Our battle is not against flesh and blood
From a Biblical perspective, we need to start with who has authority over everything, including spiritual warfare.
The following passage takes place after Jesus was resurrected here in Matthew 18:16-18, “Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority (all power of absolute rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.”
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, “We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.”
James 4:4-6 says, “But He gives us more and more grace [through the power of the Holy Spirit to defy sin and live an obedient life that reflects both our faith and our gratitude for our salvation]. Therefore, it says, “God is opposed to the proud and haughty, but gives grace to the humble .” So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Resisting the influence of the devil is certainly easier said than done.
We would be wise to have a rock solid plan for responding to the daily temptations that our spiritual adversary throws at us! Here’s what Jude 9 says, “But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
I’m grateful that our life-long enemy is not all-knowing, all-powerful, and always present like our Heavenly Father is! Even though he can’t read our minds, he does have the capability of reading our actions, as we give away many of our weaknesses. He knows how to strategically ‘bait the hook’ for each and every one of us, and he doesn’t play by any kind of fair rules when he relentlessly attacks us and tries to bring us down.
Our responsibility in the realm of spiritual warfare and how to overcome the evil one, is to walk so closely with the Lord that we too can do what Jude did whenever we recognize the severity of the battle, and ask Jesus to rebuke devil! It’s not some kind of magical prayer or a silver bullet, as much as it is the life-saving power of truth on our side … and personally knowing the One Who is ultimately in control.