AUDIO PODCAST

Have you ever felt as if you are fighting a battle no one else can see or understand?

There is a war waging within—louder than bombs, more ominous than thunder, more persistent than gunfire. A quiet warfare. Unseen by the world. Felt only in the marrow of your mind.

It starts subtly: a whisper of fear, a glance of regret, the ache of waiting. Then the enemy comes in like a flood—accusations, doubts, sorrow, self-blame. The battlefield? Your mind. The target? Your faith. Because of this, somewhere deep inside, your soul cries out, “Where is God now?”

WHY ARE YOU SO DOWNCAST, O MY SOUL?

“My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually say to me, ‘Where is your God?’ Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God…”
— Psalm 42:3, 5

We rarely talk about it, but the greatest battles aren’t fought in the streets—they’re fought in silence.

The real warfare happens in the spaces no one can see: in the rooms of your inner life, behind your eyes, between your thoughts, beneath your breath. And the most dangerous enemy isn’t always screaming at the gates. Sometimes, it whispers.

THE MOCKING VOICES THAT ECHO

The psalmist’s words are hauntingly familiar to anyone who’s ever sat in the dark and begged the light to return.

“My tears have been my food day and night…”

This isn’t just sadness—it’s soul-starvation. When you’re so weighed down that even nourishment feels like dust in the mouth. And all the while, there’s a mocking voice—whether from within or without—that keeps repeating the same line:

“Where is your God?”

It is not always spoken aloud. Sometimes it shows up in the silence of delayed answers to prayers. In the prolonged waiting. In betrayal. In sickness. In empty inboxes and hospital corridors.

THE INTERNAL DIALOGUE: FIGHTING FROM WITHIN

This psalm is unique—it’s one of those moments where Scripture lets us eavesdrop on a man talking to himself, or, does it have record of what happens in our own thoughts. Either way, it is a story that is way too familiar. And who is this person talking too? Not to his enemies. Not even to God, not yet. But to his own soul.

“Why are you cast down, O my soul? Why are you disquieted within me?”

Here lies the key to the battlefield of the mind—you must become aware of your internal conversation. There are days when the war isn’t against circumstances—it’s against the voice(s) inside your own head.
The soul sulks. The spirit slouches. But you must stand nonetheless.

THE SERPENT SPEAKS

“…while they continually say to me, ‘Where is your God?’” (Psalm 42:3)

Notice the repetition in this line:

“They continually say…”

It’s not just one moment of doubt—it’s the relentless whispering that begins to wear down your confidence in God’s presence.

This is the language of the nachash, the serpent from Genesis 3—whose name not only means snake but is also related to the root word for divination, enchantment, and shining. The nachash doesn’t shout. It hisses. It glitters. It allures.

The battlefield of the mind is where these whispers coil like smoke, finding entry points into your unguarded thoughts—Ephesians 6 calls them “the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
But if you listen long enough, they start to sound like your own inner voice.

THE WHISPERS OF THE NACHASH (נָחָשׁ)

The first whisper ever recorded in Scripture did not come from man but from the serpent, and those whispers were venomous with poisonous words. The nachash (serpent in Hebrew) is a shining, alluring, enchanting being, not merely a snake but a whisperer. A deceiver with hissing beguiling persuasion.

“Did God really say…?” (Genesis 3:1)

That was his first move: to distort the Word of God. To poison our thoughts against God. To create uncertainty. To plant a question in the fertile soil of the soul. That same hiss still echoes today. But now, it sounds like this:

• “God’s forgotten you.”
• “You’re not good enough.”
• “Why should He answer you?”
• “This delay is proof He’s gone.”
• “You’re too far gone.”

It is ancient. It is subtle. It is spiritual.

And Paul names it clearly in Ephesians 6:12:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities… against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly [spiritual] realm.”

These demonic forces don’t always come roaring. They come whispering. Hissing. Whispering. In thoughts that feel like your own.

THE REASON YOU’RE SITTING IN THE DARK…

Sometimes, the attack feels overwhelming not because God has left you but because you forgot to tend the flame.

In the Tabernacle, God instructed the priests to keep the menorah—the seven-branched lampstand—burning continually. The light symbolised the Word, the presence, and the guidance of God.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105)

If you’re sitting in darkness, it’s not because the Word lost power. It’s because you stopped kindling it. If the whispers sound louder than truth, it’s time to relight the lamp.

SPEAK TO YOURSELF

God’s Word wasn’t meant to be glanced at once a week. It’s your flame. It’s your weapon. It’s your victory.

Hope is a command not a feeling. The psalmist doesn’t end in despair, he instructs his soul to refocus and hope in god, that is put his trust back in God:

“Hope in God…”

This isn’t just a warm sentiment—it’s a command. To hope is to resist the despair that comes naturally. To hope is to choose your weapon. To hope is to fix your eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. You may not feel like hoping. That’s okay. Feelings are not kings. Truth is. Hope says,

• God is still with me.
• God still loves me.
• God is still helping me.

Even when my soul feels like it’s drowning, and darkness threatens to overwhelm, I know that if I will just begin digging into God’s word and let it get into me, light will dawn again and silence the accusers.

The truth is that if you do not guide your soul, someone else will, and you probably will not like the dark place they take you too

THE ENEMY’S STRATEGY: DISTRACT, DISTORT, DISCOURAGE

In this battlefield of the mind, the enemy is cunning. He knows if he can get you to focus on your pain and on the apparent desolation, on the ‘problem’ instead of God’s promises, he’s already won. He will

• Distract you with your past.
• Distort what God said.
• Discourage you with delay.
• Convince you to give up

But you are not defenceless. You are not your thoughts. You are not your feelings. You are the one watching them.

This also means you can rise above them. You can and must control them with God’s word. Only God’s word can defeat satan’s darkness. God’s word is the antidote to satan’s venom (Proverbs 4:22).

DEFENCE IS PROACTIVE—NOT PASSIVE

Too often we treat spiritual defence like damage control. We react when under siege, scramble when the whispers intensify, and try to patch walls only after they’ve been breached. Real victory, however, requires preparation, repetition, transformation. The best defence begins with offence. God doesn’t just want you on the defence—He wants you fully fortified, preemptively renewed.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
— Romans 12:2

The Greek word for “transformed” here is metamorphoō—where we get metamorphosis similar to a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly that is released from limitations imposed on the caterpillar by the unyielding chrysalis. It isn’t about fixing a few bad thoughts. It’s about becoming unrecognisable to your former self. Your mind is not just a shield. It’s the furnace where identity is forged, where the soul is sculpted by the Word. This means:

• You don’t wait until you’re in a panic to renew your mind—you do it daily.
• You don’t wait for the serpent to whisper—you fill the air with the sound of truth.
• You don’t wait for fear to speak—you silence it with what’s already written.

Proactive defence is worship before the battle starts. It’s declaring victory when your emotions feel like defeat. It’s memorising truth when no one’s watching—because one day, you’ll need it when everyone is.

It’s fortifying your inner man with the word of God. This is not maintenance. This is transformation. This is spiritual strategy. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Rom. 10:17) and it is why keeps the enemies flaming arrows at bay: Ephesians 6:16 states:

“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. “

The word of God (the Bible) powers the supernatural shield of faith and stops those burning thoughts from destroying your mind and life.

FORTIFY YOUR INNER CASTLE

Your mind is not just a battlefield. It’s a castle—and you were never meant to live with the gates unguarded.

“Do not give the devil a foothold [Greek: aphormē].” (Ephesians 4:27)

An aphormē is a military term. It means a launching place, a base of operations, a foothold. The enemy doesn’t need full access—just a crack.

Solomon echoes this spiritual vulnerability:

“Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.” (Proverbs 25:28)

Have you been fortifying your walls—or just hoping nothing breaks in?

To fortify your inner stronghold:

• Guard your heart — Proverbs 4:23
• Renew your mind — Romans 12:2
• Take thoughts captive — 2 Corinthians 10:5
• Resist the devil — James 4:7
• Tend the lamp — Leviticus 24:2

We are not helpless. We are not victims of every thought that flies in. You are the watchman of your own soul. Build. Guard. Resist.

THE POWER IS WITHIN YOU

The whispers will try to convince you to search outward—desperately scanning the horizon for rescue, validation, or relief. But Jesus flips the script:

“The kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21)

The Greek word here is basileia—it means more than just “a realm” or “a place.” It means sovereignty, power, dominion, authority, control, and influence. What does that mean?

That means the government of heaven has already placed its jurisdiction inside you.

You are not waiting for permission to be free. You have been deputised. You are not begging for help from a distant God—you are enforcing the victory of a present King. The light is in your lamp. The sword is in your hand. The kingdom is in your castle. And the whispers must bow to truth, but only if you insist.

When talking about spiritual warfare, renewing the mind may not sound sexy, but it is the foundation.

Half the problems we are dealing with, if we are honest, are due to an unrenewed mind that anyone and their aunty can stroll through.

Remember, the turning point in Psalm 42 isn’t a miracle. It isn’t God parting the sea or sending fire from heaven. It’s the act of self-confrontation and self-regulation:

“Why are you cast down, O my soul?”

You have the duty to interrogate your inner climate. You have the task to challenge the voices that say “it’s over, there is no hope.” And, you have been ordained to defy it, resist it and assert (claim) a different reality based on the truth of God’s word.

You are equipped to speak back. It’s your duty. Your words matter. Your inner words even more so. Speak truth to your own soul. Say it out loud,

“It is written…” (Matthew 4:4)

Self-confrontation becomes self-regulation when you decide what you think and consequently what you feel. Even if all you can manage to begin with is a whisper that says: “…I choose to hope in God again!” “…He never changes, He is reliable!” (Hebrews 13:8) “…He never leaves me nor forsakes me!” (Hebrews 13:5) “…He is my helper, He is helping me!” (Hebrews 13:6).

Practice repeating the scripture promises God has recorded for you and you will begin to believe it. When you do, the son of God rises in your life and shines brightly, that is when you will see and experience transformation!

PRAYER

Father,

I repent for letting my flame grow dim.
For forgetting the light You gave me.
For tolerating the whispers of the serpent and entertaining lies in my mind.
I ask You to reignite the lampstand within me—light up every shadow with Your Word.
Help me fortify the walls of my soul and stand in my authority.
Let me live as one who carries Your basileia, Your influence, and Your victory.
The kingdom is within me.
And I will not be ruled by fear.
In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

1. What serpent whispers have you been listening to—consciously or unconsciously?
2. Have you allowed your inner flame (the Word) to burn low in this season?
3. Where have you left your walls unguarded and given the enemy a foothold (aphormē)?
4. What Scriptures do you need to keep in front of you to relight your menorah?
5. How can you step into your basileia—the kingdom power within you—today?

Like & Subscribe!