Spiritual Warfare for Your Family

Leighann McCoy

Description

A Practical Guide to Preparing and Protecting Families from Spiritual AttackParents and grandparents long to protect their children, yet many don't know how to fight spiritual battles for their kids. But you can win the battle on the home front! In these pages you will be equipped to defend and fight for your family. You will learn what spiritual warfare is as it relates to your children as well as offensive tactics for how you can strike first through prayer and knowledge of God's Word. Discover why you might be losing battles at home and weapons for waging war on behalf of your loved ones. Through personal and biblical stories, you will be empowered to recognize areas of vulnerability in your own family and keep your loved ones safe.

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 03 mai 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441229960
• Langue: English

Extrait

Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2016 by Leighann McCoy
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4412-2996-0
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com .
Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2011.
Scripture quotations marked GNT are from the Good News Translation—Second Edition. Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked HCSB are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
Scripture quotations marked MSG are from The Message. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible®, copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. ( www.Lockman.org ).
Scripture quotations marked NLT are from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked PHILLIPS are from The New Testament in Modern English, revised edition—J. B. Phillips, translator. © J. B. Phillips 1958, 1960, 1972. Used by permission of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.
Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.
Cover design by Rob Williams, InsideOutCreativeArts
Author is represented by Smith Management Partners, LLC.
Endorsements
“Leighann is a seasoned warrior in the fight against the forces of darkness. She’s also a gifted communicator. That combination makes this a powerful book. It’s full of biblical insight and provides practical applications you will use in every season of your children’s lives.”
—Dr. Joe Beam, author, Seeing the Unseen: Preparing Yourself for Spiritual Warfare
“Leighann McCoy is one of those writers who combine solid scriptural insight and practical truths worked out in the crucible of real-life experience. S he opens her life to us, exposing her lived-out pain and struggle with no candy coating. But she lets God tell His story through her story. And she offers His hope and His assurance of victory.”
—Jennifer Kennedy Dean, author, Live a Praying Life
“This is a life-changing book, whether you are a new or battle-focused warrior! It has clear, biblical, spiritual truths that are critical. God will reveal areas of urgent need for your family. It is a tool to read, highlight, and go back to time and time again.”
—Teri Froman, executive director, Pharaoh’s Daughters
“ Spiritual Warfare for Your Family is a game-changer. With a solid scriptural foundation and depth of insight and personal experience, Leighann gives us the tools we need to do battle for our families. She writes as if our lives depend on it, and I believe they do.”
—Kaye Hurta, crisis counselor
“I heartily recommend Spiritual Warfare for Your Family . From its overall message of victory in Jesus to addressing specific life battles, it will help believers fight. I have witnessed Leighann McCoy’s great faith in our great God. Readers will be grateful she chose to share her battlefield knowledge and wisdom.”
—Lisa Parnell
Dedication
Dedicated to my husband, Tom
You were wise enough to know that having children might be harder than either of us could ever imagine and patient enough to battle with me through infertility to conceive them.
You’ve been steadfast, passionate, compassionate, and strong as both a godly father and husband.
We cry, we laugh, we bow down, and we rise up . . . together.
Mikel, Kaleigh, and TJ are God’s best idea for us!
And we’re His best idea for them.
God’s got some strange ideas.
Here’s to His thoughts and not ours, His ways and not ours.
Here’s to “three for three” for the glory of God!
————
“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice through to victory.”
Matthew 12:20
Epigraph
Home is Where you can be silent and still be heard Where you can ask and find out who you are Where people laugh with you about yourself Where sorrows are divided and joys are multiplied Where we share and love and grow
My mother-in-law, Sterline McCoy, gave me a cross-stitched wall hanging with this poem on it. May God grant us homes like this.
Contents
Cover 1
Title Page 2
Copyright Page 3
Endorsements 4
Dedication 5
Epigraph 7
Introduction 13
Part 1: The Battle Is Real 18
1. You’re Not Crazy; There Really Is a Battle Waging 21
2. Did God Create the Devil? 27
3. When and How Was the War Won, and Why Do We Fight Today? 34
Part 2: Never Lose a Battle Again 45
4. Three Reasons You’re Losing Your Battles 47
5. The Battle Really Is All in Your Head 55
6. You Are a Child of God! 60
7. What on Earth Is Spiritual Authority? 69
8. How Do We Exercise Spiritual Authority? 76
9. What’s So Glorious About Those Spiritual Riches? 86
10. How Do I Access the Glorious Riches of God? 93
Part 3: What the Devil Doesn’t Want You to Know 101
11. The Devil Doesn’t Want You to Know the Power of Love 103
12. The Devil Doesn’t Want You to Know the Power of Forgiveness 112
13. The Devil Doesn’t Want You to Know the Power of the Holy Spirit 126
Part 4: Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures 135
14. Tear Down the High Places 137
15. Train Your Brain to Embrace the Mind of Christ 147
16. Divine Power to Destroy Strongholds 159
17. The Divine Weapon of Acceptance 165
18. The Divine Weapon of Praise and Thanksgiving 170
19. The Divine Weapon of Intercession 175
Part 5: Protecting Your Children 183
20. You Are Responsible for Your Family 185
21. You Are Responsible for Your Preschoolers 188
22. You Are Responsible for Your School-Age Children 195
23. Be Responsible for Your Preteens 201
24. Be Responsible for Your Teenagers 209
25. Stay Alert for Your Adult Children 216
Part 6: Common Issues Families Are Facing and What You Can Do About Them 221
26. Busyness 223
27. Loneliness 226
28. Single Parenting 229
29. Blended Families 232
30. Premarital Sex 235
31. Divorce 238
32. Lack of Communication 241
33. Substance Abuse and Addictions 244
34. Crisis Pregnancy and Abortion 247
35. Cancer, Death, and Chronic Illness 250
36. The Prodigal Child 255
37. Financial Stress and Debt 260
38. Dealing with Extended Family . . . In-Laws 264
39. Grandparenting 268
A Final Word 273
Notes 279
About the Author 283
Books by Leighann McCoy 284
Back Ad 286
Back Cover 287
Introduction
If you are reading this, you either know spiritual warfare is real or you are curious as to whether it might be. But that’s not really why you picked up this book. The real reason is that the people you love most are causing you the most grief (or you are afraid they might cause you grief in the future). If you introduced them to me, I’d call them your family. You might call them crazy. We might both be tempted to label our families “dysfunctional.” I haven’t met a “normal” family yet. But more than anything, you want to know there is hope for your prodigal, for your child or children, grandchildren, and/or for your spouse, and I want to shout to you, “THERE IS!”
This is a book about hope. It’s a book about victory and success.
It’s also a book about spiritual warfare.
Wow! Even the words make my skin crawl. I’m not one of those people who thinks there’s a demon behind every smart remark your preteen utters. I never watch movies that exalt spiritual darkness. But I do believe in a fourth or fifth dimension that Scripture calls “the heavenlies,” and I know that these places are very real. I have put my faith in God, who gets involved in the details of my life. And as I’ve grown to experience Him more, I’ve also come up-close-and-personal with the “roaring lion” (1 Peter 5:8), who is intent on stealing my faith and destroying my witness.
I’m here to tell you that what you are experiencing in your family is not the normal stuff of life. It’s a battle—a spiritual battle—and there is a way for you to win this fight. If you are not experiencing the battle yet, you will, and I’m glad you have the foresight to get yourself prepared.
I intend to tell you in this book how to win.
You may want to shout aloud, “How can you be so sure?!”
Here’s how. I serve the Commander in Chief of heaven’s armies, and He’s already won this war. The God whom I serve has no equal in power. His understanding is perfect (meaning that there isn’t anything lurking in the shadows that He’s not already fully aware of). He’s not only strong, He is also crazy in love with you. And because He loves you, He’s going to teach you how to fight to win. The almost laughable thin