We don’t have to be helpless victims when spiritual attacks come, so how can you fight back when the enemy is attacking you?
The Armor of God
[1]
Whether we even realize it or not, Christians are under spiritual attacks. We might not think about it that much, but that makes us even more vulnerable to the enemy’s ploys. This is why the Apostle Paul told the church at Ephesus, to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Eph 6:10), but how can we be “in the strength of his might?” Paul tells us that we must “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” (Eph 6:11). We will need this armor because the enemy’s invisible. Paul wrote that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12). It would be much easier if we could see the enemy, but we can’t. That’s why we must take action and “put on” the armor. It’s useless unless it’s put on and maybe why Paul again tells the church, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm” (Eph 6:13). If God repeats something in His Word, then it must be important, and the important thing in these verses (Eph 6:11-13) is to “put on” the armor of God so “that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil” (Eph 6:11).
Start Praising God
When someone you know starts bragging about their sports team that just won the championship, but their team is an arch-rival of yours, then it’s irritating when they tart boasting about their team being number one. In the same way, Satan and his demons hate it when we start heaping praises on God and giving thanks to Him over and over again in worship and in prayer. If you’re alone and you feel like you’re under spiritual attack, why not drop to your knees (if it’s possible) and start pouring out praises to God. Satan can’t stand to hear all of the marvelous things about God, so that’s one way to fight the enemy. Send irritants like praise and thanksgiving to God; it should drive him away. If it doesn’t, then keep doing it anyway because God is worthy of our praises and thanksgiving.
[2]I praise Your Name and the Name of Jesus Christ! I love You! Amen
Worship God
I have a hard time separating worship from prayer, because while I’m praying to God, I am also worshiping God, and when I am worshiping God, I am also praying to God. One way to fight back when the enemy attacks is to start praying to God and worshiping Him and praising Him. That’ brings up another point. I believe we should do all these three things when we are under spiritual attack; start praising God, start worshiping God, and start praying to God. Those three things are like an assault weapon against the enemy, and we know that God inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3), so if we’re praying to Him, giving praises to Him and are worshiping Him, He’s inhabiting us or dwelling in our praises. That doesn’t leave any room for evil spirits; with God’s prayers, praises, and worship, you can tell the enemy, “Sorry, there’s no room at the Inn.”
Living God’s Word
Satan will ramp up his attacks by sending spiritual or fiery darts at you when you begin to learn the Word of God and when you begin to obey the Word of God. When you are obeying God, you are disobeying Satan and his demons desire for your life. When we do what Scripture says, we’re not doing what Satan wants. This will likely bring on spiritual attacks. I don’t think demons spend much time on lukewarm Christians, but on those who are growing in the Word of God, obeying the Word of God, and sharing the Word of God. When a believer lives in obedience to God, though none of us do so perfectly, the enemy knows that we’re a threat to his kingdom of darkness. When Christians get the salt out of the shaker and light from under the table, then they’re going to face resistance because they’ll get the enemy’s attention. With a mind that’s stayed on Christ we can have the peace of God because we’ve made peace with God (Rom 5:1). Being a Christ-follower will bring persecution. Not because of who you or I are, but because of Who He is, however, following Christ (in obedience) will keep you near the Good Shepherd, and His rod and staff should give you comfort (Psalm 23) and refuge from the enemy, who like a lion, roams about, seeking whom he might devour (1 Pet 5:8).
Memorize Scripture
[3]The psalmist had hidden or memorized God’s Word in his heart so that he would not sin (Psalm 119:11). For example, one man I know who has battled with an addiction to pornography for years, memorized Jobs’ words, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin” (Job 31:1)? This man memorized this so that when his eyes started to fix on something or some woman, he quoted this verse and looked away. I thought that was brilliant! That’s putting the Word of God to good use. Besides, the Word has God’s power in it (Rom 1:16; 1 Cor 1:18). That’s the weapon of Jesus’ choice when resisting Satan’s temptation in the wilderness (Matt 4:1-11). Three times Jesus rebuked the Devil by using Scripture in context and right after Satan had taken Scripture out of context to make it a false pretext. He loves twisting Scripture or ripping it out of context. I suggest you store up on the ammo of God’s Word so that when you are under spiritual attack, you can quickly retrieve the Word of God. We already know that “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12). Satan is no match for the living, active, breathing Word of God.
Feelings Over Facts
When someone is in a place of spiritual darkness or depression, one of the first few questions they should ask themselves is, “Who are you listening too? Are you listening to your feelings more than God? Are circumstances controlling your joy? Are you busy navel gazing?” Do you ever think, “Even God doesn’t understand me?” I think it’s natural, even for believers, to fall into a place of spiritual depression for a time. Most of us do. The problem comes when we stay there. We must ask ourselves why we don’t believe what the Word of God says. The Bible says we are now at peace with God through Jesus Christ (Rom 5:1), and that means there is no more condemnation (Rom 8:1), so why do we allow ourselves to fall into feelings of condemnation and hopelessness? It’s because we trust what we feel more than trust what the Word of God says. Scripture says nothing can separate us from the love of God once we’ve trusted in Christ, and this means “neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38-39). That about covers it doesn’t it? Now, if none of these things can keep us from God, why do we sometimes feel separated from God?
Who’s In Control?
We know from the Bible that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without God knowing it (Matt 10:29). In fact, He knew it was going to happen. It is the Lord God Who “is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Tim 6:15c), so even the sparrow is under the sovereignty of God. Yes, He is the same “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them” (Acts 4:24). When the disciples thought their life was in peril because of a great storm on the sea, Jesus “rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm” (Matt 8:26), but Jesus didn’t only rebuke storms, Jesus rebuked the demons. In one instance, a demon “came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly” (Matt 17:18). Elsewhere, “Jesus rebuked [the demon] by saying, “Be silent, and come out of him” (Mark 1:25), and the demons left immediately, so the demons had to leave, and in some cases, they weren’t even allowed to speak. Why? Jesus is God and He is sovereign, over nature, over the demons, and in our life.
[4]Our emotions can change from day to day, but God never changes (Heb 13:8, Malachi 3:6)
If we understand that God is always in control, we can let that tight grip on the steering wheel go and let God have His way with us. When you’re feeling spiritually depressed, think about who’s really in control at that time. Is it you and your feelings…or is it God? Who is in control of all the circumstances that are upsetting you? Remember, God can use evil for good (Gen 50:20), so all things work toward your best (Rom 8:28). Just trust God in the process. Don’t trust what you feel. Feelings are very unreliable data compared to the objective truth found in Christ (John 14:6).
Navel Gazing
Almost every time we get down in the dumps, we are taking our eyes off of Jesus and putting them on ourselves. The world suddenly revolves around us. I know…I’ve been there. I admit it…but, I didn’t stay there for long. I repented of my ingratitude and not being content in Christ. I should have realized that I have all things in Christ. I’ve been blessed with every spiritual blessing (Eph 1:3). I am in Christ and have the righteousness of Christ, which has been imputed to me (2 Cor 5:21). It came without works, as a gift (Eph 2:8-9), so how can I grumble? When I have counseled people in the past about falling into spiritual depression, I counted the number of times the person used the word “I, me,” or “myself,” and these words showed up in their conversation almost ten times more than the word “God” or the “Bible.” They, like I, had a severe case of “me-itis.”
Some people call it navel gazing. They are only looking inward and not outward to the Word of God, or the counsel of the people of God, or listening to the Spirit of God. It almost becomes a preoccupation with self, so when I understood that I was focusing on me and not on God, I repented and stopped looking at me and instead was “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2).
Go And Serve
[5]When people are in a deep, dark place, most want to get out. They might ask, “How can I get out of this spiritual depression? What’s the solution to breaking free of this navel gazing that I’m stuck in?” There’s an easy answer to that. Serve. When a middle-aged man joined our church, he asked me where he could serve. After I got up off the floor (just kidding), I ask him if he’d join me in the nursing home ministry. We provide church services for those who can’t go to church. We reasoned, if they can’t go to church, the church can go to them. And we began to love it…and the people in particular. The man that’s helping me is a single man and gets lonely at times, but when he serves with us in visiting the orphans and widows (James 1:27), he is off the charts joyful when he leaves. He forgets all about his depression or problems. He tells me, and I can attest to it, that after he’s done visiting in the nursing home, there is skip in his step, and his heart feels lighter than air. You can see it in him…he is brimming with joy. Many people feel the same way after witnessing to someone. Sharing Christ does that! Not at first maybe, but afterward, most definitely. I find that one way to beat depression is to serve others. It takes your mind off self and puts it onto others, and the unexpected pleasure is, you come away full of joy.
Summary
As you probably noticed, I threw myself under the bus on this one, because I wanted to be honest and show that spiritual depression hits nearly all of us at one time or another. Some are in one now, some are about to go into one, and some have just passed through one, so I pray this helps those who are navigating a dark, decaying world; a world where it’s easy to get down. The world beats you up, but God lifts you up. He is near the broken hearted and crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18), so whenever you’re feeling depressed, start reading the Word of God, start praying to God, and starting thanking God. Besides, there are so many who have it much worse than we do. We often take these blessings for granted, so praise God, pray to God, read the Word of God, thank God, serve God, and you’ll have the joy of God.
Conclusion
I pray you have put your trust in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If that has not happened yet, my friend, you are in real danger of hell fire. And I mean, in immediate danger. You’re one breath, one heartbeat…one accident away from eternity when it will be too late to repent. Today is the best day to believe (2 Cor 6:2) since tomorrow is no guarantee. If Jesus Christ came today, here is your fate (Matt 7:21-23). This is why I plead with you as you read this, repent today…and I mean right now. Put your trust in Jesus Christ. If you do not, you will face God’s judgment after death guaranteed (Heb 9:27) or at Jesus Christ’s appearance (Rev 20:12-15), which could happen at any moment.
Here is some related reading for you: Is It a Demonic Attack or the Holy Spirit’s Conviction? [6]
Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), Crossway Bibles. (2007). ESV: Study Bible: English standard version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.