Like any other year, this one has had its fair share of ups and downs. By God’s grace, I have been able to dream more and have experienced the reward of hard work…you can read about this here.

As we come to the end of the year however, I have felt more lethargic and the fight to finish well has been tough. Although it is normal to be tired, I believe that we can sometimes be bombarded from all sides with the temptation to quit or ran so as to abort what God has commissioned us to do. With all the victories of this year, there have been days of dark doubt and questioning.

This year saw two loved ones battle cancer, a dear friend miscarry, and long drawn battles against evil in many forms. Nevertheless, we are called to fight the good fight of faith and in so doing, extinguish every evil plan of Satan.

But how do we do this when everything around us is screaming discouragement and fear? Today I want to share with you a couple of tools that have helped me to engage in Christian spiritual warfare.

1) Words

We oftentimes downplay the power of our words. Every day, we have a choice to become co-creators with God. We can choose to say things that bring injurious results to ourselves and our loved ones or we can like God, breathe life into impossible situations. Our words carry power and the bible is clear as to the sort of arsenal our tongues hold {Proverbs 18:21}.But what words are effective in times of spiritual battle?

Scripture is a mighty tool that dismantles the work of evil, therefore it goes without saying that the discipline of memorizing scripture is crucial if we are to be victorious. Memorizing and declaring scripture are synonymous with the Christian walk. The bible in Revelation 12:11 sums this up; we can overcome evil, and the key is in our tongues.

One practice I have found very helpful over the years is writing key verses on sticky notes and placing these in strategic places in my home. As I go about my day, I read them aloud declaring the purposes of God in my life.

In addition, there are specific words of prophecy that have been spoken over your life. After testing the validity of these words against scripture and the witness of Christian community {1st John 4:1, 1st Corinthians 14:29} begin to use these words against the onslaught of evil.

Once, a dear friend had successive dreams in which he was dying. He quickly perceived that this was an attack on his life and began to pray using words of prophecy that God had spoken over his life years back.

2) Community

One of the greatest lessons I have learned this year is how precious and loved the body of believers is to Christ. He loves us both personally and communally. In Christ, there are no denominations, race, gender or class…there is just one body {Galatians 3:28, Colossians 1:18, Ephesians 2:14}As Christians, we cannot do life alone. We need the support, prayers and encouragement from the Christian community. If we choose to isolate ourselves, we become targets and are easily taken down.

The power that unified Christians have is so sacred that it even touches the heart of God {Psalm 133}.Over the course of my life, God has allowed me to connect with wonderful Christians. He has used these people to bring great transformation, through their prayers, insight, love and simple faith. As I look back over the hardest seasons of my life, I am grateful that I surrounded myself with a community of people who wanted to see me succeed and did everything in their power to bring it to pass. You may not be a social person, but you can still enjoy deep and meaningful Christian relationships that will greatly assist you in times of trouble.

3) Worship

In a previous post, I write on the benefits of prophetic worship in spiritual warfare. Prophetic worship can be described as when the intentions, desires and purposes of our Heavenly Father are revealed through song, in order to build the body of Christ {1stCorinthians 12:7}. Read more here. Admittedly, there are so many weapons God has given us to fight the good fight of faith. These are just a few. Are there any other tools you can think of or have even used when engaging in spiritual warfare? I would like to hear from you.

P.S No matter how hard the fight gets, our focus should be on Jesus Christ alone. Sometimes we can be tempted to magnify all the ways Satan is trying to destroy us, but that should not be our focus. Remember that he is already defeated, therefore worship and magnify Jesus and His victory over your life.