The picture above is a print made from a woodcut etching by Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) a fifteenth century German Renaissance artist who specialized in detailed woodcut prints as well as paintings and writings. This particular etching and others he has done like it have always represented to me a graphic illustration of spiritual warfare.
Notice the fierce battle between angels and ghouls and other devilish creatures is going on in the sky above a depiction of a peaceful, idyllic countryside. This is a visual representation of Ephesians 6:12, “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”
If we could see this unseen spiritual world around us, we might not get out of bed in the morning. Durer understood spiritual warfare. He understood that the visible world we live in doesn’t tell the whole story. It’s a world that can lull us to sleep while all sorts of screaming, shrieking and clashing is going on in another realm just beyond the sights and sounds of our existence.
There is an instance in the Old Testament where Daniel prays for help, and three weeks later, Michael the archangel shows up and explains that his prayer was heard “but for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way” (Daniel 10:13). Imagine: I pray for help and three weeks later an angel shows up and says, “Sorry John. We heard your prayer but I’ve been just a little tied up in Persia.” And Durer’s woodcut shows what he’s been doing for the last three weeks, imagining the major figure represents the archangel himself.
This is not just a cute story for a Bible class. This is a scene out of the Old Testament as recorded by the prophet Daniel. If this happened then, then similar things like this happen now. We never know what we are up against because we do not see the whole story and we can be thankful we don’t.
At the same time, we must be careful not to panic. We are not fighting these enemies by ourselves. The army of the Lord fights for us. However, we have been issued equipment to wear that will protect us in the middle of this unseen war since the battle is always going on all around us at all times and we never know when it might break in on our reality. Sometimes the battle does reach us at our level, and at these times, we must be sure we have on our armor, and that we have the one offensive weapon we possess, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, out and ready to combat the lies of the enemy.
Here at the Catch, we take this warfare seriously. This is why we have prayer warriors (and why we call them “warriors”) who pray for all of us at all times. That is why we, in turn, need to pray for them as they are on the front lines of the battle for us.
And pay close attention this week as we will be going over our armor piece by piece, so you can protect yourself, your family, and your children’s children.
Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Ephesians 6:13
If you don’t believe this is a time of evil, you are not paying attention.
John Fischer The Catch 
thanks for this very important reminder John. I need to beef up my spiritual muscles.
Ok, I believe this. I grew up hearing, reading and chosing to believe this but I’ve never been able to understand nor comprehend a God who takes “21 days” to answer a prayer. The power of his holy angels aside, either God is God or he’s not. Why do we call him Almighty and then accept stories like this that are supposedly true? I don’t quite get it. For me, it throws a cloud over the truth that God can actually accomplish anything or that he’s constanly subject to the same obstacles we face. Also, I get that he might be trying to teach me something in the process, that there are nuances of divine relationship, spiritual warfare, faith, etc. But it just seems so out of character for something like this to happen to a holy, omnipotent. omnipresent, omniscient God. But hey, maybe I just don’t know the character of God well enough. That’s probably the short answer.
Perhaps it might be that there are limitations with the angels. God could have stepped in and personally come to Daniel’s aid, but He decided to leave this one up to Michael, and Michael isn’t God. This may be too simplistic, but it’s how I think about it. God also might have left this in as you say — to show us that these things are real.
Yeah! Ok… I think I can buy that. When it comes to prayers, I’ll admit, I’m at sea in trying to figure out how God answers them, or delays in answering them.
Thanks bro!
Dear J.D. Woods,
Let me offer an explanation that works for me. God’s plans are set in eternity, it is called predestination. God also tells us that all will turn out good in the end for believers in JEsus Christ. His promises come true in various ways. The apostle Peter says to God a day is like a thousand years and vice versa. We do not know what those plans are but we think that we really want to know what they are. Our perspective is set in time, we want answers now. God deals with us on a need to know basis, and he decides what we need to know.
We live in time and on our hearts God wrote eternity.. So we know both time and eternity but usually time rules in our lives.. We do not like waiting.
Anytime you pray, God may answer immediately, after a while, or years later or not at all. The latter constitutes a no answer. So you might say God answers , yes, no , or wait.
Figuring God out is what you say you want to do. I tried that for a while but that does not work. What does work for me is humbly submitting myself to His will. God needs to be trusted by waiting for His answer and living my life in relationship with Him because He is where the Joy is.
Having the Armour of God is always important, now more than ever. Their is quite a bit of evil but, if we remember to have faith, believe in God thru his Son Jesus and the fact he is with us all the way it will be scary at times but also hopeful for each of us. Take care, God Bless, and suit up with the armor of God.