Spiritual Discernment Needed

Spiritual Discernment is so very important if you want to live a victorious life in Christ.

Many Christians have this gift, even if they have not received the fullness of the Holy Spirit yet.

If, all of a sudden, you get a wave of negative, condemning, critical or angry thoughts that are out of character for you, ask the Lord , "Is this me or is someone under attack?"

The key is "all of a sudden". If you were fine five minutes ago, and the world has not fallen apart, then where did this flow of horrible thoughts come from? That is a very good question to ask.

Here are a few keys to recognize the enemy's attack:

-A spirit of lust usually manifests in lustful thoughts.

-A spirit of jealousy usually manifests in jealous, angry thoughts.

-A spirit of unbelief can manifest in sleepiness when trying to read, blurry text, and trouble remembering what you have learned.

-A spirit of hatred is usually manifest in sudden hatred of a person(s).

The key is to ask the Lord specific questions. I encourage people to practice asking the Lord twenty questions a day, minimum.


Did you know that discernment and words of knowledge can work together? Sometimes, I will get a body impression, like a flash headache, or an ache somewhere and immediately I will ask the Lord, "Who's under attack, me or someone else?"

A sore throat can mean someone I know is under attack with a cold, or... it could mean that someone has overextended their speaking or singing voice.

You want to look for a symptom or a stream of thoughts that are not normally yours.

For example, I just got a phone call today. My girlfriend has just lost her temper with her family twice, in the last three days. She says this is so 'out of character' for her, that she's going to the doctor to make sure her blood pressure is okay.

I suggested to her that this is probably a spiritual attack and asked her if she had been praying for anyone who had an anger management problem. You see... many times when you pray for someone, the devil will try to give you the same 'problem', so you will quit praying for the person.

"No", she replied, "Not that I'm aware of."

I told her, "This is not like you."

We prayed and asked the Lord what was going on, and 'all of a sudden" she remembered something.

"We had Mike and his family over, and he's into the occult.", she blurted out.

"I am pretty sure an evil spirit hitched a ride into your home with those people.", I speculated. "When did they come over for a visit?", I asked.

"Sunday." she answered.

"And your unexplained fits of anger started on Monday.", I elaborated.

She was catching on and I was very happy for her. You have to remember that many, many Christians have not been taught on the reality of the spirit realm and how it operates.

"Now all you have to do is kick them out, in the name of Jesus.", I encouraged her.

So we commanded the evil spirits to go back to the pit of hell where they came from and I plead the blood of Jesus over my friend and her family. I loosed, in Jesus' name angels to go guard her home and family. I claimed double restoration on anything the enemy had messed up.

For the family that visited my girlfriend, I commanded that their eyes, ears and spirits would be open to hear the gospel. I asked the Lord to move in christian witnesses around them. I blessed my friend, her own family and this other family that visited her home. I broke any and all curses off of them in Jesus' name.

My girlfriend and I gave thanks for their salvation and deliverance in advance.

Does that help you to understand how evil spirits operate to harass people? We are more than conquerors through Jesus... we just have to learn how to recognize the devil's sneaky ways. (2Cor 2:14, Rom 5:17,19) Now, go practice asking the Lord questions.

(names were changed to protect people)