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The Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, is our offensive weapon. It is incredibly powerful and effective at driving away the enemy and tearing down his work. However, it is a mistake to attempt to wield the Sword without having the defensive weapons all in place. If we lightly skip over the defensive weapons we are neglecting to consider that the enemy has offensive weapons of his own. We will become an easy target for him to bring down. It is extremely foolish to go out to battle without all the weapons provided by God for us to use to overcome the enemy.

On the other hand, it can be tempting to hope that the enemy will leave us alone if only we have the defensive weapons in place. Many never get around to using the Sword effectively. While it is true that the defensive weapons may prevent Satan from getting to us, if we neglect to use the Sword, he tends to just hang around, slinking around with us as the days go by, until one day one of the defensive weapons is allowed to slip. Then he makes his move. When we follow up the defensive weapons with effective use of the sword, we not only hold him at bay, we drive him off! We tear down his evil work!

The following Scriptures can be used aggressively to drive away the enemy. Some of them can be given as direct commands to him. (e.g. “Satan, Let your lying lips be dumb, which speak arrogantly against the righteous with pride and contempt.”) Others can be used to remind him of things that hurt him badly. (e.g. “Satan, I remind you that you will be thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, and will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”)

Some Christians are reluctant to speak directly to Satan and his demons. Yet God has clearly told us that they are the enemy and that He has given us a powerful weapon to use against them in the form of the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God. To attack our spiritual enemies with the Word means simply that we must speak God’s Word against them.

Jesus Himself gave us an example. When Jesus was attacked by Satan, He spoke directly to him. (“Begone, Satan! For it is written…” (Matthew 4:10) He has given us a model to follow. God has given us Scriptures to use to drive Satan off. Satan would like for us to feel so foolish about using them that we would try “some other strategy.” We need to tell him what God has given us to tell him!

Unfortunately, some Christians want to try to delegate back to God what God has delegated to us. This tendency turns out to be true in many areas of the Christian life. But offensive spiritual warfare is a major discomfort to many Christians. So we cannot just say, “God, You do it please!” Because He has given us a sword and a command to use it.

Here is one way to do that. In prayer, ask God to bring to your mind areas where the enemy may be at work–areas where He wants you to use the sword of the Spirit.

Let’s assume that it occurs to you that the rebellion in your children, or the miscommunications in family relationships, or your problem with indebtedness, etc. might be partly because of your spiritual enemies. You might want to pray that God would make sure that your spiritual enemies will be required to hear your words, then you might say something like this, for example:

“You evil spirits who have been assigned to cause communications problems in my family, I am coming against you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I remind you that the weapons of my warfare are not of the flesh but mighty through God to the pulling down of your strongholds. I remind you that For this purpose the Son of God was manifested–that He might destroy your works (1 John 3:8). I command you in His name to get out of this relationship and go wherever the Lord Jesus sends you.”

Then, you may wish to proceed by using more of the verses given below.

You may be wondering, “What if there are no spiritual enemies present after all? What if I’m merely speaking into the air?”

Well, for one thing, they most certainly are present. That’s why God has so much to say about them. We have enemies. They are seeking to cause us harm. He has given us weapons. And, in any case, it would be better to wield our spiritual sword when no enemy is present than to not wield it when he is present. 

One tactic that the enemy has used successfully on many believers is to convince them that they will look silly if they start commanding demons to leave. Many believers simply hope that the demons will leave them alone, refusing to use the sword because they fear looking silly.

And even if no demons are present, spending time with the Lord in these verses is sure to build you up spiritually! Even if you never drive away a single demon, you will grow stronger in the Lord and in His Word!

Consider one other observation about some of these verses. Many verses in the Bible refer to our “enemies.” We may have a tendency to think of only human enemies. But our real enemies are not human at all. Remember that our battle is not against flesh and blood. When you read the word “enemies” in these verses, think of Satan and his demons.

There are many such verses in God’s Word. You may wish to add others. In any case, it should be obvious that our spiritual enemies hate these words! They are powerful and effective for resisting Satan and his demons.

“Can the prey be taken from the mighty man, Or the captives of a tyrant be rescued? Surely, thus says the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away, And the prey of the tyrant will be rescued; For I will contend with the one who contends with you, And I will save your sons.” (Isaiah 49:24-25)

“Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the trapper; The snare is broken and we have escaped.” (Psalm 124:7)

“Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call; This I know, that God is for me.” (Psalm 56:9)

“For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper, And from the deadly pestilence.” (Psalm 91:3)

“You will tread upon the lion and cobra, The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.” (Psalm 91:13)

“I pursued my enemies and overtook them, And I did not turn back until they were consumed. I shattered them, so that they were not able to rise; They fell under my feet. For Thou hast girded me with strength for battle; Thou hast subdued under me those who rose up against me. Thou hast also made my enemies turn their backs to me, And I destroyed those who hated me.” (Psalm 18:37-40)

“Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my life; Let those be turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me. Let them be like chaff before the wind, With the angel of the Lord driving them on. Let their way be dark and slippery, With the angel of the Lord pursuing them.” (Psalm 35:4-6)

“Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous; He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face.” (Psalm 11:6-7)

“The Lord is righteous; He has cut in two the cords of the wicked.” (Psalm 129:4)

“Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord has heard my supplication, The Lord receives my prayer. All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly dismayed; They shall turn back, they shall suddenly be ashamed.” (Psalm 6:8-10)

“As for the head of those who surround me, May the mischief of their lips cover them. May burning coals fall upon them; May they be cast into the fire, Into deep pits from which they cannot rise.” (Psalm 140:9-10)

“O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth; Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord. Let them flow away like water that runs off; When he aims his arrows, let them be as headless shafts.” (Psalm 58:6-7)

“The Lord is for me among those who help me; Therefore I shall look with satisfaction on those who hate me.” (Psalm 118:7)

“They surrounded me like bees; They were extinguished as a fire of thorns; In the name of the Lord I will surely cut them off.” (Psalm 118:12)

“Let me not be put to shame, O Lord, for I call upon Thee; Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol. Let the lying lips be dumb, Which speak arrogantly against the righteous With pride and contempt.” (Psalm 31:17-18)

“For, behold, Thine enemies, O Lord, For, behold, Thine enemies will perish; All who do iniquity will be scattered. But Thou hast exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil. And my eye has looked exultantly upon my foes.” (Psalm 92:9-11)

“Then Jesus said to him, Begone, Satan! For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.” (Matthew 4:10)

“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (Matthew 28:18)

“Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall injure you.” (Luke 10:19)

“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own homestead, his possessions are undisturbed; but when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied, and distributes his plunder.” (Luke 11:21-22)

“Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out.” (John 12:31)

“The ruler of this world has been judged.” (John 16:11)

“And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” (Romans 16:20)

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

“When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.” (Colossians 2:15)

“Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.” (Hebrews 2:14-15)

“Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)

“The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8)

“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 John 4:4)

“And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death.” (Revelation 12:11)

“And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10)

“… the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41)

Steve Hall
1997