Spiritual Warfare
I was attempting to subdue my flesh the other day while running through the countryside (i.e., exercising), when the Holy Spirit shared some truths about spiritual warfare with me. As He so often does, He decided to use my past military experience to teach me in a way that would help me learn and understand more clearly. Using these military experiences, the Holy Spirit explained to me the differences between “concealment and cover” as they pertain to spiritual warfare and how I might use them to my advantage in my daily spiritual battles.
He showed me a new way to pray when I go to sleep at night and when I rise from bed every morning. This would be a more targeted way of praying and would help to protect me from both my physical and spiritual enemies, especially while sleeping. I have received a lot of dreams over the years from the Lord, but I have also been attacked many times by my spiritual enemies who seek to kill and destroy me, as it says in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
I have spent significant time in prayer, trying to understand the difference between the two types of dreams and ways to avoid these interactions with the enemy while being in such a vulnerable state of mind. Since adopting this new way of praying to the Lord, I have noticed a marked decline in attacks from the enemy, especially at night while sleeping. I hope and pray that you might also take something from this message to help you fight your own spiritual battles.
Before we discuss the meaning of “concealment and cover” or this new way of praying, it might benefit us to understand how waging war in the spirit and waging war in the flesh might have more in common than one might tend to believe or understand, especially if you have not had the opportunity to experience them both for yourself. This physical world is merely a shadow of the spiritual realm that surrounds us, and both follow many of the same principles and laws. For example, there are rulers and authorities in both realms, as well as followers and soldiers who fight for them. In both realms, there is suffering, pain, injury, casualties, and prisoners of war when battles are lost, but there is also glory, victory, life, and freedom when battles are won.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage battle according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.” This might seem to conflict with the statement I made about how much our physical and spiritual battles have in common, but if we look more closely, we can see that Paul might have been alluding to a more profound truth. The Greek word kata can be translated as a comparison, as we see in Paul's translated phrase, “according to the flesh.” It can also be more commonly translated as a motion downward, such as from a higher to a lower place or from the spirit realm to the physical realm. I do not believe he was speaking about tactics as much as he was about position.
Paul goes on to speak in this passage about humility and the need for it when presenting ourselves to others. Understanding this point is crucial to understanding how “concealment and cover” might differ in spiritual warfare. He talks about how we should boast in the Lord and not in our own strength or understanding. He was addressing some who believed that Paul walked downward from the spirit and “according to the flesh,” and Paul wanted to let them know that he walked with Christ elevated in the spirit, not the flesh. Even though he admits to walking in “carnal” flesh or in a physical body, he emphasizes that he wages war from the superior position of his spirit.
A scripture I have heard quoted often when it comes to spiritual warfare is Paul’s statement in Ephesians 6:12-13, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” He goes on to describe this armor using physical terms such as helmet, breastplate, belt, footwear, shield, and sword. These are items that physical soldiers wear and use in battle, so why would he use them to describe our spiritual weapons and armor if we do not fight “according to the flesh”? He uses these terms because of the way we use these spiritual items. The way we wear them or fight with them is comparable to how we might use them if we were physically dressed in them.
Knowing the word of God regarding our salvation guards our minds against spiritual attacks from the enemy, like doubt and fear, just as a physical helmet guards our brains against physical attacks. When you wear it properly, you cannot see it, but you know it is there. It gives us more confidence to enter a spiritual battle because we know from the word of God that our salvation is found only in the blood of Christ, and that He will not lose anyone who belongs to Him, as He says in scripture. His blood covers our heads as a helmet and prevents the enemy's lies from entering our minds when we are wearing it correctly. There is more to this point that we can uncover later, but for now, hopefully, we can see how the blood of Christ covers our minds as a physical helmet covers our brains.
We might also see how the breastplate of righteousness covers our heart or soul from the arrows of sin; the truth or the word of God, belted around our waist, keeps us clothed in His robe of righteousness, preventing nakedness and shame as we fight in our battles; our footwear of peace goes everywhere we step, allowing us to fight without any anxiety or fear; the shield of faith enables us to cover ourselves when our concealment is no longer adequate. We will touch on this point more in a moment. We know that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” as it says in Romans 10:17, so, again, knowing the word of God is vital if we are going to be effective in battling our spiritual enemies.
The word of God is our sword, as it says in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The word of God is an offensive and defensive weapon, where the other pieces of armor are mainly defensive. The shield of faith can also be used as an offensive weapon, but care must be taken in the same way as we wield the word of God to ensure it is not misused, possibly harming an innocent person. Soldiers of old carried shields with sharpened edges and points, so during close combat, they could swing them as they did their swords to injure and kill the enemy. If a soldier was not careful, they could hit one of their own men while swinging their sword or shield at the enemy. We would call this “friendly fire” today.
With any form of weapon or even armor, it is only as effective as the person who is carrying or wearing it. If it is not utilized correctly, it will not serve its purpose. The secret to being an effective soldier is practice and training. In the military, we have a saying: “Use it or lose it.” It means that if you do not use your skills regularly, you will eventually lose them or at least become less effective with them.
In our spiritual battles, we have a distinct advantage over our enemies because the Spirit of Christ lives in us, fights alongside us, and trains us to fight. If we try to wear this armor and use our sword and shield on our own, we will struggle to win anything, and we might not even survive to see the end. We must trust in God as our source of power and understand that our power comes from His love and the Spirit of Christ in us. If we are using any of these tools of war without God’s love and Spirit living in us, we are doomed from the beginning and will amount to nothing, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13.
The word “concealment” means to hide something or to keep it from becoming known by others. In contrast, the word “cover” means to protect someone or something by placing something between them and their attacker. In the military, we focus primarily on remaining concealed from the enemy. They cannot hit what they cannot see. However, we must also understand the necessity of cover when taking effective fire from the enemy, because concealment offers very little, if any, physical protection once the bullets start flying and the bombs start falling.
As a Navy SEAL, I learned the importance of distinguishing between concealment and cover early in our training, especially as it relates to our position against the enemy and our effectiveness in battle. I was taught that concealment, if used correctly, might keep me from ever being seen by the enemy and might allow me to complete the mission without ever requiring protective cover. However, I learned that it is very challenging to engage an enemy when we are concealed, because once we attack, we give up our position. It is usually better to operate under concealment than to require cover, primarily when operating in small numbers, because we might not have enough firepower to respond directly to an enemy attack.
I remember a time, once, during a training exercise in South Korea, when being concealed was better than having cover. As Navy SEALs, we often travel light, meaning we bring only the tools and weapons needed to be successful in the operation. In this training mission, we were tasked with sneaking onto a U.S. military base to test their security forces. We often operate in the dark of night to keep ourselves hidden from the enemy, and this time was no exception.
As we made our way onto the base, we were forced to pass by some military barracks housing the security reaction force. Suddenly, an alarm began blaring into the night, alerting the reaction force within the building to a possible sighting of an invading force. We were unsure whether we had compromised ourselves at this point, but we had nowhere to go as we walked through an open field full of knee-high grass.
When the alarm sounded, the security force in the building began running out the doors, making their way towards our position. The field we were in was dark, but we were concerned that our position had been given away, possibly by having our bodies silhouetted against the starlit night sky. It was my job as the point man in my platoon to get my team safely in and out of the enemy base without being detected, so my team looked to me for a course of action that would keep us safe.
The reaction force was much larger than we were, so fighting our way out was not going to be possible, especially without any cover for us to fight from behind. There was a slight drainage ditch a few yards away, about a foot or two deep, so I quickly led my team to lie down in it as we watched the reaction force quickly approaching. After what seemed like an eternity but was actually a few minutes, the reaction team was at our location.
It seemed like they were running in a line straight at us, but at the last moment, I could tell that they had not seen us and were running by us on a pathway instead. They were only a few yards away from us the entire time as we watched about one hundred soldiers run by us one by one, heavily armed and ready for a fight. For about five minutes, we lay there, silent as church mice, waiting for the enemy to pass by before we could get back up and carry on with the mission. We were successful that night and later learned that we were the only Special Forces team ever to have reached the base undetected. We were not successful because of our ability to outfight our enemy as much as because of our ability to remain concealed from them.
As Navy SEALs, we are often called upon to attack an enemy force or installation. We can accomplish this without giving up our position, as we did in the previous story, or by using specialized equipment and encrypted communication devices, but those techniques are often kept secret so our enemies cannot use that knowledge against us. This usually requires intensive training and years of experience, so in general, it is best to stay hidden until the last possible moment, especially if we want to avoid any casualties on our side.
Because our missions often place us directly in the line of fire, we must be trained to find adequate cover when our concealment no longer proves effective, but more importantly, to know how to get out of the situation by calling for cover from a greater power than our own. This might include requesting gunfire support from outside forces so we can stay in the fight and on mission rather than retreat. If we find ourselves being overrun, we might need to call for an extraction so we can live to fight another day.
Both scenarios require us to admit that we cannot handle the battle on our own and that humility is the greater part of valor. If we want to survive, we sometimes must ask for help. Courage is not always only about bravery. It also includes the wisdom to know when to act and when to retreat. It requires humility to put our trust in someone else when we have reached our limits. We must know our limitations and weaknesses and be willing to call on a greater power to intervene.
Psalm 91explains what it means to be concealed in this way. It says, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty…A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.” The Lord hides us from our enemy in His shadow so that they cannot approach us to attack us, but we can still observe what He is doing all around us, like watching the enemy soldiers run past me as I hid in the shadows of the drainage ditch.
King David understood the difference between concealment and cover, being a warrior of Israel. He spent years evading his enemies, such as King Saul, relying on these two ways of asking God for help. He writes in Psalm 27:5, “For in the day of trouble, He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent, He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.” This reminds me of the story of David sneaking up on King Saul and cutting off a piece of the king’s robe without being seen.
God hides us until He decides to make us visible so that we can be used for His glory. There is no glory in doing everything in secret, so we must be ready when God decides it is time for us to be revealed, as Romans 8:9 says: “For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.” Until He decides to reveal us to our enemy and the world, we can rest in the knowledge that He will hide us in Him, as Colossians 3:3 says: “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
We can be hidden by the Lord as needed and revealed in the same way. Jesus was hidden by the Father many times during His stay here on earth, like when He had Joseph take his family down into Egypt during the night to avoid being killed by King Herod. Jesus even hid Himself at times from the people who sought to kill Him, as it was written in John 8:59: “Therefore, they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.” Jesus could have called upon the Father to strike down His enemy or to cover Him with His power, but He chose to show humility and hide Himself instead. Humility plays a significant role in asking God to hide us rather than cover us with His power.
We must seek the Father’s will in all things and trust in His plan, not our own. Proverbs 3:5-8 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.” It is in wisdom and humility that we can ask God to hide us from evil, but it is in pride and foolishness that we seek a fight. Proverbs 22:3 says, “The prudent sees evil and hides himself, but the naïve go on, and are punished for it.”
The men who followed me into battle as their point man had to trust in my ability to know when to hide and when to stand and fight. If this knowledge served us well as physical warriors, how much more should we trust an all-knowing and powerful God as spiritual warriors in His kingdom? We should pray for concealment, but if God tells us to stand and fight, we can also trust in His ability to cover us in battle.
When we are concealed, the enemy cannot see or attack us, but when the concealment is lifted or we walk out of it and are exposed, they can focus their attack on us. This is when we need to pray for God’s cover. He might choose to cover us by not allowing the enemy’s attack to harm us, or He might cover us by directly attacking the enemy Himself. He might also choose to extract us from our current position, so the enemy no longer has access to us. No matter how He decides to cover us, we must trust that He knows the best way to do so, and we should not try to help Him with our own power or strength. As the Lord told Zerubbabel in Zechariah 4:6: “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of armies.” He was telling Zerubbabel that his own might or power would not accomplish the thing, but by God’s own Spirit it would be done.
God gives us the strength by His own Spirit, as it says in Isaiah 41:10, “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will also help you, I will also uphold you with My righteous right hand.” In 2 Thessalonians 3:3, Paul says, “But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.” Why does God need to strengthen us if we are concealed and hidden in Him? He strengthens us when the enemy is attacking us, so we might stand firm against him. As we saw earlier in Ephesians 6, He has given us the armor of God to wear as a protective barrier against the enemy’s attacks: “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.” His armor serves as our covering.
I wrote about this story in previous books, but it is worth going over again as it pertains to God’s covering us from above. I remember a time when I was overseas in a combat environment, and our small unit had to move through the streets of a city during daylight hours, where enemy combatants were on every street corner. We had zero concealment, but we were able to move from one secure location to another because of the cover fire we had from our sniper positions on the rooftop behind us and the heavily armed aircraft flying above. The enemy was fearful of exposing themselves by firing on us because they knew it would be their last act on earth if they did. They could see us, but the protection or cover from those who were above us kept the enemy at bay.
This is what Paul spoke about in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage battle according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.” He was speaking about fighting from the elevated position of our spirit where we abide with the Spirit of Christ. In the military, we call it our “overwatch.” God is our overwatch, and when we are one with Him, we are untouchable. God wants us to be dependent on Him for everything, including our protection, because He receives glory when our deliverance comes from His Spirit and not our own strength. In humility, we can rest in His ways and not our own.
We know that we are never alone when we have the Spirit of Christ living in us. Deuteronomy 31:6 says, “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or in dread of them, for the LORD your God is the One who is going with you. He will not desert you or abandon you.” Jesus said of Himself, in Matthew 28:20, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” We are never alone, even in the darkest and most vulnerable times of our lives. We can trust Him as King David did when his enemies were chasing him and his life was in danger. In the well-known verse, Psalm 23:4, David tells the Lord, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” He was walking in the shadow of death, not the shadow of the Almighty, but he walked without fear because he could rest in peace knowing that God was covering him with His powerful weapons from on high.
God might also choose to protect us by offering us a way of escaping our enemy’s attack, as it says in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you except something common to mankind; and God is faithful, so He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” If God chooses to allow us to be exposed to the enemy so that we might learn to trust in Him more, we should rejoice and pray for His cover or a way of escape, knowing He will not allow us to go through more than we can handle. James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” It is in this training ground that we will learn to fight with the weapons and armor that God has given us.
Concealment and cover both show the incredible power of God in our lives, but being rescued or delivered shows His abundant love towards those who serve and love Him. However, we must be willing to be rescued if we want His love and protection. He does not always afford this protection to those who do not love Him, as it says in 2 Peter 2:9-10, “The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from a trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgement, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt passion and despise authority.” He offers us hope, however, by sending us One who can deliver every captive held prisoner to the lust of the flesh and sin.
In Matthew 18:14, Jesus told a parable about a shepherd who left his flock to find one lost sheep. It was a parable about God’s immense love for those who are lost, but how are they lost? They are lost because they are away from Him, hidden in the darkness of their sin. Jesus came to die for all who are lost in sin so that they might be rescued and delivered from the enemy. They are prisoners of war, but they can be rescued and restored to the Father by the blood that Jesus shed for them on the cross. When they choose to submit their will to God, their life is forfeited on the cross with Jesus Christ.
He rescues them by giving them a new life and by taking them with Him as He ascends to our Father. This is the most incredible prisoner-of-war rescue of all time. Again, we fight not against flesh and blood, and we wage war in the spirit, not the flesh, but there are many similarities between this physical realm and the spiritual. As Paul says in Colossians 1:13, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
In our next book, Ministering to the Son, we will make a deeper comparison between the spiritual and physical realms on how we fight our spiritual forces. We will cover ways to avoid the enemy, walk without fear, and see what restoration and healing look like as a rescued prisoner of war. For now, I hope this comparison of “concealment and cover” helps us focus on how to pray to God when facing attacks from our spiritual enemies. We do not need to walk in fear because God is always with us. We should seek the cloak of humility to conceal us as we walk behind enemy lines, helping the Lord rescue those prisoners of war and return them to our Father. It is not by our own strength or power but by the Spirit of Christ that they can be rescued. We serve as His vessel for the Spirit to dwell in as we obediently take Him into whatever place He tasks us with going.
In understanding this truth, we can walk in humility, boldly and courageously, as Jesus Christ did on earth, because the same Spirit of God dwells in us. We can pray for His concealment, especially as we sleep, and we can trust His cover will be there if He removes His concealment from us. We must trust in His plan, even when we do not know the reason. If He has plans to rescue us, then we can align with His will by praying and fighting from the elevated place of our spirit, not allowing our flesh to control us, but allowing our spirit to be one with the Spirit of Christ, where all power and authority reside. Ultimately, it is about giving God glory as the Psalmist says in Psalms 50:15 (AMP), “Call on Me in the day of trouble; I will rescue you, and you shall honor and glorify Me.”
You can read more about this topic and other spiritual truths by getting a copy of our first two books, Prodigal to Prince or Ministering to Our Father. The links to these books can be found on our homepage under the Books and Merchandise tab. If you cannot afford to buy one, subscribe to this site and email us your mailing address. Let us know which book you would like, and we will gladly send it to you free of charge.
