How to defend against Satan

Like fighting a good battle there are always strategies that both opposing sides use. God or Heavenly Father has many tools and weapons that we can use to defend ourselves. These weapons aren't the typical weapons you would find in a battle yet they are very effective. On the opposite side Satan has many weapons also. His luckily are not as effective. But we must understand how he attacks us and with what if we are to fight him off. We find in the Book of Mormon a great example of ways satan attacks us. We read of the Nephites who are under siege from the Lamanites. In Alma 49:22 it says that "they began to dig down their banks of earth that they might obtain a pass to their armies". The Lamanites were trying to tear down the Nephites place of security by tearing down their walls. Satan Works the same way. He tries over and over again to tear our walls down to get to our center, our heart. So how do we defend against such attacks?


First off we need to prepare ahead of time. The Nephites surprised the Lamanites by building a high wall. It reads in Alma 49:4 "how great was their disappointment; for behold, the Nephites had dug up a ridge of earth round about them, which was so high that the Lamanites could not cast their stones and their arrows at them that they might take effect" The most crucial part of defending against Satan is preparing ourselves to withstand the blows that will come. So how do we prepare to defend ourselves ahead of time to defend against that evil one? 

Well we first need to decide. Decide now that we will not give in. Make choices to not partake in the bad things of the world before they come. When they do come, we will have the ability to make the right choice and block the blow Satan is throwing at us. Building up our "ridge of earth" takes time to do. We don't want to be caught off guard before our wall of defense is finished. So start now.


The Nephites also had a key strategy to win the battle. It is recorded that "the Lamanites could not get into their forts of security by any other way save by the entrance, because of the highness of the bank which had been thrown up,... save it were by the entrance."(Alma 49:18). We notice that the only possible way to get into the forts of the Nephites was to enter into the small entrance. Our entrances  can be compared to our heart. Through our feelings of the heart we feel the spirit such as love, peace, joy, etc. Satan knows that the heart is very important and if he can just squeeze in there he can get to the rest of us. But if we follow the example of the Nephites, we can more easily defend ourselves. As the Lamanites attempted to enter into the forts by the entrance, the Nephites would cast stones and arrows and kill them with swords. They had the entrance heavily defended. If we heavily defend our hearts with reading the scriptures, praying for strength, attending church and following the commandments, Satan will not be able to enter into our forts and hearts. Like the Nephites we can be "prepared to destroy all such as should attempt to climb up to enter [our] fort(s) by any other way, by casting over stones and arrows at them."