The Hands of a Warrior

By M.A. Dozier

This is more than a devotional, it's a training manual for the battlegrounds of the spiritual war that is taking place on your family right here, right now. It's time to quit giving the enemy the rights to your family and step into battle with full vengeance. Too many dads these days are complacent. They're watching from the sidelines as they le

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nimrod Outdoors
• Release date: Jun 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9798218011345

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THE HANDS OF A WARRIOR

© 2022 by M. A. Dozier

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from:

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (esv)
© 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Other Scripture quotations are from:

The Holy Bible, New International Version (niv)
© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation (nlt)
© 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers.
All rights reserved.

The Holy Bible, New King James Version (nkjv)
© 1984 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Dedicated to the men who came before me
and waged war on my behalf:

For Pa,who spiritually poured into his children
so that generations of spiritual warriors
would continue to be trained up and fight the fight.
Thank you for your eternal legacy.
I cannot wait for you to one day meet your greatgrandchildren
in the streets of heaven.

For my dad,
who took seriously his role as a spiritual leader
and who daily encouraged and strengthened me
into the man I have become. You took the time
to invest in my hobbies and interests—
and more importantly, in my soul.
Through your actions and words,
I have witnessed how to spiritually lead my own family.
Thank you for continuing the legacy.

Contents


Introduction

Before You Begin

1 Welcome to War

2 The Calling of a Warrior

3 The War That Surrounds Us

4 The Attributes of a Warrior

5 A Warrior Does Not Fight Alone

6 Forging a Warrior

7 Enlisting Your Demon-Slayers

8 The First Step in War

9 A Warrior Needs a Rabbi

10 A Warrior Needs Purpose

11 Warriors Need to Know Their Lineage

12 A Warrior’s Weapon

13 The Armor of a Warrior

14 Love through Provision

15 Love through Protection

16 Love through Affirmation

17 Love through Intentionality

18 Love through Community

19 Quiet Confidence

20 The Weapon of Wisdom

21 A Warrior Needs Compassion

22 A Warrior Needs Conviction

23 Every Warrior Is Unique

24 Tested by Fire

25 A Warrior Needs to Be Released

26 Dangerous Prayers

27 A Warrior’s Heritage

28 Dig Deep Wells

29 One Thousand Generations

30 Go Forth and Wage War


Introduction

The western church has become complacent. As men in the body of Christ, we’re spiritually sleeping and have completely dismissed our duties as spiritual leaders in our home. We’ve claimed work and finances as our primary role there while failing to lead our children sp iritually.

There’s a war being waged—and the enemy is determined to steal, kill, and destroy the souls of our kids, our marriages, and our families. If we remain apathetic to our responsibilities as spiritual leaders, we’ll usher our children and future generations into the abyss of eternal separation from Christ.

In this thirty-day devotional book, you’ll discover what it means to be the spiritual leader you’re called to be. You’ll learn what armor to put on, and what weapons to fashion so you can prepare yourself, your wife, your children, and future generations for battle. This is the most important battle of your life. It will test you, exhaust you, and beat you down. But at the end of the fight, my prayer is that you’ll hear these words: Well done, my good and faithful servant.

At the end of each day’s devotion, you’ll be sent away with an armory of scriptures—to spur you toward dusting off your Bible and diving in. This is your training ground for the spiritual war you’re surrounded by, and which is engulfing your family. But don’t rely on this book. This is merely a training pamphlet for the true manual, God’s Word. To be victorious in this war, you must constantly open that manual and seek wisdom from it.

I pray for conviction as you turn each page. I pray God opens your eyes to the war raging around you, and that you find urgency in the need to either begin or further sharpen the spiritual training of your family.

Are you ready?




Before You Begin

We all have our own unique story. Our stories are built upon the foundations of our culture, family life, trauma, genetic makeup, religion, and more—all molding and shaping each of us into the distinctive man we are today.

At Fatherhood.org, I saw an overwhelming statistic: one in four children in America live without a father in the home. Maybe you grew up without a dad. Maybe you were tossed back and forth between homes in a split marriage. Maybe you grew up with an abusive man in the home. Maybe your father was physically present but was more involved in his own work and hobbies than in your life. Or maybe you’re one of the few who was raised by a very intentional and loving father. The truth is that most of you reading this book have been hurt by your earthly dad. Your story may be written by these hurts, and some of you may be holding onto pain beyond any that I could wrap my head around. But these experiences do not define who you are.

In The Knowledge of the Holy A. W. Tozer writes, What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.

Is your view of your heavenly Father shaped by the experiences you had with your earthly father, or is it shaped by the truth found in Scripture? My objective in asking this is not to tear you down, but to urge you toward shining the light of Jesus in your soul, to expose dark corners where the devil has built strongholds. No man is perfect. We all have blind spots, and without the supernatural intervention of Jesus in our lives, we are utter failures.

God has uniquely crafted you to be the greatest influence in your family’s life, and he has equipped you to lead them spiritually. The devil wants to convince you that you’re unqualified to lead your family. The devil wants to tell you that you’re handicapped because of the lack of spiritual upbringing in your own life. The devil wants you to believe that someone else is better suited to spiritually pour into the lives of your children. Don’t let these lies infiltrate your mind. God has ordained you and prepared you as a warrior to stand in your family’s defense, and to train your children in the spiritual realms. It doesn’t matter how bad you think you’ve messed up. It doesn’t matter if you think it’s too late, because your children are grown (or almost). In Christ we are new creations. He has chosen you to lead your family. Stand on that, immerse your soul in that, and move forward in the truth that you are the man for the job.

One of my favorite interactions in Scripture is between Job and God