Spiritiual Warfare

[Chastisement]

This is a topic I'm very interested in, having seen very interesting things in regards, and often finding myself head on with things I wont' on about right now.

But, as Catholics, what do people think of this?

I mean, has anyone here ever had to don their spiritual armour and go charging into battle under the Command of the Almighty? Has anyone ever made boo-boos in regards to going in where they shouldn't have been? :blink:

[Paladin D]

I would like to know myself. I hear a lot about "Spiritual Warfare" amongst my family and all, and I do believe it exists. I'm not an "official" Catholic yet, but in my current situation....there's nothing I can do about it.

Question: Does real spiritual armor exist?

[Chastisement]

Question: Does real spiritual armor exist?

Yes. Spiritual armour exists, and IMHO it is very very valuable. I know from experience.

Okay, this is somethign my mum gave me to say every day before you leave the house, and it's well worth it.

Put on the Full Armour of God

Ephesians 6:10-18

Heavenly Father,

I desire to be obedient by being strong in the Lord and the power of your might. I recognise that it is essential to put on the armour you have provided, and I do so now with gratitude, praise and by faith as effective spiritual protection against the spiritual forces of darkness.

I confidently take the belt of truth - I take Jesus who is the Truth as my strenght and protection and ask wisdom and discernment to beleive, live, speak and know only the truth.

Thank you for the breast plate of righteousness. By faith I appropriate the righteousness of Jesus Crhist and ask you, Jesus, to walk in YOur holiness in my life today.

Thank you, Lord for the shoes of peace. I desire that my feet shoudl stand on the solid rock of peace and that as I walk in the obedience to you, the God of peace promises to walk with me.

Eagerly, Lord, I lift up the sheild of faith. By faith, I trust in you to be a complete and perfect shield.

I recognise that my mind is a target for Satan's deceiving ways and I take the helmet of salvation, recognising that the Lord Jesus Christ is my salvation. I sheild my head with him and invite his mind to be in me.

With joy I take hold of the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, affirming that it is the infalliable word of God. Enable me to use your word not only to defend me from Satan, but to claim it's promises.

Thank you, Dear Lord, for prayer. Help me to keep this armour well oiled with prayer. I desire to pray at all times with depth and intensity as the Holy Spirit leads me. Grant me a burden for others in God's family as the enemy atttacks them.

All these things, I ask in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, my Lord.

Amen.

--

It doesn't take long to say in the morning, and eventually you memorise it. But if you are ever gifted by the Holy Spirit you need to wear this as my mum keeps telling me and getting annoyed if I don't say it.

My father has turned from the Lord and his mistress is accompanied by the spirit of Jezabell [sp]. If I'm not armoured up, whenever I'm arround the mistress and my dad the "bad things" attempt to attack me.

And trust me when I say this, sometimes these things can be so strong that they can attack you physically. Only the strenght of God is more powerful, and it's best to have spritual Armour and God on your side.

PM me if you want to know more, Paladin.

[cmotherofpirl]

Chastisement what exactly do you mean by spiritual warfare?

Could you define it please.

[MC Just]

Catholics believe that we are in contstant spiritual warfare in our everyday lives, for there is evil everywhere trying to take our Salvation.

Evil Spirits and demons are petrafied of our Priests when it comes to exorcisms and such.

[Jake Huether]

We aren't called the Church Millitant for nothing!

You know what... I saw LOTR two towers yesterday. It is chocked full of external manifestations of what we go through INTERNALLY in Spiritual Warfar.

I've learned so much in the past year about this, just getting closer and closer to God. You see, the Closer you get, the deeper you go into the heart of the battle. And Satan and his hord try to attack you!

You know how the MORE you love God, the MORE you feel tempted to give up, or give in to sin. Wonder why? Or when you do actually sin, don't you catch yourself quicker and feel WORSE about doing it. Wonder why?

[[Edit Note: Mother Teresa wrote about wanting to give up. She describes in her letters feeling abandoned by God. Of course, secular news hasn't the slightest understanding of Spiritual Warfare. So they took these letters to mean that she didn't agree with the Catholic Church. LOL. Leave it to them to pick a future Saint apart like that!]]

I have been paying more attention to myself in that respect, and it is SOOOOO true. Like, for instance, I'll sin and feel so horrible about it I'll be tempted NOT to recieve Jesus in the Eucharist. I'll feel that it was so horribly mortal that I MUST go to confession right away! But uppon examination, the sin was venial in at the very most!

You see, that's how Satan sets up his army to attack! They pick at your emotions. They sneak in partial truthes and set you up to fall. It is good to know when you've sinned. It is great to have the will to go to confession right away! But then he slips in that feeling that I shouldn't go to Jesus in Communion, when that's what I need MORE of!

We enter battle when we are baptized!

Our enemy isn't a green dragon. Angles and devils are depicted as figures so as to help us understand, but we must realize that these are SPIRIT's we are talking about. It is a SPIRITUAL battle. Yes, inDouche it becomes a physical battle - but it isn't with dragons and beasts and winged creatures.

When you are shopping and a girl walks by with a mini skirt and a low cut tube top, your spirit is in battle. Satan and his minion will tempt you into looking with Lust. Christ and his army will draw swords and you will desire to look away, or pray for her.

At work you will be in a conversation with a friend. Little do you know that behind the viel between Earth and the Heavenly realm (the heavenly realm includes fallen angels) spirits are drawign up battle plans. If your friend isn't spiritually protected (with the armor that Chast was talking about), then Satan will move his/her spirit to gossip or swear. How are you going to respond? Your guardian angel will throw blocks up, and your spirit will be moved to admonish your friend.

A large part of the spiritual realm are our emotions. If we can uderstand those better, and form our conscience according to the Catholic Church, then we are in great battle shape! If you have a "feeling", you should be able to descern if it is of God, or a demon! I still have trouble.

Like this morning. I was desciding if I should go to Mass. I know that I have to get off work early and run some errands before the shops close. So, I was thrust into the battle. Do I go to communion stressed out, and then go to work and have to leave early (I'm salaried - so it wouldn't be too "moral"). Or do I skip seeing my Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. It turns out that I went to Adoration befor Mass, and then skipped Mass. I felt God telling my, "my yoke is light". And I knew he was telling me not to stress about it. You see how Satan tries to make us stress out and lose our focus. Christ loves us to recieve him in the Eucharist. But it isn't required of us daily. And Satan will make us feel like we're obligated in order to "stess us out", or make us uncomfortable. That's when we throw in the towel and say, "I don't want to be a Catholic if this is what I have to do, etc. etc." That's what the Devil wants!

Believe it or not, we're in Spiritual Warfare! If you don't understand it, or you don't think so, then you are in for trouble. We MUST know our enemy if we are to do ANYTHING for our ARMY OF GOD.

We are the Church Militant!

Some great info on Spiritual Warfare can be heard on tape by Dominic Berardino.

Also, a very good book is Interior Castle by St. Theresa of Avila.

[MC Just]

i'm tying to become a man of fire (transending the world to reach God) I reject anything that isnt Holy and Just. I dont really watch Tv anymore, and I protest sin when ever I see it out in Public. I want nothing to do with the world outside of my Church. I am doing what the Scriptures tell us to do in the book of Revelation "Come out of her my people so as not to take part in her Sins and share in her Plagues" I figure the best way to fight the the Devil is to totally reject everything that isnt Christian. (Catholic) I confess my Sins and recieve Communion every Sunday, and I pray my rosary all the time, lately I have been praying alot more, Praying all the Mysteries. With an urge that never ends, a feeling telling me when to pray, which is all the time.

Edited August 28, 2003 by Mc-Just†

[CrusaderDude777]

A.M.D.G.

Finally, my Brother Jake, soemone sees what I say! Many A time in my day and life have I spoken of doning my Chainmail and unseathing my axe for battle! I am not a Crusader for nothing, for I wield my axe in one hand and my Rosary in the other Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (As St. Ignatious of Loyola put it, for the greater glory of God). We must see this as a never ending crusade! The times may have changed but the battle has not! We still battle the evil one daily, with his hords of minons we battle but with trusty stead and true blade and heart pure we can defeat this infamous evil and save the earth from its decimation! And our battle is fought not with sword or axe anymore, but with Rosary and Novena! Prayer is now our greatest weapon to push back the front lines and retake our lost ground, and someday a great warrior will come (as the Jews put it) again and totally defeat our enemy with his Broad Sword and Shield of Holiness! Then may we lay down or axe and mace and warhammer and enjoy the fruits of eternal victory! (By the way, I like exclamation points) Also, my Brother Chastisement, a wonderful prayer though hath brought to our minds, I thank thee for thine gift of grace. Keep the battle always raging!

[CrusaderDude777]

O, I forgot to ask, how does one change or make their own group. I was knida hoping my group would be Crusader (who would 'a thunk it?).

[cmotherofpirl]

I agree with what McJust is saying, but I really don't quite understand the rest of this spiritual warfare stuff.

Jesus Christ conquered sin and death. And while the devil roams around looking for unprotected people, surely that doesn't apply to us. We can recieve Jesus Christ daily at mass.

If God is for us, who can be against....

[Jake Huether]

I agree with what McJust is saying, but I really don't quite understand the rest of this spiritual warfare stuff.

Jesus Christ conquered sin and death. And while the devil roams around looking for unprotected people, surely that doesn't apply to us. We can recieve Jesus Christ daily at mass.

If God is for us, who can be against....

If you sin, then you have lost a battle.

I know you are a sinner! I am. We all are! We all fight the battle we don't see with human eyes!

We will win the war, but we won't win every battle. We will be champs! But we won't be "undefeeted" champs.

Mary fought it. She was the only one that never lost a battle. She was "undefeeted" by the Blood of Her Son!

We will make it to the end, but unfortunatly, by the sins of our ansestor, Adam, we will not be "undefeeted".

[Jake Huether]

Jesus Christ conquered sin and death. And while the devil roams around looking for unprotected people, surely that doesn't apply to us.

Yes! We are assured of victory in the WAR. But that is the WAR. The WAR consists of a lifetime of battles. Never ceasing battles! when one ends the other begins! We WILL loose some battles. Unless you are sinless. We WILL win some battles. The Spiritual war is different in this sence. While our flesh may fall, as long as our heart (our spirit) is in the right place, then we are winners. That is why mortal sin costs us our eternal life. Because the spirit follows the flesh willingly. But when the spirit resists the flesh, even while the flesh drags the spirit down, then we are winners!

The way you make your statment it seems that you deny there are any losers. But, oh, we know that there ARE losers. There wil be more losers than there are winners! We must win the battles in order to reap the bennefits of the WAR that Christ won.

We can recieve Jesus Christ daily at mass.

And this is a great AID in our daily battles! Jesus Christ won the WAR for us. But we must win our battles. He gave us his Body and Blood in the Eucharist as a Holy Weapon, a Lethal Weapon, in our battles.

If God is for us, who can be against....

Satan! But if we walk in the steps of Christ, and RESIST satan, then we will win our battles.

[cmotherofpirl]

Sorry, but I am not warlike.

Must be a male thing...

[Jake Huether]

Sorry, but I am not warlike.

Must be a male thing...

No WAY! C'mom. You ARE warlike. If you refuse to submit to sin, then whether or not you believe it, you are doing battle (and winning I might add).

Way to go! Rah, Rah, Sis boom bah! Gooooooooo C'mom!

Keep up the fight! Fight for the team (the Catholic Church - the Bride of Christ).

I'm not trying to be "matcho" in saying these things. They are true!

Seriously. If you avoid sin, and promote good - then you are a Spiritual Warior. You are a Church Militant for sure!

[cmotherofpirl]

lol

I don't play sports either.

how about a very short defender of the faith.