“I am often asked about what it takes to get through Navy SEAL training… The answer is simple. To get through SEAL training, you just don’t quit. Period. That’s it.”
– Admiral William H. McRaven, US Navy Retired
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
Galatians 6:9
Around a week ago, while I was in Finland, on the night before I flew back to England, I got hit with an intense, dark dream. The oppressive force behind the dream, which I felt physically, pressured me to give up, quit, and fly home. It was one of those dreams when we wake up and need a little time to get over the shock.
And then I thought, heck no. Not after all the months and investment of time, finances, and intense warfare that my team and I put into this.
It’s the “growing weary” part in Galatians 6:9 that is the challenge. Today I didn’t feel like writing this; the fatigue and difficulty breathing, courtesy of Long Covid, were firing. I briefly considered skipping this newsletter; it would have been easier. Quitting always is.
Maybe some of you are in a similar place. Sometimes all we need to keep going is the encouragement of knowing we’re not the only one fighting and taking hits. I continue to hear stories of believers who are reeling or taking incoming spiritual fire from different directions, including computer problems, health struggles, marital strife, doubt, confusion, and more.
This isn’t a message you will hear from many churches.
During my trip to Finland, my ministry partner, who has gone through a lot of spiritual warfare lately, told me that in the past 25 years she couldn’t remember a single message from a pulpit on spiritual warfare.
If I were to name the topics every church should be equipping their people in, spiritual warfare, sexual issues, and becoming a prayer warrior would be at the top. Note that I said equipping, as in training for war, not giving these topics a light touch once every several years. Or avoiding them completely.
And it’s hard to equip people in prayer without a prayer meeting.
We are at war. A church at war knows it must be a boot camp with a field hospital for those who are wounded.
Let me arm you with the following today.
You are not alone.
“Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.”
1 Peter 5:9
Marriage going through a rough time with porn or sexual sin? There are many others in the same place as you. Don’t let the fake smiles on Sunday mess with your head. Get help. Plug into a group. Getting hit hard? Ask a friend or your prayer group for prayer. Don’t go through it alone.
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
James 4:7
Surrender the control of your life to God. This includes letting God be the Lord of your spouse. This will be difficult for some, especially if you’ve consistently given in to fear.
Fear and anger are lovers who open the door to pride with the purpose of creating a control-freak. If you blow up often when you don’t get your way, something is off. Resisting the enemy doesn’t work when self or fear are on the throne. Trust cancels fear; surrender and release are the way.
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
James 1:22
There are many Christians with degrees and plenty of Bible knowledge who aren’t walking the talk. The Head Christians of Jesus’ day, the Pharisees, are an easy example. Most of the men and women in the Bible who made the biggest impact had little to nothing in the way of formal education. Paul had his theology blown away when he met Jesus. If we rely on our limited knowledge or the way we think life should work rather than on God, self is on the throne. It is the strength of your heart that will determine whether you press through when you’re taking incoming fire. We still need to absorb ourselves in the Bible every day, but if that knowledge doesn’t translate into action and a radical life lived for eternity, God’s way, we’ve missed the point.
“Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.”
Proverbs 4:23
In Navy SEAL training, many of the men who know what they need to do don’t make it. Knowledge alone isn’t enough. The few who survive (usually, around one third) possess an internal toughness that enables them to persevere through ongoing, intense suffering and weariness. When the enemy hits me with “quit and go home,” it was the Holy Spirit and prayer-powered grit that got me through.
Move forward.
“And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent…”
Acts 18:9
Before I left for this trip I was a little shell-shocked from the amount of warfare I had been getting hit with. God gave me Acts 18:9 right before I left. There has still been some hard hits but He’s given me what I needed to keep going at every step of the way. Keep going.
Stay strong in prayer
“…and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end…”
Ephesians 6:17
Paul, in boot camp and equipping mode, completes his command to take up the armor of God by arming them with prayer. Prayer ties the armor of God together and is the spiritual force offered to every believer for war. Neglect your prayer life to your peril.
You are a part of a tribe and praying with other believers at least once a week, right? Some of you are not. I say this because I know some of your stories and you’re still isolated. Cultural Christianity creates soft, isolated, comfort-driven believers who watch the show on Sunday and go home. Or worse, watches a live stream and doesn’t even leave home. Read the book of Acts and you’ll see a living, connected, spiritual organism. Our list of prayer meetings is below. Don’t waste another day in isolation.
Notice how spiritual warfare is connected to many of the verses above?
The Bible is a book of war with stories of horrific casualties and hard-fought victories. If you run your worldview through warfare, it will provide clarity to much of what you’re going through.
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
Galatians 6:9