There are days when we feel empty, dry, tormented, and oppressed. We must not despair—this happens to everyone, even to the “best” of Christians. But there is a quick and effective solution to get out of this state.

A man once said: “You cannot stop a bird from flying over your head, but you can stop it from building a nest on your head.” That’s what we’re going to talk about today.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” — Ephesians 6:12

We often find two extremes in the Church: those who constantly talk about the devil and his so-called power, and those who are completely unaware of the reality of demonic spiritual forces.

Have you ever felt strange experiencing sensations you used to have before you knew Christ—to the point of even doubting God’s presence in your life?

It is essential, and something we must understand early in our Christian walk, that our feelings can lie to us. We cannot trust them unless we submit them to the Word of God. Too many people live by their emotions and, as a result, get deceived by the devil and their own thoughts. If an evil spirit whispers a lie to them, they accept it as truth and as their own thought, and just like that, a door to oppression has been opened.

There is a spirit called the spirit of discouragement. Evil spirits are always liars. The spirit of discouragement will tell you that you’re not a good Christian because you haven’t prayed enough, or because you sinned. It will tell you that it’s too hard to stay faithful to Jesus and your local church, that life is truly hard, and that you will never make it.

If you don’t understand that sometimes we are facing evil spirits, you will accept these thoughts as if they were your own. This is one of the enemy’s main tactics: making you believe his thoughts are yours. In fact, once you accept demonic thoughts, you begin to believe they originated from you and belong to you.

The devil told Eve she would become like God, and Eve began to accept and activate that thought as if it were her own. At first, it was a thought from the devil—but it became Eve’s thought, to the point where she gave the fruit to her husband.

Sometimes, Christians are under spiritual attack, they’re oppressed, and they don’t know what to do. They try to read the Bible, but it feels like an old dusty book. They try to pray, but it feels like the heavens are shut. They listen to a worship song that uplifted them just days ago, but now it no longer brings any encouragement.

If you don’t know how to deal with such attacks, and if you have weak areas in your character, you will constantly be in turmoil—angry, gloomy, and in a bad mood. You might even fall into sin if you don’t resist these attacks, which will leave you even more discouraged…

This text is an excerpt from the book “365 Days at the Master’s Feet” written by several French-speaking authors, with the main contributor being Jérémy Sourdril.

We invite you to read the next article: “WHAT TO DO WHEN THE ATMOSPHERE AROUND YOU FEELS STRANGE – PART 2.”

ATMOSPHERE AROUND YOU FEELS STRANGE. ATMOSPHERE AROUND YOU FEELS STRANGE.