Paul’s metaphor of the soldier’s armor has become so familiar to many of us that we have forgotten that God (via a letter of Paul) is instructing us to do certain things in preparation for spiritual warfare. Granted, there is some disagreement among New Testament scholars about what some of these metaphors represent. But I have done diligence in trying to offer what I think are the most likely referents for each metaphor.

Do you want to be ready when you face spiritual warfare? Do you want to be prepared when you encounter attacks from Satan and his host of demons? The Bible tells us to get ready (Eph 6:10-14a). How can you prepare for spiritual warfare?

Here are seven things you can do to get ready. These seven means-of-grace will train you to be ready for any sort of satanic attack, whether it is a dramatic attack (threatened by a demon-possessed person, Mark 5, Luke 8), an assault on your beliefs (2 Cor 10:3-5), or a mundane temptation (1 Cor 7:5; 1 Thess 3:5). Here are seven ways you can prepare for spiritual attack.

1. Prepare for spiritual warfare by learning and leaning into Christian doctrine. When you face spiritual attacks of any kind, knowing what is true about God, his plans, and his purposes will prepare you better than almost anything else. Learn the contours of Christian doctrine—including the historic Christian affirmations found in the ancient creeds and as taught in various catechisms throughout history. Buy a systematic theology book and read it. Solid Christian doctrine will strengthen your Spirit-empowered resolve whenever you face spiritual attack.
2. Prepare for spiritual warfare by practicing the daily Christian “walk.” You will not be prepared for spiritual attack until you have habituated yourself into the practice of righteous living. A daily Christian walk is grounded in Christ’s own righteousness—but we must appropriate the positional righteousness we received at salvation and incorporate it into our minute-by-minute existence. A lot of spiritual attack comes at the level of temptation. One of the most effective things we can do to prepare for spiritual attack is to grow in the practice of righteous living rooted in the righteous standing we have received from being united with Christ.
3. Prepare for spiritual warfare by studying apologetics. Know what you believe and why you believe it. Practice sharing the gospel with unbelievers in situations where the stakes are not so high, that is, in moments when you might not even use the language of spiritual warfare. Prepare persuasive reasons for your faith ahead of time (1 Peter 3:15). One common spiritual-warfare scenario is when you are trying to share the good news with an unbeliever. Second Corinthians 10:3-5 teaches that strongholds are arguments raised up against the knowledge of God. Preparing to answer such arguments—by studying apologetics—is one way to prepare for spiritual warfare.
4. Prepare for spiritual warfare by growing your faith. How do you grow your faith? You can grow faith by stepping into situations where faith is crucial to the task ahead of you. Pray for people to be healed. Get involved in overseas missions. Do something hard that you think will glorify God.

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