Mary Anne Voelkel - Spiritual Warfare in Mission

The crowd kept waiting, but nothing happened. An endless minute went by, and then another. Canadian evangelist T. V. Thomas stood at the podium trying to begin his talk about a controversial subject: Is Jesus Christ the Only Way to Find God?

It was the 1996 Urbana Student Missions Conference and 19,621 delegates waited expectantly. Try as he might, T. V. could not say a single word. He couldnt have been hoarse, for the intercession team had prayed with him only minutes before. Yet here he was, speechlessly clutching his throat and growing increasingly agitated. Something invisible seemed to be choking him.

Urbana director Dan Harrison rushed forward to offer water. But many in the audience sensed that the problem was spiritual, not physical, and they cried out, Pray! Pray!

As Dan Harrison prayed for the speaker, Mary Anne, leader of the Intercession Team, sensed she was to stand inconspicuously behind the platform and raise her arms in worship and prayer. Two intercessors slipped outside the Assembly Hall to ask God for protection and in the name of Jesus command the evil spirit that was choking T. V. to release his throat. Gradually, his voice returned. The longer we prayed the stronger and more powerful his words became. When he finished, the delegates exploded in a roar of applause not so much for T. V. but for the Lord himself, who had delivered his servant from a direct attack by the enemy.

The delegates learned more than the uniqueness of Christ that day. They lived and breathed spiritual warfare in the context of mission.

Before reading on, stop for a moment and think: What do you know about spiritual warfare? Have you ever experienced it?

We did a little survey to discover what some Christians in the United States and Canada think about the subject. We discovered that most dont think much about it at all. A contemporary student worker writes:

The reality of evil and its influence on daily life is fairly unfamiliar territory to those I work with. Its a totally new idea that some kind of dynamic systemic evil could energize interpersonal conflict or temptations. A few may pray for protection now

The concepts we Christians do hold regarding spiritual warfare vary greatly, depending on our backgrounds and knowledge of Scripture. New believers may have a vague idea of evil, but its often shaped by fantasy movies (witches, vampires, avatars), television, fiction or social media.

Christians involved in Bible study usually have a deeper appreciation of prayer and the power and authority of Jesus, along with some understanding of spiritual warfare. Many, however, say that they have little personal experience in these areas, nor do they know how to apply the authority of Jesus over evil to their own lives, intercession or outreach.

This booklet offers a brief biblical perspective on spiritual warfare in the context of mission. It includes Scripture, practical suggestions and stories to illustrate each point, plus resources in the bibliography for further investigation. Unidad Cristiana Universitaria (UCU), as well as to our prayer partners in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA and Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship of Canada. So much of what we have learned grew out of our rich fellowship with them.

Pauls understanding of spiritual warfare . The apostle Paul often used the metaphor of spiritual warfare to help young Christians overcome the struggles they were facing. The fledgling church at Corinth, for instance, was riddled with moral failure, reeling from divisions and in danger of exchanging their solid foundation of faith for the lies of false apostles (2 Corinthians 11:2-4).

To help them, Paul wrote:

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish 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 Corinthians 10:3-5)

Although Paul uses military terms wage war and weapons we fight with, he is quick to distance this type of conflict from any kind of physical violence. The weapons he suggests throughout all his epistles are spiritual and come from God, not ourselves. In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Paul uses the weapon of truth to demolish strongholds in the minds of the Corinthians. English expositor Derek Prince underscores the importance of this mental battlefield:

We absolutely must understand the battleground is in the realm of the mind. Satan is waging an all-out war to captivate the minds of the human race. He is building... fortresses in their minds and it is our responsibility as Gods representatives to use our spiritual weapons to break down these strongholds... and bring men and women... to the obedience of Christ.