A Double Edged Attack

Over the past few weeks, some of those closest to me have been caught up in what has been revealed to be a two-pronged attack by the enemy.

The attack itself began, as it almost always does, very subtly and almost unnoticed. Building into a major battle.

I want to spend a few minutes exploring what actually turned into a fairly strong spiritual battle in the hope that you might gain some insight into how to combat this should you, or someone close to you, experience something similar.

I’m going to talk about a couple of (unfortunately) common issues that affect all of us:

Depression and Anxiety.

A Little Background

First of all, I want to relate to you a brief history of my own first-hand encounter with this particularly aggressive and vile attack that our enemy seems to relish.

It was during a particular period of time late last year – –

I had been talking quite often with my good friend Tom ( you can read about Tom here ) and in the course of our conversations we had both begun to remark about how we each had begun to suspect that we were under some kind of spiritual attack.

Both of us were being influenced by an attitude and general mindset that could only be described as depression with a big dose of anxiety thrown in.

The actual realization that we were under attack hadn’t occurred to either of us. It was only after we started talking about it and realized that we were both experiencing the same thing at the same time.

That’s when the light came on. After all, how else would you explain the fact that two people, separated by hundreds of miles, would be having the same identical experience simultaneously.

So we resolved to join together and fight back.

We tried both prayer and turning to scripture to find ways to drive the enemy away. At the best, it seemed that all we were able to accomplish was to just ‘hold our own.’ The attack just continued and even grew in its intensity.

Over time, I’ve learned that whenever we enter into these spiritual battles we usually get one of two possible results.

Either the attack is beaten off, or it gets worse.

Regardless of the result, either good or bad, the simple fact that there was, in fact, a result, leads me to conclude that the underlying cause was, without a doubt, a spiritual attack. And that is always enlightening.

Just knowing what’s actually going on is more than half the battle.

In this particular instance, it seemed that the more we prayed (in the context of spiritual warfare) the more intense the attack became. We both concluded that we at least knew the source of the attack – things clearly were not what they seemed.

Our prayers were obviously stirring something up – they seemed to just enrage this relentless and almost overwhelming force that we were up against. We were really wearing down.

Breaking Through

This attack continued for week after week. And, I’ll be the first to admit, it was really starting to take a heavy toll on us. We constantly reinforced each other that no, we weren’t going crazy – this attack was as real as a physical assault.

We were both drawn to a particular section of scripture – Isaiah 61 –  verses 1 – 4:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek;

he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.

The most significant revelations about this particular scripture were in the facts that, first and foremost, this was the scripture chosen by Jesus when He announced to the world why He had come to this earth.

Secondly, I finally recalled having read a teaching article by Derek Prince in which he talks about his personal battle with depression.

This particular scripture not only addresses the issue of depression, it gives us the solution for fighting back and then goes on to promise that we can prevail and restore that which has been stolen from us.

Specifically – the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. The spirit of heaviness. What we, in our feeble attempts at intellectualism, today call ‘depression.’

If you’ve ever encountered depression then you know that the word ‘heavy’ is a most appropriate description. There is a sense of some ‘heavy’ and unseen weight that is constantly and relentlessly pushing down upon you.

So – now we know. Depression is not always just a ‘chemical imbalance’ to feed the purses of those who specialize in treating ‘clinical’ depression.

It is a spirit.

An unsettling revelation. Yet, at the same time, an encouraging one.

Which brings us to the next question – just how do we combat this spirit of heaviness?

The answer lies in the first section of this verse – the garment of praise.

Fighting Back

Now that we were armed with this knowledge, we began to start to formulate a battle plan. We continued to pray in the context of spiritual warfare. And we began to add more and more praise to our arsenal.

Praise when we prayed. Praise throughout the day. And an almost constant playing of all sorts of Christian music to accompany not just our prayers but to constantly feed us with encouragement and uplift us.

While this battle had gotten to the point that it seemed to have no end in sight, once we began to purposely add in the element of praise there was a noticeable shift that took place. And it happened rather quickly.

Encouraged by these results, we continued and each day would add an even greater intensity of music, prayer and praise.

In the end, this attack did not lift in the same manner in which it came.

It had come slowly, and almost imperceptibly at first, gathering momentum and strength over time. By the time we started to realize that it was present, it was almost overwhelming.

It had lasted over 3 months.

It was only in retrospect that we could actually start to discern how it came in at first as a creeping trickle only to grow into a tremendous flood.

No, when the attack lifted, it was an abrupt and immediate event – here one day and gone the next.

In these troubled times we live in, we would all be well advised to understand the schemes of this enemy that is set against us.

Depression and anxiety will frequently come as a double-edged attack. Recognizing that this is a tactic of the enemy to take us out gives us the ability to not only fight back but to also overcome.

We also need to understand and recognize that it can be a long, hard fight.

In Conclusion

When I began this post, I referred to the fact that some of those that are close to me were under attack.

Of those, two are committed to following the Lord Jesus Christ, and one is not.

As I write this, the one who is not a follower of our LORD is headed off to get another prescription for meds.

The two that follow the LORD are now free from the grip of this attack.

Having been through this same scenario before, when we fought back we launched an all-out attack using the full armory of praise, music and spiritual warfare prayer. And, at least in this instance, the fight was over rather quickly.

Should you, or someone close to you, become a target for a similar attack, I sincerely hope that this article will offer both encouragement and guidance for the battle you face.

And should you have the need for someone to draw swords with you, get in touch.