The word of God does not address such a question, so it is left to me to sort it out for you the best I can, with God's blessing of course.
1)The most common form of attack is a form of telepathy (words or daydreams introduced into your thoughts which are not of God or are straight evil). I think this attack gets to be a rather successful one over time. The thoughts usually attack a weakness in the individuals personality or spirituality. But they can be completely foreign to the victim as well.
It is not the thought or collection of thoughts over time that break the victim down. It is what you do or do not do with the thoughts. Thoughts that are not of God or from God are to be cast out of your mind. Do not dwell on a thought or feel anguish or guilt about the thought, if you feel these things after casting the thought out of your mind--you are still thinking about the thought. If you find yourself in this position, cast the thought out again and immediately begin praying for a flood of thoughts about the things of God.
2)In my opinion the second most common form of attack is auditory. Voices spoken from a distance or in your ear or maybe even in your head. Anytime you hear a voice and there is no one around to make it, it is disconcerting at best. Men like David Berkowitz (aka Son of Sam) heard voices which told him to kill. At the same time, I have heard voices. Again, it is not the voices that are the problem it is the what the victim does about the voices that is important. Ask God to take the voices away and to protect you from further attacks.
3)Deception is a staple among all attacks. In order for attacks number one and number two to succeed there must be deception. Deception can be subtle or it can be outrageously obvious. The obvious deception is one that is recognized right away by the potential victim and is easily crushed. When you are attacked in this manner it is almost condescending that a demon thought you would fall for that. I have said it before and I will say it again: demons range in intelligence greatly, as do we.
An example of a successful demonic deception? Adam and Eve tempted by Satan is a great example. The Heavens Gate cult is another. A voice telling you its good to do something you know is not Godly is another. An idea passed along to you by a friend, brother, sister, family, or even a complete stranger can be a deception proposed to you using a person you trust to deliver the deception.Call on the name of Jesus Christ and deception will wither into clarity.
There is a common theme to combating these attacks- PRAYER!
If you don't know about Jesus Christ, seek Him and you will find Him!
He is right there with you. You most likely can't see him, but rest assured he is there.
God bless you all,
Saul/Paul
