War Room

“Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1

Sometimes I feel like a crazy person when I talk about evil spirits because most people don’t believe in spirits anymore. That is exactly what the unseen forces want, that they are disregarded and considered superstition. 

St. Paul in Ephesians 6:12 emphatically states, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the directors of this world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places.” What the demons did in Bible times continues on today. Jesus was constantly at war with demonic forces and definitely knew they existed. Whatever Jesus believed in, I definitely want to know about and believe in, whether it be fashionable or not. 

These days, with fake news battling against the truth so prevalent on the world stage, with ordinary decency and morality not so ordinary any more, one could even say we are fighting a losing war. But that is exactly what evil spirits want to spread- hopelessness, despair, turning to all sorts of solutions except to God. 

Many of the saints had to battle spirits of darkness. St. Ignatius of Loyola had been strangled and tormented by demons. Evil spirits danced around St. Alphonsus Rodriguez and jumped on him. St. Colette of Corbin was disturbed by infestations of ants, snails, turtles and reptiles, anything to disturb her devotions. Padre Pio was beset with many forms of demonic manifestations, sometimes they came in the form of his spiritual director.

Today, the devil does not have to resort to these things to keep us from praying and reading God’s Word. There are enough distractions around us already! Since I use my iPhone and iPad for work AND prayer, I have to constantly remind myself to be more disciplined and not allow my attention to be easily diverted by my to do list, advertisements, notifications, messages, and amusements. 

We need to go back to God, to use His armor and all the tools He has given us to combat the enemy. “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:13) We do not all pray the same way, but I find keeping a daily journal helps keep my focus on God. Having a set time to pray, going through my day and thanking God for big and small things, trying to understand the daily scripture readings, and just conversing with Jesus throughout the day and telling Him I love Him are on top of my list of weapons in my War Room.