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Spiritual Warfare & The Christian Life Michelle Moran from the Sion Community writes about the importance of discerning spirits and being enabled to recognise the devil's negative mind games, which can deceive and trip up the unwary Christian
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About five years ago we had our house burgled, which was quite an unusual happening in the rather sleepy rural village where we live. After that, we increased our home security and had a couple of extra locks fitted. When we were going away for a few days, we used to hide our video machine and CD player!! As time passed however, life returned to normal and we became more relaxed about our security arrangements. Just before Christmas however, we were burgled again, while we were away on our community retreat. Apparently, some thieves had been targeting the village and our house stood out because there were no lights on and it was obviously uninhabited. On reflection, I think there is something here to learn about spiritual warfare. Whenever I've got some big project on the horizon I become increasingly aware of the spiritual battle. I try to remain 'calm but vigilant', protecting myself and preparing for any potential enemy attack. However, it's in the in-between times when I can be most vulnerable. Weapons of self denial Lent is a traditional time for spiritual warfare. I love the Ash Wednesday prayer. "Support us, Lord, as with this Lenten fast we begin our Christian warfare, so that in doing battle against the spirit of evil we may be armed with the weapon of self-denial". It's as if Lent is a time of increased security and we are on red alert, watchful and attentive. Once Eastertide emerges, it is easy in all the easter eggs, feasting and resurrection joy to let down one's guard. Recently, I've been refl ecting on some of my own personal security arrangements with regard to spiritual warfare. It seems to me that the first step is to simply recognise the presence of the evil one. Once we recognise an enemy attack, the devil is defeated because he has been uncovered and he can no longer deceive us. I must confess that I am not one of those Christians who interprets every little inconvenience or difficulty as an enemy attack. So how can we know when "the devil is prowling round like a roaring lion looking for someone to eat?", 1 Pet 5:9. We need to be vigilant and discerning people. Our main focus and preoccupation should be with listening to and serving the Lord rather than becoming anxious about potential disturbances from the evil one. St Ignatius gives us some very practical rules for the discernment of spirits. He says that for those of us who are growing in our Christian life, the voice of the Lord is often quiet and gentle. He may even appear to be silent. We need therefore, to be trained to listen for the still small voice. Contrastingly, the evil one can come as a loud voice, a disruption or a disturbance. He often seeks to discourage us and we can become negative or resistant to the Lord. So it is good to regularly 'examine' ourselves, seeing where and how we are being drawn by the Lord and recognising things which may be a disturbance. Here it may be helpful to pray with St Paul for a "renewed mind" Rom 12.2 because the enemy often plays negative mind games with us. For example, one of the actions of the Holy Spirit is to gradually convict us of our sins, so that we can acknowledge our sinfulness, turn to the Lord in repentance and receive forgiveness. Conversely, the enemy wants us to feel condemned, defeated, unworthy and full of self doubt. Then our focus is entirely upon ourselves and we are imprisoned by our sinfulness rather than surrendered to the Lord and open to His mercy. It is important for us to keep things in perspective. We do not need to wage a personal commando raid against the devil. We are 'in Christ' and He is victorious. So all we need to do is to stand our ground and allow the Lord to do the rest. Ours is initially a defensive stance. We should concentrate on "growing strong in the Lord with the strength of his power, putting on His armour" (Eph 6.10). This is enough to protect us against enemy tactics. (I also find it useful to enlist the help of St Michael, my patron saint, he is a great defender in the battle!). A few years ago in an attempt to clamp down on robbery and burglary there was a campaign which had the slogan 'watch out, watch out, there is a thief about'. Perhaps this could be used as a timely reminder to each of us to continually integrate spiritual warfare into our daily lives. Always remembering that the light of Christ is so much more powerful than any darkness.
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