The Bible says that the enemy, the devil, goes around looking for someone to devour. This vile, but utterly defeated, enemy of ours is always on his toes, searching for anybody who believes in Christ so he can attack him and cause him to stumble.
There are many ways to know if we are under a spiritual attack. One of these is the very emotions that we feel. We can know we are being attacked through the certain responses and emotions that we have.
You may not want to believe it, but we are constantly under spiritual attack. The Lord Jesus Himself said "I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (see Matthew 16:18). His words imply that as He continues to build us up and mold us into His own likeness, the enemy will keep trying to stop His work in our lives.
Thankfully, "not even the gates of hell" can stop God from doing His work. Christ already defeated the enemy. No weapon formed against us can ever prosper if we are in Christ.
Signs of an attack
While it's true that we've already won in Christ, it's also true that the enemy will keep trying to dislodge us from our position of victory in Christ. When he succeeds, we will end up fighting with our flesh a war that has already been won by Christ. Thus, we need to be vigilant every single time.
To help us recognize a spiritual attack, here are a few emotional states that give us clues or hints that we are already under one.
1) Agitation towards anger
The Bible tells us that man's anger cannot produce the righteousness of God (see James 1:20). As such the enemy will keep trying to find ways to agitate us and stir us to anger. The word of God warns us,
""Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil." (see Ephesians 4:26-27)
While we can be angry at sin and wrongdoing, it would be wrong to commit sin because we are angry. We must remember that the devil wants us to commit sin.
2) Worry
Worry, in its pure, raw form, is simply a faith in the wrong things. We worry because we think that something will go wrong, that nothing good will happen no matter what we do.
No one is exempted from worrying: the poor worry about what to eat tomorrow, while the rich worry about not losing their money.
When we worry, our faith in God is shaken and our focus on Him is taken away. Who wants that but the devil? The devil wants our eyes and focus away from Christ, who actually made a public spectacle of his defeat (see Colossians 2:15)
3) Fear
There are two kinds of fear, one good and the other one not. The fear of God is good fear, for it teaches us to honor and revere the Lord. The fear of man, or even of the devil, on the other hand, is simply a wrong fear.
When we fear God, we will fear nothing else. When we trust in the Lord, we can face anything. Consider what David said in Psalm 23:4-5,
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over."
The devil wants all of God's people running away for their lives. God, however, wants the opposite:
"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." (Matthew 16:25)
4) Depression
Depression is more than just a clinical state. It's a state of spiritual attack. James 1:16-17 tells us,
"Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."
God doesn't want His people getting depressed over anything. When we're depressed, we feel discouraged and are unable to do anything good for God, even for ourselves.
5) Hopelessness
Hopelessness, the inability to hope, is a very dangerous thing. We lose our desire to live and achieve great things. When we're hopeless, we give up on ourselves. Many suicides happened because of this. Thankfully, in Christ we have hope.
The devil wants to take our minds and focus away from Christ. Why is this? Because without Christ our lives would be meaningless no matter what we do. 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 tells us that Christ's resurrection gives us hope. The devil will always try to fight that.
