Latest / Arise Women of God / What is a Spiritual Attack Christian?
Transcript
- 0:00Hey, my friend, have you ever wondered what does a spiritual attack actually look like for a Christian mom?
- 0:06Because you find yourself drowning in sudden Sunday morning chaos, unexplainable family meltdowns, or a paralyzing wave of anxiety that whispers you are completely failing.
- 0:18This can feel so frustrating because you want to know if you're just having a bad day or facing targeted spiritual warfare.
- 0:25Well, stay tuned because by the end of today's episode, you'll know how to spot the subtle ways the enemy targets your home, how to outsmart his favorite traps, and how our Lord Jesus Christ catches you the very second
- 0:40you cry for help.
- 0:41Let's dive in Ordinary Women Extraordinary Faith When God calls, we say yes.
- 0:52Hello and welcome back to the Arise Women of God podcast.
- 0:55I'm your host, Tamara K.
- 0:57Anderson, and today we're pulling back the curtain on what a spiritual attack actually looks like in the daily trenches of motherhood.
- 1:06Here's what we're going to cover in today's episode.
- 1:08First, the Crouching Predator and Subtle Mind trap what Genesis 4, 7 and 2 Corinthians 11:3 reveal about how the adversary stalks our thresholds and complicates our peace.
- 1:22Second, we'll look at what we as moms can learn from Peter sinking in the waves as well as breaking the enemy's shame loop.
- 1:29Third, I'll share about the Sunday morning ambush and my personal battle with missing shoes, diaper blowouts, and the Saturday night strategy that defeated the enemy's weekly trap for me.
- 1:43Number four we'll talk about the scriptural stories about the raid on Ziklag from 1st Samuel 30 recovering what was taken and how praying aloud through through my son Nathan's meltdown this very morning restored Christ's peace.
- 1:59But let's begin with the subtle nature of the attack.
- 2:02When many believers think of a spiritual attack, they picture obvious, terrifying darkness.
- 2:09But Scripture tells a very different story.
- 2:11In 2 Corinthians 11:3, the apostle Paul warns, but I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
- 2:26Notice that word subtlety.
- 2:28A spiritual attack is rarely an obvious monster standing in your hallway.
- 2:34It's subtle corruption.
- 2:35It nudges a mother's mind away from the simple, rest filled peace of Jesus Christ and pulls her into a tangled web of anxiety, micromanaging control and overthinking.
- 2:49Look at the warning God gave cain in Genesis 4:7 if thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?
- 2:56And if thou doest not well Sin lieth at the door.
- 3:00Ooh.
- 3:01In Hebrew, that phrase lieth at the door literally paints the picture of a wild beast crouching at your entryway, waiting for an emotional vulnerability, exhaustion, offense, comparison or frustration.
- 3:13And then he pounces.
- 3:15The attack is the enemy waiting on the threshold of your home.
- 3:19But also notice God's reminder to Cain when you do well, when you strive to keep the commandments and anchor yourself in God's covenants, you are protected inside the fortress.
- 3:30The enemy is outside, crouching.
- 3:32But you are held secure within God's love and grace.
- 3:37So how does that crouching predator catch us off guard?
- 3:41Honestly, ladies, through distraction.
- 3:44Look at Peter in Matthew, chapter 14, verses 28 31.
- 3:48Jesus came walking on the water.
- 3:50On the middle of the fourth watch of the night, Peter stepped out of the boat and miraculously walked on the waves toward Jesus.
- 3:58When your eyes are locked on Jesus, you can do miraculous things.
- 4:02As a mother, you can handle difficult diagnosis, navigate heavy schedules, and bring peace into chaos.
- 4:09But look at what happened in verse 30.
- 4:12But when he saw the wind, boisterous, he was afraid and beginning to sink.
- 4:17He cried, saying, lord, save me.
- 4:21The physical storm didn't suddenly get worse.
- 4:24The wind was already blowing.
- 4:27What changed was Peter's focus.
- 4:30His sight shifted from the master of the storm to the turbulence all around him.
- 4:35As mothers, we're mortal.
- 4:37When the noise in the house gets loud, when medical bills arrive, or when a child rebels, our focus can easily slip from faith to fear.
- 4:46And the moment our eyes drop to see the wind and the waves, we start sinking.
- 4:52A spiritual attack is designed as a distraction to hinder your connection to Jesus Christ.
- 4:59It works by making the storm around us look larger than the Savior.
- 5:04Notice what happened the second Peter cried out, verse 31 says, and immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him.
- 5:13Sisters, none of us walk the water perfectly.
- 5:17It is easy to get pulled slightly off track with the many winds whipping around us and our homes and families.
- 5:24But isn't it comforting to know that Jesus loves us in our imperfection?
- 5:28He's standing right beside you, waiting to catch you and me the moment we slip.
- 5:34Don't let the adversary take you down the slippery mind trap of shame, whispering that you're too messed up, too impatient, or broken beyond repair.
- 5:43God can heal any wound.
- 5:46Trust him.
- 5:47Take his hand and keep walking.
- 5:50Oh, my sisters.
- 5:52Recognizing a spiritual attack means learning to spot its recurring patterns.
- 5:57When my children were very young, craziness almost always erupted.
- 6:02On Sunday mornings when we were trying to leave for church, a shoe couldn't be found anywhere.
- 6:07My son Nathan would strip all his clothes off while I was in the middle of dressing.
- 6:11Little Jacob or the baby would have a massive blowout out poopy diaper right as we were walking out the door.
- 6:17You know what I'm talking about, right?
- 6:19I would arrive at church exhausted, spiritually depleted and on the cusp of breaking down in tears.
- 6:24By the moment I reached the foyer one Sunday, the light finally went on.
- 6:29This is a targeted spiritual attack.
- 6:32Satan did not want me to feel the peace of attending church.
- 6:35Hearing the worship service, which was a vital balm to my weary soul, he threw chaos at me in our home so that I would hopefully give up and stay home or arrive at church so frazzled that my fight,
- 6:48flight or freeze response took the entire meeting to settle down.
- 6:53Oh my sisters.
- 6:53Once I recognized this pattern of the ambush, I took it to God in prayer and built a practical counter strategy with God's help.
- 7:01It started with Saturday night staging.
- 7:04Every Saturday evening I started laying out everybody's church clothes, paired up all the shoes by the door.
- 7:11Then I did church bag prep.
- 7:13I packed the diaper bag, replenished snacks, added pacifiers and prepped a rotating stash of quiet church toys.
- 7:21Then I gave myself a 15 minute buffer.
- 7:24We aimed to leave 15 minutes earlier than necessary.
- 7:28If we arrived early, wonderful.
- 7:30If craziness happened, we still walked into church on time.
- 7:35We with our sanity intact.
- 7:37Sisters, God helped me brainstorm practical solutions to dismantle the enemy's attack before it started.
- 7:43It completely transformed our Sunday mornings.
- 7:46God can help you brainstorm perfect solutions for you and your family's attacks as well.
- 7:52Now you may be asking, what do you do when an attack strikes your home base when you're already running on empty?
- 8:00Look at David in 1st Samuel 31:8.
- 8:03While David and his men were away protecting their families, the Amalekites raided their home city of Ziklag, burned it to the ground and took all their wives and children captive.
- 8:13When the man returned and saw the devastation, they wept until they had no more power to weep in their grief.
- 8:21The man began talking about stoning.
- 8:23David, the enemy loves to attack the home base when you are depleted.
- 8:28He hopes that family members will turn on each other and in bitter blame.
- 8:33But look at what David did in verse six.
- 8:36But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.
- 8:40David stopped the panic, encouraged himself in God's covenant promises and asked lord, shall I pursue?
- 8:48God told them to go.
- 8:49And David recovered every single wife, child and possession.
- 8:53Not one was missing.
- 8:55Oh my sisters.
- 8:56An attack is Broken when a mother stops arguing with her family, encourages herself in the Lord and claims back what was taken in the name of Jesus Christ.
- 9:08I had to live this out.
- 9:09Just this morning my adult son Nathan, who has low functioning autism, had an intense meltdown.
- 9:16In the middle of the screaming and distress, I was sending silent, desperate prayers heavenward for help.
- 9:23My reasoning with him was not calming the storm.
- 9:25So I stopped and began praying aloud with him.
- 9:29And in the name of Jesus Christ, I cast out the spirit of fear, anxiety and stress from Nathan.
- 9:35And from that room I called down heavenly angels to minister to Nathan and restore peace to him and our home.
- 9:43And within a few minutes that heavy tension broke.
- 9:46Nathan's breathing slowed, his tears stopped and he shifted out of flight or flight mode and back into Christ's peace and calm.
- 9:56How grateful I am to be yoked to our Savior Jesus Christ.
- 10:00He lives and he cares about the real details of your life.
- 10:04The sensory meltdowns, the missing shoes, the anxiety and the daily messes.
- 10:09Those moments of chaos do not disqualify you from Heaven's help.
- 10:14They are an invitation to simply open up and plead for Heaven's power.
- 10:20Oh my sister.
- 10:20When you know what a spiritual attack looks like, you stop taking the bait.
- 10:25You spot the subtle trap and you reach for the Savior's hand.
- 10:28This allows you to stand guard over your family and your home in the name of Jesus Christ.
- 10:34If you want a step by step roadmap to help you audit the spiritual environment of your home and begin watching for the crouching predator, we at Women warriors of Light want to put our complete digital guide directly into
- 10:47your hands for free.
- 10:49Down in the show notes below, click the link to download your free copy of a Mother's Spiritual Defense Guide.
- 10:55Six Empowering Steps to Fortify Home and Family Once inside, turn straight to the home Sanctuary audit.
- 11:03It gives you a practical room by room checklist to help you notice where Satan may be trying to sneak in and attack.
- 11:10Then use the cast out the adversary word for word prayer script to cast out the darkness and restore peace in the name of Jesus Christ.
- 11:18Download your free copy today on our website and fortify your family.
- 11:23Oh my dear sister, do not fear the wind.
- 11:25Do not fear the waves.
- 11:27Our redeemer, Jesus Christ is with you in the boat.
- 11:31The second you call on his name, his hand stretches forth to lift you up.
- 11:37Stand firm, hold fast to his truth and guard your home in his light.
- 11:43Thank you for joining us today and until next time.
- 11:46May you arise and do it God's way, God's strong if today's episode helped you feel a little closer to God, please like and subscribe.