9. Spiritual Warfare

Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
— Luke 10:19

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places… praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.
— Eph. 6:10-20

Having prepared our hearts before the Lord, this section calls upon us to exercise the authority we have in binding the power of Satan. As those who are seated with Christ in the heavenlies (Eph. 2:6) and who share in wielding Christ’s rod of iron (Rev. 2:7), we have the great privilege of engaging in a Christ-empowered fight against spiritual demonic forces (Eph. 6:10-20). Since Christ authorized all believers to tread down these demonic forces (Luke 10:19), there is no power of the enemy that can stand against your prayers of faith.

God may lead you to pray that Jesus break the demonic bondage that a friend is experiencing, or it may mean praying against demonic forces seeking to divide a church, or it may mean praying for protection of a Christian politicians from demonic attack. Whether tearing down the strongholds of Satan in the nation, church, family, or an individual’s life, spiritual warfare is a critical component of prayer. In fact, it is so important that we have compiled a book of all the imprecatory prayers of the Psalms (titled War Psalms) and a collection of prayers by Mark Bubeck and Phillip Kayser (titled Prayers for Spiritual Warfare) as tools to help improve this aspect of your prayer life. The following Prayer for Revival is a sample of Mark Bubeck’s prayers:

Heavenly Father, I praise Your name for the grace that has come to me through the Lord Jesus Christ. I rejoice in the victory which You have provided for me to live above sin and failure. I come before You in confession and to plead Your mercy over my own sins, the sins of other believers, and the sins of our nation. Our nation stands before You, deserving Your wrath and judgment. I confess the sins of lukewarmness, apathy, and worldliness on the part of believers. I acknowledge before You the wickedness of our society and that it deserves judgment. I stand in to confess the awful affront to You which is represented in the drug epidemic, the drunkenness, the moral rottenness in the entertainment field, the crime increases of our land, and the lack of moral character in national leadership. I ask forgiveness and mercy for the religious sins of liberalism and the too-often harsh, bitter criticism and contentious spirit of fundamentalism. I grieve with You over the awful rise of interest in the occult and the open worship of Satan by wicked, deceived people. May You judge not this nation with wrath and fury as upon Sodom, but judge it with a mighty outpouring of conviction of sin. May sinners groan under the burden of their guilt until the people cry out as did those at Pentecost. “What shall we do?”

I praise Your holy name that there is sufficient measure of grace through the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ to answer this cry. I plead the blood of the cross and the power of the resurrection against the wretched sins and rebellion of the hearts of men against God. I wait for the Holy Spirit to lead and prepare and bring us all to revival.

I recognize that Satan and the kingdom of darkness over which he rules have plotted and strategized against revival with relentless effort. Satan has built carefully his kingdom to oppose all that is holy and good.

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I smash and pull down all of the strongholds that Satan has erected to hinder revival. I pray the focus of the mighty victory of the cross and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ directly against Satan’s plans to hinder revival. I pull down his strongholds of religious loyalties that blind and bind so many. I pull down his strongholds of prayerlessness and carelessness with the Word of God. I claim back for the Lord Jesus Christ the ground Satan is claiming as a means of hindering revival, and I affirm that Satan’s plans were fully defeated through the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I pull down all of Satan’s plans to divert revival when it comes. I call for the Holy Spirit to grant wisdom and discernment to the leaders of revival chosen by You to lead. May this revival for which I pray be greater than any that has ever come before. May it serve to purify the church and prepare it for the coming of our Lord. May it bring multitudes into the fold all over the world.

Loving Lord Jesus Christ, You invited us to come and buy of You that which we need for revival. Give us the gold tried in the fires of testing brought by Your sovereign power. Give us the white raiment of Your purity as You live Your life in us. Grant us the eye salve of the Holy Spirit’s anointing to see spiritual truth, to retain it, and to apply it in practice. I open the door to Your Lordship, dear Savior. I invite You to come in to me personally and into Your church with a fresh visit and to be the sovereign Lord You are, that we all might fellowship with you in the deepness of Your love. I ask this all and bring it before You with praise in the merit and worthiness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.⁷