Manual for Spiritual Warfare by Paul Thigpen, PhD.

Manual for Spiritual Warfare
by Paul Thigpen, Ph.D.

A  fierce war rages for your soul. Are you ready for battle?

Like it or not, you are at war. You face a powerful enemy out to destroy you. You live on the battlefield, so you can’t escape the conflict.

It’s a spiritual war with crucial consequences in your everyday life and its outcome will determine your eternal destiny.

You must engage the Enemy. And as you fight, you need a
Manual for Spiritual Warfare.

This guide for spiritual warriors will help you recognize, resist,
and overcome the Devil’s attacks. Part One, “Preparing for Battle,”
answers these critical questions:

• Who is Satan, and what powers does he have?
• What are his typical strategies?
• Who fights him alongside us in battle?
• What spiritual weapons and armor do we possess?
• How do we keep the Enemy out of our camp?
 
Part Two, “Aids in Battle,” provides you these essential resources:
• Teaching about spiritual warfare from Scripture and Church documents
• Scripture verses of battle
• Wisdom and inspiration from saints who fought Satan
• Prayers for protection, deliverance, and victory
• Rosary meditations, hymns, and other devotions for spiritual combat
St. Paul urges us to “fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Tim 6:12). Take this Manual for Spiritual Warfare with you into battle.

The beautiful Premium UltraSoft gift edition features a ribbon marker and silver edges.

About the Author:
Paul Thigpen, Ph.D., is the editor of TAN Books and the best-selling author, co-author, or compiler of forty-one titles. Among his most popular books

is The Burden: A Warning of Things to Come and The Rapture Trap: A Catholic Response to End Times Fever. A convert to the Catholic faith, Paul has served the Church as an award-winning journalist, historian, apologist, catechist, and member of the National Advisory Council of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. His work has been circulated worldwide and translated
into twelve languages.

Product Details:
Item No: 2393
Pages: 336
ISBN: 9781618906533
Publisher: Saint Benedict Press, LLC
Imprint: TAN Books
Publication Date: 2014
Binding: Premium UltraSoft
Dimensions: 4.5" x 6.75"

Excerpts from this book:

— Paul Thigpen, p. 30

"Worship is a spiritual weapon. When we worship God, we enter into His presence in a powerful way. Because demons tremble at His presence, they are reluctant to follow us there. No doubt the Devil is busy tempting us and trying to distract us even when we attend Mass. But if we give ourselves wholly to participating in the Mass, he has little room to operate. In fact, true worship focuses our attention on God: praising Him for who He is and thanking Him for what He has done. When our minds and hearts are centered on God, the Enemy’s provocations and enticements lose their power. Frequent Mass attendance, then, is an effective weapon of our warfare."

  "Throughout Sacred Scripture, we find that when God's people fast, the power of their prayers is increased, especially when they are engaged in spiritual warfare. In the Old Testament, the Lord told Isaiah that a fast properly undertaken would 'loose the bonds of wickedness ... undo the thongs of the yoke ... let the oppressed go free' (Is. 58:6) ... In the New Testament, we find that Jesus fasted for forty days and nights in the wilderness in preparation for His battle with Satan, who came to tempt Him (see Lk 4:1-2) ... If prayer is a spiritual weapon, fasting is the spiritual whetstone on which it is sharpened. It's the spiritual muscle that, when exercised regularly, strengthens the thrust of that weapon to pierce the Enemy and drive him away."
— Paul Thigpen, p. 42

"Prayer and fasting, worship and adoration, Scripture and sacraments and sacramentals all provide the weapons of our spiritual warfare. With them, we go on the offensive against the Evil One. But the virtues provide our defense armor. As Blessed Pope Paul VI once observed, St. Paul ‘used the armor of a soldier as a symbol of the virtues that can make a Christian invulnerable.’ They are our best defense against his attacks, for they guard our minds and hearts against his deceptions and temptations. A lapse in virtue is, in fact, a chink in our armor that makes us vulnerable."
— Paul Thigpen, p. 57-8

"If you are able to fast, you will do well to observe some abstinence beyond what is enjoined by the Church. For in addition to the ordinary benefits of fasting—namely, lifting up the mind, subduing the flesh, strengthening virtue, and earning an eternal recompense—it is a great matter to be able to command our tastes and inclinations and to keep the body and its appetites subject to the law of the spirit. And even if we do not fast to any great extent, Satan is the more afraid of those who, he is aware, know how to fast."
— St. Francis de Sales, p. 144-5

"In times of spiritual coldness and laziness, imagine in your heart those times in the past when you were full of zeal and solicitude in all things, even the smallest. Remember your past efforts and the energy with which you opposed those who wanted to obstruct your progress. These recollections will reawaken your soul from its deep sleep, will invest it once more with the fire of zeal, will raise it, as it were, from the dead, and will make it engage in an ardent struggle against the Devil and sin, thus being restored to its former height."
— St. Isaak of Syria, p. 146

"Beloved brothers and sisters, we must strive with all our strength to repel the enemy of our soul, with full attention and vigilance, as he rages and aims his darts against every part of us that can be assaulted and wounded. This is what the Apostle Peter, in his epistle, warns and teaches us about, saying: 'Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour' (1 Pt. 5:8)."
— Paul Thigpen, p.150

"The Devil didn't deal out temptations to Our Lord only. He brings these evil schemes of his to bear on each of Jesus' servants—and not just on the mountain or in the wilderness or when we're by ourselves. No, he comes after us in the city as well, in the marketplaces, in courts of justice. He tempts us by means of others, even our own relatives. So what must we do? We must disbelieve him altogether, and close our ears against him, and hate his flattery. And when he tries to tempt us further by offering us even more, then we should shun him all the more. . . We aren't as intent on gaining our own salvation as he is intent on achieving our ruin. So we must shun him, not with words only, but also with works; not in mind only, but also indeed. We must do none of the things that he approves, for in that way will we do all those things that God approves. Yes, for the Devil also makes many promises, not so that he may give them to us, but so that he may take away from us. He promises plunder, so that he may deprive us of the kingdom of God and of righteousness. He sets out treasures in the earth as snares and traps, so that he may deprive us both of these and of the treasures in heaven. He would have us be rich in this life, so that we may not be rich in the next."
— St. John Chrysostom, p. 152-3

"My dear brothers and sisters, not only is a prayer very powerful; even more, it's of the utmost necessity for overcoming the enemies of our salvation. Look at all the saints: They weren't content with watching and fighting to overcome the enemies of their salvation and with keeping well away from all that could offer them temptation. They passed their whole lives in prayer, not only the

day

but very often the whole night as well. Yes, my dear children, we watch over ourselves and all the motions of our hearts in vain, and in vain we avoid temptation, if we don't pray. If we don't continually resort to prayer, all our other ways will be of no use at all to us, and we'll be overcome. We won't find any sinner converted without turning to prayer. We won't find one persevering without depending heavily on prayer. Nor will we ever find a Christian who ends up damned whose downfall didn't begin with a lack of prayer."

"I've appointed the Devil to tempt and to trouble My creatures in this life [St. Catherine of Siena reports that Our Lord said to her]. I've done this, not so that My creatures will be overcome, but so that they may overcome, proving their virtue and receiving from Me the glory of victory. And no one should fear any battle or temptation of the Devil that may come to him, because I've made My creatures strong, and I've given them the strength of will, fortified in the Blood of My Son. Neither the Devil nor any other creature can control this free will because it's yours, given to you by Me. By your own choice, then, you hold it or let it go if you please. It's a weapon, and if you place it in the hands of the Devil, it right away becomes a knife that he'll use to stab and kill you. On the other hand, if you don't place this knife that is your will into the hands of the Devil—that is, if you don't consent to his temptations and harassments—you will never be injured by the guilt of sin in any temptation. Instead, you'll actually be strengthened by the temptation, as long as you open the eyes of your mind to see My love, and to understand why I allowed you to be tempted: so you could develop virtue by having it proved. My love permits these temptations, for the Devil is weak. He can do nothing by himself unless I allow him. So I let him tempt you because I love you, not because I hate you. I want you to conquer, not to be conquered, and to come to a perfect knowledge of yourself and of Me."
— St. Catherine of Siena, p. 159-60

"Now there's no one who approaches God with a true and upright heart who isn't tested by hardships and temptations. So in all these temptations see to it that even if you feel them, you don't consent to them. Instead, bear them patiently and calmly with humility and longsuffering."
— St. Albert the Great, p. 164