Many people are conflicted with demonic attacks…some people are well aware of it while others vehemently deny it. How we face those attacks can have a huge impact on the direction of our lives and many of us try to prevent these attacks by facing demons and by addressing them directly. According to Scripture that is the wrong approach. The demons don’t acknowledge who we are, because we have no authority. After His resurrection Christ said, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.” Even before his death demons knew who He was and feared Him. We see this displayed in Mark 1 where Jesus confronts a demoniac and the demon speaks saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are–the Holy One of God!”
When we spend time speaking directly to demons as they attack we do not have the authority to do so. This authority is Christ’s alone. However, for those of us who claim to be Christians and indeed have Him in our lives we do have a power within us far greater than any other. That power is not ours, but the Holy Spirit. Our time and effort should be spent praying for the Holy Spirit to do His work within us, and to fill us. That is how Satan and his demons are defeated.
Here is an exerpt from renowned author and speaker Hank Hanegraaff:
C. S. Lewis cautioned against both imagining a demon behind every tree and believing Satan doesn’t exist. While two kingdoms are indeed in conflict (Matt. 12:22-30), Jesus Christ, through His death on the cross, made a spectacle out of the powers of darkness (Col. 2:15). What this means is that we engage in spiritual warfare by the sheer act of pursuing Christ.
Scripture admonishes us to stand firm against the devil and the evil forces of this world by employing the full armor of God, which is metaphorical language for knowing the truth, exercising faith, and practicing righteousness in our daily lives (Eph. 6:10-18; cf. 2 Cor. 10:4-6). To engage in spiritual warfare is to believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and to lead lives characterized by honesty, purity, prayer, Bible study, evangelism, and so on.
If someone struggles with bad thoughts, for example, rather than addressing demons on the issue, we ought to replace the bad thinking pattern with a good one. First, regardless of the source of the original thought (whether from Satan, another human, or our own sinful flesh), we are responsible for what we do with it. Furthermore, while we cannot directly stop thinking a bad thought (it’s virtually impossible not to think about a pink elephant when told not to!), we can consciously focus on something else in its place: a thought that is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and so forth (Phil. 4:8-9). Finally, practicing discipline in one area of our daily lives can affect our ability to overcome bad habits in other areas as well.
The bottom line is that we must submit ourselves to God through faith in Jesus Christ, who by His life, death, and resurrection has defeated Satan (Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8). What remains is to simply resist the devil, for then, the Bible says, he will flee (James 4:7).
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