How to Overcome Attacks From the Enemy

The Bible refers to humanity’s nemesis as Satan the devil.

He is a very real being who is active throughout our world. He’s not figurative or a mere symbol of evil designed to scare children into doing what’s right. He’s real, and ultimately, he wants us dead—eternally dead. 

And God sometimes allows this in order to test us (1 Peter 1:6-7). 

So what can we do when these attacks happen? How can you stand when Satan attacks you? 

To learn more about Satan the Devil, read “Satan: A Profile.” 

Four strategies for overcoming Satan’s attacks

 Here are a few strategies for overcoming the enemy’s attacks.

1. Be on guard and ready for his attacks. 

The first key to being ready to stand against Satan’s attacks is to know they will occur. 

We should remember that Satan has attacked nearly all of God’s servants throughout history, including Job, David and even Jesus Himself. Recognizing this should stop us from asking, “Why me?” when Satan does what he has been doing to human beings across the centuries.   

We are not alone or unique when it comes to being attacked by the enemy. Peter reminds us that we should not think it’s strange that we face difficulties (1 Peter 4:12-16). We must recognize that trials come with being followers of Jesus Christ. 

Consider Jesus. Satan viciously attacked Him. Jesus experienced abandonment, mockery, torture, betrayal, condescension, blatant miscarriage of justice and ultimately unjust execution. 

We should take comfort that there is a brotherhood of believers who have gone through—and still go through—similar attacks (1 Peter 5:9). If you have been targeted by Satan, you are not alone. Christians elsewhere have experienced the same thing and have made it to the other side of the attack.  

We must always remember that we are not alone or unique when it comes to being attacked by the enemy. 

So we must be ready. 

2. Do not be a lone resistance fighter; be part of a resistance network.

Sometimes we try to fight off Satan’s attacks on our own. But that is unwise.  

Rather than facing him alone, we must realize we need help and support—and seek it. We should first turn to God, who can limit Satan’s attacks and make them bearable (1 Corinthians 10:13). 

God helps us tremendously, and one way He does this is by giving us the support of other Christians. We can strengthen our ability to resist Satan by uniting with others who are also trying to withstand him. Christians must stay connected to the community of their spiritual brothers and sisters who are also fighting and resisting Satan’s attacks. 

We can also enlist the support and help of close friends and family when we get hit. The primary way we can do this is by being an active part of the Church of God. The Church is a fully functioning body with diverse parts that all work together (Ephesians 4:11-16). 

To learn more about the benefits of being with other believers, read “Christian Fellowship.” 

3. Use the armor God has given us.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul gave a list of six pieces of spiritual armor that can equip a Christian to overcome and endure Satan’s attacks.

We’ve prepared articles covering each piece of this metaphorical armor in detail:

1. The belt of truth.
2. The breastplate of righteousness.
3. The shoes of the gospel of peace.
4. The shield of faith.
5. The helmet of salvation.
6. The sword of the Spirit.

To learn more, read “How to Put on the Armor of God” and take our 10-day Journey on “The Armor of God.”

4. When knocked down by the enemy, don’t give up—get back up.

Do solid Christians, who try their best to love God and others, sometimes get knocked down by attacks? Yes. Bad people also get knocked down. So what’s the difference then? 

The difference is that the righteous—those striving to live righteously before God—always get back up. No matter what hits, no matter the damage, and no matter how drastically it changes our daily lives, we should get back up. 

No, we must get back up. 

Satan wants us to stay down, get discouraged and give up entirely by abandoning God and His way. This enrages our enemy because he doesn’t want us to get back up. 

He wants us to stay down, get discouraged and give up entirely by abandoning God and His way. In other words, he wants us to concede defeat and go home.  

The adversary knows that God’s way is the only way to true happiness and eternal life (John 10:10; Psalm 16:11). Satan hates us and doesn’t want us to attain that. He knows he has a short time before God renders him permanently powerless (Revelation 12:12; 20:10). Because he knows he has no future, he wants to drag down as many Christians as he can.

To learn more about the nature of our enemy, download our free booklet The Spirit World: Facts and Fallacies.

Overcome his attacks

All those who try to do the right thing and live righteously will endure hard times (2 Timothy 3:12), including direct attacks from the enemy. 

We should expect his onslaughts, connect with others in the resistance and continue to stand back up after every fall. Overcoming his attacks is possible with the help of God and others! Jesus Christ has overcome Satan and the evil of this world, and He wants to help us do the same: “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

To learn more about the tools God has given us for overcoming Satan’s attacks, download our free book Five Tools for Spiritual Growth.

Date Posted: February 26, 2024