When I was in high school, I was t-boned by a truck. The light had just changed from red to green, and, naively, I hit the gas without checking to the left or right. The truck that struck me, driver-side, right about the front tire, was unforgiving to my parents’ little car. The small blue Toyota Corolla spun and landed crooked in the crosswalk.
I remember sitting dazed and shaken, wondering, “What just happened?”
Spiritual attacks can be a little like that, leaving us to ask ourselves, “What just happened?” We may be hit with a powerful emotion, an unreasonable thought, or an intense desire that comes out of nowhere or seems completely out of character. Or maybe it is a loved one we see behaving abnormally or saying something particularly offensive. By understanding the nature of a spiritual attack, we can be more aware when it occurs and perhaps even fend it off before it has a chance to make an impact.
What Is The Goal Of A Spiritual Attack?
A spiritual attack is a form of spiritual warfare. Temptation is the primary means that the Devil and his demons employ in their spiritual attack. Their goal is to separate us from God. This happens when we choose freely to sin. Put another way, the goal of the demonic is to get us to sin, because sin will damage our relationship with God.
Temptations occur in three primary ways: the world, the flesh, and the self or pride.
The World: Temptations of the world are things in our culture that are sinful in nature, yet have become normalized. Examples of this are the pursuit of power, wealth, and reputation. How many relationships have been damaged because priorities are misaligned? Rather than pursuing holiness and eternity with God, we are drawn to excess found in the physical world. Turn away from providing and protecting others and instead engage in an almost desperate or fearful pursuit of material goods.
The Flesh: Self-centeredness and self-indulgence are nurtured in a spiritual attack that is focused on the flesh. Too many of us are addicted to comfort, and as such we are growing more and more compliant to sins of the flesh. Because of our fallen nature, we are drawn to self-centered decisions and habits. Self-indulgence, gluttony, lust, and laziness flourish as we place pleasure above sacrifice. As a culture, we no longer seek what is right, we seek what is easy.
The Self or Pride: In our fallen world too often we refuse to take responsibility for our actions, we fail to forgive. When met with conflict, we blame and shame, rather than reflecting on the situation as an opportunity to grow through the difficulty. Self-protection, self-care, and self-love have replaced self-sacrifice and selflessness.
In addition to these three classic forms of spiritual attack, today we find the demonic particularly effective in their subtle attacks by distracting and isolating us, leaving us open to spiritual attack. Many young adults today find themselves particularly lonely. We are connected almost constantly, but not in a meaningful way. Often, the online connections prevent us from forming deeper and more meaningful relationships with those in our midst. The art of mingling, small talk, and simply saying hello to a stranger passing by are all being replaced with a sort of phone zombie walking, riding, or simply scrolling.
This division and isolation prevent us from strengthening good, healthy, holy relationships that we need to help us keep perspective when we are in the midst of an attack. We need to be able to reach out to friends or loved ones who are more advanced in the spiritual life and connect with our allies. Loneliness can be both a barrier to reaching out and a result of not doing so. We all have a guardian angel at our side, helping in this battle for good, so when in doubt, we can always call upon our angel for help in the moment of need.
Being aware of the evil one’s intentions to keep us separated is encouragement to continue to invest in healthy, holy relationships. Understanding the three key areas of spiritual attack gives us the higher ground on the battlefield. These two areas of knowledge help us to recognize the attacks when they come and are foundational for recognizing and responding to spiritual attacks.
How To Weaken The Enemy’s Ability To Harm
Additionally, if we want to weaken the enemy’s ability to do harm, there are two things we can do. First, stay close to the sacraments. Secondly, practice doing difficult things out of love for God.
Participate in the sacraments as often as possible. Attend mass on Sundays as a non-negotiable, and try to add in another day or two if possible. Accept the grace offered in the sacrament of reconciliation on a regular basis. The great Saint Pope John Paul II is reported to have attended confession on a weekly basis! If you are praying daily and faithfully examining your conscience each evening, you will probably be more in tune to your own weaknesses or imperfections and have plenty to say at your next trip to the confessional.
Walking in the way of the Lord isn’t easy. Doing difficult things is essential to our growth in mind, body, and spirit. We need to do the right things even when it is hard. Actions matter. Each time we work through the difficult thing, we build our spiritual muscles and cognitive capacity.
The aMMC
There is a particular region of the brain that helps us with motor and cognitive functions. When you do difficult things, particularly difficult things that you do not enjoy, this part of the brain, called the anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC) is strengthened. The aMMC is responsible for a variety of things, including focused attention, planning, controlling actions, emotional regulation, effort and motivation, as well as stress responses. If we only do things that feel good, we lose the strength in the aMMC, and it becomes atrophied. On a purely physical level, if there is one place we want to grow cognitively to help with spiritual attack, it is the aMCC. We boost this area of the brain by simply pushing through the difficult things and doing them anyway.
This is particularly important because we should all expect to encounter times of desolation, when we find it most difficult to pray or when we feel disconnected from God, we will need to persevere. These feelings of desolation can be a form of spiritual attack, but St. Ignatius assures us that God allows this period, and other forms of temptations from the devil, for our own spiritual good. If we only do things that feel good, when those feelings fade, it can be hard to continue. For instance, we should pray not to achieve feelings of peace that come from time spent with the Lord. We should pray because our Lord is worthy of our time, love, and attention, even, and maybe especially, when it is difficult to do so.
We need not be worried about the temptations and spiritual attacks that we will face, we simply need to store ourselves up spiritually. Living a sacramental life, doing difficult things out of love for God, and staying close to Jesus in the sacraments and scripture will help shore up our defences. There is no such thing as a plateau in the spiritual life. As the saying goes, we are either struggling forward or we are slipping backwards. Continue to grow in our understanding of the spiritual life and equip yourself with the right knowledge.
Even when we are doing everything right, the spiritual struggle can at times be very difficult. But struggle leads to an increase in our virtue as we engage our will in this battle. God chooses which virtues he wants to strengthen in each of us. The challenges and struggles he allows, the attacks he permits, give us an opportunity to perfect these virtues that God desires to strengthen us.
It is important that we be courageous rather than fearful. Working against the attack helps us to build virtue as we work against the vices. Staying strong in the battle, drawing on God’s grace, staying vigilant is how we become purified and perfected. When faced with a fierce attack, once the car stops spinning, now rather than saying “What just happened?,” we have a different response, “Jesus, I trust in you.”
Learn More About Spiritual Warfare
Discernment of Spirits for Beginners: Learning to Hear God and Defeat the Lies of the Enemy
Image: Photo by Malachi Cowie on Unsplash
