Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

Ephesians 6:16 NKJV

I used to think that faith alone would act as a shield of protection for us, but God has revealed to me that He Himself is our shield of protection. He is the only One we can trust to fully protect us from the schemes and attacks of the enemy. We can also trust Him for protection in our everyday lives.

He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

Psalm 18:30 NKJV

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 18:2 NKJV

Scripture tells us that the Lord always goes before us into battle. I’d like to share an experience with you that I had a few years ago, where the Lord went before me into battle. God used this experience to teach me a few things, and He also used it to confirm that He Himself is our shield of protection in battle.

One night as I was lying in bed, I felt an attack of incredible fear come over me which I knew was demonic. As this happened, I saw a vision of Jesus standing in front of me on my right, about an arm’s length away (about the same distance that you would hold a shield in front of you). After a few seconds, His form changed into that of a male lion’s face, and then the vision stopped. What I didn’t know at the time, was that He was actually showing me what was going to happen the next day. This is an example of how He went before me in battle to warn me of the battle, but also to show me that He had given me the victory. God used this experience as a teaching opportunity for me.

The next day, I went with my husband and a few disciple friends to pray for the mother of one of our disciple friends, as she was very ill. We all went into the room together and decided that it would be best if we first shared the gospel with her before we prayed for her to be healed. I then shared the gospel with her, and she let us know that she wanted to repent to God. At this time all the men left, and I was alone in the room with her – but we are never alone because God is always with us. She repented to the Lord of her sins, and while I was praying for her for healing and deliverance, I felt that attack of fear come over me just like what I had experienced the night before.

Just then, I saw the exact same vision from the night before. God knew that I wouldn’t stop praying for the lady just because I was attacked by a demon of fear. God used this experience to confirm to me that He is my Shield of protection, and He showed me that He was protecting me throughout the attack. Even though I felt the strength of that attack of fear for a long time whilst praying, I knew that the enemy could not hurt or harm me because I had put my faith in God for protection.

God’s shield of protection completely surrounds us

If we were to imagine ourselves in a spiritual battle with the enemy, I believe most of us would picture ourselves holding the shield of faith directly in front of us, in order to protect ourselves from the fiery darts of the enemy. The Lord has recently opened my eyes to the fact that the shield of faith not only offers us protection from the front, but it completely surrounds us.

For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield.

 Psalm 5:12 NKJV

The Angel of the LORD (Jesus) encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.

Psalm 34:7 NKJV

I believe the reason the Lord has brought this to our attention, is because He wants us to know that the enemy will not always come against us in a full-frontal attack, but also at times from the side (a flanking strategy or attack). When the enemy uses a flanking strategy, it is because he may want to catch us off-guard in an area of weakness or vulnerability to gain the advantage. Having said that, we know that Jesus has won the war, He has triumphed over the enemy in complete victory, and He shares His amazing victory with us.

I’d like to share another story from my life as an example of how the enemy used a flanking strategy.

A few weeks ago, my husband and I were asked to meet with some people because they needed help. Based upon the questions they were asking us, we all agreed that it would be best to share the gospel with them. While I was sharing the gospel, I started shaking and I couldn’t understand why. It wasn’t noticeable to anyone else, but I knew that something was off. I wasn’t afraid or nervous, but the Lord helped me realize that this was an attack from the enemy. This is a good example of what a flanking strategy looks like, because I was caught off guard and I was in a vulnerable position as I was busy sharing the gospel with people. The enemy knew that I wouldn’t stop sharing the gospel to fight him off, so I just had to persevere through the attack.

Later that evening the Lord instructed me to pray against the spirit of fear, and as He gave me this instruction, I immediately realized that it was a spirit of fear that had attacked me that day. The Lord gave me the understanding that the enemy was planning to use the same attack the next day during our time of fellowship with other believers. I prayed against that spirit and praise God, the next day we had a wonderful time of fellowship with no interference from the enemy. Thank You Jesus.

God is a perfect Father and a perfect Protector. May I encourage all of us to trust in His perfect protection in every situation and circumstance we face. We know that we will face spiritual warfare, but when we put our trust in God to protect us, we know that the enemy cannot harm us. As we spend time with the Lord, we learn to hear His voice and we learn how to be led by His Holy Spirit. He will also teach us to discern the various attacks and strategies from the enemy, so that we can pray against them. He is so faithful. He will not fail us because He cares about our well-being.

I pray these words bless and encourage you in Jesus precious name.