How Do You Know If You Are Being Spiritually Attacked?
Sep 08, 2026Summary
Have you ever suddenly gone from zero to a hundred in rage, felt paralyzed by dark thoughts, or hit an invisible wall that stopped you from praying? It is incredibly confusing, leaving you to wonder: how do you know if you are being spiritually attacked, or if you are simply having a bad day? In this episode of the Arise Women of God podcast, host Tamara K. Anderson answers the essential diagnostic question every Christian woman needs to understand to protect her home!
Discover the four unmistakable diagnostic signs of spiritual warfare. First, you will learn the "Author's Signature Test" using 1 Corinthians 14:33 to identify the enemy's predictable playbook of division, isolation, and confusion. Tamara also unpacks the "I don't feel like myself" catch—exploring how the adversary exploits sudden emotional extremes, just like he did with King Saul, and how to stop the crippling shame cycle that usually follows.
We also explore the very real resistance to holy habits, showing you what to do when you feel a heavy lethargy keeping you from your scriptures. Finally, you will find profound hope in the "Sifting Season" (Luke 22), recognizing that intense pressure often means you are on the threshold of a major breakthrough. Tune in to learn how to step out of the fog and use the power of Jesus Christ to anchor your soul and reclaim your family’s peace today!
Episode Takeaways
- The Signature Test (1 Corinthians 14:33): God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. If a situation in your home produces irrational mental fog, chaotic panic, or paralyzing confusion, it carries the adversary's signature.
- The "I Don't Feel Like Myself" Catch: Sudden, uncharacteristic emotional extremes—like going from zero to 100 in rage—are not just personality flaws. They are spiritual interference, just like King Saul experienced. The enemy will immediately follow this up with shame to keep you from praying.
- Resistance to Holy Habits: When you feel a sudden, heavy lethargy or internal friction keeping you from praying or opening your scriptures, recognize it as a targeted attack. Command the darkness to leave in the name of Jesus and pray anyway!
- The Sifting Before the Dawn (Luke 22): Just as Satan desired to sift Peter like wheat before the resurrection, the enemy attacks with intense pressure right before a major spiritual breakthrough. The dawn is coming!
Free Resource: A Woman's Guide to Spiritual Warfare
Get our free A Mother's Spiritual Defense Guide: 6 Empowering Steps to Fortify Home & Family downloadable pdf here: https://www.womenwarriorsoflight.com/A-Mothers-Spiritual-Defense-Guide
Reflection Questions
- When was the last time you experienced the "I don't feel like myself" catch with sudden, uncharacteristic anger? How can recognizing this as a spiritual attack change your reaction next time?
- Are you currently experiencing "resistance to holy habits" (a heavy reluctance to pray or read scripture)? What is one small step you can take today to push through that friction?
- How does knowing that "sifting" often happens right before a major spiritual breakthrough give you hope in your current family trial?
Host
Tamara K. Anderson @tamarakanderson
Transcript
Tamara K Anderson
00:00:00.560 - 00:11:50.740
Hey, my friend, have you ever asked how do I know if I'm being spiritually tact?
Perhaps because out of nowhere you go from zero to a hundred in sudden rage, or you feel paralyzed by a cloud of dark thoughts, or an invisible wall makes you resist getting on your knees to pray, you may want to know if you're just having a bad day or if the adversary is actively meddling in your home and family.
Well, stay tuned because by the end of today's episode, you'll know four unmistakable diagnostic signs of spiritual attack how to catch the I don't feel like myself trap, and how our Savior Jesus Christ anchors your soul and carries you through to the dawn. Let's dive in Ordinary women Extraordinary Faith When God calls, we say yes. Hello and welcome back to the Arise Women of God podcast.
I'm your host, Tamara K. Andersen, and today we are answering the essential diagnostic question every Christian woman needs to understand. How do you know if you are being spiritually attacked? Here's what we're going to cover in today's episode.
Sign number one the signature test and pattern recognition basically, what 1st Corinthians 4:33 and 2nd Corinthians 2:11 teach us about spotting the enemy's predictable playbook.
Sign number two, the I don't feel like myself catch, where I will talk about King Saul's sudden mood swings, quick rage, and how to break the enemy's shame loop. Sign number three resistance to holy habits.
And here we'll talk about how to recognize the spiritual friction that tries to keep you from prayer, scripture study, and stillness. And finally, sign number four, the sifting before the dawn.
And there we'll look at the Savior's words to Peter in Luke 22 about standing firm when being shaken, being before a breakthrough. Let's begin with sign number one, identifying the signature of the author.
In 2 Corinthians 2:11, the apostle Paul gives us a foundational rule of spiritual engagement. Listen to this lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices.
The adversary is subtle, but he relies on a predictable division, isolation, shame, and confusion. You are under attack when you spot these recurring patterns invading your life or family dynamics.
Look at the Contrast provided in 1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. This gives us kind of the ultimate author's signature test.
When a situation in your home produces irrational mental fog, chaotic panic, or paralyzing confusion, ask yourself, whose signature is this? God speaks with clarity, love and peace. If peace is missing and replaced by swirling turmoil. Darkness is meddling. Learn to recognize the source.
This allows you to stop reacting and start rebuking the spirit behind it. The second major indicator of a spiritual attack is sudden, uncharacteristic emotional extremes. Look at king Saul.
In 1st Samuel 16, 14 and 18, verses 8 through 11, Saul suffered from sudden irrational bouts of dark depression, jealousy and explosive rage.
One moment he was peaceful, and the next a distressing spirit seized him, driving him to hurl a javelin at David, the very person playing the music to soothe his soul.
In our workbook, A Mother Spiritual Defense Guide, my co founder Wendy Christensen and licensed clinical social worker, teaches us to look for this exact indicator.
It's the I feel quite like myself Catch when you go from zero to 100 in five seconds, raging at your children, screaming over a small inconvenience, or feeling an overwhelming wave of hostility, pause and realize, I don't even recognize who I am right now. This isn't me. That sudden, disproportionate reaction is not just a personality flaw. It is spiritual interference.
When that happens, the enemy will immediately try to launch his secondary attack. Shame, he will whisper. You're such a terrible mother. You blew it. You are unworthy to pray or approach God.
I remember vividly falling on my knees as a young mother after an intense moment where I completely lost my temper and blew up at my kids. As I poured out my broken, aching heart to God later that evening, Heavenly Father didn't shame me.
He filled my soul with overwhelming love and peace. I felt completely forgiven. When I asked God how He could forgive me so readily, he whispered to my heart, because you have faith in Jesus Christ.
Oh my dear sister, the Lord Jesus Christ is mighty to save. Don't let Satan's attacks shame you from approaching God on your knees. The third unmistakable sign of spiritual attack is resistance to holy habits.
Have you ever had one of those mornings or evenings where you felt a sudden heavy lethargy or an internal friction that made you feel like you just couldn't or didn't want to open your scriptures, couldn't knee down? Or maybe you couldn't even turn on uplifting spiritual music?
The adversaries knows that your connection to God is your primary lifeline for power, discernment and healing, and he will do everything he can to make sure you avoid the very practices that recharge your spiritual batteries. When you feel that heavy reluctance to pray, recognize it in immediately as a targeted attack. Do not wait for the feeling to pass.
Command the darkness to leave in the name of Jesus and pray anyways, you can be completely honest with God and say, father, I don't feel like praying or reading my scriptures right now.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I cast out the adversary's discouraging influence and I ask you to plant within me the desire and strength to connect with you today. The moment you push through that spiritual friction, the heavy cloud breaks and it feels so good to be free from it.
Finally, our fourth sign is what I'm going to call the sifting season.
In Luke, chapter 22, verses 3132 during the last Supper, just hours before Gethsemane and the cross, Jesus turned to Peter and said, simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat.
But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren Notice what a spiritual attack feels like being tested like people confronting Simon Peter in verse 38, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, man, I am not. He denied Christ three times before the cock crowed.
Peter was violently shaken from the inside out enough to not be able to be his true self. Satan wanted to break Peter's faith before the crucifixion. But look at the timing.
The attack came right before the darkest hours of Christ's trial, but it also came right before the glorious victory of the resurrection. When the adversary attacks with intense pressure, it's often because you're standing on the threshold of a major spiritual breakthrough.
The enemy makes the darkness feel suffocating. But remember that the dawn is coming, Jesus is praying for you, and his grace covers your trials.
And as you hold on to him through the dark, you will emerge, ready to strengthen everyone around you with your faith and conversion. Oh my sister.
When you know how to recognize the signs of a spiritual attack, the confusion, the uncharacteristic rage, the resistance to prayer and the sifting, you can stop being blindsided and start standing God strong with Jesus Christ.
If you want a complete diagnostic framework to help you audit your home, spot the adversary's devices and restore Christ's peace, we at Women warriors of Light want to put our digital guide directly into your hands for free.
Down in the show notes below, click the link to download your free copy of a mother's spiritual defense guide 6 Empowering Steps to Fortify Home and Family.
Once you get it, turn straight to step number three, which is Mastering Discernment, where you will find the complete list of any indications of darkness and how to ask the key diagnostic questions.
You'll also find the Cast out the adversary word for word prayer script to help you rebuke the darkness in the name of Jesus Christ and bring that peace back in. Download your free copy by clicking on the link below.
Oh my dear sister, you are not weak and you are not failing because a battle has shown up at your doorstep. You are a daughter of God and our Redeemer. Jesus Christ has equipped you with his discernment and the power to overcome the devil in his name.
Recognize the enemy's scheme, run straight into the Father's arms and watch his light turn your darkness into dawn. I testify that will happen. Thank you for joining us today and until next time. May you arise and do it God's way. God Strong.
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