One of the greatest dangers in spiritual warfare is going to extremes. Christians either don’t see Satan’s hand in anything in their life, or they see it in every little detail. We either ignore him or give him too much attention. Since you’re reading this blog I assume you believe in spiritual warfare. But maybe you have a hard time differentiating the normal stuff life throws at us from a spiritual attack. We don’t want to give Satan more recognition than necessary, but if something is a demonic attack we must treat it as such to have victory. How can we tell the difference?
Basically, if something doesn’t respond to normal Christian practices like prayer, turning from sin, memorizing Scripture, godly counsel and the like then checking for a spiritual attack is important. Attacks can be small and subtle so they are hardly noticeable, or then can be major offensives. Let’s start with signs of an attack than can often be overlooked and not recognized.
1. MENTAL CONFUSION, FEELING GUILTY & CONDEMNED, SPIRITUALLY DULL. Sometimes this comes on slowly so it isn’t noticeable at first. It is a drifting from God’s truth to Satan’s lies. We don’t think to pray and have lost our closeness to God and often others as well. Sometimes this is masked by being busy so we don’t notice we are pulling away from God and His presence and peace. It’s like living under a cloud that obscures the light and leaves us uncertain about things we had been sure of. We feel down on ourselves, insecure and like a failure. Past guilts rise to the surface. We aren’t sure where to turn for truth or to get oriented again. We even start doubting things we have long believed and questioning some of the basic foundations in our lives. Anxiety, oppression and stress can slip in unnoticed.
This would happen to me before traveling to India to lead pastors’ conferences. It started gradually, a couple months before, and very slowly grew to be a major distraction and weight. As an introvert, I have always been susceptible to fear in its various forms and that’s what gave it an opening. At first I didn’t even notice it until it suddenly it lifted a week or two after I was ministering in India. Then it became clear what had happened.
What to do? Remember that God is not a God of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33) so clearly this is not from God. Don’t blame it on circumstances or other people. Instead rebuke it immediately. Remember God’s promises that there is no condemnation for us (Romans 8:1) and He promises the fruit of peace (Galatians 5:22-23). Memorizing and quoting promises about victory over fear is also important (Isaiah 41:10; Psalm 27:1; John 14:27; Hebrews 13:6). Praise God. Listen to uplifting Christian music. Ask others to pray for you.
2. TEMPTATIONS INCREASE, SIN AND WRONG CHOICES SEEM ATTRACTIVE. We all will always be tempted, but when you notice an increase, either gradually or a sudden avalanche of them, get suspicious. You find yourself attracted to a certain sin much more than usual, almost unable to turn from it, even giving in sometimes. You make bad decisions and wrong choices, knowing at the time you shouldn’t be making them but feeling somehow drawn to do so. This gets worse when we feel tired, discouraged or aren’t getting along with a loved one. It’s like a perfect storm of negative things hit us all at once and our only escape seems to be to indulge in an attractive sin to get relief as we escape from it all.
Pride is another opening that allows this kind of attack to come. Self-focus, lots of stress and pressure in life and a feeling of self-importance can open a door the enemy will enter. That may be part of what is causing so many well-known church leaders to give in to sexual sin lately.
What to do? First get your life straightened out so you aren’t tired. Take care of your health. That’s when Satan attacked Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). Take care of your health and family relationships. Spend quality time alone with God. Sin is meeting a legitimate need in an illegitimate way. Label your legitimate need and then find God’s Biblical solution to correctly meet it so you aren’t tempted to use a substitute to escape it. Confess any sin and take back any access demons gained into your life. Command them to be gone in Jesus’ name and make sure you are filled with God’s Holy Spirit instead.
James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
What subtle, hidden attacks of the enemy are most effective against you?
Why do they work so well?
What can you do to stop them from succeeding?
cto Rev. Dr. JERRY SCHMOYER
Christian Training Organization
Jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org
(India, Africa & Spanish Outreach, Spiritual Warfare, Family Ministries, Counseling, World View)
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