The Art of War for Spiritual Battle: Essential Tactics and Strategies for Spiritual Warfare

Table of Contents

Foreword

The Art of War is a straightforward manual on handling conflict of any kind. Reading it again recently, it dawned on me how its philosophy is equally relevant to the spiritual battles taking place around us in every day. Thus was born The Art of War: Winning Life’s Battles.

Introduction

There is a war being waged for the souls of the earth, and if you haven’t stopped to look lately, we are losing the battle. The only way to turn the tide is to fight again like the evangelists and revivalists of old. Not go back to their methods, but get God’s strategic directives for our time just as they did for theirs. God is looking for generals to organize and lead that charge, but He first needs to know that they are skilled in the art of spiritual war.

1. The Big Conversation

In order to take the fields of battle God has assigned to us, we need to be steadily plugged into command centers. We need to be constantly tapped into the Big Conversation that is going on in heaven; tuning into heaven’s frequency and listen in to what God is broadcasting concerning His will and His ways of bringing His goodness into manifestation on the earth.

2. The Generals of Prayer

These five factors—(1) the path of righteousness; (2) the spirit; (3) the natural; (4) the general(s); (5) methods and discipline—should be familiar to every general: those who know them will be victorious; those who do not will fail.

3. Allying Your Forces

This chapter discusses the formation of the community of Herrnhut, their 100 years of prayer and what happened during it (the Great Awakening, the Kentucky Camp Meetings, and their missionary outreaches), and some of its parallels to the collection of the mighty men of David. This is basically a chapter on the importance of unity within the church and the correct operation of authority and leadership.

4. Defensive Tactics

This chapter discusses the importance of “taking care of the home front.” In other words, the place of prayer in taking care of yourself, your family, your church leadership, and your community in the areas of resisting sin, staying on course with God, staying healthy and safe, etc. This would include discussion of Psalm 91 as well as other Scriptures about the protection of God.

5. Downloading Divine Strategies

This chapter discusses how to hear from God, how to get in on the intercessory prayers Jesus is already praying at the right hand of the father, and staying out of the legalism and human interference that has killed so many movements of God in the past. Ex: The Methodists, The Salvation Army, etc. Thus the importance of not institutionalizing Christianity, but keeping it a living connection with God. Also the need for the creation of Second, Third, Fourth, etc. Generation Generals to carry on that work.

6. Consolidating Fire Power

This chapter is a discussion of the offensive tactics of spiritual warfare.

7. Maintaining the Campaign

How do you keep your troops enlivened to stay with the fight for a lifetime of needs to be addressed? This chapter could look to the life of William Wilberforce and the fight to end slavery in the British Empire as an example. It includes counting the costs, staying motivated, celebrating the small victories as well as the larger ones, the importance of staying plugged into God, etc. This could also include a discussion of the Nine Situations (again from Sun Tzu’s text), or that could become its own chapter before this one.

8. Set for Triumph

This chapter will discuss what it takes to marshal victory in the protracted campaign of spreading the Gospel around the earth as well as God’s will to all nations. It will put forth that while we have already been given the victory, it still needs to be enforced and walked out, and this can’t be done in a half-hearted way. It will take giving our lives to Christ in very significant ways, for:

They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Revelation 12:11