This is how I fight my battles…

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:2)

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11)

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)

So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. (1 Thessalonians 5:6)

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

Brothers and Sisters, the list of bible verses I could quote regarding the enemy goes on and on. The enemy is real and possibly the hardest aspect of my walk of faith with Jesus. Spiritual Warfare hits hard and heavy when I myself am stepping out hard and heavy for the Lord. On the plus side, it is usually a good indicator that the direction I am headed is the right one, the enemy wouldn’t bother otherwise. This week Jeff and I were facilitating a prayer session called Inner Healing. Inner Healing isn’t anything we do, but we are instead trained to guide a prayer conversation between one who is seeking healing and God. It is powerful! I have shared before my awe at the incredible grace that God can provide. As much as our incredible generous God seeks our healing and our wholeness, there is another who will fight that good with every tool in his arsenal: the enemy, the devil. The attacks on Jeff and I started Sunday and continued through to the writing of this post (Wednesday). This time the enemy came after our kids as well as us. Many of you might be wondering what a spiritual attack looks like. Well it can look differently in each situation, but a good general gist is think of the days where you have a rain cloud like Eeyore above your head. Nothing goes right, it feels like everything is fighting your good intentions. Those thoughts of self recrimation creep in: “You’re a bad mom.” “Nothing you’re doing is making a difference.” “You should just quit, this isn’t worth it.” On Monday I was wise to the ploys of the devil and headed to church. I was really emotionally low and worried if I was in the right frame of mind for the healing session that evening. My mind kept calling up one of my previous Encounter classmates who prayed often with me and I kept feeling like I should reach out, but told myself that it was a little late notice. As I turned to offer peace to the person sitting behind me in Mass, I was brought to tears to see that it was the very friend I had been thinking to call all morning. We were both at the same Mass that wasn’t at either of our parishes so this coincidence is significant. After Mass she offered to pray with me and I was so grateful that God had made the call that I didn’t. Shortly after I got home, I received a text from ANOTHER, Encounter School classmate who I have not talked with in almost 2 months. He shared that God was telling him to pray for me that day and did I have any special intentions. More tears of gratitude ensued. Our prayer session went really beautifully and I was so grateful for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in so many ways for both Jeff and I, but more importantly for really being present to the person we were praying with. Evening Came and Morning Followed, the second day. To put it mildly all (bleep) let loose for Jeff and I yesterday both at work for Jeff and with our son. At 6:00pm Jeff fled to Mass while I met up with a friend to drop off a birthday present. What was supposed to be a quick 10 minute drop off turned into a two hour prayer and support session for myself. Jeff was graced with a “guest” priest giving a fantastic sermon addressing how to face fear and failures (which were very fitting to our situation). Jeff and I joined together multiple times to pray. I went to bed with greater peace. Evening Came, Morning Followed, the third day. I fled to Mass this morning. Gazing upon our Savior on the Cross I really internalized what surrender looks like. It looks like opening your arms wide to the Father’s will even when it isn’t your own. I don’t know what today or tomorrow still holds. I don’t know what God’s will will look like particularly with my son in this situation. Here is what I do know: I know that God is Good and that He can work everything for good. I know that God is stronger than the enemy and that Jesus soundly defeated the enemy on the cross and in the grave. I know that I am on the winning side of this battle. I know that my definitive victory does not lie on this side of the grave, I am not living for victory on earth; I am living for victory in heaven. I know that I am not alone. God has shown me again and again that He is with us in this. I know that I have been given tools to fight the enemy. I am going to share with you some of those tools. First, last, always: prayer. More specifically call out the devil and tell him where to go, model Jesus in this, ‘Satan, get behind me.’ I usually say, ‘Satan, go to hell.’ And this is important, I mean what I say. I have learned to truly get mad at him, to point my anger where it belongs. I call on prayer warrior friends to help me in prayer, those friends include the great cloud of witnesses, our Saints. I call on angels to protect me and my family. I call on St. Michael to do his thing. I go to Mass. I go to confession. I enter into scripture and God’s Word. This is how I fight the battles that the enemy rages. One of the greatest lies in modern times is that the enemy is fictitious. Who do you think spread that lie? Jesus didn’t think the enemy was fictional, the apostles didn’t think the enemy was fictional. Brothers and Sisters if you aren’t doing so already, start telling satan where to go. Start taking back the authority you have in your baptism (and believe me, you have the authority). Amen!

Below are two good anthems for you in times of trial and battle. The first was sent to me by one of those prayer warriors I mentioned! The second came to me as I was gazing upon our Savior on the Cross.