Spiritual Warfare, the sequel to Stella Davis's first book, Giving God the Praise, provides teachings on spiritual warfare for both priests and laity through the recounting of Davis's own experiences in ministry and those of her team. As a veteran missionary herself, Davis believed that various texts she had read available to the public and to priests did not treat spiritual warfare in the depth required, especially at a time when evil has so increased, and the need to know how to combat it is so great. Extraordinary supernatural phenomena have become more common in our day and cannot escape our attention. Even those who consider themselves "enlightened," who maintain that the power of nature is unlimited, are put on their mettle by the undeniable facts of the preternatural. Intrigues of Satan are as active today as they were when God first called Davis to ministry. Hence, Spiritual Warfare attempts to address the need to deal with these occurrences, offering a call to repentance, healing, deliverance, and action.

Spiritual Warfare

Lessons on Deliverance from Spiritual Bondage to Freedom in ChristBy Stella Davis

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2010 Stella Davis
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4502-4554-8

Contents

Foreword..................................................ixPreface...................................................xiiiAcknowledgments...........................................xvList of Illustrations.....................................xviiPart I Getting Ready......................................1Prayer....................................................2Free Will.................................................7Obstacles.................................................12Tools of the Enemy........................................18Part II Spiritual Warfare.................................23God's Army................................................24The Enemy.................................................28Our Commander-in-Chief....................................32Our Spiritual Armor.......................................34Discernment...............................................37Solitary Prayer...........................................39Part III The Life of a Soldier of God.....................41Beginning Ministry: First Gifts...........................42Early Life and Family: Guiding Signs......................52Healing Ministry Expands..................................63"You are Nothing without Me"..............................83My Near-Death Experience..................................94The Power of the Sacraments...............................98Deliverance...............................................106Waging Spiritual Warfare..................................128Special Questions in Ministry.............................150Part IV Witnesses.........................................167Connie's Testimony........................................168Rosalie's Testimony.......................................183Gracie's Testimony........................................192Ester's Testimony.........................................197Part V Deliverance Case Histories.........................199About the Author..........................................203

Chapter One

Prayer

This book contains teachings from my reflections on the experiences of over three decades in ministry. The teachings are rooted in Scripture. We know that Sacred Scripture is the Word of God, and that it is fundamental to our Christian beliefs and the way we should live our lives. Scripture helps us in the needs we encounter in our daily lives, at home, in our jobs, in our families, and in our day-to-day relationships with others.

In our Christian walk, we soon discover that we have enemies-the world, the flesh, and the devil. Satan tempts us with the things of this world, and our inner urge welcomes the temptations. We Christians must know and learn to understand how God enables us to overcome the obstacles that cross our paths.

We overcome first through prayer, hoping and knowing that the Lord will answer our prayer: "For I hope in You, O Lord; You will answer, O Lord my God. For I said, `May they not rejoice over me'" (Ps. 38: 15-16). John's Gospel tells us that Jesus expected the Father to hear him when he prayed: "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that you always hear me, but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that you sent me" (Jn 11:41). A Christian who is willing to encounter Christ and pay the cost will work for the glory of God. "We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works" (Eph 2:11).

I will speak about prayer, about experiences in my prayer life, and about the experience of working with people in the ministry of healing and deliverance. I hope that you will learn how to pray and what to pray for, and that you will become effective prayer warriors, because I have seen so many people that do not know how to pray or what to pray for.

Do we know that prayer is talking to God? Whether we are crying, singing, or meditating on the Word of God, not only does He hear our prayers, but He delights in them. "And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the Saints, and they sang a new song" (Rev. 5:8). Our prayers are incense unto His nostrils.

When do we pray? And how long? St. Paul tells us to pray at all times, in season and out of season-which means always.

How should we pray? Let's go to Scripture for this, to Ephesians 6:12: "Against the evil principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places." St. Paul's instructions to us are that we must come against the evil rulers of darkness that are in this world.

In John's Gospel, Jesus was talking to His disciples about the fact that He would soon leave them. He was about to be crucified. Jesus had been their friend, guide, teacher, counselor, helper, protector, healer, deliverer, and intercessor. He is also all of these for us today. He knew that the thought of His leaving would trouble them, so He said, "I will pray to the Father, and He will send you the Paraclete." The word Paraclete can be translated many different ways: Advocate, Counselor, Guide, Intercessor, Protector, and Supporter. He is the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. Jesus was also saying to His disciples: just as I have been all these things to you, now the Spirit will be with you and enable you to be all these things to your brothers and sisters.

A sign of growing up spiritually is the desire to learn how to live in the Spirit and to have the power of the Holy Spirit living in our lives. I know very well myself that if I didn't have the power of the Holy Spirit in my life, I would not be able to do all that I do for the glory of God. The Holy Spirit in my life gives me Power, Strength, Wisdom, and Knowledge. When I need those gifts, they are there for me to use in the work the Lord has called and commissioned me to do, the work of helping His people. They are His gifts in me to you from the Holy Spirit.

"The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man judges all things ... but we have the mind of Christ" (I Cor 2:14-16). We are those who have the mind of Christ and the desire to help others.

The next thing we battle with is the enemy. Who is our enemy? Satan and his spirits, the evil principalities of this world. He comes to us in many different forms and ways. Do not look for him in a little red jacket, with a long tail and horns, as the world pictures him. Paul tells us that "Satan disguises himself as an angel of light" (II Cor 11:14).

We have to remember that Satan has been on this earth since Adam and Eve's time. He came to them as a serpent in Genesis 1:3. Ever since then we have been fighting this battle, and we will continue until Jesus comes back for us. We know we have the Power and the Victory in Jesus' name.

Paul again tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:4: "We do not use weapons made by man to knock down the strongholds." But the divine weapons Paul uses can break the strongholds which keep man from finding God. We must know how to find the stronghold and get rid of it through spiritual warfare. This is what you will find in this book: how Catholics can learn...