Protection from the Invisible Enemy

How to fend off worry or anxiety—and defend the mind from spiritual attacks

Read this post on plaitra.substack.com or with the Substack app. To learn about Plaitra, please see the About page. To reach out, please email plaitra@substack.com, or comment on this post below.

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Here are some recent posts:

Believing More, Receiving More

The Veil Was Torn, Come Closer

Bringing Back the Speaking

Making the Bible Come Alive

Getting More Power and Results from Meditation

How to Keep the Mind on God, and Stay in Peace

You can also see one of my past posts about Iran here:

Encouragement for Adversity, from Iran and Beyond

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This week’s post comes amidst the increased pressures of current events. I’ve heard some level headed commentators getting very nervous about the Iran conflict, and various other issues. So I wanted to address this topic of protection from worry and anxiety.

And now we see that the Iran situation might be getting resolved, at least as far as the nuclear issue goes. That gives us a chance to learn from what many people just went through. But this post isn’t about Iran. Current event here are used to explain how to keep our minds protected with the Word.

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Here is an overview of the sections below:

• Section 1: A greater awareness of our surroundings

• Section 2: Some of the things that we worry about

• Section 3: Choosing and meditating on the good

• Section 4: What it looks like to get good results

• Section 5: Connecting the meditation to our lives

• Section 6: How Jesus is at the center of it all

• Section 7: Imagining a more peaceful life

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As usual, see the Bible References & Further Commentary after Section 7. Putting all that at the end makes for easier reading or listening in the Substack app. Ok, let’s get into it.

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Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV)

And it’s the “through Christ” or “in Christ” part of Philippians 4:7 that the results here are largely based on. God’s blessings flow to us because of Christ, and the righteousness we have in Him. Faith and peace then flow out of believing this.

(1) A greater awareness of our surroundings

Lets be more aware of how opening the door to worry or anxiety can open the door to spiritual attacks—and guard our thoughts and minds accordingly. Many of us know of how various types of sin lets in spiritual opposition, but it’s easy to loose sight of how this happens in the psychological realm.

Here, we look at the case against anxiety through the lens of current events, and go through a meditation option that protects us from the invisible enemy that’s close by. Then I hope you’ll engage with the results section, where I discuss what to look for, depending on your experiences with current events and with Biblical meditation.

You might think that certain fearful thoughts or extended social media scrolls aren’t much of an issue. But just because we don’t see the things coming against us doesn’t mean they’re not there.

(2) Some of the things that we worry about

If you work or fight for the future of this country, and track the news, you’re hopefully on guard against worry or frustration. It could come from the Iran war, economic strain, cultural degradation, institutional corruption, or the growing disclosure narrative.

For example, you might have looked at these daily Iran developments, felt a constant concern about the outcome, and gotten dragged down emotionally little by little. You might have wondered how long this conflict will go on, what it will do to the economy, and what kind of difference it will actually make in Iran.

For most of us, this isn’t top of mind, especially if you’re doing fine financially and don’t have any family or friends serving in the Middle East. But it’s dangerous because the steady thoughts of concern can build up and become habitual. And, to put it plainly, demons gain authority into our minds through bad habits, and then keeping anxiety at bay isn’t so simple.

(3) Choosing and meditating on the good

There are many ways to meditate and protect ourselves from the onset of worry and anxiety. At the core, it’s about getting the right reality into our mind, and keeping the wrong things out. The example below is from Philippians 4:4-8. It’s necessary because invisible spiritual demonic activity is a regular part of life, and they can gain authority over our minds when we think contrary to God’s will.