Latest / Arise Women of God / What Every Believer Should Know About Spiritual Warfare
Transcript
- 0:00Hey my friend, have you ever wondered what does every believer really need to know about spiritual warfare?
- 0:07Because perhaps you are battling exhausting mental chatter, negative whispers telling you you're not good enough and feeling completely drained from carrying heavy emotional burdens.
- 0:20Well, you are not alone in feeling that way.
- 0:23And by the end of today's episode, you'll know verses that share how the battle is real, how to recognize the mental battle and defeat the enemy's lies, as well as the key of tapping into our most important resource
- 0:37in spiritual warfare.
- 0:40Stay tuned.
- 0:41Ordinary women, Extraordinary faith When God calls, we say yes.
- 0:48The Arise Women of God Podcast hello and welcome back to the Arise Women of God podcast.
- 0:54I'm your host, Tamara K.
- 0:55Anderson and joining me today is the amazing Sandy Falter.
- 1:00Sandy is a certified grief coach and a speaker who equips women with Christ centered tools to heal and rebuild after heartbreak, divorce and life's deepest losses.
- 1:12She is also an amazing mom and grandma and we are so excited to have her back on to talk about some of the most important things every believer needs to know about spiritual warfare.
- 1:24But let's begin with a core foundation.
- 1:27Spiritual warfare is a daily reality, my friend.
- 1:31In Ephesians 6:12, Paul reminds us, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world.
- 1:43Spiritual warfare is real.
- 1:45But the enemy rarely attacks with an obvious physical presence.
- 1:50Instead, his favorite battleground seems to be in the mind where he kind of slips in the side door and whispers, who do you think you are?
- 1:59Nobody's going to listen to you.
- 2:00You're a failure.
- 2:02So how do we shut down that mental chatter?
- 2:05Well, let's listen to Sandy as she shares how she learned to discern the enemy's voice and how she combated his lies with daily affirmations.
- 2:14And God just, that was the message he kept giving me is you need to help women heal.
- 2:18But then Satan was like, well, who do you think you are?
- 2:21Like, this isn't your background, right?
- 2:23And so you know, I went through and I became certified.
- 2:26But he loves to come in that, in that side door and whisper and say, oh, nobody's gonna listen to you.
- 2:32And, and so I think the first thing is that I had to really come to this space where I could turn that off, right?
- 2:41Recognize the voice of God and recognize the voice of the adversary.
- 2:46That was, that has been really important to me.
- 2:48And one tool that I use to help me and I use this daily and is affirmations.
- 2:53I need to be reminded every day of who I AM and of my purpose.
- 2:58And so I have a list of affirmations that are stuck to my mirror that I remind myself.
- 3:02I set myself up every day to be able to live in my purpose.
- 3:07And that has been a huge shift for me and has really helped me, like, fight the adversary and those voices that want to say, who do you think you are?
- 3:16But God knows who I am, and he's given me this.
- 3:19This opportunity to experience really hard things and then be able to use that to glorify him.
- 3:24And I just have to remember that.
- 3:26I love that practical tool of putting affirmations on your mirror.
- 3:30When the adversary attacks your thoughts, you have to counter his lies with spoken, declared truth.
- 3:38Not only does Satan attack our thoughts, but he strategically targets our physical vulnerabilities.
- 3:45Let's take a peek at what happened to our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew, chapter 4, verses 1 through 3.
- 3:51When Jesus went into the wilderness, Satan didn't strike on day one.
- 3:56The adversary waited until he had fasted for 40 days and nights and was physically hungry and depleted before launching his temptations.
- 4:07The enemy operates the exact same way with you and me.
- 4:11When you are hungry, tired, grieving a loss, or battling anxiety, depression, or ocd, your guard drops and the adversary steps in to exacerbate those physical challenges.
- 4:24And it feels like overwhelm anger, frustration, anxiety, sadness.
- 4:29And you kind of want to just curl up into a ball and pull the blanket over your head and hope it all just goes away, right?
- 4:36But what do you do in a situation like that?
- 4:39First you need to pause, take three deep breaths in and out slowly in through your nose and then out through your mouth.
- 4:49Kind of calm all the stress.
- 4:52Then ask God, what do I need?
- 4:55If you're hungry, eat, tired, take a nap, feeling attacked, cast Satan out in the name of Jesus Christ.
- 5:04Remember Philippians 4:13.
- 5:07I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me.
- 5:11You will not win this battle on your own human muscle.
- 5:15You will win by anchoring yourselves in the Lord.
- 5:19But Satan likes to keep us kind of off kilter, and that's why it's important that we stay connected to Jesus.
- 5:26Let's head back to Sandy as she shares how Proverbs 3 keeps us from getting off center.
- 5:33I think one of the scriptures that I love that has really helped me is in Proverbs, lean not to your own understanding.
- 5:40And that's where I find myself.
- 5:42I find myself.
- 5:43Oh, I should, I should, I should, right?
- 5:45But when I start grounding myself in him, centering myself in the Savior and not leaning because if we're leaning to our own understanding, we're off center, right?
- 5:54And so if I re center myself in Christ, the promise of that scripture is that he will guide us, he will direct our paths.
- 6:02And so I've had to really focus on turning back to him in prayer and being in his word to say, okay, what is it you want me to know?
- 6:11What is it you want me to say?
- 6:12How should I move forward?
- 6:14And we're promised that we'll get that direction.
- 6:16And so trusting that if I lean on him and not lean to my own understanding and get out of balance, that I will get the direction that I receive.
- 6:25And that has been so helpful.
- 6:27When we trying to lean on our own understanding, we can easily get overwhelmed trying to carry that heavy load, the hurts, the betrayal, and the grief that our human shoulders were never meant to bear alone.
- 6:42But let's get real, my friend.
- 6:44As believers, we carry all sorts of wounds that are like chinks in our armor when the enemy attacks.
- 6:52Let's listen to Sandy share a powerful visual practice of kneeling at the Savior's feet to heal and become God strong through the power of Jesus Christ, who is our key to being resilient in this spiritual warfare battle.
- 7:08I think probably one of the biggest transitional moments of my life was when I was really struggling to forgive.
- 7:17And after experiencing divorce and betrayal, I was struggling.
- 7:22And God's Word tells us we need to forgive if we want to be forgiven, we need to forgive.
- 7:27And.
- 7:27And I truly wanted to.
- 7:29And.
- 7:29And I'm a very visual person.
- 7:31And so I just remember visualizing just kneeling at the Savior's feet, and this weight was heavy.
- 7:37I'd been carrying it a long time and I didn't want to carry it, and it wasn't fair.
- 7:42And sometimes it's really hard to forgive when you're a victim.
- 7:46And so I was trying to wrestle with this, trying to figure out how to do this.
- 7:49And I just remember praying and just putting it at his feet and just giving him all of it and just praying that he would take it from me and allow my heart to be free of this, because I
- 7:58didn't know how to do it.
- 8:00Just.
- 8:00I mean, I just sobbed and just pictured him right in front of me and me at his feet and crying and giving it to Him.
- 8:08And when I finished praying, that darkness in my heart was gone all of a sudden.
- 8:13My heart was filled with light and love and, like there was a weight lifted.
- 8:18And I.
- 8:19And I will say often, you pick it back up, but I got really good at practicing because that's what he wants us to do is practice, not perfection.
- 8:28It's not a one time I forgive and I'm done.
- 8:30That's why it says 70 times 7 because it's something we get to practice over and over.
- 8:36And so I got to continue to practice going to the Savior and not just forgiveness, but all of my heavy burdens.
- 8:44Instead of carrying them, he's told us he'll carry our burdens.
- 8:48One of my other favorite go to scriptures when I'm struggling is Matthew 11:28 30 which is come unto me all you that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
- 8:58And when you're weary, that's all you want is rest.
- 9:02And so learning how to just be at his feet and give him my burdens has transformed my life.
- 9:09That is probably one of the biggest transformative experiences of my life.
- 9:13And now I continue to use that visualization to bless me so that I can free my heart again and again so that I can feel his light and love.
- 9:24What a stunning visual of surrender she painted.
- 9:27And the blessing is the more you heal, the less chinks you will have in your armor for the adversary to attack you.
- 9:34Oh my goodness.
- 9:35Aren't we thankful for the healing power of Jesus Christ?
- 9:40So my friend, if you are walking through the aftermath of a divorce, deep relationship conflict or heartbreak, Sandy has created an incredible resource to help you walk through that healing journey step by step.
- 9:55I invite you to visit sandyfalter.com and download her free guide featuring 20 powerful tools for healing and rebuilding after heartbreak.
- 10:05You can also explore her one on one and group coaching packages designed to help you heal and rediscover your purposeful and joyful life in Jesus Christ.
- 10:17Oh my dear sister, what every believer must know about spiritual warfare is this.
- 10:23You are not fighting alone and you are only one prayer away from tapping into Heaven's power.
- 10:29Also, if you want to take a step by step framework to fortify your home, recognize the enemy's mental traps and invite God's angels into your battles, we at Women warriors of Light want to give you our complete digital
- 10:42guidebook for free.
- 10:43Isn't that exciting?
- 10:45Down in the show notes below I invite you to click the link and grab your free copy of a mother spiritual defense guide 6 Empowering Steps to Fortify Home and Family.
- 10:56Inside you will find the Cast out the Adversary prayer script to help you clear the darkness and invite peace back in.
- 11:05What are you waiting for?
- 11:06Go download your free copy today.
- 11:08Oh my dear friend, Although spiritual warfare is real, as a believer you do not have to carry the weight of this world on your shoulders.
- 11:17Lay your burdens down at the feet of the master healer, Jesus Christ.
- 11:22He knows your wounds.
- 11:23He carries your grief.
- 11:25And as you draw near to him, his light will shine through your life, turning you into a powerful woman, warrior of light, capable of helping not only yourself, but others as well.
- 11:41Thanks for joining us today.
- 11:42And until next time, may you arise and do it God's way.
- 11:47God strong.
- 11:48If today's episode helped you feel a little closer to God, please like and subscribe.