The Devil Attacking You?

[hk102003]

Wow. I never thought this post would bring this kind of response. Thank you all so much for sharing your experiences. This is a subject that’s been bothering me for awhile now, and I’m glad I am starting to get a better idea of what it’s really about.

 

[NancyA]

Also, God does allow… He can bring good out of everything, so when the devil does attack, fight back with prayer! It’s exactly what satan does NOT want. The rosary is the weapon of choice, and then every other prayer you’ve got!

Do not allow the devil to tempt you from the Sacraments, however!! He wants to “hide your shame” so that you will sin, and give it back to you so that you will want to avoid Confession! Make a good and holy Confession and receive Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament as often as possible, and remember that temptations are NOT sins that ought to keep one from the Sacrament of Communion!

 

[epiphania]

Benjamin:

Wow! Thanks for sharing these experiences. Is the post about God and or the Devil using your dreams in line with Catholic teaching?
I had never thought of dreams as messages. My mind may be to full of modern psychology. Looking back at some of my dreams as messages puts a whole new perspective on things. How would one characterize people in my dreams either shooting at me or in desperate need of assistance. I once had a dream that included my then best friend in sixth grade. We were literally having a duel with pistols. Only my gun would not fire. He kept shooting me and hitting me and there was nothing that I could do about it. Soon after the seventh grade we were no longer friends. Many of my dreams are like that; no matter how hard I am trying to do something in my dream I can’t do it. What ever this adds to the post I have no idea. I just thought of that dream and decided to share it.

Benjamin

Hi Benjamin,
About dreams…well, its a huge topic both spiritually and also in the secular world where so much of research has happened.
The Bible has a lot to say about dreams…
read Job 33:15; Daniel 2:28,Job 20:8; Isaiah 29:8,Numbers 12:6; Job 33:15…there are lots more;

In order to interpret dreams you need to understand that first of all dreams are HIGHLY symbolic.
2. They are very personal - they will usually be in symbols which mean something to you; hence even if you and I were to receive the same messages like say, the dream might be vastly different depending on the way I relate to things and people and who means what to me and you and so on.
Most of the time, the dreams are a personal message to you - its not meant for others,though sometimes it could be for others also; in the sense that, say you see your father giving you some instruction in a dream - its not so much as your father giving you some instruction as is the father figure in your life - maybe this is God whom you relate to as father,giving you the necessary instruction for your state in life.

Here are some more…
you see yourself in a new state - possible interpretation: what state of mind are you in right now?
you see yourself in a new country - are you entering new territory be it in business, life etc…?
you see snakes around you …could mean presence of evil or even the need for wisdom - “gentle as doves and wise/prudent as serpents”
gray hair - “gray hair is the crown of old age(wisdom)”…proverbs

those are a few i mentioned to illustrate biblical imagery…
the ones you mentioned seem to be more concerned with personal images as i mentioned before…something you need to work out…but heres soemthign that could be helpful…
you mentioned a friend - a close friend possibly i assume; more than just the literal meaning of he and you fighting, could it be more to do with two parts of you - the other part being shown as the friend, who is so close to you…fighting? this could characterize a state of confusion perhaps…you get what i mean?
like for example lets say you see an important public figure being hurt; thats not for you to immediately rush and warn him/her; but it could be meant in a way like “what does that person mean to you?”, “what do they represent?”, “what comes to your mind when you see them?” and so on…

Recently my dad had a dream; someone shot him three or four times and the bullets lodged in his kidney and in the dream he thought to himself, “there are bullets inside my kidney, i have to take them out”…a doctors check revealed 3 stones in the kidney!!
and they were pretty small so they hadnt yet started causing problems…

Well hope that helps…theres a lot more i could write, but dont have the time. About catholic teaching: well, Ive not found explicit catholic teaching on dreams as much as ive found with certain evangelicals .There is one evangelical, a phd and a brilliant person whom i got a lot of info from; and it was actually while listening to his series on dreams that a whole new chapter in my life opened up! As he says, we spend 1/3rd of our life sleeping…and several times missing out on a lot of what God has to say during that time!
Even now I have a lot of respect and admiration for him because of the way Ive been blessed through his ministry. I myself am a staunch catholic and I always check against catholic teaching if the things i receive are valid and didnt find anything wrong.
Also,from practical experience I was able to confirm a lot of that…I dont think its allowed to post any teachings of non catholics on this forum so I wont mention anything of his name and so on.Hope this helps!

Blessings,
Leo

 

[epiphania]

Edwin1961:

The clique, ‘An idle mind is the Devil’s playground.’ come to mind here.

Also, remember that God spoke to his people in dreams, St. Joseph comes to mind. So since God can speak through dreams, them I am sure the devil would have some influence too. I have experienced some strong sexual dreams which were from my past. At times the dreams actually had colors and physical touching, images very vivid and clear. After a while, I kept on living a chaste life and prayed to our Blessed Mother for help in a Chaste and Pure lifestyle.

Currently, things have been good, but I cannot drop my guard. “Pray always without ceasing.”

Edwin

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Glory be to Jesus Christ! Glory to Him Forever!

True. Have experienced that too…one way of getting rid of them is this:
Sometimes the dreams like arise due to sins of the same nature be it grievous or venial, like even seeing vulgar pictures over long periods can cause these to turn up. One catholic preacher shared his experience of how he got rid of this. During his time of prayer, he invited the Lord to come,sat down,closed his eyes and pictured the Lord standign before him;then he called on the Holy Spirit and made a prayer asking Him to bring out every sinful image that he had permitted to get in…and as they came out one by one he placed his hand on his forehead, took out the imaginary picture and handed it to Jesus whom he saw tearing it up or burning it…and for each one he gave thanks to the Lord for cleaning him up. It works!
Also while receiving communion, imagine the Lord coming into a room(your soul) which is full of dirt and cobwebs and so on,dark and dingy (see Ezekiel and the interpretation of St.John of the Cross of the temple)…picture Jesus cleaning out the place and washing it clean…opening the windows and letting the light enter…
this is in fact also really helpful in receiving forgiveness (know that you know that you know youre forgiven and loved) and His love and mercy which cleanses us…esp during communion…

(This is just one of the reasons, and also the most common of why dreams such as these turn up…not the only reason…so dont get worried unnecessarily!! )
Blessings,
Leo

 

[JCPhoenix]

Absolutely the Devil can attack. I’ve seen a lot of people here citing dreams. When I was in college and was questioning much of my Catholic faith, and I had ceased going to church, the dreams started.

Other people told me that I was only suffering sleep paralysis, but they didn’t see or experience what I did, and it wasn’t something as simple as just not being able to move. I felt intrinsically that there was a struggle for my soul and I literally fought to make the sign of the cross to break out of the “dream”, or say the Our Father or Hail Mary.

I revealed these experiences to a close friend who urged me to speak with a priest on campus who was rumored to have been an exorcist at one time in his life. Embarassed, I asked her to come with me and I told him about the dreams and the spiritual content of them.

He told me that God would not allow the Devil to physically harm me and to continue praying and responding as I always did.

The dreams stopped. I did have one serious one a few years later while napping on a night shift break when I worked in a psych home, but other than that there has not been a return of those nightmare demons.

 

[Didi]

Thanks to all for your wonderful (name removed by moderator)ut on this topic. I have also suffered from terrible, violent dreams. These seem to come after I’ve done something to become closer to the Lord, as with some of you – confession, adoration, a really holy and wonderful conversation with someone, a new revelation about our faith, etc. I agree that sometimes the closer we get to Our Lord, the harder our enemy works to get us away from Him.

I also find the temptations/distractions in everyday life. Sometimes after my Holy Hour, I come home and am impatient with my family, or feel the call to pray and think “I’ve just spent an hour…” (as if we can ever pray enough!)

I find saying the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel helps – sometimes I have to say it more than once! I also agree on calling for all the help we can get – our guardian angel, our Blessed Mother, and sometimes I ask **all the angels and saints ** to pray for me!

I believe it was St. Faustina, who went through some terrible spiritual attacks, who said that the power of the Incarnation is incredible against the devil. She would simply say “The word was made flesh and dwelt among us” and the devil would flee. She also said that when we have dreams, or visions, or hear voices in our heads, that we can distinguish whether or not they are from God by the way they are delivered. If they are helpful, loving, warning (such as the man with the kidney stones) and do not make you feel more distressed or anxious, they are most likely from God. If they are goading, demeaning, sarcastic, or needling they are most definately not from God. I find this very helpful.

Fr. Corapi has said that the devil is an opportunist. Just like a boxer goes for their opponent’s weak spot, so the devil is with us. And he tries to sound like God sometimes, but it always comes across a little “off” - more like a mockery.

I recall the opening scene in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” movie where Jesus is being tempted in the garden. Jesus doesn’t address the devil or fight him directly, he just keeps praying to His Father. Sometimes we need to learn to ignore those voices and temptations as well, and just call out to Our Father.

And, as Father Corapi also says, “If you read the Bible, you know the ending – that the battle has already been won!” Keep the faith, keep close to Jesus and our heavenly family, and we’ll all get through this temporary exile on earth until we are home at last with Our Savior! raying:

 

[Savagedds]

Since my return to the Church, I have come under intense attacks right after going to Confession…

These dreams never come at any other time. It’s like the devil reminding me, “You’re mine. Bwah ha ha!”…

Devil attacking me? You betcha. Your prayers are much appreciated.

<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I had similar experiences when I began to pray the Rosary daily. All sorts of profane and vulgar thoughts would fly into my head… I almost gave up the Rosary, but my priest astutely told me to recognize it for what it was: temptations from the wicked one, which are not sinful on our part unless we willfully entertain these thoughts.

I would advise you to say a very short prayer to the Blessed Mother or the Holy Family to come to your aid when these thoughts torment you. Sternly rebuke the devil in the name of Jesus Christ and he will back off, especially when he sees that his torments are not “getting to you” anymore. Sort of like St. Teresa of Avila telling her nuns to stick their tongues out at the devil.

You say that this began soon after you returned to the Church; I have often heard that people who are advancing in the faith are soon attacked. If you ask around, you will find that many if not most of us have suffered from this.

One thing I have done lately when I am tempted is to offer my sufferings along with a bunch of Hail Marys to the Blessed Mother, which I ask her to apply wherever she thinks the devil would least desire to see them go. That’s been kind of fun.

The last thing you would want to do is to quit going to confession; if he is harassing you so much about it, you must be on the right track.

Pax Christi,

Jim

 

[system]

hk102003:

What do people think or what does the Chruch teach on the idea of the devil or demons making attacks on people…maybe by twisting their thoughts or making bad things happen in their life to try to make them turn from God? I’ve heard a couple different things, but nothing from any source I would take as an official answer.

I’ve heard some of my friends say things about feeling really attacked or Satan not wanting things to happen like a retreat or something and saying he tried hard to mess it up.

I just wonder if it’s that or just things happening that way?, or God testing you in some situations (not all)… I have a hard time wrapping my head around this one, and the one thing I wonder is how to differentiate between Satan doing something and it being something else.

…I don’t even know if what I just typed made sense…if it didn’t I can clarify, but I want to see what people have to say?

I read that James who played Jesus in the Passion film was struck by lightening, and that curious things happened on the set of the film.
I also read that the devil didn’t want the film released, in a private revelation I might add.
I have had my own supernatural experiences, but let me know if you want to hear them, as for me I don’t care much for repeating myself.

 

[hk102003]

thanks for your reply hawkeye. If you want to talk about your experiences I would be interested in hearing them.

 

[DrCat]

The Barrister:

<snip, snip>
Daily temptations also increase and often become irresistable. I feel like I’m being physically and mentally guided to disobey God. I have difficulty praying because of intrusive thoughts. Sometimes, the very idea of sticking with a particular devotion is unattainable. I now fear going to confession not because I am ashamed of my sins, but I fear the attack that is sure to come.

Devil attacking me? You betcha. Your prayers are much appreciated.

You definitely have my prayers.

I know exactly what you mean, since it happens to me, too. I bet it happens to a lot of us.

I know I could use prayers (especially right now) since I am under a lot of temptations since changing my confession schedule from monthly to twice a month.

John