Prayer to stop spiritual attack

It’s true. You have an adversary who wants to attack your desires, your thoughts, even how you see and treat your body. So you and I need to be on guard against Satan’s schemes.  

According to 1 Peter 5:8, “Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (NASB). But God’s Word also gives us a strategy against those attacks by telling us to “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes…” (Ephesians 6:11-18). I find it interesting that every piece of “armor” described in that passage refers to the character of Christ. In other words, put on Christ-likeness – abide in Christ – and you will fend off the attacks of the enemy. 

We abide in Christ through surrender and constant communion with Him. As you suit up with the armor of God, here are five prayers to pray against Satan’s attacks on your heart, mind, emotions, mouth, and body. 

1. A Prayer to Guard Your Heart  

Lord God, Captain of my heart, Satan knows if I follow Your Greatest Commandment – to love You with all my heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37) – he is powerless over me. Guard my heart, Lord Jesus, so that it beats for You alone. Don’t let me grow complacent toward You or be lured to love anyone or anything more than You. Remove the idols from my heart so that You alone command my allegiance and utmost affections Help me to love and forgive others as You have forgiven me so the enemy can get no foothold through hate or bitterness on my part. Cultivate in my heart Your love that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (>1 Corinthians 13:7, NASB). Finally, Lord, set my heart on things above, not on earthly things. Help me to remember that You died for me and my life is now hidden which Christ in God (>Colossians 3:1-2). Increase my longing for heaven so this world holds no power over me.   

2. A Prayer to Defend Your Mind  

Almighty God, cover my mind with the helmet of Your salvation, reminding me constantly that I am Your child and the enemy can’t mess with me. Fix my thoughts, Lord Jesus, on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. Help me to think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise so Your peace will guard my mind (Philippians 4:8-9). Don’t let me copy the behavior and customs of this world, but transform me into a new person by changing the way I think. Then I will learn to recognize Your will for me which is good and pleasing and perfect (Romans 12:2, NLT).  Saturate my mind with Your truth so I am convinced that the answers are found in Your Word, not out in the world. 

SEE ALSO: 5 Areas of Your Life Satan Wants to Enter

3. A Prayer to Calm Your Emotions

Lord, keep the enemy at bay by calming my emotions with the peace of Your presence. Help me to follow Your command and not worry about anything, but pray about everything, with a thankful heart offering up prayers and requests to you so that You can give me that peace that no one can completely understand – a peace that will control the way I think and feel (Phil. 4:6-7, CEV). Remind me, daily, that You are the Only One who can meet my emotional needs so I don’t look to any person for my identity, validation, or for my love tank to be filled. Thank You that You are the God of peace, the God of order, the God who heals my wounds and helps me sort through and make sense of life. You are not the God of chaos or confusion. Fill me with Your Spirit so I may express to others only love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). 

4. A Prayer to Cover Your Mouth 

Lord, Jesus, guard my mouth so that my words will be few. Help me to be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger (James 1:19). Don’t let me speak reckless words that can pierce like swords. Instead, give me a tongue that brings healing (Proverbs 12:18). Don’t let me give in to gossip or speak careless critical words that will wound others. Keep the enemy far from me so that no unwholesome talk comes out of my mouth but only what is helpful for building others up, according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Don’t let me grieve the Holy Spirit through my words (Ephesians 4:29-30). 

5. A Prayer to Protect Your Body

Lord, I give my body to You. Let it be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind You will find acceptable (Romans 12:1, NLT). I  know from Your Word that Satan can not sift me like wheat or even lay a hand on me without Your permission. So place Your hedge around me so that my body – Your temple – can be preserved, pure, holy, and healthy for You (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Block Satan’s attempts to make me doubt that I am “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) and don’t let me listen to his taunts to harm my body through neglect, contempt, addiction or abuse. I am Yours, Lord Jesus, and I want to glorify You in my body so keep me from Satan’s attempts and the temptations in this world and in my flesh to make me impure, to dress immodestly, to make my body a showcase or advertisement for evil or self glorification. 

As you pray that God will develop the fruits of His Holy Spirit in every area of your life, you will be invincible through prayer to the one who seeks to tear you down and make you less like Christ. 

SEE ALSO: Can the Devil Read Minds?

Cindi McMenamin is a national speaker and best-selling author who helps women and couples find strength for the soul. She is the author of 15 books, including When Women Walk Alone (more than 125,000 copies sold), When a Woman Overcomes Life’s Hurts, When Couples Walk Together, (co-authored with her husband, Hugh), and her newest, 10 Secrets to Becoming a Worry-Free Mom.  For more on her books, ministry, or free resources to strengthen your soul or marriage, see her website: StrengthForTheSoul.com.

Publication date: September 7, 2016

This article is part of our larger Prayers resource meant to inspire and encourage your prayer life when you face uncertain times. Visit our most popular prayers if you are wondering how to pray or what to pray. Remember, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us and God knows your heart even if you can’t find the words to pray.

SEE ALSO: How Satan Entices People to Sin

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There was a period where I felt strongly that my family — especially my youngest son and I — were experiencing spiritual warfare. Essentially, this means we felt attacked by evil with sudden, unexplained phenomena with evil components entering our lives.

As a new Catholic, I knew some basics like praying to St. Michael, spraying the house with holy water and blessing my child with the sign of the cross, but I was unsure what else to do besides ask my friends for prayers. When I made that ask, my friends responded so generously in all their wisdom of Catholicism with some amazing tips. And they are tips EVERYONE needs to know.

Here are some steps you can take to protect your family from evil spirits if you are feeling spiritually attacked courtesy of my wonderful Catholic friends:

• St. Michael Prayer and Chaplet – In addition to praying the St. Michael prayer (which I have learned by heart 🙂 and pray with my middle school son nightly), there is also a St. Michael chaplet that you can pray with a special set of beads or on the free Laudate app for smartphones (just touch the “virtual” beads with your fingers as you pray). You can also ask a priest to pray the St. Michael prayer over you or your family.
• Guardian Angels – For parents who feel their children are undergoing spiritual warfare, you can ask your guardian angel to work with their guardian angel to protect them.
• Fasting – Fasting combined with prayer, as said in the Bible and by many saints, is one of the most effective ways to ensure your prayers are heard — and hopefully answered. I know this has worked miracles for me in the past.
• Blessed Salt – Have a priest, deacon or exorcist bless a container of salt. In addition to cooking with it, sprinkle it around your house as a shield.
• Bless Your Home – Have a priest bless your home at least yearly.
• Crucifix – Have a crucifix in every room of your home, especially your children’s rooms and by the front door.
• Rosary – Pray it daily, as a family — even a decade — if you can!
• Blessings – Bless your children with the sign of the cross with holy water (you can get it at the baptismal font in your church) before bed and before they leave the house.
• Backpacks – For kids, place a blessed rosary and Miraculous Medal in their backpack, so it will always be close to them. You can also use a St. Benedict medal with an exorcism blessing.
• Adoration – Spend time in adoration or in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
• Miraculous Medal – Place a Miraculous Medal underneath the mattress of every person in your house. As soon as I placed the Medal under the mattress of my son’s bed, the problems STOPPED. It was amazing!
• Prayer – Suggested Prayers
  • “Heavenly Father, if there are demons prowling around looking for the souls of my family, I ask in the name of your son, Jesus Christ, that you cast them out and protect us from the evil one.  Amen.”
  • Ask the blood of Jesus to cover the person and protect them. It was the blood that Christ shed that washed away evil.
  • With the cross of Jesus I come against and I pull down all demonic strongholds in PERSON’S NAME’s mind and body in the name of the father and the son and the Holy Spirit.
    

    With the cross of Jesus I come against and I break all demonic strongholds in PERSON’S NAME’s mind and body in the name of the father and the son and the Holy Spirit.

    With the cross of Jesus I come against and I demolish all demonic strongholds in PERSON’S NAME’s mind and body in the name of the father and the son and the Holy Spirit.

    I seal PERSON’S NAME’s mind and body  with the blood of Jesus and reclaim all of its territories for Christ in the name of the father and the son and the Holy Spirit

    I asked The blessed Virgin Mary to bind and cast out all demonic influences from PERSON’S NAME bringing them to the foot of the cross of her son Jesus where they are defeated forever never to return. AMEN

Have you ever felt spiritual warfare or attacks of evil? How did you protect yourself and your family? I would love to hear more suggestions!

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There are several signs of being under spiritual attack but here are seven signs that may help you know that you are.

Feelings of Worthlessness

Some the most frequent causes of spiritual attacks come when you have overcome a major sin, you have had a time of great success, and you are consistently sharing the gospel.  The Enemy hates all of these things.  That’s when you might experience feelings of worthlessness.  That you are unworthy to be saved, you might question your salvation, you might think of yourself as a hypocrite and since you are such a sinner the Devil or his demons might influence you to think “Who do you think you are?  How can you share the gospel with someone when you’re such a wretch?  I love this saying; “When the Devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future (Rev 20:10).

Times of Prayerlessness

Again, when we feel overly guilty with sin, we must learn to confess it immediately.  Don’t let unconfessed sin linger because the longer you put off prayer, the harder it is to do.  When we experience times of prayerlessness, we are taking away our greatest source of power and that is God.  It seems that when I try to pray the phone rings, someone knocks at the door, the washing machine decides to do its dance and all kinds of things come into my mind which are anything but godly.  That’s likely the Devil.  The only time that Satan really fears is when we are praying in Jesus’ name and pleading the blood of Christ.  Prayer is not easy…it’s hard work.  Yes, for some it seems to come easy, but when you are under spiritual attack, that is the last thing that you feel like doing. We only make progress in our spiritual life when we are moving forward on our knees. Sometimes it’s really hard to do so start of by giving thanks to God and reading over Scriptures of His awesome attributes.  That may discourage the Enemy from trying to interfere with your prayers and stop Him from putting thoughts into your mind.

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Feelings of Condemnation

This is close to the first sign of feeling worthless but this one is different.  We might feel that we are not a Christian because we see how far we fall short of God’s holiness.  This is where we need to be in the Word of God and start by reading Romans 8.  This chapter is so encouraging and may be my favorite chapter in the entire Bible. Romans 8:37-39 says “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Now does that sound like a condemned man writing?  No. Don’t believe your feelings….believe what God’s Word says.

Famine of the Word

This might be the hardest thing to do when you are under spiritual attack but it is the best possible thing you can do along with prayer because we know that there is real, living, active power in the Word of God, so why not unleash it?  At the very time that you feel that you least want to read the Bible, that is the exact time that you need it the most.  Tap the power of God. Stay in the Word.  Make a daily Bible reading plan and stick to it. It’s a great weapon to use in spiritual warfare.

Bonus Content

Family Conflict

The enemy has been seeking to destroy the nuclear family, which is a family with a father, mother, and child, since the Garden of Eden. Today, that type of family has become the minority, and Satan must love it. To destroy the family is to chip away at society, bringing it ever closer to destruction. That may be why the very first commandment given for mankind in relation to mankind is the command to honor your father and mother. That command comes with a promise of living longer on the earth (Ex 20:12). That’s not a guarantee, but if God says it will go better for you by honoring your parents, there’s no doubt it will bring blessings or curses, depending upon how the parents are treated. When family conflict comes, pray and put on the armor of God (Eph 6), and don’t let the Devil incite you to anger and not honor your parents.

Overwhelmed by Life

Have you ever felt overwhelmed? Did being tired and hungry add to the situation? For me, that’s when I can react in the worst way and probably give room for the Devil. I know it can hinder our prayer life if we feel like giving up. When you’ve lost the will to go on, it’s very difficult to pray, but that’s the very time you need it the most, because you might be under spiritual attack. The Enemy wants us to give up, and he wants to rob our joy, but don’t let him. Go to Jesus and unload every burden and every weight and take His yoke upon you. The Christian faith is not a one-horse act. We need Christ and His strength (Phil 4:13). Do you feel despair? Do you feel like giving up? Fall on your knees and pray, because it could be the Enemy.

Back to the Old Life

A very serious sign of spiritual attack is when you’ve just given up on the Christian faith and fallen back into your old lifestyle and habits. You start seeing your old friends you used to party with. You start enjoying the pleasures of sin, and in the meantime, Satan is laughing his lungs out. Even if you’re still attending church, falling back into these old ways is asking for trouble, because the Devil’s got you just where he wants you.

Conclusion

Don’t let Satan the liar trick you and tell you, you are worthless, or condemned. Don’t let life lead you to despair and giving up. Don’t stop praying. And don’t fall back into the life you came out of. God will discipline every child He loves. God is for you and not against you and won’t forsake you, even if you do for a time. Brothers and sisters, the battle is real and the enemy’s invisible. It’s time to armor up (Eh 6).

May God richly bless you,

Pastor Jack Wellman

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