Pastor Joshua Date: November 19, 2023 Are You Beating The Air? Ephesians 6:12

ARE YOU BEATING THE AIR? Be Strong Series Ephesians 6:12   Do you ever feel you are battling problems beyond what is visible? Well, according to Ephesians 6:12, you are!   Ephesians 6:12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.   Our natural response to opposition is to see our enemies as physical people that we visibly see. Born-again believers are awakened to the spiritual, invisible world, so we see resistance differently from those spiritually blind.   If someone started ”Beating the Air” fighting invisible beings, they would be considered mentally ill.   1 Cor. 9:26 Therefore, I do not run like someone running aimlessly or fight like a boxer beating the air. So, what is spiritual warfare?   2 Cor. 2:3-5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,   We learn here that our battle, more than anything, is with the mind over thoughts. It is a fight between Truth and lies. Only the Lord can change man’s heart; through prayer, new thoughts can be formed in people’s minds. The weapons God has given us are not guns or missiles but Words of Truth, the sword of the Spirit.   Isaiah 55:11 So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: It shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.   In every battle, we need a Word from God, a strategy from heaven; once received and spoken out, the Lord’s army, His angelic host, goes forth to accomplish it. The victory may be delayed, and in this period, our faith is not to waver but to continue to persist in prayer, standing on the Truth, until the battle is won.   Our Spirit-directed prayers cannot be defeated; they are bullets that will hit the target and go into people’s minds and change their hearts.   We must stop fighting like the world, becoming easily insulted, and taking people’s words and actions so personally. But instead, take the higher ground and be people of prayer who know how to fight effectively.