Summary

Have you ever had a week where you just couldn't shake a heavy sense of gloom? No matter how much you pray or read your scriptures, you feel paralyzed, isolated, and completely "off." If you are tired of feeling like you are losing a battle you can't even see, you might be asking: what does spiritual warfare look like? You are exactly where you need to be.

In this episode of the Arise, Women of God podcast, host Tamara K. Anderson and licensed clinical social worker Wendi Christensen uncover the invisible battles happening behind the scenes of our everyday chaos. We dive into how spiritual warfare often masks itself as natural depression, anxiety, or an unexplainable feeling of just not being yourself. We also look at biblical examples, from the physical battles in Mark 5 and Mark 9 to the incredible power of community prayer in Acts 12 when Peter was freed from prison.

Discover how the adversary uses isolation as a tactic to target your weak points and your sense of worth. More importantly, learn the vital importance of calling on your sisterhood for reinforcements when your sword feels too heavy to carry. Tune in to learn how a simple text message can shatter a week-long darkness, and move from feeling isolated and paralyzed to connected and conquered in the name of Jesus Christ!

Episode Takeaways

• The "Off" Feeling: Spiritual warfare often masks itself as natural emotional chaos. If you suddenly feel crushing depression, unexplained anxiety, or simply "not like yourself," that is the footprint of the adversary exacerbating natural emotions.
• Isolation is a Trap: The enemy wants you to feel worthless and stay isolated because it is easier to attack a weak point when you are alone. Fighting the urge to isolate and stay home is crucial to winning the battle.
• The Power of Sisterhood: When you are enveloped in darkness, you may need the light of others to find your way out. A simple text asking friends to pray for you can shatter a spiritual siege, just as the early church's prayers freed Peter from prison in Acts 12.
• You + Jesus = Victory: We are not strong enough on our own to overcome darkness. We must invite Jesus into the battle every single day, relying on His strength and commanding the enemy to leave in His name.

Free Resource

Ready to identify the adversary's footprints in your home and get the tools to fight back? Get our free A Mother's Spiritual Defense Guide: 6 Empowering Steps to Fortify Home & Family downloadable pdf here: https://www.womenwarriorsoflight.com/A-Mothers-Spiritual-Defense-Guide

Reflection Questions

• Can you recall a recent time when you felt completely "off" or paralyzed by gloom? Could that have been a spiritual attack rather than just a bad day?
• When you feel isolated or worthless, do you tend to hide, or do you reach out to a trusted sisterhood for reinforcements?
• Who are two or three women you can text the next time you need an immediate prayer warrior in your corner?

Host & Guest

Tamara K. Anderson @tamarakanderson

Wendi Christensen @wendichristensencounseling

Transcript

https://www.womenwarriorsoflight.com/blog/what-does-spiritual-warfare-look-like

Have you ever had a week where you just couldn't shake that heavy sense of gloom? No matter how much you prayed or how many scriptures you read, you feel paralyzed, dispirited and completely off.

But you can't point to a single thing that's actually wrong. Perhaps you're asking what does spiritual warfare look like because you're tired of feeling like you're losing a battle you can't even see.

Well, my friend, you are in the right place. By the end of today's episode, you will understand the common footprints the adversary leaves on our emotions and our bodies.

You'll learn the vital importance of sisterhood reinforcements for the moments when your sword feels too heavy to carry.

We're going to help you solve the pain of spiritual paralysis by looking at raw physical examples of warfare in the New Testament and and sharing how a quick text to a group of praying sisters can shatter a week long darkness. We're moving from isolated to connected and conquered. Stay tuned. Ordinary women, extraordinary faith. When God calls, we say yes.

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Arise Women of God podcast. I'm your host, Tamara K. Anderson.

And joining me today is the fantastic Wendy Christensen, my co founder of Women warriors of Light and a licensed clinical social worker for over 30 years. And we are blessed to have Wendy with us today as we tackle this very important question. What does spiritual warfare look like?

Because it's hard to know what it is if you don't know what to look for. When we ask what warfare looks like, we often might think of spiritual warfare being just our thoughts.

But the Bible teaches us it can also be incredibly physical. Think of Mark, chapter five, when Jesus encounters a man so oppressed that he was living in the tombs and couldn't be bound by chains.

Ooh, that is heavy and hard. Or perhaps think of the man in Mark, Chapter 9, whose son was physically thrown into the fire and water by an unclean spirit.

While our battles today may or may not look that dramatic on the outside, the internal experience is just as real. Sometimes it looks like sudden crushing depression or even a sharp localized pain that doesn't have a medical explanation.

Wendy is now going to share how she has seen this invisible battle manifesting behind what looks like normal life, chaos and emotions.

What we're trying to do is move from treating life's just normal chaos or heavy chaos, right, just life's chaos, from purely just physical to actually recognizing the invisible battle that might be running behind it. So we might seem or feel like, I'm just depressed.

I'm just feeling anxiety when really we don't understand how much Satan's attacking us and working on us to cause us or add to the fee that just the natural feelings of depression or despair or hopelessness. And then what he does is he comes in and he makes it worse. He exacerbates those feelings.

And so if you can start seeing and recognizing, hey, I'm feeling more sad than usual. I don't usually feel this sad. If you feel off, I don't usually feel this anxious. I don't usually feel so much panic. I don't know what's going on.

I don't feel like myself. That's how I see it when I have clients come in and I almost always hear them say, I just have feeling. I've been feeling so off.

I don't feel like myself.

That not like myself feeling is the adversary's footprint. Last year, as I was working so hard to share more light, I felt this paralyzing gloom kind of settle over me.

I cast the darkness out, but it kept returning. I finally realized that my own strength wasn't enough, and I turned to the Lord for this specific siege. As I prayed and asked God, what am I missing?

Missing? Why can't I get rid of this? The whisper came immediately to my mind. Ask your sisters to pray for you.

I belong to a group of amazing women who pray for each other and encourage each other. So I got on that chat, shared my struggle, asked for help, and within five minutes, the darkness literally lifted. I felt the air and my soul clear.

That, my friends, is the power of spiritual warfare and this power of prayer. We see this pattern also in the early church when Peter was in prison.

In Acts, chapter 12, verse 5, it says prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God. For him, an angel then appears and his chains just fell off. Isn't that a beautiful example of the power prayer?

Anciently, just last week, I had a close friend text a small group of sister friends saying that she felt darker than things had been in a long time and that a specific family member was just enveloped by darkness and she felt fearful for the first time in a long time. She then asked for our prayers. We immediately became prayer warriors for her and her family, and it made such a difference.

When you are enveloped by darkness, you may need the light of others to help you find the way out. And it's also good to know you're not alone. The enemy wants you to feel isolated because it's easier to attack a weak point when you're alone.

He wants you to stay home and feel like you have nothing to contribute. As Wende is now going to talk about what is.

What is the warfare he's going to use. Maybe it's my thought process. Maybe my thoughts are a lot about. I don't feel like I have worth. I don't matter. I'm a burden. I don't.

I don't know who I am. I feel worthless. Okay, what's he going to do? He's going to strike that. He's going to hit that.

He's going to make it seem like I'm not seen or heard or valued. And what does that look like? It could even be.

He could run interference and having me isolate and stay in my home and feel like I have nothing to contribute and that my thoughts are all around that. So I have to pay attention to how. How is he winning the battle instead of Christ winning the battle where?

Okay, I don't feel like getting out there today and I don't want to talk to people, but I'm going to force myself to go and talk to people because I know as I do, I'm going to start feeling better. That's where we really pull upon the Savior to strengthen us so that we can go out and do hard things.

So, my friends, when we combine our strength with the strength of the Savior, we are no longer weak. We can identify the attack and command it to go. We're not strong enough on our own to overcome darkness.

And so it's always good to know that you can always rely on Jesus. You plus Jesus, you're strong enough to conquer any obstacle, any adversary.

And so when we cast Satan out, we do it in the name of Jesus Christ because we don't want him to be with us. But by ourselves, we are weak. And so we need to invite Jesus into the battle with us every day. And so guess what?

My morning prayers involve that every single day. Spiritual warfare looks like isolation, discouragement, and feeling off. But victory looks like sisterhood.

Scripture and binding ourselves to Jesus Christ, casting the adversary out. You are the guardian of your home, but even you need reinforcements.

Help you identify the adversary in your own home and family and give you the tools to fight back. We have a beautiful free resource for you. It's our A Mother's Guide to Spiritual Defense. Six Empowering Steps to Fortifying Home and Family.

This is available at the link below. Inside turn to step number three. Mastering discernment. This is one of the hardest things.

We list specific indicators of darkness like sudden heaviness, division in communication, or deep discouragement so you can recognize the enemy when he shows up. We also have the power of remembering in step number six, helping you log those miracle moments when prayer power changed your day.

So, my friends, you are not alone in this battle against the darkness. We are praying for you. Don't lose hope. Don't lose faith. Light can and will conquer the darkness. Hang in there. You can do this.

And until next time, may you arise. Keep trying to and do it God's way. God strong. If today's episode helped you feel a little closer to God, please like and subscribe.

It helps us grow and ensures Heaven's whispers. Stay at the top of your feed whenever you need them most.