I was speaking with someone recently who is overcoming spiritual warfare. What is Spiritual Warfare? There are examples of spiritual warfare all over the Bible. Job is a famous example. This is where Satan, or someone inspired by him, is stealing, killing or destroying.

The person is going through a very challenging time in their walk. It’s clear they’re under spiritual attack. And this is what Satan does to rob believers of joy and fulfilment.

Overcoming Spiritual Warfare (The 5 Stages)

I shared what I’ve been calling the five stages. They said it was helpful, so let me know if it helps you too. It’s helped me in the past remain focused, and now it will bless you. At the end I’ll walk through how the five stages are working in my life. I’ll also share how to do this as easy as possible.

I drew this and highlighted all five stages, and I’ll come back to it and explain everything as I go.

Stage 1 To Overcoming Spiritual Warfare

It starts by imagining a field. Jesus describes us as labourers who work in the field, so this is where it comes from. I explained in the conversation, that as Christians we should produce much fruit. Click To Tweet Jesus said in John chapter 15, if we abide in Him, we will produce much fruit.

Jesus also told us in John chapter 10,

the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy.

I said, Jesus wants you to be fruitful, but Satan wants your field to be fruitless, barren and destroyed.

When you look at the drawing, you see that number 1e is the only number outside. This is the most important.

I explained how Stage 1 is being at the field but staying outside. Satan wants to keep you outside of your field, because this is where you are least effective.

This is where you feel unworthy, unfulfilled, and undervalued. This is why Satan causes chaos and distraction.

He will do anything to keep you outside. He’ll

• Attack your family.
• Ruin your finances.
• Keep you distracted.

Don’t Stay Outside

He knows, if you stay outside, there’s nothing you can do to hurt him.

And at the same time, you’re not focused on what’s going on in your field. This means you cannot obey God and be fruitful.

I explained how, if you stay outside, the field won’t product fruit, It’s impossible! The devil cannot stop you, and God will not force you. You must decide, not to stay outside.

To have any chance to produce fruit, you need stage 2.

Stage 2 To Overcoming Spiritual Warfare

You must decide to walk into your field.

Once you walk into the field, celebrate. The truth is, many are on the outside and show no signs of entering. But as you celebrate being on the right path, you know you must do more.You walk into your field and it’s all mud.

All you can see is brown from left to right. The reason this is so important, is because you think about the field in both stages. The difference is though, in stage 2, you can see the field. You are now aware of the field. It’s much harder to ignore, when it’s right in front of you. This is why the distractions are so heavy in stage one.

It’s like how data shows, once women who do not want a baby see a scan, chances of survival increase in a great way. At that moment, things become real. Even though the field and baby were there already.

Now you walk in, remember, God wants you to be fruitful, but the Devil does not. Once you’re in, the Devil wants you to do the same thing as when you were outside.

The Devil’s Plan

He doesn’t want you to do anything. He wants you to see the brown land and think, you’ve wasted all this time outside, there’s no point. And then he will try to distract you, with the same things as stage 1.

He’s tricks never change. But now that you’ve walked into your field, you have the 4 boundaries around protecting you. You can see and hear distractions, but they are further away, because you have moved closer to God.

When you do things like this, you defeat him. This moves you closer to God and keeps you more protected.

Think about Jesus’ temptations in Luke Chapter 4. He quoted the Word with every temptation. Then the Bible says, the Devil left him for a season.

With total focus on God’s Word, that is the safest place to be. Click To Tweet If you walk in and do nothing, it stops you from bearing much fruit. This is why Stage three is next.

Stage 3 To Overcoming Spiritual Warfare

I then explained how once you walk in, to bear much fruit, you must sow good seeds.

Now you cover the whole land with seeds. Good seeds.

Again, the Devil does not want you planting any seeds. And if you do, he wants you to plant bad seeds that discourage you from planting seeds in the future. God wants you to produce much fruit, so God wants you to plant good seeds, and water them well.

What you need here is patience. You see the brown land, and it takes time in the sun to plant all the seeds. But you have confidence from knowing, good seed sowing means much fruit in harvest.

Harvest is coming regardless of what you do, so it makes sense to sow well, to expect well.

This is the hardest part in the 5 stages because it takes real work to do. Sowing is much harder than staying outside, walking inside, or stages 4 and 5.

The Devil will try to distract you again here, but as you work the ground, you don’t have time to get distracted. This is why he will try and encourage you take shortcuts, and sow bad seeds that are not fruitful. This is why doing your job well is important.

Stage 4 To Overcoming Spiritual Warfare

I then explained the 2nd phase of the dark green in this drawing. Stage 4 is when time has now passed and it’s harvest. Your seeds have produced fruit, if you did stage 3 right.

This is a time of rejoicing. The Devil wanted to keep you outside, but you made it in, worked the ground and have produced much fruit. You got focused on God and He has protected you, given you the space to sow, and now to reap the harvest.

This is what Jesus was talking about when he said, if you abide in me, you will bare much fruit. When you abide in God, you use the gifts and blessings God has given you, to complete your mission.

Think about how Joseph used his dreams and interpretations. They led him to Egypt, to get out of prison, and to rule the Egyptian empire.

If he didn’t interpret dreams in prison, he would not have met pharaoh. Joseph shared his dreams with his family, his brothers hated him for it, then he ended up a slave. When he used his gifts and prospered, he got thrown in prison for a crime he did not commit.

And when in prison, he did not look back and say…

“My gift is getting me in trouble. I’m not using it anymore.”

Many have stopped and lost hope. But he continued and it was now clear what Joseph could see, but others didn’t. Joseph was fruitful, because he focused on serving God, despite what happened. But it didn’t only bless him.

Stage 5 To Overcoming Spiritual Warfare

Stage 5 is the lighter green area in the field. With stage 5, I explained in the conversation something from the Old Testament. But this is still relevant today. In many ways.This is 1 of the reasons God want’s you to be fruitful.

I explained how, God told the people to enjoy the fruit of their labour. But God said, leave the boundaries, for the stranger and the poor, like widows and orphans to enjoy.

Your blessings are not only for you. God knows this, and so does the Devil. This is why he doesn’t want you, in the field at all.

If you let spiritual attacks to stop you, stagger, or slow you down, you are not only robbing yourself from fruit. You are robbing others who God wants you to help.

I didn’t have this visual illustration in the convo, but it helps explain the 5 stages.

The 5 Stages In My Life

In my life for a long time I stood outside the field. I knew I should teach the Bible but was afraid. But then I decided to start teaching. First people I knew, then online, and now both.

I entered my field and started sowing seeds. I started teaching the Bible and it’s going to the next level. This conversation was the overflow. And even this article is more overflow.

God has a mission for you. As you walk into the field and plant your seeds, fruit will come for you, but also others God wants to bless through you.

Like Jesus said, the Devil will do everything to stop you. But when you trust in the Spirit of God to guide you, there’s nothing he can do. The easy way to live out these five stages is to trust in the power of the Holy Spirit, not your own power.

I pray these 5 stages serve you well. God bless, and see you on the next one. Remember, Satan wants to put limits on you, but God wants you to be limitless by trusting in Him. I talk more about this, here. God Bless.

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