Attacks (Spiritual)
- Michael Haldas
- Aug 9, 2019
- 2 min read
“The devil accuses the righteous before God “day and night” (Rev 12:10). With God's permission, he pummels our minds with evil thoughts and weakens our bodies with pain and illness, ever seeking to influence us towards evil. But through hardship, the righteous are clothed in the “whole armor of God” (Eph 6:13). We are called to “glory in tribulations” (Rom 5:3), knowing that we are to walk in obedience to Christ's commands (Mt 5:10).” (Orthodox Study Bible, Job 1:7)
“My child, evil thoughts don’t attack all at once; the passions don’t rise against you all at the same time. They come one-by-one, and so you deal with them as they come.” (Elder Joseph the Hesychast)
“Do not be anxious about unclean thoughts. Consider a basket full of wet clothes. If we leave the clothes in the basket for a long time, they will surely rot; the same will happen to our thoughts. If we do not put them into action, they will disappear by themselves in the course of time.” (St. Poemen the Great)
“The enemy is always prepared to attack. And since his missiles which steal upon us secretly are more frequent and his casting of them more concealed and clandestine, and to the extent that this is not perceived, this attack is the more effectual and more frequent to our injury…” (St. Cyprian of Carthage)
“Our enemy attacks either directly or else indirectly, through other people. And so we fight—according to the Lord’s providence—and we gradually come to our senses. Without misfortune there is no prayer to God…There is no greater energy than that of prayer. Prayer is God’s energy—that’s what it is. Above all, however, we need something else: We need to listen to the voice of God—in silence…and yet there is one more thing that will repel the enemy unequivocally, and that is the sincere expression of unconditional love. ” (Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica, Mother Gavrilia of Aegina, Sacramental Living Ministries)