Spiritual Battle of Worship | Counter AttackSample

“I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18, ESV).

Worship is a spiritual battle. That battle takes place within the context of a larger war. The war is won, but battles must still be fought. Those battles often take place on the field of worship.

Contrary to popular belief, the people of God play offense in this fight, fighting a battle against the powers of darkness and pushing them back, not hiding or cowering on defense while the Evil One pummels us.

Yes, the devil does, in fact, come after us. The Bible uses imagery for him like a lion looking to devour us (1 Peter 5), a dragon waging war against us (Revelation 12), and when Paul describes spiritual warfare, he does so primarily in terms of putting on armor, which could imply protecting ourselves more than fighting back (Ephesians 6).

But that’s not the full picture.

Jesus says he’s building his church, and hell will not prevail against it.

The image is a siege. Battles against cities in the ancient (and not-so ancient) world take place by laying siege to them. High walls and strong gates are a city’s defense against an attack. Did you catch that? Defense. Nobody goes into battle wielding a gate. A gate is something to hide behind. To protect you. To close against an invading enemy.

According to Jesus, hell itself is hiding behind its gates from spiritual attack. Attack from who? Christ’s church.

And according to Jesus, hell will not prevail.

Spiritual warfare is filled with attacks and counterattacks. The devil is attacking and raiding. But the church is mobilizing and moving against the devil’s strongholds. Not conceding ground, but advancing on hell’s territory.

Worship is that counterattack.

In an earlier plan, we quoted Father Matthew Kelty, an aged Roman Catholic monk, describing why they sing, worship, and pray with the fervency that they do.

In a wild, sordid, noisy, and violent world, we sing. We sing songs rich in history and graced by God for our healing and the healing of the world.

They sing in defiance of the Evil One and his kingdom. Against the power of sin that ensnares. With the word of God which has the power to save and to heal. Singing into life’s spiritual battlefield. Because worship is a powerful weapon against the kingdom of darkness.

Don’t shrink back. Join the counterattack!