Spiritual Warfare: Are You Wrestling or Resting?the earth's atmosphere so they could fight the devil?
Did they war and wrestle and yell at the devil and fight
demons in tongues?
No, when Paul and Silas were cast into prison, their
feet were put in stocks, and they were in a stationary
position, deep in the innermost prison (Acts 16:23-26).
Well, then how could they get up in the heavenlies to
contend with the powers of darkness that were opposing
them? They didn't need to! They praised God until the
power of the Holy Spirit came down!
Right here on earth, at midnight, Paul and Silas
prayed and sang praises to God, and God heard and
delivered them (Acts 16:25). You see, praying and
singing praises is a type of scriptural "wrestling" in the
spiritual realm because you have to stay in faith to do
it! And because God responds to faith (Heb. 11:6), He
reached down and shook that old jail and delivered Paul
and Silas.
We don't need to get up into the heavenlies to deal
with evil spirits! We ought to be interested in tapping
into the power of God that's already available to us as
believers right here on earth! Yes, the word "wrestling"
shows us that there is a spiritual conflict between the
believer and the devil. But the wrestling is done in the
arena of faith—in the spiritual realm—not in the
natural realm. It is a fight based on standing firmly on
the promises in God's Word and on the finished work of
our redemption.
Scriptural 'Wrestling'—The Fight of
Faith
Once believers understand their authority in Christ
and begin to appropriate the finished work of the Cross,