What To Do When Evil Lurks Around You

While some Christians are obsessed with the devil and demons, I don’t recommend thinking much about these emotionally disturbed creatures. However, if you ever feel oppressed or bothered by a seemingly evil presence that you can’t put your finger on, enter a quiet time of prayer. 

Begin praising Christ for his blessings in your life and his absolute mastery over the devil; then rebuke Satan face-to-face: “Satan, I bind you in the name of Jesus Christ. I command you to withdraw all influence in my life. Now Holy Spirit, please fill me with your presence. In the name of Jesus, amen.”

That’s all there is to it. It is Jesus who has defeated the devil and the Holy Spirit who makes Satan tremble. Scripture promises, “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him” (Is 59:19).

If you are troubled by a nightmare, ask God to illuminate the meaning of your dream. Is there something you are avoiding, some choice you need to make? Or is it the devil making you fearful? Either way, I recommend placing a Bible in plain sight by your bed as a symbol that you belong to Christ alone. Pray for the Holy Spirit to fill your bedroom at night, comfort you as you go off to sleep, and exert influence in your dreams.

If someone develops a vendetta toward you, a specific intent to harm you, you know this is not from God. Pray, “Lord, help this person get hung by the noose they are hanging for me.” “Christ, deliver me from this person’s evil schemes and gossip.” “Father, I cover myself with the blood of Christ. Thank you for protecting me and bringing about justice in this situation.”

You can develop a relaxed vigilance regarding Satan, and though you stand ready to command him to desist and depart, it is wise to recognize that a fair portion of the negative tensions you experience in life are not demonic, but rather psychological in origin.

If you have needs that require clinical or pastoral counseling, I encourage you to seek out a qualified professional to help you. You may benefit from perusing the principles of personality found in my book, The Self Compass: Charting Your Personality in Christ. Further, you might search out a book study that concentrates on personality transformation and relationship healing.

If you suffer from significant bouts of depression that extend over months and years, you may have a biochemical deficiency that is genetic in origin, and which will respond favorably to medication issued by a physician or psychiatrist. 

Don’t hold back from making an appointment for evaluation. Then tell that person about your history of struggles with depression, or with periodic mood swings. Be sure and explore what you’ve tried that has and hasn’t helped. An appropriate antidepressant or medication for bipolar disorder can be a godsend in the same way that glasses can transform nearsighted or farsighted eye conditions into 20/20 vision.

When you assess the situation with these tools, you are taking steps so that evil will have no hold on you. 

The Devil Is Emotionally Disturbed

I hold a private theory about the devil. I believe that he is emotionally disturbed. If you want to understand the devil, think in terms of a boaster, bully, con artist, and control freak rolled into one.

Satan is a person—yes, an individual—who thrives on loveless power and shuns the power of love. He is devoid of relational or personality health, yet nonetheless has charisma, possessing the uncanny ability to make evil appealing and wrong appear right. Haven’t you run across a few people like this?

The devil personifies manipulation. If you want to grasp his modus operandi, imagine any human behavior that is rigidly stubborn, seductive, conniving, divisive, or cruel, and you’ll have a snapshot of Satan. Jesus knew the devil well and said: “There is no truth in him. When he lies, he lies according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (Jn 8:44).

A lot of unwarranted fears about the devil are quelled by seeing him as the misguided narcissist that he is. Though Satan is cunning in the lives of those who follow his lead, he cowers when rebuked in Jesus’ name. He knows the truth of John’s words: “The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn 3:8). 

Of course, Hollywood movies trump up Satan’s power by scripting him to hurl objects through the air and make lots of scary noises. Don’t fall for it. A little old grandmother with arthritis and cataracts can send Satan packing with a few words spoken in faith from the victory of the Cross: “Get out of here you devil, in Jesus’ name.”

Satan departs! James, among the pillars of the early church, offers solid counsel: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you” (Jas 4:7-8). 

The differences between Christ and the devil deserve mention. Jesus is faithful and true, offering abundant life to those who follow him. He loves you and takes pleasure in leading you toward wholeness and fulfillment. Christ is a faithful and true guide up the summit that leads to everlasting life.

Satan, on the other hand, is exploitive and deceptive. He pursues a warped agenda that always lets you down. The devil resents the air you breathe and would like nothing better than to strip your personality, trash your relationships, and dump you on a garbage heap, a trophy to his egotism. And he’s not without his methods: he happens to be an expert at luring people into futile lives through the behavioral reinforcement of short term gratification.

I was counseling a seventeen-year-old who suffered from depression. After helping him make some progress, I mentioned that given his history of depression, he might take care to avoid the three major poisons that are peddled to youth.

“What are they?” he asked.

“Smoking, drinking, and drugs,” I said.

He flashed a worldly-wise grin. “Oh, don’t worry about me, Dr. Dan. I already smoke, drink, and use—and I’m doing just fine.”

It is difficult to warn each new generation about the ever-present means of self-destruction that is available everywhere. Mostly, people have to do their own research in discovering how evil works, and how tedious or disheartening life without Christ can really get.

Paul offers a list of destructive behaviors that are as accurate today as they were two thousand years ago: “fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these” (Gal 5:19-21).

Christians can and do fall prey to these attitudes and actions. For this reason, it serves us well to cultivate a lifelong habit of asking the Lord’s forgiveness, and seeking the Holy Spirit’s counsel in making progress toward personality and relational wholeness.