Q. I have heard talk about spiritual warfare and that we should anoint our door posts and windows with oil and pray a prayer to keep the enemy out.

Q. I have heard talk about spiritual warfare and that we should anoint our door posts and windows with oil and pray a prayer to keep the enemy out. What are your thoughts on this?

A There is no Scripture that tells us to do this, but there is no Scripture prohibiting it either. The practice of using anointing oil is ancient and God commanded the Israelites to make a special kind of oil and to us it for various reasons.. The Tabernacle, the furniture, the priests, and kings were anointed with oil, but those were one -time events. The anointing was done to set something apart for a holy purpose, not to keep evil away from or out of something. The New Testament doesn’t say much about using anointing oil. In Mark 6.13 and James 5.14 the Greek word “aleipho” is used and it means “to rub, smear and to cover.” In James 5.14 it means that the rubbing oil was the medicinal means applied prior to prayer. Aleipho is the common word used for the first century practice of rubbing oil on the body or hair for any reason, including medicinal. The word “chrio” is used when it is for a “sacred” reason (Luke 4.18, Acts 4.27, Acts 10>38, 2 Cor 1.21, Hebrews 1.9). But, the word “chrio” is never used in connection with healing and anointing oil, or anointing an object like a door or a window to keep evil away from or out of something. So, anointing a house is one of those areas that a person must be led of God about. There is no special oil to use or words to say, no particular way to do it, but this question brings up the subject of what spiritual warfare really is. Warfare is when one entity tries to impose their will on another, and warfare is made up of three elements. They are firepower, security and mobility. In spiritual warfare it is the same. Our firepower is our weapons with a purpose, to hit the enemy at various ranges through prayer, the Scriptures, books media and speech. In the area of security, any offensive action must include the ability to maintain a viable defensive position . A warrior in the physical must believe in the training they have received, their leadership and support. They know they can use and trust in their weapons, they know the terrain and have knowledge of the enemy. All these can be applied spiritually also. It is knowing that we are safe and secure in His promises, that we are truly saved and sons/daughters of God and we are doing what the Lord has commanded us to do through His Word. Mobility involves speed, quickness and the ability to move from one battle to another, to be a mobile firing platform . Spiritually, it involves our walk with the Lord and being able to move from one subject to another with speed, quickness, truth and accuracy. In spiritual warfare, you must be able to move from prophecy, in-depth knowledge of the Temple (Ezek 43.10-11), history, geography, having a working knowledge of the biblical languages, spiritual warfare, the festivals, Hebrew idioms and phrases and many, many other biblical subjects with a seconds notice, and oftentimes within the same conversation. We must be a mobile “firing” platform, able to hit the desired target with pinpoint accuracy and because a moving target is hard to hit as well. And we must be obedient to our Commander in the field, as He is called “Adonai Za’va’ot” in the Scriptures which means “Lord of the Armies”. We have confidence (faith) in Him, His abilities and command of the battlefield. We know He has the ability and “expertise” to wage war, and win. When we obey Him, then He will be our shield and protector (Psalm 91). In addition, to be an effective warrior you have to be trained. When I was in the Marines, we became familiar with live rounds, weapons, close combat, cannons and bombs going off, jet planes overhead and battlefield situations. This was done to familiarize you with what battle is like and to get you to the point where you no longer pay any attention to all that “noise.” Spiritually, you have to develop your skills and know your weapons to be appropriately prepared for battle in these current times. What won a battle yesterday may not win the next one. And remember, the enemy’s attacks and weapons against you will become more sophisticated as well. The Lord will do the same thing. He will teach you spiritual warfare and use “live rounds” to do it. In Judges 3.1-3 it says ; “Now these are the nations which the Lord left, to test Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan; so that generation of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, those who did not know war before.”” You see, God will teach you about spiritual warfare by putting you into spiritual warfare. All the oil in the world is not going to keep the enemy from attacking you if the Lord’s wants to train/condition you. In a battle, communication is one of the most important elements. So, find out why something is happening and what to do about it. You must be able to communicate with the Commander and that is called prayer. The Lord doesn’t fight battles the same way every time. Strategy is how to win a war, tactics is how to win battles and situations change so you must be able to use your firepower correctly, maintain a defensive position and be mobile in case of counterattack. But, even with all this, attitude also plays an important role in warfare. We must build our walls, fortify our gates and use our weapons according to the pattern the Lord has shown us in the Scriptures. Then, when an enemy is outside our walls he must stop and count the cost it will take to defeat you. He doesn’t want to start something he can’t finish. Battles can be won or lost before any fighting has even been done. In the Israeli tank corps, they have a motto that says “the real steel is in the tank” so attitude is very important. The Lord’s warrior must be trained, prepared and have put in the work necessary to become ready, but the battle belongs to the Lord and He will ultimately do what is right in His own eyes. If the Lord tells us to put oil on the door, then do it. But, we must make sure that this, or anything He may tell us to do, is expedient and doesn’t turn into a ritual because that (the ritual) may develop into something greater than obedience and the power of prayer and faith in the name of the Lord. The subject of spiritual warfare is a very important, but neglected, subject so over the next few weeks we will look into this in more detail. We will look into definitions, how to make wise preparations, psychological warfare, who the Commander is, what to do when attacking, what to do when under attack, what to do after a victory and overall warfare truths. It would take nearly a year to go over this subject in detail in person, so what will be written over the next few months will be the “nuts and bolts” of spiritual warfare but very important and necessary to help clarify what biblical, spiritual warfare really is. Remember, you are either going into a battle, in a battle or coming out of a battle and this will be the case for the rest of your life so hopefully these truths will be of great benefit to you.