Mark I. Bubeck - Overcoming the Adversary: Warfare Praying Against Demon Activity

As she came into my office, her eyes brimmed with tears, and her moist hands betrayed her anxiety. Her voice had the same quiver of fear I had noted when she had called for an appointment. Nancy was the daughter of missionaries, a brilliant student, and a beautiful nineteen-year-old.

After a few moments of prayer, she opened her heart. Pastor Bubeck, Ive been tormented for several months now. Almost every night when I try to sleep, the sense of a fearful presence seems to close in on me. Ive even seen ghostlike apparitions in my room, and Im so afraid.

Nancys problem had started when she and some of her classmates at a Christian college had seen the film The Exorcist Since that time her torments had come with varying intensity. She wanted to know where she could find help. How could she be free from this fear? Was her anxiety purely psychologicalwas she losing her mind? Or could it be that Satan or his demons were causing her problem? If so, what could she do?

I tried to show Nancy some of the principles for spiritual warfare set forth in the Word of God. New insights, and with them renewed confidence, began to build in her heart. As she saw her victory in the Lord Jesus Christ, some of the fear began to drain away.

Nancys problem is a growing one in the church today. Before she left my office she asked a question that deserves an answer. Im seeing a whole new side to the Christian life that Ive never seen before. Why is it that in the nineteen years of my life Ive scarcely heard about spiritual warfare? I thought I detected a note of resentment, as though she felt cheated as a Christian.

A number of believers want an answer to that question. Why all of this renewed interest in Christian circles concerning demons and Satans work? Is it just another passing fad? Does it center too much attention on the devil? Is it a subtle attempt of Satan to turn believers away from the important work of evangelism?

Satans work certainly is not a passing fad. He has always hated all believers with a cruel hatred. Satans kingdom is engaged in a relentless effort to destroy Christians and their effective fulfillment of the will of God. There are several reasons the battle is becoming more open today.

One reason for increased overt activity of Satan in the lives of Christians is that until recently the subject of aggressive spiritual warfare has been largely neglected in evangelical circles. For the last seventy-five years most believers in America were lulled into an attitude of passively assuming their victory over Satan instead of aggressively applying it. When the Lord first led me into a deeper study of how the believer defeats Satans power, I discovered that most of the sound doctrinal books written on the subject were very old. Evangelical seminaries and Bible schools had prepared their graduates to battle for the fundamentals of the faith but had provided little insight into how to engage in battle with Satan, a personal enemy.

Another reason we are seeing the battle more clearly is that we are living in the last days. First Timothy 4:1 declares: The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such verses in the Word are to be taken soberly. The aggressive, overt activities of Satan and demons are to be much more pronounced as the end times close in upon us.

But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short.

(Revelation 12:12)

A third reason for increased awareness of the battle is that sin abounds in our day. The more wicked man becomes, the more open and obvious the power of Satan will be displayed. This is particularly true of sins that involve occultism and sexual licentiousness. A society that is deeply characterized by pornography, licentiousness, drugs, alcoholism, sorcery, witchcraft, and open Satan worship is a society that will see much open and obvious activity of demons.