- Jennifer Dungey

Book Club – “Spiritual Warfare” (Week One)

Hey hey hey! We made it to Friday! 🎉 I hope you had a great week!

Alright, let’s dive into this week’s questions:

Introduction

*What are your beliefs about spiritual warfare going into reading this book? Do you believe it is happening today?

Chapter 1 But I Never Wanted to Be in a Battle!

*Deborah was obedient to God and applied seven keys to victory in battle. They are:

  • she recognized that it was a spiritual battle and that God was going ahead of her small army
  • she obeyed God’s instructions, trusting His strategy
  • she did not focus on the seeming strength of the enemy
  • she did not waver in her confidence of God’s Word
  • she refused to be deterred by her colleague’s lack of spiritual vision
  • she never compromised with the enemy
  • she gave praise and glory to God for the victory

Are you applying these keys in your own battle? How can you begin to walk in obedience in these areas?

*Do you believe God has a unique role for women to play in spiritual battle? How would being involved in battle look on a day to day basis?

Chapter 2 Who Is the Enemy, and What Does He Want From Me?

*Do you believe Satan is a real live enemy? Or is he merely a symbol for evil?

*The authors write that Satan particularly hates women. How do you see this hatred being played out in culture today?

Chapter 3 What Our Spiritual Wardrobe Should Look Like

*Do you have a special outfit that makes you feel a certain way when you wear it? If you’re married, what was it like when you wore your wedding dress? What feelings do putting on these special outfits conjure up?

*How does it feel to know that God has given us our own special outfit for battle? How can you “put on” the armor of God everyday? Was there anything in particular that stood out to you about one or more of the pieces of armor?

Scripture of the Week

Ephesians 6:13-18

Judges 4:6-7

1 Peter 5:8-9

Prayer of the Week

Father God, thank You that we have victory in the name of Jesus. Help us to engage in prayer and strengthen us to battle against the enemy. Thank You for the armor You have given us and help us to wear each piece daily. Give us a hunger for Your word and a desire to memorize scripture so we may have it ready when we need it. We trust You in all things and long to be obedient to You. We thank You and praise You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

For Next Week

*Read Chapters 4-8

Hope you have a great weekend! Happy Mother’s Day to all the mamas!

One thought on “Book Club – “Spiritual Warfare” (Week One)”

  1. The last year in particular I have begun to really believe in spiritual warfare. Like so many of the women that the authors in this book mention, I too have known spiritual warfare existed on the surface level, but never really thought about how it can infiltrate us today. I don’t think we see certain things in a spiritual light because 1) we can’t actually see the spiritual realm—the real and yet invisible battle going on right around us; 2) we’re not trained to think of life this way (e.g., our mentality is a flat tire isn’t necessarily an attack from the enemy); and 3) we’re not wanting to believe spiritual attacks could enter our physical world, let alone our lives.
    God is making it more and more clear to me that as Christians we are not supposed to play it safe. I was really convicted by Quin’s friend’s statement: “I just wanted to remain a normal Christian, go to church, mind my business and not cause trouble.” (Page 17) I have read the Bible verses about the Christian life not being easy…
    -Luke 9:23: “And He said to them all, ‘If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’”
    -John 15:18: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first.“
    However, when I think about it, I’ve excluded myself from those statements, believing my walk could be different.
    It’s hard to wrestle with the truth. It’s difficult knowing life is sometimes just hard no matter what you do. What I’ve been learning recently is that spiritual attacks can take many forms – persecution looks different for everyone – but it’s happening and we need to recognize it and be equipped to fight and stand against it. Not in our strength though, in God’s.
    That’s why the Bible tells us, “For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30) I think we read this verse and think, “Great – looks like we can’t get out of burdens, even with God!?” But the burden God offers doesn’t mean what we think it does. “Christ describes His burden as relieving one of burdens. However, when describing the burden of responsibility, it means simple minded.” (www.christwords.com)
    Christ is offering to take the burdens we are unnecessarily carrying from us. All this responsibility we are putting on ourselves doesn’t belong on us – He wants us to give Him that responsibility. It is then that He can put His yoke, His burden – His responsibility, if you will – upon us. His responsibility is His covering over us; we no longer have to try (and fail) to cover ourselves anymore. When we rely on Him and do things in His strength, it doesn’t just feel lighter, it is lighter. He’s the Light, after all. ☺️ I’ve never thought of it in this way until now, but maybe there’s some truth to seeing it in that aspect as well.
    We’re going to be attacked, but we don’t have to be discouraged. II Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.” Furthermore, God has equipped us with armor to be victorious against the enemy’s attacks. I found it encouraging to be reminded that “Satan is merely a created being, while God is the great, uncreated Creator.” (Page 27) I believe the reason we give the enemy a foothold so much of the time is because we are either giving him little to no credit (thinking he won’t or isn’t able to interfere, or that, as Christians, we’re “immune to the enemy’s influence (Page 31)) or much more credit (this is what paralyzes us with fear) than he’s due.
    We can choose to put on the armor God has provided us, or we can choose not to and try to fight in our own strength…or not fight at all. As I said, the attacks are going to come. Do we want to be ready? More importantly, I think the question is, “Are we willing to be ready?”
    I really liked the authors’ description associated with the Gospel Shoes of Peace: “Putting on one’s shoes is a symbol of readiness.” (Page 42) When we go somewhere, we make sure our shoes are on before we leave the house. Besides being a symbol of readiness, I think this is also a symbol of protection: we know things could injure our feet so we cover them up, making our walk “peaceful.” Additionally, I think this is a symbol of efficiency: we know we often can’t accomplish as much without our shoes on. How are we to “stand firm against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11) if we don’t have our feet planted on a solid platform?
    Jesus is the only sure foundation we can stand on. The attacks will come; but we can be ready. We can face them, knowing Christ has not only given us what we need to fight, but also that we do not need to fear because He already has the victory!

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