Elisha was a powerful spiritual warrior in his time, leading the charge against God’s enemies. In 2nd Kings 6, he single-handedly stopped the king of Syria from defeating Israel. The prophet kept receiving words of knowledge about the Syrians’ plan. He even knew what was being said in secret meetings in the king’s palace bedroom, as we read in 2nd Kings 6; 8 – 9, 11 – 12:
Now the King of Assyria was making war against Israel; any consultant with his service, saying, my camp will be in such and such a place. And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there. Therefore the heart of the King Assyria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, will you not show me which of us is for the king in Israel? In one of his servant said, God, my Lord, okay; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words as you speak in your bedroom.
Elisha’s close relationship with God made him privy to the plans of the enemy. He heard the most private words of the king in his spirit. The Syrians were incensed – they tried to attack Elisha, but the prophet simply led that army into Israelite territory and turned them over to his own King. Imagine fighting someone like Elisha – you can’t kill them, you can’t legislate against him, you can’t even capture him. He is a thorn in evil’s side, just as a spiritual warrior should be.
Spiritual warriors see beyond the natural into a realm of the Spirit where God lives. Elisha saw horses and chariots of fire all around the enemy. He had a level of perception not earthed in natural thinking or logic. There are more with us, than there are with them, he grinned, as he walked out to meet them – seemingly alone, yet powerfully backed up by heaven.
Spiritual warriors have access to a different reality than the natural facts. This is what makes them irresistible and irrepressible in the fight. To see from heaven’s perspective opens you up to all the claims and desires of heaven in the circumstances of life.
Perceptions are powerful. Perceptions relieve Oppression. They release provision. Prophecy arises out of perception. Promises are realized by a people whose awareness of God is greater than their natural vision.
Spiritual warriors stand out in a crisis because they have insight into God’s name and nature. Intimacy enables us to become preoccupied within our affections.
When we set our heart on someone, our intimacy must go to a deeper level of love and trust. This is as true of human relationships as it is of God.
Insight releases discernment. When we are focused on the real, the false is always exposed. Intimacy cannot be faked. Intimacy intimidates the enemy. There is always intimidation in warfare. Goliath tried it on David.
1st Samuel 17:42 – when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, with a handsome appearance. The Philistine said to David, my dog, that you come to me with sticks? In the Philistine cursed David by his God’s. The Philistine also said to David, come to me, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the sky in the beasts of the field. And David said to the Philistine, you come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of host, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted.
This day Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the Army of the Philistines is data the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our hands.
Out of his own intimacy as a man after God’s own heart, David intimidated the giant before him and won an incredible victory. Delivered a nation. Saul and his compatriots listened to Goliath and were rendered unequal to the challenge. David knew only one voice. His identity as a warrior was rooted in his intimacy.
Praise is not an option. It is an absolute necessity, like air and water. Your Revelation of God must result in a praise proclamation against the enemy. In worship we declare to God. In warfare we proclaim to the enemy. If we have no personal internal declaration of who God is for us, then we have no external proclamation to fight behind. Spiritual warriors are men and women of passionate intimacy and forceful Thanksgiving. They lead with their rejoicing. They inspire the assembly to see God’s majesty and to line up for battle knowing the fight belongs to God – victory belongs to us. We fight from victory, not towards it!
Soldiers need to line up behind spiritual warriors in times of crisis. It is in those crises that the purposes of God are most forcefully advanced. If we had just a few spiritual warrior stand up in every church in the land, nothing would stop the kingdom. Only a very small number of spiritual warriors are needed to breakthrough in a region.
A spiritual warrior is someone who can kill a thousand of the enemy without blinking an eye. Unfortunately, our churches are full of people too anemic to kill anything! But one or two warriors can change all that. The men and women listed in Hebrews 11 and other passages of Scripture first broke through for themselves and then led everyone else into the same dynamic place in the spirit.
What remarkable people those warriors were; Scripture records that the world was not worthy of them – Hebrews 11:38. Spiritual warriors make tough choices, confidently, about who, how, and where they will focus their internal attention. They live from the inside – funneling the energy and revelation they receive from the Holy Spirit out into the world. They punch through spiritual opposition, allowing soldiers the pour in and occupy new territory.
Assignment – think about your current level of intimacy with the Lord. What needs to improve and increase in your praise, rejoicing and giving thanks? What does living from the inside out mean to you? What particular insight of God do you need in order to combat your present circumstances?
Commission – cultivate that insight into a place of forceful rejoicing and Thanksgiving. Produce a declaration of who God is for you now! Develop a proclamation that you can use on the enemy.