Demons – Hope for Complete Healing

Unseen Battle With The Secular World

My struggle with unseen battles with the wicked secular world began at a young age with my dysfunctional parents. Because of the dysfunction of my home life, I mentally and emotionally checked out. I have no memories from the time I was six until after I was eight. At eight years old, I accepted Jesus as my Savior at a Good News Club. Even at eight, my life changed dramatically. I found a place where I felt I belonged and was loved and accepted. Peace became my companion.

Because of the damage to my emotions from the abuse, I was vulnerable to the devil’s lies. So, when I became a teenager, I was drawn into the sinful activities of the secular world. Satan lied to me and said, I would be popular and have fun, but I ended up with regrets and depression. During my third year in college, I recommitted my life to God, though I still struggled with the worldly activities of college life, which took me deeper into depression. Only when I surrendered my mind and heart to God, put off my old sinful way of thinking, read my Bible, and resolved to obey His will, that my soul began to prosper. I continued to struggle with worldly acceptance because I did not submit my pride.

How to recognize the unseen battle with the secular world.

The key is your focus. If your focus is on worldly fulfillment and not on your relationships with God and people, you will never feel satisfied. When you focus on loving God and people by serving them, you will be rewarded beyond explanation. Some people have disciplined their minds to be devoted to God, such as Billy Graham, Mother Teresa, and monks for example. Otherwise, everyone struggles with distracting worldly enticements (worldliness) that draw them away from devotion to God. The dictionary defines worldly as being devoted to or concerned with the affairs, pleasures, interests, etc. of the secular world. The unseen battle with worldliness is the hardest to recognize because we can justify our worldly pursuits.

How the secular world controls your thoughts.

To be victorious over distracting worldly thoughts, you must recognize how the secular world influences and shapes you into its mold. With the help of God through prayer, you can overcome these unseen battles by faith without being legalistic. Remember, what controls your thinking will control how you feel; your feelings control what you believe; and what you believe controls what you say and do. For example, advertisers know they can entice you to buy their product by putting the thought in your mind that the product is desirable and you need it. So, you believe you need that item to improve your life somehow. After you give in to the worldly enticement, then you discover how empty and lonely you still are because nothing will satisfy your soul like serving and loving God and people.

How to overcome the ruler of the world.

The main source of unseen battles with worldliness comes from the demonic realm. Jesus calls Satan “The ruler (prince) of this world.” See, John 12:31; 14:30; and 16:11. The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 12:2a to “not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds (thoughts, feelings, and beliefs).” You began transforming your mind when you put off your old self (thinking) and its sinful behaviors and put on a new self, which is in the likeness of God, holy and righteous.

Practice your authority through Jesus Christ over the unseen demonic realm. To learn more about your authority in Christ, read, Four Reasons for Authority in Prayer. All thoughts are within your control according to 2Corinthians 10:3-5, which outline our divine authority over thoughts. “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4) For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds (fortresses). 5) We destroy arguments (imaginations, speculation; Greek meaning is logical thinking) and every lofty opinion (judgment) raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” Verse 5 denote a mental war against worldly thinking. You may think you are not affected by the world, but please read this post, RECOGNIZE WORLDLY THINKING AND BE FREE.

POSTS on Thoughts

HOW PRIDE DESTROYS

Hope for Lasting Peace, Love, and Victory

HOW PRIDE DESTROYS

So why is pride a destructive force? Pride is more than feeling good when we accomplish something great. Arrogant or conceited pride keeps us from loving others well. Second, pride prevents us from seeing the sin of thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought. Last, pride justifies self-centered behavior that erodes relationships. Not only is pride destructive, but God hates pride and will oppose anyone who is prideful, which is explained at the end of this post. So, if we don’t want God opposing us, then we need to seriously seek to get rid of pride.

A humble person exhibits acts of selflessness, kindness, patience, and gentleness. They are not self-asserting or boastful but are more concerned about others. Humble people are meek and not inclined to anger or resentment from insults and offenses. Meekness shows incredible strength. Humble people are merciful, polite, and respectful. People like being around those who are humble because they feel loved and safe, and never judged.

Every person has pride problems because the sinful human nature is self-centered, wanting only to please itself. Also, a self-centered person does not desire to seek God or to do His will. On the other hand, Christianity is about being Christ-like and other-centered. Pride is often revealed by what we say about other people and situations, especially when we compare ourselves favorably. For example, I demeaned my husband by saying I was a harder worker than him. Because of my pride, I thought I could do things better than other people, and they should recognize that. So, if you sincerely want to know your pride issues, you can ask one of your loved ones, but humbly be prepared to accept what they have to say. Being easily offended shows pridefulness.

How to free from the sin of pride.

When you ask God to show you your sin, wait quietly for the Holy Spirit flow by keeping your mind tuned to flowing pictures/visions and emotions. I learned this from Mark Virkler in his CD called “Seven Prayers that Heal the Heart.” Dr. Virkler said if you neglect this, your prayers will come from your head, and will not heal your heart. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to see your pride issues as you read the following questions.

Do I have a high or undue opinion of my own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority and expect other people to cater to my every wish and want?
Do I have an exaggerated self-esteem with a higher opinion of myself than is held by others? If someone does not have the same opinion of my worth, do I become offended?
Am I conceited because of my achievements and look down on others?
Am I haughty and judgemental by showing disdain, contempt, or scorn for others who are not like me?
Do I want to control what people do and think and get angry if I can’t?

Prayerfully ask God to expose your wrong thinking, unhealthy beliefs, offenses, and resentments. As the Holy Spirit shows them to you, write them down, then pray the following prayer model. When I prayed this prayer to get rid of my pride, it became hard for me to breath because the spirit of pride did not want to give up control of my heart and mind.

Lord, I confess I have sinful pride in my heart. I can see where pride hurts my relationships and _(list other things the Holy Spirit showed you)_, and I ask You to forgive and cleanse me of the sin of pride.

I loose/put off my prideful attitude and the spirit of pride from my heart. I loose/put off wrong thinking and unhealthy belief(s) of _(list wrong thinking and unhealthy beliefs)_ in Jesus’ name. Next, I loose and destroy all oppressive spirit attachments and generational sins and markers from my DNA related to pride in Jesus’ name. And, I loose _(offense/resentment)_ I have harbored in my heart and the oppressive spirit attachments.

I bind in the truths that humility is realizing everything I have, including my abilities, is a gift from God (see Deuteronomy. 8:17-18). And I don’t think of myself more highly than others, but in humility, I will regard others as more important than myself (see Romans 12:3 and Philippians 2:3). Amen.

After learning these truths, I now take my angry, impatient, and controlling thoughts captive and walk them back by consciously stopping the reactive thought then thinking a truthful thought. I can live in peace with everyone as far as it depends on me. In the New International Version, Hebrews 12:14 states, “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy, without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

I also put into my mind and heart the truths that humility is realizing that everything I have, including my abilities, is a gift from God (Deut. 8:17-18). And I don’t think of myself more highly than others, but in humility, I will regard others as more important than myself (see Romans 12:3; Philippians 2:3).

The more we transform our thinking with the truth found in the Bible (see Romans 12:2) and are renewed by the Holy Spirit, the more like God we will be (see Ephesians 4:23), which is loving, patient, kind, peaceful, faithful, humble, full of joy, and self-controlled. To learn how I became free to live a transformed and renewed life and how you can be free to live a new reality, visit my website: https://hopeforcompletehealing.com/.

Ponder the following Scriptures to learn how pride will destroy you.

2 Chronicles 26:16 states, “But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the LORD his God ….”

?? Why are we unfaithful to God when we become strong?

?? How do you think pride destroys us when we become strong?

?? Think about a time when pride brought destruction in your life or someone else’s life.

2 Chronicles 32:25 states, “… for his heart was proud. Therefore wrath came upon him ….”

?? Why does a proud heart deserve the wrath of God? (see Romans 2:5-8; 5:9; 13:5; Ephesians 5:6; and Colossians 3:6)

Psalms 10:4 states, “In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek Him; all his thoughts are, ‘There is no God.’”

?? Why doesn’t a proud person seek God?

Psalms 31:23 states, “Love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.”

?? What is the difference between the faithful and the proud person?

Psalms 59:12 states, “For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride. For the cursing and lies that they utter,”

?? How do the words of the proud trap them?

?? How is lying a sign of pride?

Proverbs 11:2 states, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.”

?? Why would the humble be wise, and the proud be disgraced?

Proverbs 16:18 states, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

?? What causes a haughty person to fall?

Proverbs 21:24 states, “‘Scoffer’ is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride.”

?? Why do the arrogant scoff (an expression of mocking contempt, scorn; jeer)?

Proverbs 29:23 states, “One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.”

?? How does pride bring a person low and how do the lowly obtain honor?

Ecclesiastes 7:8 states, “Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”

?? Why is a proud person not patient?

Obadiah 1:3a states, “The pride (arrogance) of your heart has deceived you, …”

?? How does pride deceive us?

Romans 11:20, 23 states, “That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud (conceited), but fear. 23) And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.”

?? How does standing fast in your faith and fearing God keep you from becoming prideful?

James 4:6 states, “But he gives more grace. Therefore, it says, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’” (Also see 1 Peter 5:5.)

?? Why does God oppose the proud?

Understand, God hates pride. Proverbs 8:13 states, “The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil (sinful behavior) and perverted speech I [God] hate.” Also, look-up the seven things God hates in Proverbs 6:16-19. Not only does God hate pride and arrogance, but He also hates evil behavior, which is morally bad and depraved. He also hates perverted speech, which is speech that deviates from what is good or true (i.e. lying). To be sure, a proud heart will not humbly submit to God or others and do what is right (see Romans 8:7).

Read my other posts about Pride:

How I became free from pride: The Core Negative Heart Issue

Anger Issues Protected by Pride and Judgmental Strongholds

Freedom from Impatience and Strongholds of Injustice and Unfairness

All Scripture is from the English Standard Version. If you find my posts and website helpful, then please share the links with your friends and family, hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright protected and no part of the posts or my book may be reproduced without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom.

If you find this website helpful, you will benefit from the latest book. You can order Breaking Mental Strongholds on Amazon.

Also, check out my book called Fighting Unseen Battles on Amazon. I would love to hear what you think. To learn more about my book, read: How to Fight Unseen Battles.

Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com, and ask for a PDF of Eight Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, non-believers, 23rd Psalm, and victory. I will also send you the Lord’s Prayer Model to pray effectively. Please leave your name so I know you are a real person making the request.

Hope for Lasting Peace, Love, and Victory

Many of the women I minister to feel there is no hope for overcoming their situations. And sadly, I often meet women who are put in jail right after having a baby that tested hot for drugs. Equally sad are the women whose children have been taken away from them, which drives them to use drugs and alcohol to escape that emotional pain. These women feel defeated and hopeless. When I asked them why they use, 99% of them say it is to avoid feeling emotional pain. They know the drugs and alcohol takes them further away from the life they desire. But they feel they have no inner strength to stop using drugs or drinking alcohol. Their hearts are full of emotional pain from unloving acts from those who should have loved them. Unfortunately, most people do not realize they have a love hunger that they are trying to satisfy with everything but the true source of love.

You may not have a drug or alcohol problem, but if you are honest, you also have some mechanism for escaping inner pain (e.g., binge eating, shopping, watching TV/movies, workaholism, etc.) For example, I was a workaholic, and my accomplishments helped me feel good, which concealed the pain in my heart. I also felt helpless to control my anger when I was offended. As a result, I believed I was unlovable and worthless. I have good news; with God’s help, I was able to transform my unhealthy beliefs and wrong thoughts with His truth. Read about my transformation here.

The following five facts have helped the women in jail have hope to achieve lasting peace, love, and victory. I pray they help you as well:

1. Know the source of offenses that steal your peace, love, and sense of worth.

a) Taking an offense to something is when you feel resentment for something done or said which often causes hurt feelings or displeasure. These resentments build up in our hearts throughout our lives.

b) The demonic powers around us are destructive forces in our lives. In Ephesians 6:12 it says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Also see Eph. 2:2; 2Cor. 4:4.

c) The Bible says that the devil is the father of lies (John 8:44). The lies we believe cause us to be offended, which results in resentment and hate. For example, my oldest son believed the lie that I hated him because I disciplined him. He believed the lie that my discipline was abusive, therefore, he says he hates me. I can’t change what he believes because resentment is consuming, and the demons keep it stirred up in him to keep him in bondage to these destructive thoughts.

d) The demons want to keep you defeated by destroying your peace, self-worth, and ability to feel loved. Children are their favorite target because they are so vulnerable, then as adults we wonder why we have so many offenses in our hearts, also called unresolved childhood issues. Feeling unloved and offended can lead to various destructive actions and addictions, which result in feeling more defeated.

For instance, when I am offended and get upset, I desire to binge eat, especially chocolate, or I get angry and tell the person off. Both responses are destructive; binge eating is destructive to my body and anger destroys my relationships. We can choose to respond with peace and love, which may sound impossible. Choosing a non-destructive action requires us to constantly check our thoughts and control them, though I still need to improve. Awareness of how we are offended is the first step.

2. Know your source of help to resist the demonic attempts to destroy you.

a) Jesus knows what it is like to suffer demonic attacks and temptations. He overcame the devil and defeated the enemy of our souls and can help us overcome (see Hebrews 2:17&18; Heb. 4:15&16; and 1 John 3:8).

b) To receive this help, we need to put off the pride of being self-focused and the lie that we don’t need Jesus. Then, humbly ask Him by faith to transform our lives. When we do this, then we will be rooted and grounded in His love and nothing can separate us from His love (see Ephesians 3:17; 1 John 4:9-10; and Romans 8:35-39). Also, we will be filled with the Holy Spirit who is our helper (see John 14:26; 15:26; and Romans 8:24-27). To learn more about pride, read: HOW PRIDE DESTROYS

c) After receiving Jesus into our hearts and submitting to God, which is to obey Him, then we will have all the divine promises in Christ Jesus. We will also have his divine nature and power to have lasting victory over all our issues and addictions. 2 Peter 1:3-4 says, “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4) For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” We tap into this divine power by faith through prayer and believing. We do not see the divine power in us, but we know it is there by faith and that it is ours through prayer.

3. Know the true source of love, peace, and victory.

a) God will always love us, and He gives us His worth. (See Colossians 3:12). He is our only source of love; not our parents, not our boy/girlfriends, not our family, not our spouse; no one can love us as God does. Our love is flawed because each of us has wounds and hurts (offenses) from the sins and weaknesses of those around us.

b) God is our only source of peace. Isaiah 26:3 says “You keep him/her in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he/she trusts in You.” Jesus said in John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (Also see 1 John 5:4) The key to lasting peace is to keep our minds on God through continual prayer.

c) God is our only source of victory over the demonic world; James 4:7,8 says, “Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8) Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Victory occurs when we submit to God and resist the devil through prayer and standing firm in our faith. Victory also requires that we remove sin from our lives. Also see 1 Peter 5:8,9a.

4. Know the truth and pray the truth to stay in perfect peace, love, and victory.

a) Our responsibility is to keep our minds on the truths of the Word of God and remain with Him through prayer. As we stay in prayer, we will be victorious over the many temptations to believe the devil’s lies and become offended (see John 15 and Colossians 3:1-3). But first, we need to humbly confess our sins through prayer and seek God for forgiveness (see 1 John 1:9). You see, sin blocks our prayers and God will not hear our prayers because He is Holy (see Is. 59:2).

b) If we keep our minds on our problems and what we don’t like, then we will be worried, fearful, angry, depressed, etc. So, when you find yourself focused on a problem or an offense, then turn it into a prayer of repentance and submission to regain your peace, love, and victory. For example, we can get upset with a family member for the things they did or said or how they said it, and it can consume us. But when we turn the problem over to God and trust Him with it, then we will be filled with peace and love again. I have also found that being thankful keeps me in peace. As you know, when you don’t feel peace in yourself, you are not at peace with others around you.

c) Our prayers and words have power and we can take every thought captive in the name of Jesus and command them to be gone. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says, “For though we walk in the flesh (live in the world, NIV), we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh (this world), but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses (strongholds). We are destroying speculations (arguments) and every lofty thing (pretensions) raised up against the knowledge of God (truth), and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” Taking our thoughts captive is critical to have lasting victory over our destructive emotions and actions.

5. Lastly, remove the many offenses in our hearts through prayer and forgiving.

a) Offenses hinder love but purifying out hearts by removing offenses allows us to feel love and to love others. Purifying our hearts begins with obeying the Word of God, that is, to do what it says. 1 Peter 1:22 states, “Having purified your souls (heart, mind, and conscience) by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.” We can love with a pure heart when our soul wounds are healed as outlined in my healing booklet found in my website (hopeforcompletehealing.com).

b) One of the truths we need to obey to be victorious over offenses is to forgive those who offended us. Then to put off the lies we believed. (See Matthew 6:12; Colossians 3:13; Ephesians 4:32). Our unforgiveness perpetuates the inner pain we feel and keeps us in bondage to it. We will never have lasting peace, love, or victory if we do not forgive. If you find it hard to forgive, read: WHY SHOULD I FORGIVE

I hope you found these five facts helpful and know that lasting peace, love, and victory is possible. In my website, I list many truths concerning key character traits to help you replace the devil’s lies with truth. I encourage you to look at these and be blessed.

Escapism; Protected by Strongholds of Loneliness and Discontentment

#1 Destroyer of All Relationships and the Solution

If you find my posts and website helpful, then please share the links with your friends and family, hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright protected and no part of the posts or my book may be reproduced without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom.

Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com, and ask for a PDF of Eight Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, non-believers, 23rd Psalm, and victory. Please leave your name so I know you are a real person making the request.

P.S.: Experiencing a lasting change in your life depends on having a right relationship with God the Father through believing in His Son Jesus Christ and obeying His command to love (1 John 3).

Four Realities of the Spirit World

The one frustration the girls had in my county jail Bible study was not being able to withstand the temptations to return to their old friends and lifestyle. Why? Not being able to stand firm in our faith involves many factors. One factor is to understand the spirit world and the unseen spiritual battles that wage war against our soul. Knowing the truth about the spirit world will help us be mindful of their influence. When I shared the following four spiritual realities, the inmates all said it was very helpful, and I hope you find it helpful too.

Reality one: We are spiritual beings in a physical body living in a spirit world within a physical world. The following scriptures prove this reality:

James 2:26 “The body apart from the spirit is dead,…”
Luke 23:46 “Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit!” And having said this, he breathed his last.”
Acts 7:59 “And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
2Timothy 4:22 “The Lord be with your spirit.”

?? What happens to our spirits when we die? Read the story of Lazareth and the rich man in Luke 16:19-31.
?? Where did Lazareth go after he died, and where was the rich man go after he died?
?? Why could the rich man see, hear, speak, and feel thirsty if he was dead?
This account explains another reality that there is a heaven and a hell.

?? If you were to die today, where will you spend eternity?

Reality two: God is an eternal Spirit being, which means He always existed. He is also an all-powerful Spirit-being that is present everywhere. Revelations 1:8 states, “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘Who is and Who was and Who is to come, the Almighty.‘” Read the book of Exodus to get a better understanding of the power of God. The following scriptures also confirm this reality.

1Corinthians 2:11 “For who knows a person’s thoughts except for the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” (Our Spirit communicates with God through prayer. And God, who is a Spirit, reveals His thoughts to our spirit and gives us an understanding of His Word found in the Holy Bible.)

John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.“
2Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

God’s desire from the beginning of time is to be in a loving fellowship with mankind. Fellowship also means companionship, and some call it a relationship. Look up the following verses in different versions.

1Corinthians 1:9 “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
1John 1:3 “that which we have seen and heard we also proclaim to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed, our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.”
Isaiah 41:10-13 tells us that God holds our hand, through our spiritual being.

The following are examples of Old Testament men who walked and fellowshipped with God.

Genesis 5:24 “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.”
Genesis 6:9 “These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.”

?? When you walk with someone, do you talk to them? So, if God is a spirit, how do you think they walked with God?

Reality three: The devil and demons are evil spirits, who are fallen angels. These evil spirits want to keep us from being in fellowship with God. And they will deceive and tempt us to please our sinful fleshly desires and live independent of God.

The devil is a created spirit being also called Satan. He is the great enemy of man and of goodness; usually identified with Lucifer, the chief of the fallen angels. Lucifer became prideful and wanted to set himself above his creator, God. However, God threw him down to earth along with a third of the angels who followed him (see Is. 14:12-14). He is also called the deceiver (see Rev. 12:9-12), father of lies and murderer (see John 8:44), and the destroyer or Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek, which is translated as “destroyer or to destroy” (see Rev. 9:11 and John 10:10a). Webster defines “devil” as the slanderer; the chief evil spirit, a supernatural being subordinate to, and the foe of God. He is also the foe and tempter of man. To be evil is to be morally bad or wrong; wicked; depraved. Someone who is evil causes pain or trouble and does harm. Satan and demons are not present in all places nor do they know all things, and they do not know our thoughts as God does (see Ps. 139:1-10). The Bible also says the following about Satan.

John 10:10 “The thief (Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I (Jesus) came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

1Peter 5:8-9 “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9) Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” Note: Jesus also suffered.
Hebrews 2:18 “For because he himself (Jesus) has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

Jesus was tempted by the devil to sin (see Matthew chapter 4). We too are being tempted every day to think wrong thoughts and to sin. But, Jesus did not give in to the temptation and He never sinned. Because He was victorious over the devil’s temptations, He will help us not to give in, but only if we have invited Him into our lives to be with us (see Revelations 3:20). When we are being tempted to sin, all we need to do is to take the thought captive and turn it into a prayer for help (see Hebrews 4:15-16).

The Bible says the following in James 4:7-8; “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8) Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.“ The result will be that the devil will flee; which is to run away or escape from danger; disappear; vanish.
?? What are some situations in your life that you would like to see the devil flee?

Therefore, if we are to stand firm against temptations and send the devil running, we need to do three actions: 1) Humble ourselves by putting aside our desire for self-fulfillment, self-sufficiency, and independence from God. 2) Submit to God; which is, to surrender control of our lives to Him. 3) Draw near to God. But first, we need to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts by confessing and repenting of any sins of the flesh and the spirit. Then seek forgiveness for our sins; 1 John 1:9 states, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (purifies us from all unrighteousness; NIV).” We cannot approach a Holy God in prayer if there is sin in our lives. The pages on my website on the right-hand margin will help you to identify many types of sins.

You see, sin happens when we give in to the temptation to be prideful and live independent of God and His good and perfect instructions. Our sin separates our spirit from the Spirit of God. Isaiah 59:1-3 states, “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or His ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2) but your iniquities [wickedness; sins] have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that he does not hear. 3) For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness.”

Reality four: God the Holy Spirit replaces our sin-corrupted spirits and gives us a new life and we become born again spiritually (see 1Peter 1:3 & 1 Cor 6:17). We get this new life when we believe with our heart and confess out loud that Jesus Christ is God the Son, who died to pay the debt for sin; forgives our sins and frees us from sins control (see John 1:29; 1 John 4:15; 1 Peter 1:18-19; Colossians 1:14; & Galatians 5:1). The Bible says the following about the role of the Holy Spirit.

John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
John 16:13 “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”
1Corinthians 2:10-12 “these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11) For who knows a person’s thoughts except for the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12) Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.”
1Corinthians 3:16 “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (Also see 1Corinthians 6:19.)

?? What is our responsibility? Do you think the Holy Spirit just takes over and we are instantly changed?

First, we must renew our minds with the truth of God’s Word (the Bible), which is outlined in my website (see Rom. 12:2). Second, we are to set our minds on the things of the Spirit through prayer and pondering Scriptures (see Colossians 3:1-2). The following verses explain this principle.

Romans 8:5-6 “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6) For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”
Romans 8:9-10 “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10) But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”
Romans 8:13-16 “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14) For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15) For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!“ (Also see Gal 4:6. ) 16) The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”
Galatians 5:16-17 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17) For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
Galatians 6:8 “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
2Corinthians 7:1 “Once we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”

?? According to these verses, what are we responsible for doing to remain (abide) in fellowship with God?

In conclusion, the spiritual battle for our souls is fought in the spiritual world through prayer. Prayer is our spirit communicating with the Spirit of God. Understanding these four realities of the Spirit world will help us stand firm in prayer against the destructive influences of evil spirits in the unseen spirit world that is all around us.

Why, What, and How to Submit to God and be FREE

Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com, and ask for a PDF of Eight Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, non-believers, 23rd Psalm, and victory. Please leave your name so I know you are a real person making the request.

P.S.: Experiencing a lasting change in your life depends on having a right relationship with God the Father through believing in His Son Jesus Christ and obeying His command to love (1 John 3).