Kingdom Beauty Design

Hello my beautiful friends!

Do you sometimes feel under pressure?  That feeling of hopelessness, confusion, and out of control emotions? You might be experiencing something known as Spiritual warfare. I personally had never known of such a thing until I became a follower of Christ Jesus. Let me explain to you what I’ve learned about it and what iv’e found helpful  while experiencing this myself in hopes that it may help you in times of trouble.

The following is a direct definition of Spiritual Warfare found on Wikipedia:

“Spiritual Warfare is the Christian concept of fighting against the work of prenatal evil forces. It is based on the Biblical belief in evil Spirits, or demons, that are said intervene in human affairs in various ways.”

And it goes on to explain how various Christian groups have adopted practices to repel such forces, as based on their doctrine of Christian demonology. Prayer is common form of Spiritual warfare among Christians. Other practices may include exorcism, the laying of the hands, fasting, and anointing with oil.

How would I know I’m experiencing such thing?

That’s a great question. I’m glad you asked! 😉

From my personal experience, I’ve learned to analyze myself more intently. I can’t tell right away if I’m experiencing Spiritual Warfare or if it’s just my period coming soon. Haha, Just joking! I’m seriously glad I can joke about this now, but in all seriousness, it does take a while for me to know if i’m experiencing it.

Personal signs of Spiritual Warfare are;

• little to no desire to pray
• intense confusion and stress over personal Bible study
• doubts in my faith and walk with God
• desire to isolate myself …. 

It wasn’t too long ago that I was feeling this way. I started to notice that I was slowly loosing desire in doing all of the things I really enjoyed. For the past few weeks I’ve struggled to get up and study with the intention of hearing from God, I had no energy to workout at the gym, I became overly stressed with work, and I found it very hard to find words to blog each time I sat in my office, so I simply stared blankly at my laptop and did nothing but feel hopeless and confused as to why this was happening to me.

I’d become frustrated with myself, others, and with God for a moment. I was so confused to how it seemed everyone knew how to hear from God, yet no one really  knew how to explain it to me. I wanted clarity. I wanted to know why I wasn’t hearing answers.

What helped me get through this…

• Prayer…

Prayer honestly does work. There’s power in simply saying, “God, I need You desperately. Even if I feel alone and confused, I know you’re with me. Give me enough faith to keep believing.” This has honestly been my prayer throughout the day for the past few weeks. I didn’t want to feel this way and asking for strength helped me look back to where I came from and really look to where I am now. He helped me see His grace towards me as I saw the person He has been molding me into, and I know He can do the same for you. (Read the story of how Jesus Heals a Boy with an Unclean Spirit in Mark 9:14-29)

“All things are possible for one who believes.”

• My Church…

My church is not only my physical church, but my mentors and my friends whom are walking this journey with me. I’ll be honest with you though, it always takes me a while to ask for help/prayers in situations like this because my pride gets the best of me and I “think” I can get through this alone, but God sends us angels to protect us for a reason.

• Fasting…

Fasting is something I recently experienced in a deeper level. Fasting honestly helps us lean in to God more closely, it helps us slow down our thoughts and honestly even our speech. Experiencing a fast recently taught me to slow down and believe that God hears all of my prayers. He continues to show me that He is answering my prayers and teaching me to live lead by the Holy Spirit instead of my flesh.

Change is uncomfortable without a doubt, but it’s part of leaving the old self and becoming a new creation.

For a while i’ve been holding on to the wheel for my life specifically in my career. I confess that i’ve been holding on to that wheel so tight that it was the very thing that was not allowing me to spend time in prayer and devotion to knowing God more, but for my own selfish reasons. It frustrates me when I don’t know the answers to something on my own timing, but God is teaching me to feel what I need to feel, and letting it go. 

We’re not supposed to know all the answers. Sometimes we just need to slow down and breathe because as long as we’re still breathing God still has work to do with us and through us.

Trust God, and Do Good… 🙂