How to Know if You Are Under a Spiritual Attack

Sometimes God allows people to be spiritually attacked. I know because it happened to me. The natural response is to ask why God would allow something so terrible to happen? Based on my personal experiences, I have come to understand that it is because spiritual sufferings produce immeasurable benefits. They bring us closer to Jesus, Who wants to be found. He wants us to love Him and He wants us to depend on Him. Sometimes, the only way that can happen is through spiritual suffering. The component that is hard to comprehend is that there are people in the world who willingly choose to inflict harm on others by demonic means. Believing that is a reality, is key in countering the attacks.

I want to clarify one thing before I move forward. A spiritual suffering and a spiritual attack are two different things that can come to the same result. Spiritual suffering is when Jesus removes His consolations from a person. It is a separation from God, or an inability to feel the Lord’s love and presence in one’s life. A spiritual attack is when a person is spiritually assaulted by the devil or demons, either by their own choices or mistakes or through people who willingly practice evil and serve Satan. Spiritual attacks can lead to spiritual suffering, which is why they are so fruitful. God allowed me to be attacked spiritually because He knew it would bring me to a greater love for Him. And it did. I also think that Jesus allowed the attacks so that I could help other people understand what is happening to them. What is most important to remember, is that God is in charge, and He knows what is going to bring a person to a deeper and more profound love for Him. Now that I have made that clear, I will go on.

For a long time, I did not know I was being spiritually attacked. I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know what it was. Because of that, the people who were attacking me had a lot of power over me. That is why knowing what an attack looks like is very important. I was only able to identify the characteristics of an attack by experiencing them. But it took me a great deal of time and searching before I was able to put it all together. So, I can tell you some of the ways I was affected, and I can lead you to some answers, but you are going to have to do some research to pinpoint your particular issues. Stopping the attacks will depend on a lot of things. Some of them include how severe the issues are, how strong your faith is, how determined you are to enter into the battle, and ultimately how long God wishes you to endure the suffering. I know that may be hard to hear, but I believe it is through suffering that God perfects our faith and brings us to a deeper relationship with Him. I know that is how it worked for me.

When I was actively under attack, I experienced fear, doubt, sleep disturbances, extreme fatigue, and a debilitating lack of concentration. There was a lot of confusion and obsessive thoughts that interfered with my ability to think or communicate clearly. I also suffered from depression mostly, because I could no longer feel God and believed He had abandoned me. As a result, I isolated myself from others and began to look for Jesus. It was difficult to complete tasks, and I often wondered what was wrong with me. The sleep depravation left me weak and susceptible to further and more heinous attacks. This is not everything that happened to me, but it should be enough to help you understand what an attack is like.

The best defense against a spiritual attack is to live a holy Catholic life. That means don’t engage in activities or behaviors that open the door to evil. A little bit of common sense goes a long way. Confession, and the Eucharist, are essential in the fight against evil. Don’t let the enemy stop you from seeking Christ’s mercy. Jesus gave us confession for a reason. It free’s us from sin and renews the soul. The Eucharist is strength and will help a person reject sin and live a more pure and holy life. Prayer is very important, but also difficult when one is in the middle of a spiritual attack. Sometimes things can be so bad that prayer is impossible. Just repeat Jesus’ name over and over again. It is beautiful and He will surely respond. Sacramentals also protect us from the enemy, but remember, the power they carry is based on the faith of the person using them. If you can have a priest bless water, olive oil, salt, and candles with an exorcism blessing, that is the best course of action, because this type of blessing is very effective against demons.

Every Christian has great power; power much greater than that of those who practice the occult, and specifically those who use the occult to hurt or control other people. But to put that power into action, and to benefit from it to the fullest extent, the Christian must have a very strong faith. That means they need to completely trust in God and believe that Jesus Christ can do all things. But sometimes we have to suffer before we can come to that kind of faith.

I will go more into depth about protection in a second article, but for now, the following prayer and scripture passage are powerful and can help anyone who prays them whether they are under an attack or not. God never leaves anyone alone.

Cleanse Me Lord

May the most Precious Blood of Jesus, which flowed from the most Holy wounds of our loving Lord Jesus pour over me, to wash, cleanse, purify, heal, guide, and protect me from all evil, harm, sickness, and bless and make me as Holy as I can be. I ask this in the Holy Name of Jesus and through His most Precious Blood and His most Holy wounds.  Amen

Psalm 27