Spiritual warfare

I have been thinking about spiritual warfare a good deal lately. Let me preface my thoughts with my own experiences. I have been involved with what we call spiritual warfare exercises most of my life. I have gone on prayer walks, prayer drives, and have prayed at "strategic" locations. I have rebuked evil, spoke truth, and made declarations.

When I look at spiritual warfare in the life of Jesus, I see another aspect of spiritual warfare. The Bible never tells us about the content of the conversations between the Father and Jesus in those times when Jesus went to the mountain to pray. Maybe Jesus prayed that principalities would be bound, that truth would be released, but it is never recorded. What is recorded is the spiritual warfare that took place as Jesus interacted with individual people. Jesus perceived that an evil spirit bound a man that could not speak, He cast the demon from the man. When a Peter spoke from his human intellect and became a mouth-piece for the evil one, Jesus rebuked Him. When a woman was brought to Him that was caught in the act of adultery, Jesus spoke words to release her from the curse of condemnation.

It seems to me that Jesus engagement in spiritual warfare occurred primarily in the life of individual people. He plundered the enemy by freeing people from bondage by His words and by His interaction with them.

In my own life, the most intense spiritual struggles and battles occur as I interact with people heart to heart, as I get involved in their mess. Tearing down strongholds in the minds of people can be intense at times. On the other hand, seeing freedom and life come to people in a practical way is exhilarating as well.

Might it be that we would rather pray over a geographic area than get involved with the people in that area. Might it be that we would rather rebuke the evil one than show people how to live by interacting deeply with them? Is it possible that we would rather proclaim from afar instead of engaging with broken people?