Is what you are experiencing spiritual warfare, or ‘just life?’
For many months I blithely walked around my favorite local park, enjoying the gardens, the scenery, and my time out, oblivious to any dangers that might be lurking in the shrubbery.
Then one day I read a newspaper article about a boy who had been bitten by a snake in the same park just a few days before and had been taken to hospital.
We are Kiwis living in Australia. We don’t have snakes in New Zealand. We can walk in the bush in our ‘jandals’ without a care in the world.
On my next visit to the park, I was on high alert. Tense, and on edge, I watched the path and was alerted by every rustle in the bush. There seemed to be an awful lot of rustling! I did not enjoy the walk that day.
Sure enough, I soon settled down and was back to taking pleasure in my walks. However, I took some basic precautions; not veering off the paths and ensuring that I had my mobile phone with me if I was walking alone.
Balance in Spiritual Warfare
In Luke 10:19-20, Jesus said,
“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
As my response to snakes in the park, there are two errors that we can fall into with regard to spiritual warfare. One is to ignore it altogether (2 Cor 2:11) and at the other extreme, to make too much of it.
Balance requires us to always step back and discern whether what we are experiencing is spiritual warfare, or just something happening that is physical and emotional, or a combination of both.
Our goal in spiritual warfare is not to draw or pay attention to what the devil is doing. It is to focus on God and pay attention to what HE is doing—and not put up with less than His best.
12 Signs you may be Experiencing Spiritual Warfare
Here are some signs of a spiritual battle taking place. Being alert to these can help you weigh up whether or not a situation is being affected by spiritual warfare.
1. Changes for the worse (especially sudden or severe) in areas of health, finances, relationships
Important note: When we are sick or when bad things happen to us, it is not always the devil that causes it
·It may be just physical
·Sometimes it is just life
·Sometimes (e.g. financial or relationships) it is others’ or our own wrong choices.
2. The temptation to sin—beyond the normal
Temptation originates with our own weakness and ungodly desires (James 1:13-15) but the enemy can use situations and people around us, to apply extreme or sudden pressure on us in these areas.
3. Pattern of recurring negative events
Note that this can also be indicative of a curse in operation.
4. Atmosphere – of pressure or oppression
In Rom 14:17, the Apostle Paul tells us that the Kingdom of God consists of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. When we are robbed of these things, we need to pay attention. What happened?
5. Severe discouragement
We need to particularly pay attention when the first signs of discouragement strike. Discouragement or confusion should be like an orange flashing light, alerting us to the possibility that we are in a spiritual battle.
According to Rick Joyner, the progressive ‘sting of witchcraft’ is: discouragement, confusion, depression, loss of vision, disorientation, withdrawal and despair leading to defeat. These are the signs we need to pay attention to when on the alert for spiritual warfare in our personal lives and ministry [1]. One example of this in operation is Elijah’s response after he was threatened by Jezebel. (1 Kings 19)
6. Crippling condemnation
The conviction of the Holy Spirit is specific and brings a conclusion through repentance, but condemnation is cloudy.
7. Intimidation and Fear (I Can’t)
This is especially so when the fear is pressuring you to stop moving in the direction of God’s revealed will for your life, or that of your family, ministry or church.
8. Confusion
The enemy thrives in confusion. We think it’s us. Everything gets hazy. Confusion is often an attack on our minds, but it can also be apparent in relationships where communication becomes distorted, perverted, and misrepresented.
9. Anything that brings pressure to bear AGAINST God’s revealed will for your life
10. Pressure (beyond the normal) on important relationships
11. Battle in the mind – negative ‘tapes’ playing
Our mind (and that of others) becomes a central battleground (2 Cor 10:5), where the enemy tries to sow messages that are contrary to the word God has spoken to us or revealed in the Bible underscoring feelings such as failure, fear, condemnation, hurt, or even attack and accusation of others.
12. Distinct start time,
With spiritual warfare, there is usually a distinctive time of onset. If you have an ongoing history in one of the above areas, e.g. fear, relational or sin issues, it is probably not warfare. It may be personal ‘baggage’ that you need to deal with.
The Battle Won
And having disarmed the powers and authorities, [Christ] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Col 2:15)
The good news is that Jesus has won the battle for us on the cross. We can apply the authority He has given to us and enter into His victory.
In the next blog post, I will begin exploring some ways to deal with spiritual warfare once you have discerned it taking place in your personal life, church or ministry.
Snakes Alive!
My first real-life encounter with a snake came later, in another park. My husband Malcolm (aka The Hunk) and I were exploring a trail when we came across a poisonous brown snake barring the way to our destination.
My intrepid husband crept closer to the snake doing his best Steve Irwin impression (‘Crikey! Isn’t it a beauty?)
I, on the other hand, dug my heels in and refused to progress any further, even when the snake veered off into the undergrowth. What if it was there again when we returned?
It seems that some things never change!
[1] Rick Joyner, The Surpassing Greatness Of His Power, 1996, Whitaker House: New Kensington
Spiritual Warfare Online Course
I have just launched my first new online course, ‘Spiritual Warfare 101: How to Identify and Overcome Spiritual Attack’ and I warmly invite you to join me!
This course includes around 30 mini-lectures on video and is full of Biblical wisdom and strategies to help you overcome in time of battle. There is also a downloadable full transcript in PDF version.
And once you’re in, there is no expiry date.
The Bible has great news. If you have discerned signs of spiritual warfare, you do not have to be weighed down by spiritual oppression or put up with pressure and attack! Find out more about the course, ‘Spiritual Warfare 101: How to Identify and Overcome Spiritual Attack’ here.
Related Posts:
Responding to Spiritual Warfare Pt 1: Identify the Enemy’s Strategy
How to Wage Spiritual Warfare: Specific Strategies You Can Use
6 Reasons Why Moving in the Opposite Spirit is Powerful
© Helen Calder Enliven Blog – Prophetic Teaching
Enliven Ministries—in the David McCracken Ministries family
Helen Calder is a prophetic minister and writer, and founder of Enliven Ministries. Helen has a unique gift of equipping in prophetic ministry and prayer. She is known for Enliven Blog (est. 2009), an online resource that reaches thousands of people globally.
I am a part-time seminarian who works full time. I have been attending classes for two and a half years, and I am a third of the way through my degree. I have slowly hardened as I have attended school; I know what is happening, but I feel like I can’t stop it. My wife says I am not even the same man anymore, and she’s right. I am judgmental and cold, and I can’t live up to my own standards. I feel that the demonic realm would love nothing more than to see me give up on ministry. Am I making excuses for myself, or could this be true warfare against me?
Hi Jeremy,
In answer to your question, there will always be an aspect both of spiritual warfare and of personal responsibility.
But what is most important right now, is for you to know that you are empowered to break free of where you have been. Holy Spirit is already at work in your life, awakening you to what is taking place in your spiritual condition, and alerting you to spiritual warfare.
(These could well be signs of spiritual warfare… ‘feel like I can’t stop it’ and pressure to ‘give up on ministry’)
If your desire is for change – and it sounds as though it is – I suggest making a move on two fronts…
1. Spiritual warfare prayer, personally, you and your wife, and the help of others who believe in you and with you.
2. Position for a fresh encounter with God. You mention the words ‘judgmental’ and ‘standards’ which indicates that your faith is being threatened by performance (this can be a religious spirit, but more often than not our soul’s craving to please God through reverting to works). So it’s important that you don’t respond with a to-do list of ‘good works’ :-) just a hunger to know Him.
Especially a revelation of God as Father and His grace. I share something of my own journey in these articles and encourage you to reflect on this:
http://enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2011/08/31/1-father-2-sons-3-positions/
http://enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2010/09/05/no-longer-an-orphan-how-i-discovered-the-fathers-love/
(P.S. If you are still struggling, don’t feel condemned if you need extra help—prayer ministry, counseling, whatever it takes… go for it. God’s extraordinary grace, He uses others to help us break free.
So about a year ago i was freed from certain sins. One being porn. But it was a struggle for only a short while many years a back and never again was it a struggle. However lately i feel the enemy trying hard to bring that particular struggle back up. And I will admit I fell back into it recently, but everytime i looked at porn ot felt as though it wasnt me and when i finally realised what was going on I stopped. Is this an attack?
Hi Suzie, it does sound like an attack – I mention in the article above that sudden or extreme pressure in the area of temptation can be a sign of spiritual warfare. The main thing is that you obtain the means to overcome it and find peace. If spiritual warfare (and the insight that it is a temptation that is external from you) is what gives you the breakthrough, that is great, praise God! If there is an ongoing struggle in an area like this I always recommend finding someone who is a ‘safe person’ i.e. who will journey with you with grace and without condemnation but who will keep you accountable and pray with you. May you continue in His freedom. :-)
It is awesome. One afternoon I was hit by lightening, was not hurt. After two days, an old man was found sleeping in my bed next to me. Again two days later ayoung girl was sleeping next to me with some sports on her face. All these incidents I used the athourity that my father gave me (Jesus).
Thank-you for this post. I read your blog before and liked it on facebook and decided to consult your website because of what I am going through. Sure enough, the most current blog post related to what I am experiencing…a feeling of defeat in a battle but not the war. I try to find a balance in the spiritual warfare that I am going through. I am newly Christian and how this came to be is reminiscent of horror movie. I discovered I was the “healer” in my generation from one of my bloodline’s heritage. It explained a lot of the supernatural experiences I’ve had my whole life and my curiosity with occult subjects. Through wanting to do what’s right and a sudden thirst for the Truth, I developed a relationship with Christ simultaneously while I was pursuing being a healer…because I was told this “gift” was Christ based. Yet, Christ made it known to me that what my family practiced was witchcraft hiding behind Christianity and was truly demonic driven. I kept on asking myself why I wanted to be a healer. Why? To be special? To have some kind of power that makes me special? To control things? It didn’t make sense because we are all special to Him. My coming to Christ was bittersweet and horrifying for I briefly tried using a spirit guide for maybe a week…which I quickly realized was a evil being who has been around in my family for decades. I broke all ties with Satan and threw out all books and related materials to occultism. Then, I could not sleep. I don’t know what my family did in the past but I felt as though Satan was attacking me because of breaking some kind of long pact with him. I nearly went insane but through the power of Christ I overcame. Christ saved me on the Cross and He saved me from my ancestry. The problem I am having now is I still have prophetic dreams and experience synchronicities and psychic moments. I told God He could take that away from me if it is wrong and yes, I do feel like it is a part of me because I have lived with it all my life but I do not want to see a “ghost” or demon again in my waking life. I DO NOT want any of these supernatural things that occur to be from anyone else but God. He knows that and I pray that He keeps me free from it. I know it relies on my faith and that, I assure you, is strong. I’ve just been so deceived, even as a child, and I do not want to forsake my Savior for even experiencing these things. And yes, I know right now, I am experiencing a different kind of warfare then the one I had when I came to Christ. I lost the love of my life to someone else…and I know he is demonically influenced even though I did not focus on that because like you said, find balance. Now I have a cracked rib. My work and my neighbor were robbed. This all happened in the last week. The messages I’ve received is that he will come back. He is someone who helped lead me to Christ and I feel like I can not let him drown in his alcoholism and lust but it’s his battle too. But everything rational points to that he is gone and I should move on. It would take a miracle for him to become sober and for him to come back. And yes, I believe in miracles but I don’t need one to believe in my Savior. I don’t want to feel this sorrow and I know everything is how it should be at this moment. Is this just the time to regroup and gain more insight from the Holy Spirit for I feel like I lost this battle and Satan is bringing these things around me to spite me and rub it in my face. He doesn’t win and he can’t have me so he takes away this person I love so much hoping it will make me return to my old ways. I don’t even know why I started to write this now except that I feel inclined to reach out to somebody who may more vividly understand what I have been through. God bless.
Hi Robyn, I am sorry to hear you have been going through such a tough time with such a big disappointment too. I pray that you receive God’s strength and His extraordinary love and rest in His grace. Receive a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit, let Him breathe His life into you. Trust Him for His good gifts (Luke 11:13) and He will sort out the issues relating to your abilities with spiritual sight.
This may be useful with the spiritual warfare: http://enlivenpublishing.com/blog/2012/07/10/how-to-use-scripture-as-a-prophetic-declaration/
Bless you Robyn
Hi Helen, Thank you for your genuine concern for people and encouragement. I just wanted to share that I have been through stuff too – heavy weight on chest, hearing screaming at night in my head, feeling electrocuted upon waking, having something invisible walk up my bed, etc. And I wrote about this and what I learned on my blog. Please check it out if you want and let it be a resource to help others. It is so much harder to go through this kind of stuff without support from people who have been through it. This is why I share my story- to help others – and why I appreciate your ministry. You can find my story at sweetlybrokengirl.blogspot.com, in the ‘Child of Mine: Chapter 22: In Jesus’ Name’ post or a shorter version at myimpressionisticlife.blogspot.com in the ‘Supernatural Stuff and spiritual armor’ post. Thank you.