Recognizing the Spiritual Battle

In the third verse of Martin Luther's Hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" he speaks of the Christian's fight against the demonic. The verse says:

"And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us; The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure, One little word shall fell him."

Many believe that the "Little word" that can "fell" the devil is liar. The Bible says he is the father of lies. He is also a gaslighter who makes one believe the truth is a lie. That said, I've wondered why the modern church does not better equip the people of God to deal with the demonic. Leaders in the church have shared to just not focus on demonic activity at all because it will stir up things that are difficult to manage...Just focus on God and helping people. Nonetheless, when we look in the Scriptures, one of the signs of the kingdom was casting out the demonic and rebuking the work of the enemy. Jesus was perfectly united with God and yet rebuked the devil and cast out demons on many occasions. He did it so much that He was accused of being aligned with the devil. His disciples often cast out demons as well. Has the enemy ceased to be at work in our day where devils do not need to be rebuked and cast out? Or have we become so enlightened that we view the church's spiritual warfare in previous eras as mere superstition today?

Martin Luther knew that the Christian had to be aware of the evil power at work in the world because it was a direct affront to the work of Christ. He also knew--like Jesus, Peter, Paul and the other apostles--that the enemy had to be confronted and called out for what he is. In the New Testament, people were set free through casting out demons and casting down demonic strongholds. Today, we generally medicate at best or ignore at worst.

I do not believe that Scripture teaches that there is a demon behind every challenge, every mental illness, every sickness, etc., but I do believe that there are frequent times when demonic activity seeks to destroy people and families and the root cause for the chaos is often ignored. The spiritual gift of discernment allows the Holy Spirit to give us insight into what is happening in the spirit-realm. When that happens, believers in Jesus are able to effectively combat evil spirits and their wickedness in order to set the captives free through the power of the Holy Spirit.

I am personally asking God for greater understanding in this area. As I read through the Gospels, the Book of Acts and the Epistles, God does great things to truly change people's lives. Bondages are truly broken. Habits are truly changed. Illnesses are truly healed. There is no sense in the Scripture that these things stopped in the first century. God's power to set people miraculously free is still available today and I am praying that this reality becomes more normative among God's people.