When weather permits, Kevin and I like to go outside and sit on our swing in the evenings after dinner. We swing, sometimes holding hands, connecting over our day, talking about the family—especially the grandchildren—funny things we’ve heard or seen, what we need to work on in the house or yard, things God has done, etc.

And we fight red wasps.

They buzz around our heads, fly behind us and in our space, and land next to us on the swing, So, we stand and fight.

We stand and fight. If we spray them in mid-air with our wasp spray, we keep them from landing. If we don’t spray them, and they land, we kill them with a swatter. Sometimes one might get away … until another time. We fight off and on, as needed, until we go in for the evening.

As we walk this journey, enjoying the gifts of God in our lives—people, homes, time, ministries, provisions—the prince of the power of the air buzzes our heads with thoughts that circulate around and around, lying, trying to deceive and kill faith; swarms our space, attempting to take territory that belongs to God; and tries to land, to set up housekeeping.

But we stand and fight. We put the Word of God into our heads and take thoughts to the obedience of Christ. We fill our space with praise and worship. Listening to the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to pray through us, we pray targeted prayers, anointing our space to keep him from landing. When he sometimes gets through and does land, we destroy strongholds in the mighty name of Jesus.

And, we don’t give up the fight until our prodigals are saved, rescued, delivered, and freed from the grasp of the enemy. “Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air” (1 Corinthians 9:26 NKJV).