Tips for Surviving Spiritual Attack
People who love us will remind us to keep faith. They’ll remind us that God is in control and that the enemy prowls like a lion, hoping to devour us whole. Do we get it?
Spiritual attack feels a lot like being in a field with a lion. He’s there… growling, watching and waiting for one misstep. He swats at us and knocks us around, leaving us confused, weak and battered. We keep trudging along; the lion keeps following close behind.
When will it end?
Spiritual attack is a part of life, so maybe that’s not the right question. A better one: When we’re about to collapse, when we really feel our spirit breaking, do we turn to God … or do we turn and run?
How can we survive spiritual attack on a daily basis?
Learning from the Lion
Wild lions aren’t as fast as most of their prey, so they rely on strategy.
For example, they’ll hide in a bush close to something their prey needs, like water, and just wait. Or they stalk their prey — up to a week or more — saving energy for that final attack.
In the Book of Job, the LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.” (Job 1:7)
Like the lion, evil roams the earth looking for prey. It studies us. It watches and waits. Eventually, the opportunity for attack presents itself.
We read in 1 Peter 5:8: Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
We know how desperate evil is to tear us to shreds. At some point during heavy spiritual attack, we may find ourselves hanging on in faith by a fingernail.
But faith — even when stretched thin — is the answer.
On our own we cannot survive this kind of enemy, but God can. He wants to fight the battle for us; He wants to guide us to success against the enemy. We need only ask.
And we must ask every day.
Tips for surviving spiritual attack:
1. Stay in the Word. Read the Bible — daily. God uses His word to show us who He is, what He does, and how He loves us.
2. Pray through it. When you feel the arrows coming at you, pray, pray PRAY. Even if the only thing you can manage in your mind is, “Lord, I need you now,” the act of prayer opens us up to be filled with the Spirit.
3. Persevere under pressure. When the heat turns up, it gets harder to do the right thing. We want to do the easy thing. The faster thing. The thing we desire. And that’s part of the attack. Don’t fold… do the righteous thing. Get stronger by going the distance in faith.
4. Keep faith when you feel forgotten. Sometimes we wonder if we’re alone out there on the battlefield when trials come. We’re not. We’re never alone. And part of making it through the trial is to remember that God is with those who love Him, guiding us toward success when we keep our faith against all odds. We have to hold on to the truth when the enemy is telling us lies.
5. Force the issue. Temptation can come on strong, and if we want to battle it, we often have to force ourselves away from it. Sometimes I have to force myself not to speak when I know nothing good will come out of my mouth. It’s hard. It’s like saying “no” to the doughnut you really want to eat. But later I’m glad I did.
Bible verses to help against spiritual attack:
So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (Matt 6:13)
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. (1 Peter 5:10)
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (Ephesians 6: 10-18)
Blessings.
For prayer, please contact me by email at JenGoingByFaith@gmail.com.
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