For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Jesus, help me accept this Biblical principle into my heart and mind. Help me base my life and relationships with others on this truth.

Jesus, words will probably never do this concept justice; this is way over my head. I know You will be explaining these things about the Kingdom of God in eternity. Then I will have a “real” brain; my ability to grasp these things will be greatly enhanced. But, I don’t want to be totally in the dark now. Help me trust You and Your Word to talk to me about things that I have never seen. Help me understand that I have, however, seen their influences lots of times. Let these influences that are coming from the spirit realm help me understand that there is a lot more going on than I am capable of seeing.

Jesus, take the natural issues of God’s creation and use them to explain things to me. Help me not turn Your teaching and training into being spooky or weird. As You teach me about the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms, help me stay locked into the Bible. Help me allow the Holy Spirit to keep me focused on the important things.

Explain the two major reactions to things like this that will block off my study. First, help me not refuse to study anything about authorities, powers of this dark world, or spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm. Second, keep me from getting so excited about studying something totally new and different, that I leave the original intended purpose for this Scripture and go into areas that won’t help me live a godly life.

Jesus, I have heard about the devil; and, I have heard about demons. I have seen human art work of angels; I am sure that most of them don’t look anything like real angels. However, help me realize that I am being influenced by these invisible beings. When I read about You being tempted by Satan, I looked at it as one isolated event. I failed to realize that I am being attacked with all kinds of temptations that are not initiated by me or other humans. Help me learn and accept the fact that the origination of a lot of temptations I have bombarding my mind and life are coming from Satan.

Jesus, if I were struggling against my own flesh or body, I could reason with myself, try hard to keep from committing sin, and see if I could develop better habits for my life patterns. If that were the case, that would probably take care of the sin patterns in my life. If I were struggling against other humans, I could reason with them, argue with them, sue them, have a feud with them, hate them, or never speak to them for the rest of their life. However, I now realize that I am not struggling with flesh and blood (human issues). Because of that, help me completely accept the fact that these efforts and systems simply will not work.

Jesus, when other humans are used as instruments to try to cause me to sin, help me understand that I am still not struggling with flesh and blood (the person). Keep me aware that people-generated circumstances are often inspired by Satan. Empower me to not want to attack the person and only deal with them. Show me that, if I do it that way, the problem will not get solved. Help me do it the Biblical way so that You and I will solve the problem without hurting people. Even when I am dealing with an enemy, help me love them and do spiritual warfare against Satan rather than them.

Jesus, I have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But You are telling me that I am to Love my enemies and pray for those who persecute me, so that I may be a son of my Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous Mat 5:43-45). So, Jesus, help me have the same attitudes and use the same procedures in all of my relationships.