"The entrance of thy words giveth light (Psalm 119:130)."
When Satan Gets a Foothold
The war has been won. By accepting Jesus as your Savior, you now have a place reserved for you in heaven. However, every day, we are in spiritual battle. Sometimes Satan gets a temporary foothold—or exercises a existing foothold—and we suffer. Common footholds include painful anxiety and depression. The most common causes are unforgiveness, fear, worrying and dwelling on the conflicts we have with others.
The sooner you address the problem, the better. The longer you wait, the longer it will take before you feel better. Here's what I suggest.
First, immediately bring the problem to God. Thank God that this too will work together for your good (Romans 8:28). Pray for help. Listen for any hint; any thought that may be from God.
Second, forgive anybody and everybody that you may be angry with from your heart. Do this even if you've forgiven them many times before. Also, by the power of the Holy Spirit, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44 NIV)."
Confess any sin you become aware of. To confess means to agree with God that what you have done is wrong. Confessions need to be made from your heart or they will probably be ignored by God. So, if you have been harboring unforgiveness, you can say "I confess that I have been a 'wicked servant' (Matthew 18:21-35); I ask forgiveness of my sin."
Sometimes, it may not be clear who you are angry at—or even if anger is the problem. One technique that sometimes works is to get a blank piece of paper, write a person's name down and just write whatever comes out. This technique—known as automatic writing—will sometimes help you identify who you are angry at; that is, which anger foothold the Devil is exercising. You then know who you need to forgive.
One word of caution: Just because something comes out doesn't necessarily mean it's true. Sometimes automatic writing creates problems for people since demons can put thoughts into your mind which then come out on paper!
Sometimes, dealing with anger issues will resolve the problem.
At other times, the burden will remain. Sometimes, you may never understand why. You don't need to. Keep reading.
Third, cast your burden on the Lord (Psalm 55:22). Trust God with the burden. Don't rush your prayer (Psalm 46:10). Then, pray for God to remove the foothold and believe that God has answered your prayer—even if there is no immediate relief (Mark 11:24). Thank God, in advance, for answering your prayer.
Fourth, use Scripture to resist the Devil whenever negative thoughts come up (Matthew 4:1-11). Some examples: If you find yourself saying to yourself "You're an idiot!" you can say "It is written, I am a child of God (John 1:12)." If you find yourself saying to yourself bad things about another person you can say "It is written 'Do not condemn' or 'Do not judge' (Luke 6:37 NIV)."
Fifth, rebuke the Devil forcefully in the name of Jesus (Luke 10:17). Command him to leave by the authority of the name of Jesus. This rebuke should be audible.
Sixth, again praise and thank God from your heart. Also: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30 NIV)." There is an important point here that needs to be made: When you undergo suffering, you will naturally be angry at the God who allowed it to happen. This is often a subconscious attitude that you may not even be aware of. This attitude is a sin that enables demons to continue to cause distress. Praising, thanking and loving God, from your heart, corrects this—and sometimes provides immediate and dramatic relief.
Singing praises to God is also very effective.
Seventh, stop thinking about the problem for 1/2 hour. Focus on something else. Do this even if you continue to feel muscle tension and/or emotional distress. The foothold may be gone—the distress you still feel is probably residual tension from the trauma you've experienced. It will go away if you don't focus on it. Usually, this will resolve the problem.
You can also, at this time, just focus on positive things (Philippians 4:8-9). I've sometimes been amazed at how a stubborn foothold simply disappears when I simply start thinking about good things!
Finally, if the problem remains, that means the foothold has more power than usual. This often happens when you procrastinate on resolving the issue and/or when you are dealing with a long-standing problem.
In this case, I suggest the following three items: 1) Stop trying to figure out the problem. You will only make things worse. 2) Keep your focus on God (Isaiah 26:3). 3) Keep yourself and your mind busy. I want to comment on each item.
First, stop focusing on the problem. Trying to figure out any emotional problem at this time is counter productive. You are emotionally overloaded—your mind needs a rest.
Second, keep your focus on God. Do this until you feel better. The best way I know to do this is to listen to Christian music. Christmas music also works well. Listening to soft Christian music, while engaging in an activity that involves focused mental concentration, can be incredibly effective.
Another very good option is to listen to an undramatized version of the Bible on CDs. I've found that this works well even while reading.
Prayer will also help—if you do it right!. Prayers, at this point, should consist primarily of praise, the giving of thanks and prayers for others. Prayers for yourself must clearly, forcefully and repeatedly express your unwavering faith in God. Praying for yourself, in the context of fear, is another form of worrying—and will usually make things worse.
Third, this is the time to be productive. Try to stay busy. Just identify one productive task at a time—and do it. If what you're doing doesn't require your full attention, listen to Christian music or the Bible on CDs while you work.
Actually, anything that keeps your mind occupied on things other than psychology and emotional problems will be helpful. However, focusing on God, in my experience, works faster and better: “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You (Isaiah 26:3 NKJV).”
If you have nothing to do, just keep on listening to Christian music until you feel better.
When Satan has a foothold, it is often difficult to think clearly. That's why you need a plan written down that you can refer to. There is no one plan that is right for everybody. Devise an individual plan based on what you're struggling with. And have a copy available whenever you might need it.
Here's an example of a plan.
1) Pray. Praise and thank God. Listen for guidance.
2) Forgive others from your heart. Make a firm decision to forgive and reiterate your firm decision to forgive whenever angry thoughts come up. Love your enemies and pray for them.
If necessary, use automatic writing to identify who you may be angry at.1
3) Confess any sins you become aware of from your heart. Be especially sure to confess the sins of unforgiveness (Matthew 18:21-35) and allowing yourself to be abused (Leviticus 19:16-18 et al).
4) Pray again: Surrender the problem to God. Don't rush your prayer. Trust God from your heart. Be willing to wait until He makes it clear what to do
5) Pray in faith for God to remove the foothold. Believe your prayer has been answered.
6) Resist the Devil using Scripture whenever negative thoughts come up. Remember: "It is written . . . "
7) Praise and thank God from your heart for five things.
8) Adjust your attitude: Love God.
9) Listen to Christian music and/or sing praises to God.
10) Set the timer for 30 minutes. Stop thinking about the problem—or anything related to the problem. Stay busy. Listen to the radio, Christian music or the Bible on CDs. Or just think about good things.
11) Call someone to pray with you (If the foothold remains).
12) Rebuke the Devil forcefully in the name of Jesus. Command him to leave by the authority of the name of Jesus (If the foothold remains).
13) Work and listen to Christian music or the Bible on CDs. Do one job after another. Pray whenever your mind is not occupied. Keep your mind off of problems; instead simply surrender problems to God whenever they come up. Keep your focus on God. Do this until you feel better (If the foothold remains).
So that's it. These are my suggestions. Come up with your own individualized plan. Or start by making a copy of the plan above. And use it the next time Satan gets a spiritual foothold.
1 Notes: 1) Always use caution when using automatic writing. Everything that comes out may not be true. Demons may put thoughts into your mind which will then come out on paper. 2) This technique does not always work. If you think that you may still have some unforgiveness, forgive anyway and see if there is some improvement. 3) On a more positive note, expressing your feelings in writing may discharge negative emotions and make it easier to forgive.
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Copyright Jim Serio 2012
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