Ephesians 6:10-11 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
INTRODUCTION
War is a part of our lives as believers. If you are not equipped or prepared with the ability to fight these battles, the enemy will forcefully claim your territories and displace you in terror. Spiritual battles are real and Christians need to learn how to fight these battles, and how they impact our lives.
WHAT IS WAR AID?
War aids are supports and reinforcements that help a country or territory defend itself against external forces. Believers receive war aids to help them fight spiritual battles. War aids are needed to help us overcome the enemy and maintain control over our territories. In the Lord’s army, soldiers without weapons will be taken out.
The Bible says that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12) and the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (2 Corinthians 10:4). This simply means that we do not fight with physical weapons like the armies of this world. As such, our aids are not the physical weapons and equipment that countries donate to one another.
Spiritual war aids are spiritual resources and gifts that God provides from the storehouse. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are war aids. The Scriptures contain examples of how battles were fought and won in God’s army using these aids. Gideon is a good example. He did not defeat his enemies with swords and a large army. However, he defeated the enemy’s army with the words of wisdom, prophecy and knowledge from God. (Judges 6:11-40, Judges 7-8). Also, when the king of Israel wanted to go to war with the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah had to ask for a prophet whom they can seek the counsel of the Lord about whether they should go to fight the battle or not (although they did not take the aid that came to them in form of Micaiah’s prophecy). 1 Kings 22: 5.
1 Corinthians 12: 1-11 contain a list of these war aids. They are:
- Gift of the word of wisdom
- Gift of the word of knowledge
- Gift of faith
- Gift of healing
- Gift of working of miracles
- Gift of discernment of spirits
- Gift of prophecy
- Gift of diversity of tongues
- Gift of interpretation of tongues
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO HAVE WAR AIDS?
In the military, there are different weapons and different strategies for winning. War aids contain resources that can turn the tide of a battle and greatly encourage the army receiving the aid. Many times, without the war aids, the war would be lost. Aids typically come to help the losing or weaker party in their war effort.
War aids help you fight the Lord’s battles without your having to expend a lot of force or effort. With the knowledge or grace received, a battle can be won with less effort, that if the aid had not come. John Paul Jackson gives multiple examples of war aids helping the war effort of churches and individual in their battles in his book, Needless Casualties of War. In one of the accounts, he wrote of how God had given him a prophetic word that changed the tide of a Pastor who had been battling with miscarriages among the women in his church.
John Paul Jackson writes:
When I arrived at my office later that morning, I tracked down phone numbers and began calling various pastors and leaders. First, I spoke with the pastor who had three pregnant women in his church on the verge of losing their babies.
“What is your church doing differently this year?” I asked curiously.
“Nothing, except that we have increased our level of engaging in spiritual warfare,” he replied thoughtfully.
Venturing further, I asked what kind of warfare. He explained that they were directly coming against and binding demonic principalities of pornography and abortion that hovered over their city. Sharing the warning dream God had given me the night before, I told him that in wrestling against principalities without sufficient instruction about how to do it and about Satan’s counterattacks, he had left himself and his church open to unforeseen and unperceived attack.
“If you stop and repent,” I prophesied, “the three women that are now pregnant will go full term in their pregnancies. Their children will live and not die.”
The day their church repented was the day the three women stopped bleeding. Some months later, all three women gave birth to beautiful, healthy babies.
A similar story emerged from the pastor whose 16-year-old son had run away from home. Throughout the previous year, his church had engaged in spiritual warfare, attempting to bind territorial spirits over their city. As I explained the Scriptures in Job and Isaiah, I felt the presence of God envelop me.
“If God has not directly commanded you to do this kind of spiritual warfare, you are engaged in presumptive behavior. In essence, that is rebellion. Your son is manifesting that rebellion,” I prophesied to him. He and his church stopped, and within a week his son came home.
- P. Jackson, Needless Casualties of War, pp. 33-34.
John Paul Jackson had sent the war aid to the pastors of these churches. With the aids (words of prophecy) that they received, they were able to fight their battles and win.
1 Timothy 1:18 – This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare…
For Christian soldiers, the aids are already available to them, by reason of the benevolence of their Commander. Christians have access to an unlimited storehouse where they can get aids to help the war effort. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is the one who distributes these aids according to His will (1 Corinthians 12:11), and He has given different aids to different parts of the church, so that all can benefit (1 Corinthians 12:7).
War aids are used to fight battles; before and during the battle.
Take the gift of discernment of spirits for example. It can help us differentiate between a demonic or an angelic presence. This gift is important because the devil can disguise himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). The ability to discern spirits therefore comes in handy when you are trying to test spirits, or discern the kind of spirit that you are dealing with in a particular situation. That way, you can know how to address the spirit, and win the battle.
Also, when we are passing through trying times and unfavorable circumstances, words of wisdom and knowledge can be soothing to our soul and bring the needed comfort in the circumstances.
The Lord Jesus gave Nathaniel a word of knowledge that made him marvel and stick closer to Jesus (John 1:48). The woman at the well met the Lord Jesus and was greatly astounded at the accurate word of knowledge that He gave her. This experience made her to become an ardent follower of Jesus; she ran into the city and told people about the Lord (John 4:16- 18).
War aids help to build the faith of soldiers so that they can persevere and keep fighting. Paul was told several times that he would suffer many things for the Lord’s sake (Acts 9:16, Acts 20:23, Acts 21:11). These words no doubt, helped him to not falter in the face of sufferings and various difficulties. Rather, he was able to say, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).
That, is what a war aid does.
