looked at him and used the Roman centurion as a
model for spiritual armor. He had on a breastplate a piece of metal to protect his chest from
spear attack. He had on a strong, leather girdle around his mid waste to protect him. He had
on boots, a shield, a helmet, a sword. Paul says just as the Roman soldier goes out and do battle,
when youre in ministry you need to be dressed for battle.
Two statements about this: If we had time, Id show you that every piece is mental warfare: truth,
righteousness, peace, faith, helmet of salvation (which covers the head), and the word of God is
the truth that goes into your mind. Its mental preparation for battle. These are things you
need to put on mentally before you do your ministry because you expect attack.
The other thing I want to say is that these six things is a perfect picture of Jesus. Jesus is truth,
He is righteousness, He is peace, He is faith, He is salvation, He is the Word (the Word became
flesh). And to put on the spiritual armor simply means to put on Jesus. When you put on Jesus in
your life, when you let the Spirit of Christ live through you, youve put on the armor. Thats what
Jesus Christ is. He is righteousness and all these things. You put it on, before you teach that
Bible study, before you teach that Sunday School class, before you play that note in
worship, you need to put on your armor of God. I do this every time I speak. I mentally run
through this thing. I mentally run through it and put it on. I say, for instance, Lord, as I put on
the helmet of salvation that will protect me from the thoughts the devil will try to give me. I want
to think not the devils thoughts. I dont want to think my thoughts. I want to think Your
thoughts, that I may be a voice for You. I put on the belt of truth. Lord, I want to share the
truth, not falsehood. I want to lead people into righteousness. All of these things. I mentally
put them on as I prepare for spiritual battle in order to minister.
4. AIM THE ARTILERY
Not only do we have some armor but we have some weapons to use when were involved in
ministry. Remember were not fighting against physical people. Were fighting against spiritual
forces.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. On the
contrary, they have divine power to tear down strongholds. We demolish arguments and every
pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to
make it obedient to Christ. The battlefield for spiritual warfare is primarily in the thought life, in
your mind. Notice it says the weapons we use, what do they do. Demolish arguments thats
the way people think. We pull down pretension thats the way people think. We take captive
every thought.
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When somebody is opposing you in your ministry, theyre not the real problem. The problem is
the thoughts the devils giving them to oppose you. The problem is not that person. The
problem is what theyre acting on. You always act on what you think. Theyre getting thoughts
from the wrong source. There are only two sources for thoughts. When we get thoughts from
God, we call it inspiration. When we get thoughts from the devil, we call it temptation. Which
are we going to accept? Gods thoughts inspiration? Or temptation from the devil?
So the primary battlefield is in your mind. If you ever want to do a study, study the word mind
in scripture. Thats where the battle for sin is largely felt. Satan, the Bible teaches, holds people
captive through the mind.
2 Corinthians 4:4 He blinds peoples minds.
2 Corinthians 11:3 He corrupts peoples minds.
Hebrews 2:14-15 He holds them in bondage through fear. Which is a mental attitude.
There are strongholds in our mind.
Other passages that talk about a defiled mind, a reprobate mind, a darkened mind, a puffed up
mind, a vain mind. All of these things are descriptions God uses when we are allowing our
thoughts to be influenced by the devil.
In this battle for thoughts, what are our weapons? Four weapons. These things work. I use them
every Sunday, every day. But especially as Im preparing when I get in the car and drive the
twenty minutes it takes me to drive from where I live to the church, during that twenty minute
period, I am putting on the armor, I am preparing my weapons. I do this every Sunday. I do it
before every service. Go out and mentally go through these weapons. I say, Lord, Im about to
go in here and what Im talking about on Sunday morning, eternity is in the balance. There may
be somebody who's at in the worship service this morning who will never come again to church.
If youve got one shot, what are you going to do? Eternity is in the balance. This may look like
were all having fun here but behind the scenes theres a spiritual battle going on. We need to
prepare for it and use the weapons. Four weapons you use in ministry:
1. The Truth. The Bible says Youll know the truth and the truth will set you free. The
Bible says that the sword of the spirit is the word of God. The word of God is the truth. The
truth is our sword. It cuts through all the mustard. It gets right to the point. When you are in a
conflict, the question you want to ask yourself is this: What does God say about this? Because
the truth is the first weapon. You ask yourself, How does the Lord see this situation? How
does the Lord see this service? How does the Lord see this act of ministry Im about to do? So
our first weapon 1 Peter 1:13 Therefore prepare your mind for action. Be self-controlled. Set
your hope fully on the grace to be given you. What is grace? Its not only the power to save
you, its the power that enables you to minister. So before you minister, set your mind for action,
be controlled, set your hope on the grace thats going to be given to you. Say, Lord, I know
Youre going to give me the power. Youre going to give me the power to do this.
2. Humility. James 4:6-7 God gives strength to the humble but sets Himself against the
proud and haughty. So give yourselves humbly to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from
you. The more you humble yourself before God, the more power you will have in your life.
Thats just the way it works. As we walk before the Lord humbly and say, Lord, I humble myself
before You. I cant do this ministry on my own. But You are the vine and I am the branch. Apart
from You I can bear nothing but with You I can do what I need to do. It doesnt matter what
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you do. Whether youre being a Care Caller or a Greeter or Lay Pastor or Singer or whatever,
you say, Lord, Im depending on You to help me as I deal with people. If you deal with people,
youre in for a lot of surprises. Just stand on the patio and talk to people for three weeks and
youll get the most off the wall things you can think of. People are strange. Humility. God gives
strength to the humble. Humble yourself.
I love the song by The Second Chapter of Acts called Humble Yourself Before The Lord. One
of my favorite lines says, Dont worry or fret youll get what you need. The flower He sows
and the sparrow He feeds. You will receive a greater reward, by putting your faith and your trust
in the Lord. Humble yourself before the Lord. As we humble ourselves, thats a weapon. As we
submit to God, all of a sudden, all the power of God comes into our lives.
3. Faith. The Bible talks about the shield of faith. 1 John 5:4 This is how we win the
victory over the world, with our faith. Without even talking to you in detail, I can tell you
exactly what Gods doing in your ministry. Hes doing what you expect Him to do. You study
the Scripture, you find out that every time God does a miracle He moves out of heaven and
moves on to earth because somebody believes. Faith is a powerful, powerful tool. I dont know
why, but in my case, when Im speaking, in the struggle for souls on Sunday morning, I dont
know what it is but I know when I expect people to respond, they do. The devils pulling one
way and the Holy Spirits pulling the other way and somehow my faith has a part in that warfare.
Id say, get specific. If you want to see miracles, be specific. The more specific you are, the more
miracles you see. All this week I knew I was doing this message on why you need to be
connected to a church that I did this morning. All this week, I believed from the bottom of my
heart that people need to tie in to a body because its scriptural. I prayed specifically, God, give
me one hundred people who will commit to membership today. I prayed that all week. Give
me one hundred people who will commit to joining the Saddleback family and say they want to
hook up with this church. I counted the cards today 205. It made me think of the verse in
Ephesians God is able to do much more than you think, ask or imagine. Faith is one incredible
tool.
Whatever you want to see happen in your ministry believe it will happen. If you need more
workers, pray and believe more workers will show up. If you need more people in your group,
believe that God will bring them. Pray and believe and ask and expect in advance.
4. Praise. There is tremendous power in these four things in the truth of Gods word, in
humility, in faith, in praising God. Particularly praising God in advance. Revelation 12:11-12
They overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you who inhabit them. It says rejoice. How did they
overcome the devil? By the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. They were
praising God. God says when people praise, the Bible says God inhabits the praises of His
people. Sometimes after a particular worship service, I honestly feel like Mickey Mouse could
preach and people would come to know Christ. The praise has cleansed the air. Theres power in
the praise of God.
When Im driving to the service I do these four things. Lord, first the truth. What do You think
about this service? I think about how Jesus Christ died for every person thats going to walk in
the door that day. I think about how everyone of those people matter to God. Every one of those
people matter to God. I think about the truth all of the truths that God is in control, He knows
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already that the babies are going to cry in the third service, so why should I be upset about it? He
already knows the truth. Then I humble myself before the Lord. And then I say, God, I want to
thank You in advance for what Youre going to do today. It would be a waste of time for me to
walk in there and speak and not expect You to do something. But the fact is, You are going to do
it, not because of who I am but because of who You are, because of what Youve already done.
And I expect You to use me. He says He uses us by grace through faith. I expect You to use
me. Then I praise Him. Ill sing for the last ten or so minutes to the Lord. Usually Amy is the
only one who comes with my to the first service because she comes for all three services so she
can help in the nursery the third service. I make a joyful noise unto the Lord, preparing my heart
for ministry.
5. Call on the Holy Spirit. The Bible says in 1 John 4:4 (this is combination of the Living
Bible and the New International Version) You belong to God and have already won your fight
because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 2 Timothy 1:7 For
the Spirit that God has given us does not make us timid. Instead, His Spirit fills us with power,
love and self control. So you say, God, fill me with Your Spirit as Im about to do this.
Whether its stuffing bulletins, connecting the sound system, setting up, taking down, whatever it
is God, may Your Spirit fill me! The Bible says,Whatever you do, do it heartily as unto the
Lord and not unto men. Im doing this for Jesus sake. Call on the Holy Spirit.
6. Avoid all distractions. This is one thing I think the Lord has taught me and is teaching me
over the years. If youre going to be effective in ministry, in battle, youve got to focus yourself.
2 Timothy 2:3-4 (Living Bible)Take your share of suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
Do not let yourself become tied up in worldly affairs for then you cannot satisfy the One who has
enlisted you into His army. Dont get distracted. You know whats important in life. There are
so many things that want a piece of your time. The reason why there arent more people here
tonight is because of this very thing. Theyve chosen distractions over ministry. Theyve got so
many other good things. The good can be the enemy of the best.
No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs. He wants to please His
commanding officer. We come to Jesus Christ and say Reporting for duty, Lord! There are a
lot of good things I could be involved in, a lot of ways I could spend my time. But I have one
person to please and only one the Lord Jesus Christ. And if Im pleasing Him, thats what is
going to count at the end of my life. Avoid the distractions. If you get distracted the enemy is
going to catch up with you, catch you off guard and devastate you. So the question is, whats
distracting you from ministry?
Prayer:
As we close, many of you know that ministry is warfare from personal experience. Youve
had the battle scars. Even in this last year, youve experienced discouragement or
disappointment or fatigue or frustration or ridicule or rumors or resistance or failure or fear.
Youve been misunderstood and youve put forth effort and seen little result. Maybe youve
experienced division people arguing. Or maybe Satan has tried to attack you with physical
illness. We should not be surprised that hes throwing darts at people who are trying to make
a difference in a church like Saddleback. We need to, as a family, as the CORE, commit
ourselves to praying for each other.

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Father, I want to thank You for these leaders of our church who love You, who came out
tonight. They didnt have to come but they have their priorities right. They want You to be
first in their lives. We know Lord that as we live for You, were going to face the devil,.
Help us to acknowledge that he is real, but also to acknowledge our authority over him in the
name of Jesus Christ. Help us to learn to put on the whole armor of God and to use the
weapons of faith and humility and truth and praise and expect You to work in our lives. Help
us to trust You when things dont look right, to not get discouraged, to realize that when we
get to heaven Youre not going to look for awards on the wall but Youre going to look at
battle scars. Help us to appropriate the filling of Gods Spirit on a moment by moment basis.
You have given us a Spirit of power and love and self-control. Most of all help us not to get
distracted in the battle because when we get off guard, Satan can attack us. Help us to just
please You as our commander and chief. In Jesus name, Amen.