The Armor Is the Key — Now Available!

The goal of the book is captured in the subtitle: How to Recognize and Resist Satanic Attacks on Your Mind.

This is just a quick announcement to let you know that it is currently available at a discounted introductory price — $0.99 for the Kindle edition and $9.99 for the print edition. After the introductory period, the Kindle price will be $8.99 and the print price will be $14.99.

I want to encourage you to take advantage of the discounted price, get a copy, and then — if you are blessed by it — leave a short three or four line review on Amazon. Reviews make a significant difference in helping others discover the book, and I would greatly appreciate your help with that.

Here is the link.

I look forward to any comments or questions you might have!

In His grace,
Ward

In the previous post, we explored the invisible nature of spiritual warfare and how unseen forces impact our lives. Now, we're diving into recognizing and resisting spiritual warfare—the encouraging truth that this battle is not only real, but something you can spot and stand against starting today.

Our Intent: To equip you with the confidence that you can recognize spiritual attacks when they come and resist them successfully—not someday, but starting now.

The Obstacle

After learning about invisible spiritual warfare, many believers feel paralyzed by a dangerous assumption: "If I can't see it, how can I possibly fight it?" Consequently, this sense of helplessness keeps us from even trying to resist. However, here's the good news that changes everything: spiritual warfare is recognizable, and we can resist it effectively.

Evidence for Recognizing Spiritual Warfare

Evidence for recognizing spiritual warfare comes straight from Scripture—in Acts 5, we find a story about accountability and recognizing satanic attacks. Specifically, Ananias and Sapphira sold property and lied about giving everything to the church, keeping some back. When Peter confronted Ananias, he stated clearly, "Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?"

Importantly, Peter recognized exactly what was happening. Instead, he didn't wonder or guess—he identified the spiritual source immediately. Indeed, God held Ananias and Sapphira responsible for allowing Satan to influence them to lie, and they died as a result. Clearly, we can learn to recognize satanic attacks so we don't fall into similar traps.

Your Battle Plan for Resisting Spiritual Warfare

Your battle plan for resisting spiritual warfare starts with God's assurance—He doesn't give impossible commands, so when He tells us to resist, He's showing us we can. Here's the three-part strategy:

Step 1: Submit to God 

Position yourself under God's authority through prayer, Scripture, and obedience. Ultimately, submission creates the foundation for resistance. (James 4:7a)

Step 2: Be Alert and Recognize

"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8).  Here, we're told to be alert—which means we can recognize the danger. Of course, you can't see a prowling lion in the spiritual realm, but you can recognize his methods, his patterns, and his attacks—the "spiritual fingerprints" from Post 5 like sudden confusion, accusatory thoughts, or discouragement.

Step 3: Actively Resist

"Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Therefore, stand firm in faith. Indeed, our resistance has guaranteed effectiveness—the enemy must flee when resisted. We resist by standing firm against attacking thoughts. Then, name the lie and insert the truth. Finally, push back against the thoughts trying to invade your mind. (James 4:7b, 1 Peter 5:9).

For another perspective on resisting Satan, check out this guide on fighting the enemy.

Finding the Balance

Here's the balanced truth: we often miss obvious spiritual attacks because we haven't been taught what to look for. However, there are also times we think it's Satan when it's not. Sometimes our problems result from living in a fallen world, our own poor choices, or natural consequences. Therefore, we need to be neither naive nor paranoid.

For more on how spiritual warfare can affect your emotional and mental well-being, read this Christian counselor’s perspective.

The Result

Thankfully, the most encouraging truth is this: God has equipped us for this war. Indeed, He didn't declare war and then leave us defenseless. Instead, everything we need to recognize spiritual attacks and resist them successfully has been provided.

Picture this: the next time a spiritual attack comes—whether it's sudden speculation, confusion, discouragement, doubt or accusatory thoughts—you recognize it instantly. Instead of being caught off guard, you submit to God, stand firm in faith, and actively resist. Immediately, the enemy flees. Then, the battle ends. Finally, you walk forward in victory, not as a victim, but as a warrior equipped for triumph. Truly, this is your reality when you understand that spiritual warfare is both recognizable and resistible.

Even as we read verses about invisible spiritual warfare, we have trouble connecting it with our lives. Often, we see wars in the news, and we think, "Sorry, I'm just not experiencing that." Yet here's what we're missing: this is an invisible war, fought according to spiritual principles. As 2 Corinthians 10:4 reminds us: 

"The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh."

The Story of Invisible Armies

For example, one of my favorite biblical illustrations comes from 2 Kings 6:8-17. Whenever the King of Syria planned to attack Israel, Elisha kept tipping off the king of Israel. The King of Syria eventually discovered what was happening and sent thousands of troops to surround Elisha.

When Elisha's servant saw the army, he panicked, saying, "Oh no, my lord, what shall we do?"

Immediately, Elisha reassured him: "Don't be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." Then Elisha prayed, "Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see." Suddenly, the servant saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Truly, what a picture! All the time, it happens—we just don't get to see it. There are good angels and bad angels around us constantly, and there's a battle going on that we can't normally perceive.

Our Invisible Enemies

Accordingly, Ephesians 6:12 makes this clear:

"We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over this present darkness, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."

These spirit beings are invisible. Not only that, their attacks are invisible too.

Likewise, Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. He hides his true nature. If Satan walked through the door right now, we wouldn't recognize him because he'd look beautiful. In fact, here's the thing about deception: we don't know when we're deceived. Eve believed that eating the fruit would make her wise.

The Germs Analogy

Similarly, think about germs. We all believe in germs. We’ve grown to accept that invisible microorganisms can affect us dramatically. During coronavirus, we wore masks, sat far apart, and changed our entire way of living because of something we couldn't see. Thus, we accepted the reality of an invisible threat and took appropriate precautions.

What This Means for Us

Consequently, the invisible nature of this war makes it challenging, but not impossible, to recognize. Often, our spiritual enemies leave what I call "spiritual fingerprints"—signs and patterns we can learn to detect. Thankfully, God hasn't left us helpless or clueless about it. Just as we learned to recognize and respond to invisible germs, we can learn to recognize and respond to invisible spiritual attacks.

Imagine living with your eyes truly open to the spiritual reality around you—seeing the battle for what it is, recognizing the forces at work, and knowing you're not alone in the fight. That’s where this journey leads us. Ultimately, the goal is to recognize the forces for us and against us, so we can win the war. Join us.

One way we know that spiritual warfare is an actual war is by the spiritual warfare terminology the Bible uses to describe it. Now, you might think: 'Couldn't these just be powerful metaphors about moral struggle?' That's a fair question—however, consider this: If you're involved in a war, you use war language. Moreover, Scripture uses military terminology throughout when describing the Christian life.

So, let's look at some verses that highlight the language you'd expect to find if we're truly in a battle.

War

The most basic term is simply the word "war" itself. For example, 

1 Peter 2:11 (ESV) says: "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul." 

Indeed, all of us struggle with that inner battle Paul describes in Romans chapter 7. We want to do the good thing, but we're pulled away, and no matter how much we try, we end up doing what we don't want to do, and then we regret it. There are times we have victory too, but there's this internal struggle that sometimes seems to overpower us. We make commitments and rarely follow through—it's like a war is going on within us.

This reminds me of a guy in an office who decided he needed to lose weight. Every day he'd stop at the bakery and bring in a Danish. Finally, he told his coworkers, "I want to be accountable to you. I'll drive by the bakery as always, but I won't stop and get a Danish unless there's a parking spot right in front." The next day, however, he walked in with a Danish. "Are you telling me there was a parking space right in front?" they asked. "Yeah," he said, "and I only had to drive around the block 10 times to find it."

In fact, that's the war we fight—knowing what we want to do but battling against another part of ourselves.

Soldiers

In addition, Paul wrote to Timothy: 

Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 2 Timothy 2:3–4 (ESV)

So, what do you think about songs like "Onward Christian Soldiers"? What about The Salvation Army? Do you think these are outdated, out of touch with where we are in the world today? Should we stop singing that song, and should The Salvation Army change its name and get rid of those uniforms?

Actually, I think those are closer to the truth than we realize. We are soldiers.

Enemies

Now, if you're in a battle, you have enemies. For instance, we read of this in the book of James.

You adulterous people, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4:4 (ESV) 

So if you're a friend of the world and you're God's enemy, what does that make the world? An enemy. Moreover, Jesus said the world hates Him, and it's going to hate us too. We have spiritual enemies.

Also, notice that the flesh is part of spiritual warfare, but it's different from Satan. This verse talks about the world as another enemy we face.

Weapons and Armor

The Bible makes it clear we have weapons and armor.

Second Corinthians 10:4 tells us: "The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds."

Similarly, Romans 13:12 says: "The night is far gone, the day is at hand. So let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light."

Kingdoms

Here's an interesting concept: when a person becomes a Christian, we become part of God's kingdom. 

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, Colossians 1:13 (ESV)

This isn't metaphorical citizenship—rather, it describes an actual transfer of authority and allegiance.

We used to walk according to "the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2). We followed him without even knowing it.

The Full Picture

In fact, the sheer volume and consistency of this spiritual warfare terminology across different authors and contexts suggest intentional description, not poetic flourish. Moreover, we could keep going with more terms: fight, adversaries, strongholds, fortresses, victory, overcome, conquer. so, are you getting the picture? We are part of a spiritual war.

Unfortunately, if you've been a Christian for a long time, these terms have become so familiar that we don't pay attention to them anymore. However, the Bible repeatedly emphasizes that we are in a spiritual war.

You didn't choose this—God chose you, and Satan knows it. Your only choice now is whether you'll fight like a soldier or wander around like a civilian wondering why you keep getting ambushed.

This Is Not Your Average War: What Makes Spiritual Warfare Unique

A Different Battle

The Apostle Paul highlighted a distinct aspect of spiritual warfare in Second Corinthians 10. Specifically, he contrasted it with worldly warfare. Here’s what he said:

³ For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. ⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 2 Corinthians 10:3–4 (ESV)

Paul founded the Corinthian church and then left to plant other churches. Subsequently, he learned problems had engulfed the church, including divisions, spiritual immaturity, lawsuits between members, tolerating sexual immorality, and more. As a result, Paul himself became the focus of verbal attacks. People questioned his authority and his methods. In the second letter to those Christians, Paul acknowledged the spiritual struggle while saying, "We do not wage war as the world does."

His insight is crucial. If we try to fight a spiritual war using worldly methods, we'll lose every time. For example, it's like trying to take on hell with a squirt gun, or run a marathon wearing heavy armor. Clearly, the tools don't match the task.

Divine Power vs. Worldly Weapons

Here’s the remarkable part: "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. Furthermore, we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient."

When we think about having divine power to demolish strongholds, that’s a really big deal. For example, you remember the Star Wars movies, right? The Force allowed the Jedi to do amazing things such as to move objects with their minds, influence people’s thoughts, and perform incredible feats.

Supernatural vs. Supernatural

Our spiritual enemies can’t be tracked by radar, pushed into a corner, or cut off from reinforcements. In other words, human strategies such as trying to ignore attacks or use willpower to defeat attacking thoughts are useless when battling supernatural beings. Fortunately, we’re equipped with spiritual weapons to fight and defeat spiritual enemies.

Think about it: If you’re fighting against "rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over this present darkness, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (as Paul describes in Ephesians 6), what good would human weapons do? For instance, how would political maneuvering, financial pressure, or physical force help against beings that operate in spiritual realms? Of course, it wouldn't! That's why ...

God equipped us with divine power and spiritual weapons that are perfectly suited for spiritual battles.

The Practical Implication

This changes everything about how we approach spiritual conflicts. Instead of relying on human wisdom, manipulation, or force, we learn to operate in divine power. It's not about what we can do, but what God does through us. More importantly, instead of fighting flesh and blood, we target the real spiritual issues behind the problems we see.

When Paul says we "take captive every thought to make it obedient," he’s describing spiritual warfare at its most practical level, that is, the battle for our minds and the thoughts that shape our reality.

Identify Attacking Thoughts

Consequently, we can identify any of the endless possible satanic thoughts that push their way into our minds, such as: "God doesn’t love you. You should get even with those who hurt you. Give up on God. You’re foolish to trust God. No one cares about you. God doesn’t care what you do."

Identifying those thoughts as a spiritual attack, part of the spiritual war, shouldn’t intimidate us. Rather, it should encourage us to react. For this reason, don't be passive. We have supernatural power that far exceeds anything our enemies can bring against us. It is called the Armor of God. In future posts, we will expand upon this. In the meantime, read about it now in Ephesians 6:10-18. This armor enables us to resist those thoughts with these specific truths: "God loves me. My intention is to do the right thing to everyone. God hasn’t given up on me, so I won’t give up on God. I am wise to trust God. God and many others care about me. God cares what I do and I want to please Him."

In summary, understanding this unique nature of spiritual warfare is essential before we can effectively engage in it.

If you have any questions or comments, please post them below.

A Declared War: Why Satan Won't Leave You Alone

One of the first things we need to recognize about spiritual warfare is that this is a declared war. There are wars that exist that are not declared, conflicts that just happen and continue without formal declarations. For instance, has Ukraine or Russia ever formally declared war against one another? Many modern conflicts lack this clarity.

However, spiritual warfare is different. This war was officially declared, and understanding when and why that happened is significant.

The Declaration in Genesis

The declaration is recorded in Genesis chapter 3, right after the serpent attacked Eve and they ate the forbidden fruit. When God came down to address what had happened, He didn't just give consequences; He declared war. Here's what God said to the serpent: 

"Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life." Genesis 3:14.

But then He said something even more significant to Satan himself:

"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." Genesis 3:15.

This is like Pearl Harbor. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, they didn't declare war, they just attacked. In response, the US declared war. When Satan attacked Eve in the Garden, God declared war in response.

What "Enmity" Really Means

The word "enmity" means hostility. We often say "a state of enmity exists" when describing hostilities between nations. It's one of the ways we describe war. But this isn't just any hostility. God put passionate, consuming hostility within Satan against us.

Why Satan Keeps Attacking Christians

This answers a question that many people have about spiritual warfare. When we read the Bible there's some good news (hopefully not a spoiler alert): we win. We know what's going to happen in the end. Does Satan know what's going to happen? Yes! Satan knows the Bible. Moreover, he quoted Scripture to Jesus when he tempted Him. Satan knows the end of the story.

So why in the world does he keep fighting a war he knows he'll lose? This verse in Genesis tells us. Because God put passionate hostility within him against us. "I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring (that's all his followers) and her seed."

Importantly, God didn't put hostility in us toward Satan.

A Common Misconception

Some people think, "Come on, Satan, just leave me alone. I'm not angry with you." They operate under the assumption that if they leave Satan alone, he'll leave them alone, right? Wrong. Unfortunately, it's not true. 

The Relentless Reality

The reason that Satan and his cohorts won't quit is because of this hostility within them. It's not strategic, it's personal. Furthermore, it's not optional, it's hardwired into Satan and his follower's nature by God's own declaration. 

This means you can't negotiate your way out of spiritual warfare. Additionally, you can't ignore it, or be nice enough, quiet enough, or uninvolved enough to avoid it. The enmity exists regardless of your attitude toward Satan.

The Great News!

But here's the encouraging truth: God didn't leave you defenseless in a war He declared. Instead, He equipped you with everything you need not just to survive these battles, but to win them decisively and immediately when you recognize what's happening.

Understanding that this is a declared war with an enemy consumed by hostility helps us take spiritual warfare seriously without being overwhelmed by it. We're not paranoid, we're prepared. 

If you have a question or comment, please post it below.  If you missed the first post in this series, click here.

What Is Spiritual Warfare? 

Let me ask you three true/false questions:

1. True or false: I know what spiritual warfare is, and I know that I have been attacked by Satan. 
2. True or false: I know how to recognize it every time, maybe not immediately, but I know how to recognize it.
3. True or false: I know how to resist it. As soon as I recognize it, I know how to resist it so that it ends immediately.

How many of those can you answer "true" to? If you're like most Christians, you probably got zero, one, or maybe two. Don't worry, that's exactly why we need to talk about this topic.

The Simple Definition

"Spiritual warfare is a battle between God and His Kingdom and Satan and his kingdom."

In its most basic sense, that's it. We can step back and dig deep and expand it, but that's basically what it is. It's not complicated in concept, even if it can be challenging in practice.

The Problem with Extreme Descriptions

But here's one of the problems: the way that some people describe this spiritual war, such as this,

"There's a constant, hidden battle happening in our daily lives that we can't see or hear, but its effects touch everything important to us. A determined malevolent force incessantly works to destroy what we value most—our emotions, thoughts, romantic partnerships, family bonds, friendships, inner strength, aspirations, and future potential."

Is this your experience? Frankly, it isn't mine. And when many people hear descriptions like this, they think, "You know what, if that's what spiritual warfare is, I'm not involved in it. That's not going on in my life." So they dismiss the entire concept.

This kind of dramatic portrayal can actually drive people away from understanding what the Bible really teaches about spiritual warfare. It makes it sound like we should be cowering in fear, constantly under siege, barely surviving each day. But that's not the balanced picture Scripture gives us.

The Balanced Reality

The Bible makes it clear that we are in a spiritual war. Because it's spiritual (because the nature of it is different) it's hard to recognize. But it's not necessarily the intense, all-consuming daily battle that some describe.

There are times, every now and then, when spiritual warfare becomes more intense in our lives. It's not every day, but these moments do happen. The key is learning to recognize them when they occur and knowing how to respond effectively.

The Goal

My Goal is for you to be able to say with confidence:

• I know what spiritual warfare is.
• I know how to recognize.
• I know how to resist it. 

When you can say this, you will be equipped to recognize a spiritual attack, and resist it to end it immediately.

This isn't about becoming paranoid or seeing Satan behind every problem. It's about understanding the biblical reality that there is a spiritual dimension to our lives and learning to navigate it with wisdom and power.

The good news? God has equipped us for this war. We're not left defenseless or clueless. We have everything we need not just to survive, but to win decisively when spiritual battles arise.

In the coming posts, we'll explore exactly what this looks like and how you can be prepared for the spiritual realities you face as a believer.

Do you have a question or comment? I'd love to hear from you. Post it below.

Who hacked our website?

In March someone attacked our website with malware. It shut us down for several months. What if Satan was behind it? What do you do when Satan attacks? Before we can answer that we have to know if he did it! 

There are many problems other than websites crashing that people think Satan may be behind.  Perhaps you have wondered if Satan:

• caused covid-19?
• made me or my loved-ones sick?
• is behind the problems with my boss and coworkers?
• made my children turn their backs on God?
• is behind my depression?
• made my car or refrigerator or computer break?
• is preventing me from finding a job?
• won't let me get a better place to live?

Some would say Satan caused our website problems. The focus of our ministry is to teach people how to recognize and resist satanic attacks on their minds. Fixing our site required many hours, hundreds of dollars, and interfered with our ministry. Can't we conclude Satan is to blame?

Satan Does Attack the Ministry

I agree there are times Satan disrupts ministries.

• In Acts 5:1-10 Satan attacked the church through Ananias and Sapphira. He put the idea of lying to the church in their hearts.
• In Acts 16:16-18 Satan attacked the ministry of the apostle Paul by harassing him through a girl who prophesied by demonic power.
• In 1 Thessalonians 2:18 the apostle Paul told the church at Thessalonica that he wanted to visit them, but Satan prevented him.

Is Satan behind all our problems, and if he is, shouldn't we resist him to ease those problems? Perhaps Satan caused our problem and yours, or perhaps not.

Paul's Hardships

Satan caused Paul problems but let's look at his life more carefully. We read above about two times Paul said Satan interfered in his work for God. Paul experienced a lot more than two problems in his ministry! Paul said,

²³I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. ²⁴Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. ²⁵Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, ²⁶I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. ²⁷I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. ²⁸Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. ²⁹Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? 2 Corinthians 11:23–29 NIV.

Paul's Response

How did the apostle Paul respond to these hardships? Did he bind Satan and cast him out? Did he rebuke Satan for every hardship in his life? No, he didn't. Here's his response:

³Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:3–5 NIV

How could Paul rejoice in those terrible things that happened to him? We find the answer in something God said before Paul's ministry started.

Before he was a Christian, Paul persecuted the church. He had Christians thrown in prison and some died there for their faith. When he became a Christian, God set him aside for the ministry of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. At the beginning of his ministry, God said this about Paul,

¹⁶I will show him how much he must suffer for my name Acts 9:16 NIV.

Paul rejoiced in all his sufferings because they happened for the cause of Christ. Every one of Paul's sufferings resulted in good.

Did the hacking of our website result in good? Yes! Has this post helped you? It has been a difficult and frustrating and expensive problem, but I rejoice in it because I'm certain it is for the glory of God and I learned a lot about malware, websites and other fun geeky stuff!

Would God Hack Our Site?

The question is who hacked the website? Was it Satan or God? How could I possibly ask if God hacked the website? Remember the story of Job, how Satan attacked him? At the end of the book of Job we read this,

¹⁰After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before. ¹¹All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring. Job 42:10–11 NIV

Even though Satan attacked, the Lord took responsibility. The attacks were under his control.

Can you look at your problems and hardship and rejoice because they are in God's control and are bringing you closer to God? Or are you blaming Satan, wishing that you never suffered from problems, and as a result missing God's blessings?

Does "What to do when Satan attacks?" apply to our problem?

I'd like to hear from you. What is your "Who?" or "Why?" question? I've heard people say after a hardship, "I'm glad I went through it." Can you rejoice in a past hardship? If so, please tell me about. And if you have a question relating to this, please post it or if it is personal, you can email me by replying to this post.