Wednesday, February 4, 2026

Spoken Word: Feeling Prayer Frequency Of Creation

 Have you ever wondered why the miracles stopped? Why the healings, the transformations, the divine   interventions that once flowed like rivers through the hands of the faithful seem to have dried up in our modern age? 

 What if I told you that before Jesus performed every single miracle? Before he raised the dead, healed the blind, calmed the storms, he spoke a specific prayer, a sacred formula so powerful that it was eventually hidden from you, systematically removed from teachings, buried beneath centuries of institutional doctrine. 

Read on. 

And if you feel that ancient stirring in your soul right now, that whisper telling you that you were meant to find this site at this exact moment in your life.

 Because what you're about to discover will shatter everything you thought you knew about prayer, power, and your own divine potential. They didn't just stop teaching this prayer by accident. They stopped teaching it because it works.

Because it transfers power from the institution to the individual. Because it reveals that you are not separate from the divine source. 

You are a vessel for it, a conduit through which miracles flow as naturally as breath. when you know the secret. 

In the next few minutes, you're going to discover the exact words Jesus spoke before turning water into wine, before multiplying the loaves and fishes,  before commanding Lazarus to walk out of his tomb. 

But more than that, you're going to understand why these words hold the frequency of creation itself. Why they unlock the same miraculous power within you. And why this knowledge was deliberately kept from the masses for 2,000 years. 

This isn't just history. This isn't just theology. This is the forbidden key to the kingdom that's been hiding in plain sight, waiting for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. 

The question is, are you ready to remember what your soul has always known? 

To understand what was taken from us, we must journey back to a time before the councils, before the councils of Nicea in 325 AD, before Constantine merged church and empire, before the gatekeepers  decided which teachings would survive and which would be buried in the sands of time. 

The earliest followers of Jesus, the ones who walked with him, who witnessed the miracles firsthand, they practiced a form of prayer that was radically different from what most people do today. 

In the ancient Aramaic language that Jesus spoke, a language where every word carries vibrational  frequency, where sound and meaning are inseparable. 

Prayer wasn't begging. It wasn't asking an external deity for favours like a servant pleading before a distant king. 

It was something far more powerful, far more dangerous to those who would later seek to control the masses through religious hierarchy. 

Prayer was a declaration of unity with the divine source, a recognition of power already present, already flowing through the one who prays

The Gnostic texts discovered in Nag Hammadi in 1945 and kept secret for decades reveal that Jesus  taught his closest disciples a mystery. 

The kingdom of God is within you. Not will be, not might be. If you're good enough, except present tense, already here, already activated. 

The Gospel of Thomas, excluded from the Canonical Bible, records Jesus saying,"If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not have will destroy you." 

This wasn't poetry. 

This was instruction. 

This was the technical manual for miracle working that the institutional church found too threatening to preserve because it meant every human being carried the same divine spark, the same creative power that Jesus demonstrated. 

It meant no mediator was necessary, no priest to intercede, no payment required, no hierarchy to maintain control. 

In the Hebrew mystical tradition of Kabbalah or Qabalah, which Jesus would have been deeply familiar with as a learned rabbi, there exists the concept of cavana, the intention and consciousness behind prayer that transforms mere words into acts of creation. The ancient cabalists understood that the divine name itself, the tetragrammaton YHWH,   represents the eternal present tense. I am that I am, not I was, not I will be, I AM the eternal, now, where all power resides, where all creation springs forth. 

Before every miracle Jesus entered this state of l AM consciousness. He didn't ask God to heal someone as if God were separate. As if the power were somewhere else. 

He gave thanks as if the miracle had already occurred. 

Because in the realm of l AM , in the quantum field of infinite possibility it already had. 

He spoke from the end, from the place of completion, collapsing the wave of potential into the particle of manifestation through the vibrational frequency of gratitude and absolute knowing. 

The Assange, the mystical Jewish sect many scholars believe Jesus was connected to, practiced a form of prayer they called feeling prayer. 

Ancient Eene texts describe this as invoking the feeling of the wish fulfilled, surrounding yourself with the emotion of having already received what you desire. 

They understood something quantum physics would only confirm 2,000 years later. 

That the observer affects the observed, that consciousness shapes reality, that feeling is the language that speaks to the field of all possibilities. 

But when the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its state religion, something shifted. 

The teachings had to be standardized, controlled, made to support the hierarchy of power.

 Prayers became petitions. Humans became sinners separate from God requiring intermediaries. 

The direct connection, the l am power that Jesus demonstrated and taught became heresy. 

Mystics throughout the centuries who rediscovered these truths, Meister Echart, Hildigard of Bingan, Jordano Bruno were silenced, exiled, or burned at the stake. 

The prayer Jesus used wasn't written down in the canonical gospels as a formula to be repeated because it wasn't about the words alone. 

It was about the consciousness, the frequency, the state of being from which those words emerged. 

It was about remembering who you are.

 Not a beggar before a distant throne, but a divine being temporarily wearing human skin, equipped with the same creative power that spoke the universe into existence. 

So what was this prayer? 

What were the exact words that Jesus spoke before commanding the storm to be still? 

Before telling the paralyzed man to rise and walk, before calling Lazarus forth from death itself? 

To understand this, we must look beyond the English translations, beyond even the Greek manuscripts, into the Aramaic heart of what was actually said, and more importantly into the consciousness from which it emerged. 

In the Gospel of John 11, before Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, we find the only recorded instance where the veil is pulled back and we're allowed to hear what Jesus prayed before performing a miracle. 

He stands before the tomb and he speaks these words. 

" Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me. But I said this for the benefit of the people standing here that they may believe that YOU sent me. " 

Read those words again slowly. Let them penetrate. 

"I thank you that you have heard me." Past tense. 

Before he spoke the command, before Lazarus emerged, before the miracle manifested in the physical realm, Jesus was already giving thanks for its completion

He wasn't asking. 

He wasn't hoping. 

He wasn't begging for God to please. 

If it's your will, maybe consider helping him out. 

He was acknowledging what already existed in the realm of divine potential in the field of infinite possibility. 


This is the secret they stopped teaching. This is the forbidden key. 

 Prayer is not petition. It is declaration. 

 It is not about asking for something you don't have. It is about giving thanks for what already is in the invisible realm, thereby calling it forth into visible manifestation. 

 But there's something even deeper here hidden in the Aramaic language itself. 

 When Jesus said father, he used the word abun, a term that doesn't mean a patriarchal figure sitting on a distant throne. 

In Aramaic, abun refers to the birther, the source, the cosmic womb of creation, the field of infinite potential from which all things emerge. 

 It's the unified field that quantum physicists now tell us underlies all of reality. 

The Point field where matter and energy dance in eternal possibility. 

When Jesus said, "I thank you that YOU have heard me," he was speaking from a state of absolute unity with this source. 

The Aramaic structure reveals something the English translation conceals. 

He wasn't talking to God as someone separate. 

He was speaking from the God consciousness within himself. 

The subject and object collapsed into one. 

The prayer and the one praying became a single act of creation. 

Think of it like this. 

Imagine you're standing before a vast ocean. Most people pray like they're on the shore, calling out across the water to someone on the other side, hoping their voice carries far enough to be heard. But Jesus understood that he wasn't standing at the edge of the ocean. He was the ocean temporarily experiencing itself as a wave. 

When the wave recognizes its true nature as ocean, it doesn't need to ask the ocean for permission to rise or fall. It simply moves with the natural power that it is. 

 This is why Jesus consistently said things that confused and even angered the religious authorities of his time. 

 l and the Father are one. 

Before Abraham was, l am. 

The works that I do, you shall do also, and greater   works than these shall you do

He wasn't claiming to be the only son of God. 

He was claiming that everyone is a son or daughter of the divine source. 

That everyone carries the same creative power, the same ability to speak reality into existence from the consciousness of unity. 

The prayer before every miracle had three essential components, three frequencies that must be present simultaneously. 

First, there was unity consciousness. 

The absolute knowing that there is no separation between the one praying and the source of all creation. 

Not belief, not hope, not faith in something outside yourself, but direct experiential knowing of your true nature as an individualized expression of the infinite. 

 Second, there was present tense gratitude.

 Thanksgiving for the miracle as already accomplished, already done, already manifested in the invisible realm.  

This is the vibrational frequency that quantum physicists now understand as the observer effect where the act of observing, of placing your consciousness in the reality of the wish fulfilled, 

13:07collapses the wave function of potential into the particle of manifestation. 

Third, there was feeling. The full body experience of having already received of the miracle already being done. 

Not the mental acknowledgement of words, but the physiological state, the electromagnetic signature that your heart sends out when you are living in the reality of completion. 

Your heart generates an electromagnetic field 5,000 times more powerful than your brain. And this field communicates directly with what the ancients called the field of all possibilities and what scientists now call the quantum field. 

Jesus understood something that modern mystics and quantum physicists are only now rediscovering. 

That the universe doesn't respond to your words or even to your thoughts. It responds to the frequency you're broadcasting, the signal your entire being is sending out. 

When you pray from lack, from need, from the consciousness of not having, you're sending out the signal of lack. And the universe being a perfect mirror reflects that lack back to you. 

But when Jesus prayed, he did something that defied the logical mind, something that seemed impossible to those trapped in linear cause and effect thinking. 

He prayed from the end. 

He placed his consciousness not in the present moment of the problem, not in the current reality of sickness or death or lack, but placed his consciousness in the future moment of the solution already accomplished. 

And then he brought that future feeling into the present moment through the alchemy of gratitude*

(*When people hear “gratitude,” some may think it means settling for less.

Be thankful for what you have; don’t ask for more.

But that’s not necessarily gratitude—that’s resignation.

Genuine gratitude is different. It’s not about lowering your standards. It’s about training your brain to recognize and appreciate what’s already here, so you can expand your capacity to receive more.

For me, gratitude became the bridge between bankruptcy and rebuilding. Before the money showed up, I had to learn to see what was already working. 

Here, we’re exploring the neuroscience of gratitude—and how it could become the missing link between your current reality and the life of abundance you say you want.

Gratitude Isn’t Woo-Woo — It’s Brain Food. (The Alchemy of Gratitude (And Why It’s Especially Potent for Your Money Mindset) )

This is where most people stumble. 

They say, "How can I give thanks for something I don't have? 

Isn't that lying? 

Isn't that self-deception?" 

But they're asking the wrong question because they're still operating from the paradigm of Newtonian physics where reality is fixed, solid, already determined. 

Jesus operated from what we now understand as quantum reality, where the future is not fixed but fluid, where multiple potential timelines exist simultaneously and where your consciousness, specifically the electromagnetic frequency of your heart and mind in coherent alignment, selects which timeline collapses into your experienced reality. 

In the ancient mystical text called the prayer of Joseph, which was referenced by early church fathers, but later excluded from the canon, there's a passage that reveals this truth explicitly. 

 I have descended to dwell among the sons of men, and I have spoken with them in their language, but l come from above the heavens. l am a ruling spirit who has been given dominion over those who are born before me. 

This wasn't Jesus  speaking. This was the teaching that every human soul descends from the realm of pure potential, from the field of infinite possibility and takes on temporary form in the material world while retaining the ability to access that higher realm through consciousness. 

The hermetic principle, as above, so below, as within, so without, encoded this same truth. 

The realm above, the invisible field of quantum potential is the template for the realm below, the physical manifestation. 

What exists within in your consciousness, in your feeling state, in the reality you hold as true in your   heart, manifests without as your experienced physical reality. 

Jesus didn't violate this law. 

He mastered it. 

He operated it with such precision that what appeared to be miracles were simply the natural result of perfect alignment between inner consciousness and outer manifestation

Consider the miracle of the loaves and fishes. 

5,000 people hungry with only five loaves and two fish. The disciples saw lack. They saw impossible mathematics. They saw a problem with no solution. 

But Jesus, what did he do? 

He took the five loaves and two fish. And before distributing them, before the multiplication occurred in the visible realm, he looked up to heaven and gave thanks. 

Again, past tense, gratitude before manifestation

 Thanksgiving for the miracle already accomplished in the invisible realm. 

What happened in that moment? 

Jesus shifted his consciousness from the frequency of not enough to the frequency of more than enough

He moved from the vibration of scarcity to the vibration of abundance. 

And here's the crucial understanding. 

Abundance and scarcity are not amounts. They're frequencies. They're states of consciousness. 

You can have a million dollars and still vibrate at the frequency of scarcity. 

Always afraid it's not enough. 

Always grasping for more. 

Or you can have very little and vibrate at the frequency of abundance, always grateful, always recognizing the infinite supply available in the invisible realm. 

The ancient cabalists taught that there are two worlds. The world of Asia, physical manifestation, and the world of Atsiluth, divine emanation. 

Between these two worlds are intermediate realms, Yetra, formation, and Bria, creation. 

The prayer Jesus used operated not in Asia, not in the physical world where the problem existed, but in Bria, in the realm of pure creation, where thought becomes thing, where consciousness shapes energy into form. 

When you pray in a saiia, you're praying from the problem. 

"God, I'm sick. Please heal me." 

The very structure of that prayer reinforces and broadcasts the frequency of sickness. 

You're observing the sickness, focusing on it, feeling it, and therefore according to the observer effect in  quantum mechanics, you're collapsing the wave function into more sickness. 

But when you pray from Bria, from the realm of creation, you're praying from the solution. 

"Thank you that I am whole, that l am healed, that vitality flows through every cell of my body."

 You're not denying the current physical reality. 

You're simply refusing to give it your power of observation and feeling. 

You're withdrawing your consciousness from the problem and investing it fully in the solution, thereby starving the problem of the very energy it needs to persist and feeding the solution with the creative power of your focused attention and gratitude. 

This is why Jesus could say to the paralyzed man, "Your sins are forgiven. Rise and walk."  

The religious leaders were scandalized. 

What did forgiveness of sins have to do with physical healing? Everything. 

Because in Aramaic mysticism, sin doesn't mean moral failure. 

It means to miss the mark, to be out of alignment with your true nature as a divine being. 

The paralysis wasn't just physical. It was spiritual, emotional, mental. It was the manifestation in a saiia of a consciousness that had forgotten its true nature that had identified with limitation, with separation, with powerlessness. 

When Jesus said, "Your sins are forgiven," he was doing something far more radical than granting moral pardon.

Jesus was declaring the man's restoration to his true nature, his realignment with the divine source. 

Jesus was calling forth the remembrance of who the man really was beneath the layers of trauma, limitation, and false identity. 

And from that restored consciousness, that remembrance of divine nature, the physical healing was not a supernatural intervention. 

It was the natural inevitable result. 

The Gospel of Philip, another Gnostic text excluded from the canon, states, "Light and darkness, life and death, right and left, are brothers of one another. They are inseparable. 

Because of this, neither are the good good nor the evil evil, nor is life life, nor death. 

For this reason, each one will dissolve into its original nature. But those who are exalted above the world are indissoluble, eternal. 

This passage reveals the secret. 

Miracles don't happen by overcoming the physical laws. They happen by transcending the level of consciousness where those limitations exist. 

Jesus operated from the consciousness exalted above the world. 

The realm where opposites dissolve, where sickness and health are both recognized as temporary states within an eternal unchanging divine nature. 

From that elevated consciousness, Jesus simply called forth the preferred state through the vibrational frequency of gratitude and knowing. 

Now comes the moment where ancient wisdom meets your everyday life. 

Where the forbidden teaching becomes a living  practice where you take the same power Jesus demonstrated and activate it within your own experience. 

This is not theory anymore. This is not history. 

This is the technical manual for miracle working that's been waiting for you to be ready to receive it. 

The first step is to shift from petition to declaration, from asking to thanking. 

 Starting today, every time you pray, whether for healing, abundance, guidance, or any other desire, you must restructure the entire consciousness from which you pray. 

Never again approach prayer as a beggar approaching a king. 

Approach prayer as Jesus did, as a divine being temporarily wearing human form, speaking from the source, not to the source. 

Here's the practical formula. 

Identify what you desire. 

Healing, financial breakthrough, restored relationship, creative inspiration, whatever it is. 

Now close your eyes and move your awareness out of the present circumstance where the problem exists. 

Do not deny it is there, but simply withdraw your power of observation from it. 

Take several deep breaths, breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. 

Each exhale releasing tension. 

Each inhale drawing you deeper into the present moment into the field of infinite possibility that exists right here, right now beneath the surface noise of the material world. 

 Now speak these words or words like them in your own authentic voice. 

 LORD JESUS CHRIST, divine source, infinite field of all possibility. I thank you.

Abwoon*, divine source, infinite field of all possibility. I thank you that my healing is already accomplished. I thank you that in the invisible realm, in the quantum field where all potential exists, this miracle is already done. give thanks not for what will be, but for what already is. 

(*Abwoon in Aramaic translates to "Our Father" and signifies a divine creator, emphasizing concepts of unity and cosmic birthing. It reflects a deeper understanding of the relationship between humanity and the divine.)

Feel the words. 

This is crucial. Don't just say them mentally. Feel them in your chest, in your heart, in your belly. 

Generate the actual physiological sensation of gratitude, the warmth, the expansion, the sense of relief and joy that comes when something wonderful has happened. 

Your body does not know the difference between something that has happened in physical reality and something you're experiencing in imagination with full sensory detail to your nervous system, to your electromagnetic field, to the quantum field reading your signal. 

It's all equally real. 

Stay in this feeling for at least 3 to 5 minutes. 

This is not time wasted. This is the most powerful action you can take.

 In these minutes of feeling~prayer, you're broadcasting a completely different frequency than the one you've been sending out. 

You're collapsing the wave function of potential into a new timeline, drawing that future reality into the present moment through the magnetic power of coherent heart-brain alignment. 

Do this practice twice daily. 

Once in the morning before the day's chaos pulls you into reactive consciousness and once at night before sleep. 

When your brain naturally enters the theta state where the subconscious mind is most receptive to reprogramming, consistency matters more than intensity. 

Five (5) minutes of genuine feeling-prayer twice a day for thirty (30) days will rewire your entire electromagnetic signature more powerfully than five (5) hours of desperate begging once a month. 

But here's where most people encounter the obstacle. 

The place where the practice falls apart. 

The gap between the prayer and the manifestation. 

You do the feeling~prayer. 

You generate the gratitude. 

You align with the miracle already accomplished. 

And then you open your eyes and the physical circumstances are still the same. 

The bank account still shows lack. 

The body still shows symptoms. 

The relationship still shows distance. 

And doubt creeps in like a thief stealing the seed you just planted before it has time to germinate. 

This is the test. 

This is where faith, not blind belief, but the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, becomes your anchor. 

Jesus spoke about this explicitly when he said, "Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours." Past tense.

Present perfect tense have received, already done. 

Here, the believing is not hoping it will happen. It is knowing it has already happened in the realm of causation. 

And you're simply waiting for it to precipitate into the realm of effect. Done, made, or acting suddenly or without careful consideration.

 During this gap, you must practice what the mystics call living from the end. 

This means you continue to move through your day not as someone waiting for a miracle but as someone for whom the miracle has already occurred. 

How would you feel if the healing was already complete? 

Feel that now. 

How would you walk, talk, make decisions if the abundance had already arrived? 

Walk, talk, and decide from that place. 

Now this is not pretending. 

This is prophetic living, embodying the future reality in the present moment, thereby magnetizing it into manifestation. 

When doubt arises, and it will, don't fight it. 

Fighting doubt gives it energy. 

Instead, simply return to the practice. 

Return to the breath. 

Return to the feeling of gratitude for the miracle already accomplished. 

Each time doubt appears and you choose to return to faith, you're strengthening the neural pathways of trust, weakening the neural pathways of fear and separation. 

Here's an advanced technique Jesus used that you can apply immediately. 

Speak to the circumstance directly as he spoke to the fig tree, to the storm, to the demons. 

Look at the lack in your bank account and say, "I see you, but you're not the truth of who I am. The truth is divine abundance flowing through me now. Thank you, source, for the wealth already mine." 

Your Father is the Source and Sustainer.

Look at the diagnosis, the symptom, the pain, and say, "I acknowledge you, but you don't have authority over my divine nature. Perfect health is already my reality. Thank you for the healing already accomplished." 

This is not denial. This is dominion. 

This is exercising the authority that Jesus Christ said you have. "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy." 

The enemy is not some external devil. 

It is the consciousness of separation,   consciousness of limitation,   consciousness of powerlessness. 

And you overcome it not by fighting it, but by placing your consciousness in a higher octave where it simply cannot exist. 

Finally, watch for the signs. 

The universe will begin sending you evidence that your prayer has been heard, that the timeline is shifting. 

These signs might be subtle at first. 

An unexpected cheque in the mail, a chance conversation, a sudden insight, a feeling of peace where there was anxiety. 

Do not dismiss these as coincidence. 

Recognize them as the leading edge of your manifestation, as proof that the invisible miracle is beginning to make itself visible. 

Gratitude for these small signs accelerates the arrival of the larger manifestation. 

You now hold in your consciousness what was deliberately hidden, what was systematically removed from the teachings, what the institutional  gatekeepers decided was too dangerous for the masses to know. 

The prayer Jesus used ( I thank You Father ...) before every miracle was not a secret because it was complex. 

It was a secret because it was too simple, too powerful, too democratizing • make (something) accessible to everyone. 

It revealed that you do not need an intermediary. 

You do not need to earn your way into divine favour. 

You already are the divine expressed in human form. 

And the creative power of the universe already flows through you, waiting only for you to remember, to align, to speak from the consciousness of l Am. 

This is not blasphemy. 

This is your birthright. 

This is what Jesus meant when he said, "Is it not written in your law, I have said you are gods?"

 He was quoting Psalm 82, reminding those who had forgotten their true nature that they were never meant to crawl as beggars before a distant deity. 

They were meant to stand as conscious co-creators, as children who had inherited the full creative capacity of their divine parent. 

Every time you pray from this day forward, you make a choice. 

Will you pray as you were taught by systems that  benefit from your sense of powerlessness? 

Or will you pray as Jesus Christ actually prayed from unity with gratitude in the feeling of the wish already fulfilled?

One way keeps you dependent, waiting, hoping that someday if you're good enough, if you beg convincingly enough, you might receive what you need. 

The other way activates the kingdom of heaven that is already within you, calls forth the miracles that already exist in the field of infinite potential and demonstrates that you were never separate from the source. 

You were always the vessel through which it flows. 

The storms in your life, the financial chaos, the health crisis, the relationship breakdown, the existential despair, they're all waiting for you to stand up in the boat and speak with authority. 

 Peace be still. 

Not as a hope, not as a plea, but as a declaration from one who knows that the power to calm the storm resides not in some distant heaven, but in the divine consciousness awakening within you right now, in this very moment. 

Divine consciousness enabling you to think with God , your Father.

So I leave you with this. 

Go into your secret place. 

Close the door, as Jesus instructed and pray to the Father who is in secret, the divine source that exists in the invisible realm of pure potential. 

Give thanks for what already is. 

Feel it with every fiber of your being. 

And then watch as the physical world rearranges   itself to match the frequency you're broadcasting. 

34:47 The miracle isn't coming to you. It's coming through you because you are the miracle waiting to remember itself. 

34:55 If this teaching has awakened something ancient in your soul, if you feel the truth of it resonating in places deeper 

35:02 than logic can reach, type l am in the comments below. Let that declaration be your first act of conscious co-creation. 

35:12 And share this video with someone who's ready to remember their divine nature, 

35:17 someone who's been praying for permission when they already have dominion. 

The prayer Jesus used before every miracle is now yours. 

The only question remaining is, "what will you create with it*?

Tuesday, February 3, 2026

1 Chronicles 19: Lessons on Spiritual Warfare from David’s Defeat of Ammon and Aram

 1 Chronicles 19: Lessons on Spiritual Warfare from David’s Defeat of Ammon and Aram 

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Learn from David’s success on the physical battlefield to prevail in your spiritual battles

Introduction: With God’s help, David’s army defeated the Philistines in Gath, the Moabites in Jordan, the Arameans in Syria, and the Edomites in Jordan (1 Chr. 18). Here, David’s army battled against the Ammonites in Jordan and again against the Arameans. These battles should be read on three levels. First, they reveal the faithfulness of God in keeping His promises. Second, they showed the faith of David and his men. Third, this account provides lessons for believers today in spiritual warfare: “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.” (Eph. 6:12). Here, God’s seven lessons include: (1) love, (2) restraint, (3) Spirit-led leaders, (4) unity, (5) encouragement, (6) faith, and (7) peace.

First, David was obligated to clear the Promised Land of Israel’s enemies. But this did not apply to areas outside of the Promised Land. Thus, upon the death of an enemy Ammonite king outside of the Promised Land in Jordan, David showed kindness to his enemy. From David’s example, God reveals that spiritual warfare should include love and kindness toward your enemies. Second, the Ammonites rejected David’s peace offering and humiliated David’s peace envoys by shaving their beards. David, however, did not retaliate. From his example, God reveals that spiritual warfare should include patience and self-restraint. Third, when the Ammonites in Jordan joined forces with the remaining Arameans in Syria, David assembled his men without fear who trusted God. From David’s example, God reveals that spiritual warfare should include Spirit-led leaders who trust in the Lord. Fourth, when the enemy surrounded David’s men, David’s men carefully coordinated with each other to offer protection if needed. From this example, God reveals that spiritual warfare should include unity of the Body of Christ. Fifth, David’s general Joab encouraged his men before battle. From his example, God reveals that spiritual warfare should include encouraging one another to bolster every person’s faith. Sixth, when the enemy forces again attacked, David’s faith and the faith of his men allowed God to defeat their enemies. From their example, God reveals that spiritual warfare should include faith in God. Finally, after defeating the Ammonites, David made peace with the Arameans who remained. From David’s example, God reveals that spiritual warfare should include a desire for peace. Like David, believers should seek to live in harmony with others wherever possible.

1. Love: Spiritual Warfare Should Include Love and Kindness. 1 Chr. 19:1-2.

  • David shows kindness following the death of the Ammonite king. After defeating many enemies in battle, David showed kindness after the death of an enemy Ammonite king: “1 Now it came about after this, that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon died, and his son became king in his place. Then David said, ‘I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.’ So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the sons of Ammon to Hanun to console him.” (1 Chr. 19:1-2; 2 Sam. 10:1-2a). King Hanun is believed to be either the son or grandson of King Nahash whom Saul conquered (1 Samuel 11) approximately fifty years earlier. The Ammonites would have deeply resented Israel for this defeat. Although David was a sinner, his kindness toward the Ammonites distinguished him from the worldly kings around him. This is one of the many Spirit-led actions that showed that he was a man after God’s heart (Acts 13:22).

  • The Jews’ long-term conflict with the Ammonites. The Ammonites were long-term enemies of the Jews. The Ammonites in modern day Jordan previously attacked the Jews in Gilead. Out of grace, God then empowered an unworthy judge named Jephthah with the Holy Spirit to gather an army of Jewish soldiers to defeat the Ammonite army in battle (Jdgs. 11:29-33). Jephthah, however, later sought to pay tribute to God with an evil act of sacrificing his daughter (Jdgs. 11:34-40). Hundreds of years later, possibly the same Ammonite King Nahash (1 Chr. 19:1-2) attacked the Jews at Jabesh-gilead. The Jews there promised to serve this king if the king made a covenant with them (1 Sam. 11:1). Yet, Nahash would only make a covenant of peace with them if each Jew agreed to be mutilated in one eye (1 Sam. 11:2). At a time when he walked with the Spirit, Saul united the Jews together to free their brothers (1 Sam. 11:5-8). Yet, like Jephthah, Saul then turned away from God. The Ammonites likely thought little of the Jews’ claims of righteousness. Unlike Jephthah and Saul, David showed righteousness through kindness.

  • Use kindness and love to win over your enemies. Like David, try to win over your enemies with love and kindness: “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.” (Prov. 25:21-22; Ro. 12:20). “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Ro. 12:21). “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” (Matt. 5:44). “bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you . . . But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.” (Lk. 6:28, 35). Do you pray for and show love and kindness toward your enemies? Or, are you cold toward them?

  • Forgive those who persecute you. Directed by the Spirit, David showed forgiveness and pursued peace over conflict: “A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression.” (Prov. 19:11). “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” (Eph. 4:32). “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” (Matt. 6:14). “bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.” (Col. 3:13). Have you forgiven those who have harmed you?

2. Restraint: Spiritual Warfare Should Include Patience and Self-Restraint. 1 Chr. 19:3-5.

  • The Ammonites accuse David’s envoys of spying and humiliate them. Motivated by the flesh, the Ammonites rejected King David’s peace offering and humiliated David’s peace envoys. Yet, David did not retaliate: “But the princes of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, ‘Do you think that David is honoring your father, in that he has sent comforters to you? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?’ So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away. Then certain persons went and told David about the men. And he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly humiliated. And the king said, ‘Stay at Jericho until your beards grow, and then return.’” (1 Chr. 19:3-5; 2 Sam. 10:2b-5). Under the Torah, a Jew could not (1) shave his head or (2) shave off the edges of his beard or cut his body: “They shall not make any baldness on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their flesh.” (Lev. 21:5). These things were not to be done in mourning for “the dead.” (Lev. 19:28; Dt. 14:1; Lev. 21:1-4). During Old Testament times, the followers of Baal worshipped their god and the dead by cutting themselves and the “corners” of their beard near the chin, below the ears and on top of their heads (1 Kgs. 18:28). Captured gentile woman also frequently shaved their heads in mourning their dead (Dt. 20:13-14; 21:12-14). God’s rules were meant to distinguish the Jews from those who cut themselves as an act of pagan worship. Shaving was permitted when it was for other kinds of mourning unrelated to death (Nu. 6:5; 2 Sam. 14:26; Amos 8:10; Micah 1:16; Jer. 41:5). David most likely sent his envoys to Jericho, a city of refuge (Josh. 20:8), so they could not be attacked or shamed while their beards grew back. If David had been motivated by the flesh, he would have retaliated for the insult against his envoys. Instead, he showed self-restraint and patience. This is a sign of a Spirit-led leader.

  • Show self-restraint when you are attacked. David had once responded with rage and tried to kill Nabal for failing to offer food for his men after David’s men had protected Nabal’s herds. David relented only after Abigail offered restitution and pleaded for mercy (1 Sam. 25:21-31). Through his testing and molding in the wilderness, God taught David the importance of self-restraint. Like David at this point in his walk, Jesus calls upon believers to show restraint when they are provoked or insulted. “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.” (Matt. 5:39; Lk. 6:29). “not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.” (1 Pet. 3:9). “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. . . Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.” (Ro. 12:14, 17). When others hurt you or insult you, do you restrain your urge to strike back?

  • Show patience for God’s timing when you are attacked. Part of being restrained includes waiting for God’s timing if you are to respond at all: “Do not say, ‘I will repay evil’; wait for the LORD, and He will save you.” (Prov. 20:22). From his many lessons on the battlefield, David later wrote songs to celebrate God for teaching him patience: “For the choir director. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me and heard my cry.” (Ps. 40:1). “Wait for the LORD; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the LORD.” (Ps. 27:14). “Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed; those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed.” (Ps. 25:3). “Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for You.” (Ps. 25:21). When you face an enemy or conflict, do you wait on God for guidance in responding?

3. Spirit-led leaders: Spiritual Warfare Should Include Spirit-led Leaders. 1 Chr. 19:6-9.

  • David finds “mighty men” to fight against the Ammonites and Aramean mercenaries. Because the Ammonites lacked the strength to defeat the Jews on their own, they hired Aramean mercenaries. Directed by the Spirit, David assembled his mighty men without fear to fight them: “When the sons of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the sons of Ammon sent 1,000 talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, from Aram-maacah and from Zobah. So they hired for themselves 32,000 chariots, and the king of Maacah and his people, who came and camped before Medeba. And the sons of Ammon gathered together from their cities and came to battle. When David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army, the mighty men. The sons of Ammon came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the city, and the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.” (1 Chr. 19:6-9; 2 Sam. 10:6-8;). The Ammonites paid the Arameans / Syrians 1,000 talents to fight against the Jews (1 Chr. 19:6). David would have known that an army of mercenaries would not have the same motivation as an army motivated by faith. Thus, David turned to men who were “mighty” in the Spirit to defeat them.

  • Select Spirit-led leaders to lead the fight. When Moses tried to lead the nation on his own, his father-in-law Jethro rebuked him and advised him to select God-fearing men who loved the truth and hated dishonest gain to help lead: “Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens.” (Ex. 18:21). In the New Testament, such a leader is referred to as either being full of the Spirit or Spirit-led: “Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.” (Acts 6:3). God also wants you to seek the help of others as you serve Him. Are you looking for help from Spirit-led people to help you be a leader for God?

  • The laying hands upon a future leader should never be done in haste. Although selecting other leaders to help run a ministry or organization is critical to success, great harm can come to an organization or ministry that selects a leader who is not ready or qualified. The leadership selection process is not concluded until a senior leader publicly laid hands on the new leader (Nu. 27:19). This symbolized the transfer of authority (Lev. 1:4). Yet, Paul warns: “do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin.” (1 Tim. 5:22). The Bible provides several tests to make sure a leader is ready to lead. First, as quoted above, the person must be an honest God-fearing and Spirit-led person (Ex. 18:21; Acts 6:3). Second, a person must be content (1 Tim. 6:6-9). Third, the person must be “above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach.” (1 Tim. 3:2). Fourth, the person also must not be “addicted to wine or be pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money.” (1 Tim. 3:3; 6:6-10). Fifth, the person must also manage his or her own household well (1 Tim. 3:4). Sixth, the person must also not be a new convert (1 Tim. 3:6). Finally, the person must also lead by being a servant to others (1 Tim. 6:2). In short, you will know them by their fruits (Matt. 7:16, 20). Every believer is part of God’s nation of priests (1 Pet. 2:5). Ask God to show you where to improve as a leader.

  • Trust God to fight your battles. David trusted God to lead these Spirit-led men because he knew God was with Israel when it walked in Spirit-led obedience. For example, God previously defeated Pharaoh’s mighty armies at the sea (Ex. 15:3-4). God once used a judge named Shamgar to defeat 600 Philistines with only a sharp farming tool (Jdgs. 3:31). He used the female judge Deborah with no military training to help the Jews to fight the Canaanite king named Jabin and his military commander named Sisera. (Jdgs. 4:6-7). He also gave Samson the power to kill a 1,000 Philistines with a donkey’s jawbone (Jdgs. 15:15). He also previously used Samuel with no military training to defeat the Philistines (1 Sam. 7:10-14). Indeed, God’s hand was present in each of the Jews’ many victories. Moses explained “The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” (Dt. 31:8). God was able to defend the Jews more efficiently than David or any general could. The Jews only needed to show up in faith. Do you trust God to fight your battles?

  • Fear is “false evidence appearing real”The Lord is the only thing that you are to fear. (Prov. 1:7). And this is defined as hating evil (Prov. 8:12). “The fear of man brings a snare. But he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted.” (Prov. 29:25). When God wanted to reduce the size of Gideon’s army, the first thing He did was to dismiss every soldier who felt afraid (Jdgs. 7:3). God did not want any person fighting in His army who feared the enemy. Such a person had no trust in Him: “When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you.” (Dt. 20:1). “He shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’” (Dt. 20:3-4). If you fear anything other than God your faith is lacking. Although David was the smallest man in his family, he feared no evil or any enemy because he had faith that God was fighting for him. “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread?. . . Though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear; though war arises against me, in spite of this I shall be confident.” (Ps. 27:1-3). “I fear no evil, for you are with me.” (Ps. 23:4). “How blessed in the man that fears the Lord . . . He will not fear evil tidings” (Ps. 112:7). “Say to the anxious heart, ‘take courage, fear not.” (Is. 34:4). Is there any person, thing, or enemy that you fear? If so, Satan may use that fear to ensnare you and cause your faith in Jesus to falter. Without faith, you are of no use in God’s army. Without faith, it is “impossible” to please Him (Heb. 11:6).

  • Never fear evil people. Believers will do foolish things when they let their fear of other people control their actions: “The fear of man brings a snare, but he who trusts in the LORD will be exalted.” (Prov. 29:25). “I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do.” (Lk. 12:4). Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Prov. 3:5). “casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” (1 Pet. 5:7). The last time you felt fear, had you taken your eyes off Jesus?

4. Unity: Spiritual Warfare Should Include Unity of the Body of Christ. 1 Chr. 19:10-12.

  • Joab organizes the Jewish army with a pact to aid one another. Faced with two armies, Joab coordinated with the Spirit-led leaders from the 12 tribes to ensure that each would come to the aid of the other if overwhelmed in combat. He also delegated responsibility to his brother Abishai: “10 Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him in front and in the rear, he selected from all the choice men of Israel and they arrayed themselves against the Arameans. 11 But the remainder of the people he placed in the hand of Abshai his brother; and they arrayed themselves against the sons of Ammon. 12 He said, ‘If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will help you.” (1 Chr. 19:10-12; 2 Sam. 10:9-11). The enemy forces had surrounded the Jews. And David was not there when he was meant to be there (2 Sam. 11:1). If the Jews had not coordinated, the enemy could have defeated them. Only by working together could they prevail. Victory did not depend upon him or any one person. Instead, victory required all of Israel to act with one accord.

  • Unite others in the Body of Christ. Like Joab and his Spirit-led men, believers in Christ are also commanded to “fight the good fight of faith . . . ” (1 Tim. 6:12). Believers are also called upon to fight in His army (2 Tim. 2:3). It is also not enough to merely fight with your brothers and sisters, you must also act with one accord as the Spirit leads the body. “so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” (Ro. 12:5). “Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.” (1 Cor. 10:17). “For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.” (1 Cor. 12:12). “But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’; or again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’” (1 Cor. 12:20-21). “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;” (Eph. 4:4). For example, after Gideon’s 300 men routed the enemy, He called upon others in the nearby hill country of Ephraim to join in the pursuit of the fleeing enemy (Jdgs. 7:24-25). Only by working together could the Jews defeat their enemy. Through this example, God provides lessons on working with others in spiritual warfare. Yet, you must also be motivated by love when you act with others: “Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.” (Col. 3:14). Joab acted both with one accord and with love. Do your words unify others for God’s glory? Or, do your words cause pain and division?

  • Find protection within the Body of Christ. God also offers you protection when you are connected to fellow believers: “not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” (Heb. 10:25). Satan acts like a roaring lion. “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Pet. 5:8). Believers are also called “sheep,” animals without natural defenses. (e.g., Jo. 21:16, 27). Lions usually attack animals that stray from the protections of the herd. Believers cannot claim to be accountable if they float in and out of a mega church or watch sermons online. Believers must also be accountable to a small group of believers. Are you in any type of small church group? Or, are you a lone ranger for Christ?

  • Satan cannot be defeated without Christ. Just like the Jewish army, you also cannot defeat your spiritual enemy without Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. This is why you are warned to flee Satan’s temptations. (2 Tim. 2:22). Yet, if you have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, you need not fear Satan’s power. The Bible promises: “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” (1 Jo. 4:4). “I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.” (1 Jo. 2:13). Are you trying to face Satan alone?

5. Encouragement: Spiritual Warfare Should Include Encouragement. 1 Chr. 19:13-15.

  • Joab encourages his troops before the battle. Before the fight began, Joab encouraged his troops not to be afraid because God was with them: “13 Be strong, and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and may the Lord do what is good in His sight.’ 14 So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to the battle against the Arameans, and they fled before him. 15 When the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans fled, they also fled before Abshai his brother and entered the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.” (1 Chr. 19:13-15; 2 Sam. 10:12-14). Like Joab, believers are called upon to encourage and protect each other. Because Joab bolstered the faith of his men, God was with them.

  • Encourage one another in spiritual warfare. As a believer, you are commanded to encourage others each day. “But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Heb. 3:13). “But I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.” (Heb. 13:22). “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” (1 Cor. 16:13). “Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the LORD.” (Ps. 31:24). “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” (Dt. 31:6). Are you encouraging others each day in their faith?

  • God’s Word – the antidote to fear and lacking faith. David and his generals had no fear because of their faith. To ensure that their men also had faith, they encouraged each other with God’s Word. If your faith is lacking, God calls upon you to build it up reading the Word: “[F]aith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” (Ro. 10:17). The next time you fear, recite His promises: “Do not fear for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand . . . Do not fear, I will help you.” (Is. 41:10, 13). “For I know the plans I have for you . . . plans for welfare and not calamity to give you a future and a hope.” (Jer. 29:11). “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.” (2 Tim. 1:7). Faith is like a muscle. It can atrophy if you don’t read the Word. Are you reading the Word and praying to build up your faith?

  • Be encouraged and strengthened by the Spirit. God also knows when your faith is weak. When you let His Spirit lead you, He will encourage and strengthen you: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.” (Eph. 6:10). “On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul.” (Ps. 138:3). “He said, ‘O man of high esteem, do not be afraid. Peace be with you; take courage and be courageous!’ Now as soon as he spoke to me, I received strength and said, ‘May my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”’ (Dan. 10:19). “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” (Ro. 8:14). If you are feeling weak or depressed, are you praying in faith for Him to strengthen and encourage you?

  • When you walk with God, your enemy will also flee from you. The “Arameans fled” from Joab and Abishi’s forces without engaging in any combat (2 Sam. 10:14). When you walk in faith and obedience, God promises to install fear into your enemy and cause them to flee from you: “One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the LORD your God is He who fights for you, just as He promised you.” (Josh. 23:10). “The LORD shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways.” (Dt. 28:7). ‘“But you will chase your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword; five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword.’” (Lev. 26:7-8). When you take refuge in God, He promises to be a shield to the evil attacks of the enemy: “Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.” (Prov. 30:5; 2 Sam. 22:31). With His help, Jonathan killed 20 Philistines (1 Sam. 14:12). His power also allowed David to kill Goliath (1 Sam. 17:50-58). He does not want you to fear any enemy (Ro. 8:15). Are you walking in faith and obedience so that He can act on your behalf to cause your enemies to flee?

6. Faith: Spiritual Warfare Should Include Faith in God. 1 Chr. 19:16-18.

  • David’s soldiers’ faith caused God to strike down the united enemy armies. With the power of the Holy Spirit, David’s army was able to defeat the armies that assembled against it: “16 When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the River, with Shophach the commander of the army of Hadadezer leading them. 17 When it was told David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came upon them and drew up in formation against them. And when David drew up in battle array against the Arameans, they fought against him. 18 The Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed of the Arameans 7,000 charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers, and put to death Shophach the commander of the army.” (1 Chr. 19:16-18; 2 Sam. 10:15-18). The Arameans had previously lost 22,000 men in battle against David. They lost then and lost again here because God was with David and his men in battle: “When the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David killed 22,000 Arameans. Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus, and the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And the LORD helped David wherever he went.” (1 Sam. 8:5-6). The Arameans would not give up after their defeats. Your enemy will also not give up easily in his pursuit of you. You must remain steadfast in your faith. When your faith remains steadfast, God will also defeat your enemies.

God empowered the Israelites to defeat the Arameans

  • When you have faith, God will also defeat your enemy. David’s army prevailed because of their faith: “who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.” (Heb. 11:33-34). Just as He did with David, God promises that He can use the few to defeat the many. “But you will chase your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword; five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword.” (Lev. 26:7-8). “One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the LORD your God is He who fights for you, just as He promised you.” (Josh. 23:10). As another example, when Jacob’s family repented of their sins at Shechem and acted with obedience, God placed a terror upon their enemies: “As they journeyed, there was a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.” (Gen. 35:5). After God crushed the Egyptians at the Red Sea, Moses celebrated God’s victory the Jews’ enemies: “Terror and dread fall upon them . . ..” (Ex. 15:16(a)). As the Jews journeyed to the Promised Land, God repeatedly promised to deliver the Jews through a “terror” that He would place upon their enemies: “I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.” (Ex. 23:27). “The Lord shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways.” (Dt. 28:7; 2:25; Lev. 26:7-8; Nu 10:9, 35; Isa. 54:17). Joshua also promised the Jews that those who cling to God would see their enemies flee (Josh. 23:10). For those who are obedient and take refuge in Him, He promises to be a shield against the enemy’s fiery darts: “He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.” (Prov. 30:5(b); 2 Sam. 22:31). Are you clinging to Jesus when you need protection? Does your faith waver under pressure?

  • All things are possible with God when you have faith and rely upon His strength. Jesus once revealed that “‘With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”’ (Matt. 19:26(b); Mk. 10:27(b); Lk. 1:37). “Is anything too difficult for the LORD?” (Gen. 18:14(a)). “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?” (Jer. 32:27). Job likewise boasted: “I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2). “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?” (Ro. 8:31). Yet, a believer’s faith is perfected in weakness. “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” (2 Cor. 12:9). The faith of David was perfected by his weakness.

7. Peace: Spiritual Warfare should Include a Desire for Peace. 1 Chr. 19:19.

  • David makes peace with the Arameans. David again showed himself to be a Spirit-led leader by seeking peace where combat was unnecessary: “19 So when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and served him. Thus the Arameans were not willing to help the sons of Ammon anymore.” (1 Chr. 19:19; 2 Sam. 10:19). This chapter begins and ends with David attempting to seek peace with his enemies. In this respect, David was a role model for believers to follow.

God used David to fulfill His promises to His people

  • Forgive those who have hurt you. Here, peace was only possible because David was able to forgive his Aramean enemy. As a role model for all believers, Jesus also forgave those who crucified Him while He hung on the cross dying a painful death. “But Jesus was saying, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’” (Lk. 23:24(a)). Just as David and later Jesus forgave those who attacked them, you too are called upon to forgive those who have attacked you: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matt. 5:7). “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.” (Lk. 6:37). “A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression.” (Prov. 19:11). “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” (Eph. 4:32). “bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.” (Col. 3:13). Is there anyone you need to forgive?

  • Avoid strife and be at peace with others. Like David, God blesses those who pursue peace and unity: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!” (Ps. 133:1(b)). “The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so abandon the quarrel before it breaks out.” (Prov. 17:14). “Keeping away from strife is an honor for a man, . . .” (Prov. 20:3; Ro. 12:18). “So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.” (Ro. 14:19). He will also put your enemies at peace with you: “When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” (Prov. 16:7). When others hurt you or try to take things belonging to you, do you seek peace or retribution and conflict?

  • Be at peace with others. Like David, you are commanded to be at peace with others when possible. “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” (Ro. 12:18). “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” (Mark 9:50). If you stay at peace with others around you, Jesus promises to bless you: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matt. 5:9). Are you a peacemaker to those in conflict? If you cause conflict, what kind of witness for Christ are you?

  • Leave vengeance to God. David did not need to seek vengeance against the Ammonites because he left vengeance to God. And God was faithful to later judge the Ammonites for their wickedness. The prophet Ezekiel later prophesied about God’s judgment against them: “And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their reproach,’ and say: ‘A sword, a sword is drawn, polished for the slaughter, to cause it to consume, that it may be like lightning—”’ (Ezek. 21:28). The prophet Zephaniah also gave God’s prophecy of judgment against them: “I have heard the taunting of Moab and the revilings of the sons of Ammon, with which they have taunted My people and become arrogant against their territory.” (Zeph. 2:8). Like David, God calls upon you to leave vengeance to Him. “'Vengeance is Mine, and retribution, in due time their foot will slip; for the day of their calamity is near, and the impending things are hastening upon them.” (Dt. 32:35; Ro. 12:19). Have you given your desires for vengeance about your enemies to God?

  • God will judge His enemies during the end times. Just as David judged the Ammonites and Israel’s other enemies, Jesus will judge nations during the end times when He will drive out the ruler of this world: “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” (Jo. 12:31). During the end times, He will bring death to the unrighteous in a battle at the valley of Armageddon. (Rev. 16:12-21). He will also punish, with eternal death, those who refuse to submit to Him after a trial at the Great White Throne Judgment. (Rev. 20:11-15). God does not want any to perish. (2 Pet. 3:9). Nevertheless, because He is just, He must eventually judge sin. No individual or nation is exempt from being judged for their sins. Faith in Jesus is the only means to be saved. (Acts 4:12). 

  • If the death of the unsaved causes you sorrow, are you motivated to tell them the good news so that they can be saved? (Matt. 28:16-20).