Prepare For Battle [Dragon Slayer pt. 2]

Gravetop Church

Main Idea: A lot of people disqualify themselves from having their part in spiritual warfare because they think that they are not ready for that kind of battle. They feel ill-equipped and simply unprepared. But the truth is that preparing oneself is a lot simpler than most people imagine. You don’t have to be “special” in order to take hold of the authority of Christ as a believer.

Today we’re going to unpack how a believer can practically and spiritually prepare themselves for spiritual warfare. We’re going to learn specific purposes and methods of prayer that anyone can use. We’re going to familiarize ourselves with the aspect of pursuing holiness and how it affects our faith and life. And at the end of today’s talk, we’re going to look at the power and necessity of being connected to a faith community.

I think that it is important to emphasize that in all that we talk about today in this message, we are focusing on the aspect of becoming spiritually prepared to become a dragon slayer. We are not talking about salvation or requirements of it. We believe that one is saved by faith in Jesus Christ alone and that all of our works are counted as garbage in comparison to simply knowing Christ. Today is about being prepared to fight the spiritual battles that come after you experience salvation.

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1. Spiritually Minded

[PRAYER IS THE SECRET SAUCE TO PREPAREDNESS]

When we follow the witness accounts of Jesus through the Gospels, we see that Jesus consistently withdrew Himself to private prayer, and these moments of Him going up to a hill or mountain to pray were typically sandwiched in a timeline with miracles before and after. One could think that you wouldn’t necessarily need to pray more after seemingly being activated in such a supernatural way, but it was because of His consistency in prayer that He was always prepared for a miracle to happen.

(Luke 5:16)

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2. Holy Ready

[THE PURSUIT OF HOLINESS ACTIVATES POWER AND LONGEVITY IN YOUR FAITH]

No one necessarily becomes “holy” until we are made perfect in heaven. Until then, we are credited righteousness by our faith in Christ. We clothe ourselves in His holiness while knowing that it isn’t of our own works, nature or initiatives but His moving through us. But the act of pursuing holiness is what activates the power of the Holy Spirit in your life. It’s through that kind of lifestyle that you are able to actually tap into the same resurrection power that performs miracles and can tell mountains to move. It’s not that you become more special, but rather you become more sensitive to the power that is already available to you.

(Romans 6:5-16; Romans 6:20-23)

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3. Team Up

[COLLABORATIVE PRAYER AND CONNECTION CAN DRAMATICALLY GROW YOUR FAITH]

We often underestimate the power of our communities. Even as children and teenagers, we fail to see the power of other people’s influence over our own lives at the time. Similarly, we usually individualize our faith so much that we make ourselves isolated loners that can deal with problems on our own. And while you may be able to handle life on your own, collaborating with others can cause certain battles to be one in a fraction of the time that it would take you to win if just on your own. Community has the potential to dramatically grow your faith.

(Acts of the Apostles 12:5-7; Matthew 18:19-20; Hebrews 10:24-25)

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