Stand Firm, Resist, and Keep Standing Firm
Our Heavenly Father, our Abba, has given us wisdom and information in His Word about fighting the spiritual battle for our mind and thoughts. Not only does God tell us that we have an enemy, He tells us how the enemy will most likely attack us. Satan, and his minions (fallen angels and demons) currently have power on earth to attack God’s people. Most often the attack comes in the form of thoughts that pop into our mind, or thoughts that plague us like a stuck record.
As an example, I often struggle with all or nothing thinking or thoughts that sound like this, “you really screwed this up, you will never be able to get this right.” You may experience some similar thoughts that seem true at the time you think them, but upon further examination, are absolutely false. It can be difficult to catch each thought in the moment because we think so many thoughts so quickly but if you start to feel sad, discouraged, hopeless, frustrated, or helpless, let this be a cue that your thoughts are not lined up with God’s Truth.
To continue with my own example, if I will stop the all or nothing thought (you screwed up and will never get this right), and apply God’s Truth to it, the thought should sound like this, “I didn’t achieve what I wanted to achieve this time, but God is growing me and training me every moment and if He wants me to achieve this, He will empower me to do it.”
In Ephesians 6, we are given a lot of information about the spiritual nature of this battle for our mind. In the verses below, notice that we are told THREE TIMES to “stand firm” and one time to “resist”. We don’t have to perform spiritual gymnastics. We just have to stand firm, and resist, and continue to stand firm . . . on what God tells us is True. The verses I am alluding to are below:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against ]flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:10-17)
Can you picture someone walking in a strong wind? They are bent forward, trying to take a step forward as the hurricane-force winds come against them. They find that they are not be able to walk very well, if at all, in these gales so they just plant their feet and dig in until the winds let up. They resist. When the storm passes, they resume walking forward, taking more ground.
There have been times in my life when I could barely keep a little morsel of faith or hope in my mind. The difficulties were so strong that my mind felt like giving up, but I remembered that all I needed to do was to resist and to dig my feet in and stand. Practically speaking, I resisted by telling the enemy that I was protected by the salvation I received from Jesus Christ. I stood firm by quoting applicable Scriptures out loud. I continued to stand firm every time that horrible thought tried to re-enter my mind. I don’t want you to get the impression I accomplished this successfully every time I was attacked. That’s not the case, but, each time I was not able to resist or stand firm, the ground I lost was quickly made up, and then some, by the strength of the Lord Jesus. I have found that Jesus comes to pick me up and stand me up on my feet again. He empowers me to move forward and take more ground for Him in my life.
If you feel like you have lost ground in any of your mental battles, don’t worry, remind yourself that Jesus Christ, through the working of the Holy Spirit, will accomplish things through you that you simply cannot do yourself.
In Philippians 1:6 we are told, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
In addition to standing firm and resisting, the verses in Ephesians continue on with some more wisdom for us:
“With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” – Ephesians 6:18-20
Prayer is our most powerful weapon and the Apostle Paul instructs us to pray at all times, not only for ourselves, but for other believers too. I always find that if I am being attacked in my mind, I can make it easier to stand and resist by praying out loud (or quietly under my breath). If I start to pray for friends and family, my mind is immediately occupied with them instead of the negative thought.
Here is my challenge to you this week. Prayerfully seek to understand some of the ways the enemy likes to attack your mind and search out the Scriptures for Truths to combat the enemy’s lies. Write them down. Be on the alert for the next time this attack comes against you and then whip out your Scriptures, say them out loud, and then stand firm on their truths.