No one wants to have a demon, right? That is generally true. But some Satanists want demons to have power. Of course, that power comes with a price, torment now and Hell later. Rational people don’t want demons, especially those with faith in Christ. In five decades of doing exorcisms, I’ve learned what allows demons to hang on to a person once these evil spirits have entered. The two ways that the devil tries to keep from being cast out are these: 1) Stubbornness, and 2) Strategy. Let me repeat. Once the devil has possessed an individual, he tries to prevent being driven out by exhibiting stubbornness and employing clever strategies. To live demon-free from the devil you need to apply a counter offense to these two evil tactics.
First, if the devil is anything, he is stubborn. Obstinate. Tenacious. He doesn’t back down without a fight. This is why soothing prayers and polite words of healing seldom make real demons leave. Demons consider the person in whom they dwell to be their “home,” as pointed out in Luke 11:24. They don’t want to be evicted. To stay they may become violent and physically intimidating. They might argue that they’ve been there a long time and have squatter’s rights. They can scream, thrash about, and point out the many ways that their host has accommodated them with sin. Demons are stubborn and those who minister deliverance must be stubborn too. When confronting an evil spirit, be persistent and unswerving in your demands that they must leave once their legal rights have been removed.
Secondly, demons are strategic. They cleverly embed themselves in the habits, addictions, desires, and spiritual failings of their victims. They find the weakest point in a person and hang on to it. Tell them to leave and they may hide behind a dissociative alter-ego personality. They can also sometimes put the host into a trance and blank out their mind. I’ve watched demons create distracting pain in the host’s body or cause the victim’s mind to go blank. If you’re praying to free a person of demons and things like this happen, don’t give up. Find a work-around to the demonic strategy. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you a way to circumvent the Enemy’s game plan. In sports, and in deliverance, a good offense can always overcome the best defense.
The stubbornness and strategic maneuvering of demons can be defeated. God wants His people to be free. I’ve found from experience when praying for those bound by Satan that no amount of demonic stubbornness or cleverness of strategic tactics can prevail against the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. As James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives to all liberally.” God has an abundant supply of determination to overcome Satan’s stubbornness. And the Lord has effective counterstrategies that will set people free from spiritual bondage. Stubbornness and strategies are no match for the power of Jesus Christ.
