Spiritual Warfare Strategies: Should You Shout or Stay Silent?

When it comes to spiritual warfare strategies, there’s a time to shout and a time to stay silent. Discerning the difference can deliver your enemy into your hands—or deliver you out of the hand of your enemy.

Although there are spiritual laws and kingdom principles, you have to discern what law is operating and what principle to apply. Unfortunately, we often shout when we should keep our mouth tightly shut up, and we often keep silent when we should be shouting His praises.

If you shout when you should remain silent, you could find yourself fighting in the power of your own flesh—which won’t take you far in spiritual warfare because our weapons are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. If you remain silent when you should shout, you could be neglecting those supernatural weapons that will cut your enemy to bits.

Hold Your Peace

When Moses delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, he came to the Red Sea. You know the story. The Red Sea was in front of him, and Pharaoh’s army was behind him. The Israelites had no place to run and no place to hide—and they were afraid. The Bible says the Israelites cried out to the Lord and complained to Moses that he led them out into the wilderness to die (Ex. 14:10-12).

Moses reassured them, encouraging them not to be afraid but to stand still and, well, shut up: “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace” (vv. 13-14, NKJV). The Message translation puts it this way: “God will fight the battle for you. And you? You keep your mouths shut!” (v. 14, MSG).

Holding your peace in spiritual battle is one key to flowing in power. Complaining about your situation only opens the door for another attack because you can’t hold up your shield of faith and speak words of death (complaints) at the same time. Moreover, sometimes the battle is not yours to fight. Sometimes the battle really is the Lord’s. So all of your binding and rebuking in Jesus’ name is only stirring up devils that weren’t bothering you before you started provoking them with your blind buffeting.

Shout the Walls Down

God delivered the Israelites out of the hand of Pharaoh’s army, but only after they stopped complaining and kept their mouths shut. God gave Joshua a different strategy. Rather than staying silent, his battle plan was to make as much noise as humanly possible:

“And the Lord said to Joshua: ‘See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat” (Josh. 6:2-5, NKJV).

The result? The walls of Jericho fell down, and Joshua and his men took the city. But they had to shout as loud as they could. The Bible calls it a “great shout.” I don’t know how God used a shout to tear down walls any more than I understand how He parted the Red Sea so the Israelites could pass through. But what I do know is this: We have the victory in Christ, but manifesting that victory largely lies in our obedience.

For example, when we practice sin, we are in disobedience and we open the door for the enemy to wreak havoc in our lives. When, on the other hand, we practice obedience, we open the door for God’s power to flow through us to overcome every obstacle. Complaining when God tells us to stand and, having done all, to stand (Eph. 6:13) won’t deliver us out of the hand of the enemy. Likewise, staying silent when God is telling us to shout won’t bring us the victory either. Obedience is a monumental key to seeing victory.

So, before you charge into battle, get your spiritual warfare strategy from God. That may mean staying silent. It may mean shouting. It may mean something else. Spiritual warfare is not like making cookies with a cutter. Again, although there are spiritual laws and kingdom principles, you have to discern what law is operating and what principle to apply. So follow the Holy Spirit, and you’ll see the victory every time. Amen.

You can download a sample chapter of Jennifer’s new book, The Making of a Prophet, by clicking here.

Jennifer LeClaire is news editor at Charisma. She is also the author of several books, including The Spiritual Warrior’s Guide to Defeating Jezebel and The Making of a Prophet. You can email Jennifer at [email protected] or visit her website at www.jenniferleclaire.org.