The wiles(strategies) of the devil and spiritual warfare

[Lyfe]

The wiles(strategies) of the devil and spiritual warfare

I felt led to make this thread as a platform for people to share and discuss their experiences in the arena of spiritual warfare. I attend a prayer group on Thursdays and the person who directs it always starts off by asking, "What is The Lord doing in your life right now?"

In a twisted inversion of that discussion I would like to ask the exact opposite. What is the enemy trying to do in your life? What has he done? This thread is not in any way trying to glorify the powers of darkness and their wicked works, but rather to expose them so we are not ignorant of the enemy and his schemes. It is definitely acknowledged that the enemy is a defeated foe and God is infinitely and immeasurably more powerful than a fallen angel and his army. The enemy has no power to destroy those in Christ. I acknowledge this, so moving on...

Lately The Lord has been bringing to my attention allot of scriptures on the enemy and his nature. How he attacks the mind, how he destroys families, the doorways he uses to terrorize and oppress people. These are some of passage he kept showing me.


Jeremiah 50:17

English Standard Version

17 “Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has gnawed his bones.

Psalm 59:14-15

English Standard Version

14 Each evening they come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
15 They wander about for food
and growl if they do not get their fill.

Nahum 2:11-12

English Standard Version

11 Where is the lions' den,
the feeding place of the young lions,
where the lion and lioness went,
where his cubs were, with none to disturb?
12 The lion tore enough for his cubs
and strangled prey for his lionesses;
he filled his caves with prey
and his dens with torn flesh.

Psalm 22:12-13

English Standard Version

12 Many bulls encompass me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
13 they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.


The bottom line is that Satan hates God's creation and he especially hates the children of God. We are the food that they wander about for. We are the snack that they seek to feast on. I actually believe that last scripture in Psalm 22( about the bulls of bashaan) is in reference to the powers of darkness and how they mocked Christ at the cross. That Psalm was a prophecy of the crucifixion.

N e ways....

Please feel free to share your experiences and what The Lord has taught you through it all. If you have testimonies of the paranormal please feel free to share those as well. How do you fight back? What do the scriptures say about the enemy and how he operates? We have to stand boldly against the fiery darts of the enemy and rebuke them in Jesus name. David always prayed against his enemies in the book of Psalms. He always did and I direct people to it who say that engaging and praying against the enemy is not biblical.


Psalm 118:10-13

English Standard Version

10 All nations surrounded me;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
11 They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
12 They surrounded me like bees;
they went out like a fire among thorns;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
13 I was pushed hard,[a] so that I was falling,
but the Lord helped me.


Psalm 144:1

English Standard Version

144 Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
who trains my hands for war,
and my fingers for battle;

 

[Lyfe]

Satan and the powers of darkness want us focused on worldly pursuits and will even use others to discourage your endeavors to advance God's kingdom. I'm reminded in scripture of when Jesus had rebuked the two disciples for wanting to pray that fire from heaven would come down to destroy their opposition. He said they didn't realize what manner of spirit they were speaking from. What does that mean? It's often that people only mimick what's being whispered into their ears by the prince of the power of the air. Scripture actually says that people can give heed to these deceiving and seducing spirits, meaning they listen to and accept their sentiment as their own, they obey their lusts.

There is an endless supply of people who will tell you that you take The Bible too seriously and to lighten up, people who will tell you to relax and just enjoy yourself, people who will take slight jabs at you to try and get you to second guess serving The Lord. It is these sort of slight knocks that many fail to recognize as spiritual attacks from the enemy. The enemy doesn't want us to take the gospel seriously, because he knows the gospel is the only real opposition to his kingdom. He knows the gospel is the only real way in which man can be healed and made spiritually whole.

Christ was dedicated to the mission of God and, because the enemy saw the great harm being done to his kingdom he sought to discourage the advancements of God's kingdom by trying to get Jesus to take focus off of HIS MISSION


Matthew 16:21-23

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord![a] This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance[b] to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Peter like so many others was used unwittingly to sow seeds of discouragement. His sentiment was contrary to the perfect will of God. How often do people tell us we are too serious about serving the kingdom of God? How often do people want us to put down our cross to be at ease in Zion? The enemy will seek to use people to try and redirect our mind on the things of men. He is fighting with cunning and deceit.

There are some days where I know what The Lord has put in my heart to do for the day, but it seems as if I can't take my mind off of meaningless things. What will I eat tonight? What's on Netflix? What was the score of that football game? What's on so and so's YouTube channel? This is how the enemy will attack our mind. He wants us focused on the things of man and the things of this world rather than carrying our crosses and going where Jesus is which is outside the camp. We shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that spiritual attacks are obvious. Satan loves subtly and often his attacks they are not obvious. The attacks mostly consist of simple distractions just to get our mind off of doing the will of God.

 

[Lyfe]

 

[Elsbet's Ire]

@Lyfe

You're right about Bashan.

And just a guess-- but I doubt anyone is anxious to share how the enemy is steamrolling affecting his or her life.

I know I'm not. :/

Still... it's a great idea.
If there is one thing the darkness hates, it is being dragged into the light.

...​

Posting the entire Psalm--
I love this book, and I want to get back to it, soon as I have a minute.


Psalm 144
Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
who trains my hands for war,
and my fingers for battle;

he is my steadfast love and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield and he in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples under me.

O LORD, what is man that you regard him,
or the son of man that you think of him?
Man is like a breath;
his days are like a passing shadow.

Bend Heaven, LORD JEHOVAH, and come down! (ARA)
Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke! (LXX)
Flash forth the lightning and scatter them;
send out your arrows and rout them!

Stretch out your hand from on high;
rescue me and deliver me from the many waters,
from the hand of foreigners,
whose mouths speak lies
and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

I will sing a new song to you, O God;
upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,
who gives victory to kings,
who rescues David his servant from the cruel sword.

Rescue me and deliver me
from the hand of foreigners,
whose mouths speak lies
and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

May our sons in their youth
be like plants full grown,
our daughters like corner pillars
cut for the structure of a palace;
may our granaries be full,
providing all kinds of produce;
may our sheep bring forth thousands
and ten thousands in our fields;
may our cattle be heavy with young,
suffering no mishap or failure in bearing;
may there be no cry of distress in our streets!
Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!
Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD!
~

 

[Lyfe]

@Lyfe

You're right about Bashan.

And just a guess-- but I doubt anyone is anxious to share how the enemy is steamrolling affecting his or her life.

I know I'm not. :/

Still... it's a great idea.
If there is one thing the darkness hates, it is being dragged into the light.

...​

Posting the entire Psalm--
I love this book, and I want to get back to it, soon as I have a minute.


Psalm 144
Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
who trains my hands for war,
and my fingers for battle;

he is my steadfast love and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield and he in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples under me.

O LORD, what is man that you regard him,
or the son of man that you think of him?
Man is like a breath;
his days are like a passing shadow.

Bend Heaven, LORD JEHOVAH, and come down! (ARA)
Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke! (LXX)
Flash forth the lightning and scatter them;
send out your arrows and rout them!

Stretch out your hand from on high;
rescue me and deliver me from the many waters,
from the hand of foreigners,
whose mouths speak lies
and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

I will sing a new song to you, O God;
upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,
who gives victory to kings,
who rescues David his servant from the cruel sword.

Rescue me and deliver me
from the hand of foreigners,
whose mouths speak lies
and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

May our sons in their youth
be like plants full grown,
our daughters like corner pillars
cut for the structure of a palace;
may our granaries be full,
providing all kinds of produce;
may our sheep bring forth thousands
and ten thousands in our fields;
may our cattle be heavy with young,
suffering no mishap or failure in bearing;
may there be no cry of distress in our streets!
Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!
Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD!
~

I have definitely been steamrolled by the powers of darkness more times than I can count, lol. The lying and seducing spirits always come back like howling like dogs. God always lifts up and restores though. Think of Paul. His life was an unending pendulum of both being beat down by the the forces of darkness and then also delivering them a beating right back (through Christ).

...for the righteous falls seven times and rises again Proverbs 24:16

 

[Lyfe]

Satan uses lies as a wartime strategy to neutralize the forces of good in their battle against evil.

Now more than ever we need to be on guard against spiritual attacks against the mind. We are actually told to live in a state of vigilance(expectation) of coming battle. The scriptures tell us that many will renounce what The Bible teaches, because of seducing(lying) spirits and things taught by demons. Who are these seducing spirits acctually targeting? The people that are(or are) seeking to follow Christ and advance his kingdom. Remember Paul's letter to the Galatians and how it was implied that spiritual beings(angels)have the capacity to influence and lead men astray? The gathering of saints in Galatia was being targeted as Satan once again weaponized human external forces against the gospel (which is what God uses to advance his kingdom here on earth). Think of the doctrine of Balaam and the doctrine of the nicolations, the prophetess jezebel and how they specifically targeted these churches in revelation. Satan is always seeking to fortify a nest or stronghold, to lead our mind astray by assigning his agents against us. The gospels effectiveness is in it's purity, but when the enemy can whitewash and distort it then it loses its power to impact and bring light to the nations. It loses its power to impact the human soul.

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3

And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Revelation 12:9


We live in an age of deception where anyone can get caught up and led astray by lies. The only source of light we have in an age of lies and darkness is God's word. This is why we must take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. We cannot afford to lean on our own understanding and be swept away, because we failed to spot a land mine or a net when it was laid.

 

[Lyfe]

You once called me dangerous but your delusional beliefs are what’s dangerous. That people actually exists and think this kind of shit is real is a terrifying thought, and to know how much carnage this has caused over the centuries and will continue to cause is cause for pause and reflection.

its nothing new, you were lighting the pyres for women who dabbled in folk remedies hundreds of years ago and If given the chance you will do it again

I don't ever recall calling you dangerous. When was this?

It's also very baseless to say that belief in a literal devil and his armies has caused much carnage over the centuries. Religiously motivated crimes and genocides account for a very tiny percent of the total.

 

[Lyfe]

shut the fuck up you ignorant bastard you know exactly who I am.

Christianity and Islam are the worlds largest religions by far you dominate the world so if you want to blame someone blame yourself you evil sack of shit

You need to cry out to God before your tormenters bring you into an even worse condition.

 

[Lyfe]

god is absent “life” no one hears you when you talk to yourself in prayer

I'll be praying that God will bring destruction on the tormenting spirits afflicting you. They clearly deserve it.

 

[JoChris]

get fucked and fuck your evil god of death one day soon you’ll be fed to a wild animal like you want so much you would love to be a Martyr wouldn’t you?

with any luck we will grant your wish you sick bastard

Are you called Chassidy? If yes, how have you been these days?

 

[JoChris]

turning your kids gay

Lol. No chance of that.

 

[JoChris]

Of course because they live in fear of your parental tyranny. It’s sad that you think you are righteous when in fact you’re just an evil cunt

I can control them from over 600 Kms away?

 

[Lyfe]

I'm going to be praying for you anon and for your deliverance. Those evil spirits tormenting you just earned themselves destruction. They are arrogant and often go unchallenged, destroying lives without any real opposition. It won't work on those who know their authority in Christ.

 

[JoChris]

you’re so stupid it boggles the mind you’re the same species

honestly though we should lobotimize anyone who displays the mental disorder of religion

Is Atheism a Religion?

Though it is not often considered a religion, atheism fits academic definitions of religion and is practiced like a religion in daily life.

www.beliefnet.com

 

[JoChris]

very accurate and unbiased source yes belief .net for all your Christian fascist needs. Hang yourself you rancid Nazi cunt

It sounds like you have a severe case of Seasonal Affective Disorder. Multivitamins containing a lot of B vitamins would help you a lot.

 

[JoChris]

plenty of sun here you nazi sympathizing bitch

Too much sun then. Are you dehydrated or do you have mango madness?

 

[FilthPig]

It sounds like you have a severe case of Seasonal Affective Disorder. Multivitamins containing a lot of B vitamins would help you a lot.

It sounds like an underpayd troll from some miserable troll factory. No intelligent people work there and well the results are rather obvious.Dude spent solid 6 hours in this forum and managed to do alot of chromosomicly challenged screeching while not saying anything other than insults. Why even bother to feed the troll ? They are just trying to drag you into their miserable level.
Sometimes its very hard to tell if its an troll factory employee or an 11 year old with bad disposition. They often sound the same...

 

[Lyfe]

It sounds like an underpayd troll from some miserable troll factory. No intelligent people work there and well the results are rather obvious.Dude spent solid 6 hours in this forum and managed to do alot of chromosomicly challenged screeching while not saying anything other than insults. Why even bother to feed the troll ? They are just trying to drag you into their miserable level.
Sometimes its very hard to tell if its an troll factory employee or an 11 year old with bad disposition. They often sound the same...

We should always seek The Father on behalf of those souls being tormented by hatred and anger. The truth is they need divine heaIing. I have been there. I never had peace. My heart was stone cold and I always treated my mother and grandmother with contempt. The love of God can make anyone whole through the embrace of the spirit of Christ. We are in a spiritual war and it's only going to get worse. Jesus said that because evil shall abound in the latter times the love of many will grow cold. In fact Paul said that hatred would characterize the final days. Inhuman hatred... The sort of hatred that can only come from one who is oppressed by evil spirits. I think of the man in the tomb. He was known for his constant outbursts. He came out raging and wailing Jesus directly engaged the spirits tormenting him and commanded them to come out.

 

[Lyfe]

You are completely delusional. You live in a fantasy land and are completely detached from reality.

It’s scary that so many of you exist. You’re a threat to all freedom and any sense of reason or rational thought.

You have to be stopped before it’s too late. For 2k years you people have held society back and it has to end. It is ending.

Every day more and more people reject these religions and the desire for true freedom grows.

You’ve lost the youth and the future is grim which is why you are at your most dangerous.

You people know your power is slipping and you have to act now if you want to keep it.

You think society would be better if it rejected God and The Bible, huh? You rejected God. How is that working out for you? I don't think we need to bring up all the countries that rejected and outlawed The Bible in the 20th century and how they turned out. The grass wouldn't be greener on the other side. We are becoming a society of transgenders on the verge of suicide, because CNN lied to them and said expressing themselves will make them happy.

I won't deal with you foul spirits any longer. I'm bringing your wickedness before the prayer group I attend on Thursdays. You will be destroyed and will release this person in Jesus name.

 

[Lyfe]

...many mistake depression for demonic oppression

Its now my strong belief that allot of the time feelings of oppression and depression are acctually spiritual attacks instigated by demons. I fully acknowledge that real things do happen to cause people to be sad like breaking up with a spouse or someone finding their pet laying dead somewhere, but in Christ ones default state of being is peace and joy in the holy spirit. The only real defense against any type of spiritual attack is through the authority that Christ gives to his elect by the indwelling power of the holy spirit. In fact the only thing evil spirits even fear are holy spirit filled Christians that know their authority in Christ. Most Christians don't realize they can command an evil spirit to leave and it has to obey unless it has some kind of legal right.

There have been numerous days that I would wake up feeling down and oppressed and then I would sit down and feel sorry for myself for a little while. I would begin to pray and feel somewhat better, but could still very much sense a level of oppression over me. It was only when I would pray against those spiritual attacks where I could find peace and enthusiasm again. "In the name of Jesus I command every evil spirit harassing my mind and thoughts to get out and get away right now!" I would begin to pray this and literally within a matter of moments the entire atmosphere would change as if some weight of oppression was lifted in an instant. I would literally go from sitting and feeling downcast to standing up with my arms lifted making melody and praising The Lord. I could feel the holy spirit well up within me and out would just come hymns. Its not something I am imagining or some kind of delusion either, because there is no real way to explain sitting one moment in my chair feeling oppressed and depressed to being on my feet with hands raised singing hymns and making melody due to a sense of genuine relief. Its not imaginary. The transition would happen within moments. I know this is from using my authority in Christ and the unction of the holy spirit. The Bible very plainly says that our wrestle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. The Bible also forewarns us to even expect these attacks, especially if you are walking in the ministry of the holy spirit doing Gods will on earth. There really hasn't been a spiritual attack or wave of oppression and depression that I haven't been able to pray my way out of which is why I believe these feelings and emotions are influenced by evil spirits as spiritual attacks. I can find peace and relief within moments just by using my authority in Christ to pray against the attacks. I can go from being slouched over feeling like Im being crushed with a weight of oppression to standing up with hands raised praising God.

Luke 10:17-20 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Ephesians 6:10-13 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For 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. 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.