When people talk about the enemy attacking and spiritual warfare, most people think that it's something obvious. But it's not so obvious all the time. Sometimes it's the subtle things that can sneak up on a person, like silence. Don't let this silent killer leave you exposed to the enemy! Shout unto God and fight to get back in the fight!
At some point in my journey with Jesus, I came across this silent killer that I didn’t even know could be one in my faith walk.
There’s no pun intended when I say this, and it may not even be a surprise to some of you, but...
The silent killer is silence.
Especially when there’s a spiritual war going on.
A person could start off strong. Not wavering, doing all the things, utilizing all the tools the Lord gave us, and rocking the spiritual armor.
We know that the Bible tells us to speak, prophesy, shout, and decree a thing!
But when someone is right in the middle of that spiritual warfare (which can appear in different forms), it can get a little crazy. lol.
Metaphorically speaking, a person could have just finished dealing with something last month. Got sucker punched in the face last week, this week got gut punched, yesterday shins got kicked in, just got the day going today and stubbed the pinky toe. Now, after picking themselves up after all of that, is still tired and decides to lay out on the floor, getting stumped out.
After each hit, they just got a little more silent than before. Maybe it happens after the second hit; maybe it happens after the 50th.
After experiencing all of that spiritually, without even realizing it, a person can start to get silent.
Develop a numbness to it all, begin going through the motions, and then there’s quietness.
It’s dangerous when the enemy can get a person to quiet down or silence their voice in the middle of battle.
The belt of truth comes unloose, only one shoe of peace is left, the breastplate of righteousness got a hole in it, the helmet of salvation flew off in the middle of battle, the shield of faith got huge cracks running through, and that sword of the Spirit is banged up, rusted up, and has gotten too heavy.
That’s right where the enemy wants us.
Silent, with no armor, no shield, and no weapons.
The enemy wants to have his way and wants to do what he pleases.
If you’ve noticed that you’ve gotten silent, Lord willing, we are going to get that voice back today!
[Before we continue, I want to add that not all silence is bad. There's a good quiet and a not-so-good quiet. There's absolutely nothing wrong with getting quiet to listen to God. There's nothing wrong with quietly sitting in His presence, marinating in it as long as possible.
The quiet can give a person the opportunity to reflect, to be still, and to wait.
It could be the Lord’s protection to keep a person from complaining, murmuring, and speaking against what He has for them.
No reason is the end-all-be-all; there can be a number of things.
Even though I am your sister in Christ, don't forget to pray for discernment. So that whatever season of your life you're in, you'll be able to determine the difference between the two ‘quiets’ with the power of the Holy Ghost.]
I’m not sure if you’ve read the story of Joshua before or not, but most people know him as the one who led the Israelites when they conquered Jericho.
The whole book of Joshua is a great read, and we can learn a lot from it, but there are also so many things to learn from that one chapter where the battle of Jericho takes place (which is in Joshua 6:1-27).
There’s one thing in particular that I want to highlight.
I encourage you to read the story for yourself, of course, but I will be paraphrasing some of it and sharing some things for context.
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After Moses died, Joshua was the one who was going to lead the Israelites into the promised land. The first place on their list was Jericho. Jericho was a well-known city near Jordan in Palestine.
It was so well known because of the massive stone walls that surrounded the city. I read online that the walls were around 13 feet in height and had watchtowers that were 28 feet tall. They were supposed to protect the community of people, the land, and its water supply from intruders.
So, this type of place wasn’t one that anybody could easily conquer.
Joshua received some very specific instructions.
The instructions were to circle the city for 7 days. In the first six days, they would walk around the city one time each day. Seven priests would walk ahead of the ark, each holding a ram's horn. On the 7th day, they would circle the city seven times, and on the 7th walk around, the priests would make a long blast with their ram’s horn, and when they heard the sound of the trumpet, the people were to “shout with a great shout,” and the wall of the city would fall down.
They obeyed the instructions. The 7th day on that 7th circle around, when the priests blew the long blast on their horns, Joshua said to the people, “Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city.”
After the shout, the wall fell flat!
Then it goes on to talk about how they went into the city and “utterly” destroyed it!
When I was reading through the Old Testament during my silent phase, which I didn’t know at the time was a silent phase, I came across this story again, and this time even more, I was like, wow!
They received instruction from the Lord, followed His instructions, and with a shout, a whole massive stone wall fell down flat!!
A shout, though I knew it wasn’t the shout alone that did it. The word 'shout' stood out to me.
I looked up what the Hebrew definition of the word shout was in the Concordance. (The Blue Letter Bible (BLB) App has a free concordance available.)
There were a few definitions of shout; the ones I wrote down were:
to split the ears (with sound)
destroy
to shout a war cry.
alarm of battle
to shout in triumph.
WOW!!!
That was amazing to me! It was like a switch had been flipped, and the Lord reignited me!
My passion and enthusiasm came back better than before. When that switch was flipped back on, that’s when I realized that, at some point, I had gotten quiet.
It was like I was spiritually tired..
I was reminded of just how real spiritual warfare is and that sometimes it’s the subtle things that the enemy tries to do that could cause a domino effect of things if we let them.
And that’s the spot where the enemy wants us—in a chokehold!
I’m just glad that the Lord never left me alone and helped me to see!
He motivated me to open my mouth and shout!
Then Hebrews 13:15 tells us to “offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”
In those times where it feels as though we’re being jumped into the spirit realm, this situation popped up out of nowhere—that unexpected circumstance—and there’s mental warfare!!!
It could most definitely feel like a sacrifice to just open our mouths, shout, and give God some praise!!
When we open our mouths and shout, it splits the ears of the enemy!
When we open our mouths and shout, it destroys the enemy!
The enemy thought that the things that we went through and experienced were going to turn us away from God, but we solidified our stance with God and grew closer to Him.
When we open our mouths and shout, it’s our war cry—an alarm of battle!!
The enemy thought we were out for the count!
But when we open our mouths and shout, we are back in the fight!
When we open our mouths and shout, we’re shouting in triumph, meaning we already have the victory!!
(I’m excited!!! (sits down, takes a sip of water.)
In spiritual warfare, we have to continue to persevere and push through no matter what.
Man, when Joshua and the Israelites were marching around that city, they were probably getting laughed at and made fun of by the people keeping watch on the inside. Then they had to walk around the city for 7 days, for a total of 13 times!
Now I don’t know for sure, but circling the city once for six days probably got a little easier as each day passed. But then the 7th day came around, and they had to circle it seven times!
Whheewww!
And that’s just this situation. The Israelites went through a lot of things leading up to this!
I know that talking about it can sound easier than it is in real time, but choose Jesus every time!
Just to be clear, shouting unto God with a voice of triumph is not me telling anyone to yell at God. It’s not to yell at demons. Simply yelling is not going to move God or scare demons.
In spiritual warfare, we get the chance to show the enemy and ourselves who (or what) we rely on.
Regardless of the tactics that the enemy uses and how exhausted you've become, when you shout unto God in the midst of them, you are showing that in your heart you believe that you are triumphant.
You are choosing to trust and believe in God.
Because no matter what it feels like in the moment, we know that we are in God's hands and that we are already victorious.
Let’s believe God in our hearts and not just say it with our mouths!
Let’s open our mouths, give that sacrifice of praise with the fruit of our lips, and let’s shout in triumph.
The Bible talks about how life and death are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21).
So, even when we’re not saying anything, we’re not speaking that life over ourselves either!
If we don’t know what to say to God in the moment, pray and speak scripture over our lives and circumstances.
The word of God is life!
The word of God is our promise!
THE strategist of all strategists on your side! If you need a game plan, ASK HIM!
Expect to receive an answer. Sit with a pen and paper.
If you’re feeling led to do something, DO IT!! Be obedient!
FIGHT to get back in the fight!
Switch up your study spot. Go for a walk while praying in the backyard or around the parking lot.
Listen to your favorite praise and worship songs!
Do whatever you need to do, but don’t stay silent!
Spiritual warfare is always going on. The enemy doesn't take any days off—no lunch breaks, no seasonal breaks, none of that. That's why we must pray continuously, like the word tells us to.
Remember, you are already victorious!
OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND SHOUT!!
