7. The Sword of the Spirit

What is the sword of the spirit?

The Bible says the sword of the spirit is the word of God. It is a double edged sword, meaning it cuts both the user and those who are in front -- the enemy. 

Why is it sword of the spirit important

1. It can be applied to our lives in order to overcome and destroy any challenges or lies we believe both in the spiritual world and the physical world. [Hebrews 4:12]

2. It can be applied to other people’s lives to overcome and destroy any challenges or lies they may believe. [2 Timothy 3:16]

3. The sword of the spirit is used to break down lies and to show people what the truth is so that they can walk in the truth and live by the truth [John 14:6, John 1: 1 & 14], and so that they can be free from the bondage that the lies would have put them in.[John 8:36]

4. It is used to keep you in line with God’s will [2 Timothy 3:16-17,Psalm 119:11]

How do you put on the sword of the spirit?

1. By reading/hearing the word of God and understanding it. [Proverbs 4:5]

2. By applying the word to your life - Finding anything that might be relevant to you. Consider things you have done, are doing or want to do and see if the scripture is giving any instruction for or against your thoughts, beliefs or actions. [2 Timothy 2:15,John 17:17]

3. By applying the word of God to other people's lives - Identifying instructions in the scripture which relate to what they have done, are doing or plan to do and sharing what the bible’s position is on it. [Ezekiel 3:17-18]

4. By recognizing thoughts or emotions which are against God and cutting them down. [2 Corinthians 10:5,James 4:7-8, Ephesians 4:27,1 Peter 5:8,Philippians 4:8]

How do you apply the word of God to your life

1. Read the word of God [1 Peter 2:2,Psalm 119:11]

2. Think about what you’ve read and determine does this impact me in a way that makes me feel like I am going against what God wants, perhaps there’s something that I should be doing, something I’m not supposed to be doing, Or is there something I should learn from this.[Psalm 119:11,Joshua 1:8, Luke 21:34-36]

3. After determining what it is that you’re supposed or not supposed to do, think about “Why it is important” to do this or not to do this. 

4. Pray and ask God for the ability to overcome and to do what God actually wants me to do [Isaiah 41:10, 2 Corinthians 12:9,Philippians 4:13, John 16:33]

5. Make up your mind, and put things in place to do or not to do the particular thing.[Proverbs 24:27,Luke 14:28]

6. Evaluate yourself, have you changed, and if not ask God to help you and spend time questioning yourself as to why you’re still not following the instruction. [1 Corinthians 9:27]

   1. What’s your obstacle? Why is it there? How important is it to overcome this obstacle? And what can you do to overcome it? Do I believe something that is causing me to keep doing what I am doing?Is it true?Is it even a little false?What part is a lie and what part is true? What is the truth based on the bible?

7. Consider the need for spiritual deliverance. 

How do you apply the word of God to other people’s lives

1. Identify where in their life, do you see the contradictions from how they live and act to what God says to do. 

2. Pray and ask God for the words and best way to reach the person. (This is the hardest part about applying the word to someone else, as they may have barriers to hearing the word, that you don’t know about--often Godly words fall flat because the person isn’t in a place where they want to hear. We need God to guide us especially in one-on-one to know:How, when and where to apply the word)

3. Use a tool/medium to share the message 

4. Share the message and use scripture as your basis

5. If they accept the message, encourage them to pray and ask God to direct them how to apply this to their lives

Tips

1. God can use other people's spiritual gifts and tools to help you to understand and apply His word to your life so leave space to listen to other believers.

2. Be Quick to self-reflect and learn from your situation, if you are not living how God wants you to live, if you are harboring unforgiveness, if you are not loving your wife (for husbands), if you are not believing God can do it.

3. Consider how or what scripture relates to another person’s or group of persons’ life/issues and how you can share the scripture with them?

4. There a numerous tools to share the word and God’s spirit gives many gifts

   1. Identify your spiritual gift [appr. 100 questions - 15 minutes]

   2. Check out some tools that we use to share the gospel i.e. 3 circles, 4 spiritual laws

   3. Check out some mediums we use to share God’s message i.e. dance, singing, drama etc.

5. Recite scripture OUT LOUD! The scripture is so alive, active and sharp, that just reciting the right scripture at the right time, can overcome the power of the enemy over you and others. [Isaiah 55:10-11]

MENTOR’S NOTES/EVALUATION

1. Have they applied the word that they learnt last week?

2. Can they explain what the scripture they memorized means to them?

3. Have they shared the gospel (in any medium) this month?

4. Have they shared about Jesus or God in any medium this month?

5. Have you seen a positive change in their character in line with what they have been learning?