Freedom from Satanic Harassment

There are three giant links in this chain of emotional bondage that must be broken if we are to come to emotional freedom. 

The three links are:

1. Physical illnesses of thought control (chemical imbalances). This refers to the conditions doctors call mood and psychotic disorders. The most common disorders or chemical imbalances are depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. In these conditions, a person loses the ability to control their thoughts due to brain chemistry deficiencies. These conditions require medical treatment and divine healing.

2. The harassment of Satan (demonization). This refers to the specific harassment of an individual by demonic forces.

3. Personality injury from the wounds of our past experiences. This refers to every negative or damaging experience in a person’s life that has hurt him and left a scar on his personality that restricts his emotional freedom.

To achieve complete freedom, we need to be ministering to emotionally broken people in all three areas of bondage. 

We must recognise the usefulness of medications, deliverance and emotional healing as a combined treatment for all believers who struggle with their emotions.

Now let’s look into deliverance from satanic harassment.

The Attack of Satan

Spiritual warfare or conflict is a very real issue, especially in depressed Christians. 

The loss of concentration and the cluttering of negative thoughts make a person particularly vulnerable to occult influences. When a person’s mind is filled with negative, discouraging thoughts that can’t be shut off, it is very easy for Satan to insert even more condemning thoughts or suggestions in among the person’s own thoughts. 

The depressed person is unable to detect the intrusion of lies, condemnation or misinterpretations from an evil source and just assumes that the thoughts are their own. 

The inserted thoughts are intended to magnify the pain of depression and to separate the victim from supportive friends, counsellors and, most of all, God. When concentration is impaired by depression, it is very difficult to “take every thought captive” (2 Corinthians 10:5) and block the intrusion of dark thoughts.

It is like having a house with no doors or windows covering the holes in the walls. The house is always filling with dirt or debris that is blowing by. It is impossible to keep the house clean. When a person’s mind is racing and cluttered, there is very little defense against evil, disturbing thoughts directed against him.

When a person recovers from depression, it is like putting glass and doors over all the holes to keep out unwanted thoughts. In this way, thought control is restored and any thoughts of an evil origin are quickly detected and disposed of. The mind can then be kept clean, since the entry points are controlled and monitored.

The first step in the process of becoming free from the harassment of evil, is to treat any depression that may be present. When thought control and concentration are restored, then believers can use their authority over Satan and he will flee.

Most depressive illnesses are caused by physical chemical imbalances that Satan takes advantage of.

Deliverance is a very essential tool in setting people free from the chains of emotional bondage. When the harassment of Satan can be removed, a person can more rapidly come to wholeness. Deliverance remains a part of the treatment as much as medications and emotional healing are parts of the treatment process.

In most cases, the demonic influence will magnify a preexisting mood disorder and take advantage of it. The best treatment, of course, will always be a combination of medications, deliverance and emotional healing.

How does Satan Attack People

Satan’s primary purpose is to oppose the purposes of God by attacking and controlling people.

Satan knows that if he can get us to believe a lie, then he can control our behaviour. He has been lying to humans since the Garden of Eden, so he knows how predictably humans fall for lies.

One of the most common ways that Satan attacks Christians is by filling their minds with lies based on painful events of the past. As long as we have unhealed pasts, we are vulnerable to attack with lies. There is an infinite number of lies that control peoples’ minds and behaviours. Here are some of the most common and damaging lies that torment Christians’ minds. 

•You are worthless, hopeless and incapable of change. 

•It’s alright to sin if no one knows about it. 

•You’re unforgivable; God will never accept you; you’ve run out of chances. 

•You must look out for yourself; God can’t be trusted to protect your interests. 

•Keep worrying about your life and fight your way to your goals. 

•You can’t forgive them.

How do we Become Susceptible for Satanic Attack?

1. The most obvious behaviour that invites a demonic spirit to attach to a person is occult pursuits like playing with the occult through games, rituals, fortune tellers or witchcraft.
2. Through any wilful and repetitive sin or sinful thought pattern.
3. Through what we call generational sin or curses. In this situation, the sin of an ancestor has invited Satan into the family and given him legal rights to attack the subsequent generations.

How can You Tell When You are Being Attacked?

1. The harassment of all believers. This is the constant hassle that we all have as we serve God in a fallen world. It can take the form of difficult relationships, health problems, occasional struggles with thoughts and disappointments.
2. When there is a demonic attachment that continually fills your mind with unwanted sickening, disturbing or shocking thoughts that are totally out of character; thoughts you would never choose to have.

YOU CAN BE FREE!

Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, Satan has been disarmed and we are able to break free of the chains that he has placed on us. Through a process of repentance and forgiveness, we can restore our spiritual armour, remove the legal grounds that Satan has used to harass us and break free. This process is clearly described in the books by Neil Anderson, particularly The Bondage Breaker. 

We want to encourage you to ask God to set you free. 

Seek out a Christian counsellor, attend prayer ministry, visit a doctor if necessary, but set out to find your freedom. The fact that you are reading this article means that you want to see a change in your life. God does too! Open your mind and heart to let God change you.

The Authority of a Christian

Satan has authority over man only as long as man chooses to stay in rebellion and sin, which places him in Satan’s kingdom. In other words, man stays under Satan’s authority as long as he chooses to live apart from God. 

Man is the instrument of Satan’s authority to the extent that Satan controls his thoughts and actions. That is why Satan so vigorously resists any attempt to improve man’s thought control through medical treatment or counselling. It is then obvious that Satan loses his authority when man chooses to repent of sin and rebellion and return to God’s kingdom.

The authority that the first man Adam had had been lost by his sin and rebellion and he disqualified himself. But this authority was then won back by a sinless man Jesus who was fully qualified to defeat Satan. Jesus then handed the keys of authority back to man as described in Matthew 16:19, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 

This authority is now available to every believer in God’s kingdom. When we leave Satan’s kingdom, he loses all authority over us and we come to freedom in Christ. Satan, of course, does not want us to know this, and he will go to any extent to prevent us from knowing or acting on our authority.

Man has authority over Satan only when he is in Christ’s kingdom. Satan still has authority over people in his kingdom who choose to remain in sin and rebellion against God. Satan loses his authority over man when a person enters God’s kingdom through repentance.

Satan wants to keep us blinded, paralyzed and confused so that we never use our authority against him or realize who we are in Christ.

This is a battle for our minds and emotions. Satan makes very good use of the three links in the chain of emotional bondage. He knows that when he magnifies depression, demonic attachment or the emotional wounds of our past, we will be prevented from moving forward in faith and authority. That’s why it is so important to break the three links in the chain of emotional bondage so that they can no longer be used against us.

How are we to Use our Authority?

HOW ARE WE TO USE OUR AUTHORITY?

To understand this war, we must first realize that the unseen spiritual realm is more real than the world we can touch and see. The seen world is temporary, the spiritual world is permanent. Our bodies are the containers of our spirits for a short time before we begin our life in eternity.

Mankind is the primary instrument in this battle, and our spirit is the prize. Satan uses people to exert his authority and accomplish his purposes of destroying us, imprisoning our spirit and opposing God’s plan.

When we enter God’s kingdom, Satan loses all authority over us. We then, in fact, have authority over his demons. Our authority gives us the legal right and the Holy Spirit gives us the power to carry out God’s will on earth to reclaim lost people. We have all the power and tools we need to wage the war.

What are our Weapons?

We have overwhelming firepower to wage this war. Our authority is a legal reality regardless of how we feel. Satan knows our authority, and he will flee when we use our weapons. Demons are threatened by every believer who knows their power and authority.

Knowing God intimately is far more important than knowing all the practices of the occult world.

The weapons that we have at our disposal are:

1. Worshipping God
2. Word of God
3. The mighty name of Jesus
4. The precious blood of Jesus
5. Repentance
6. Prayer

The power behind our authority is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is released as we pray and He carries out the will of the Father.

What are the Keys to our Authority?

1. You must be a Christian who has made Jesus the Lord of your life.
2. Repent of any sins you are involved in.
3. Forgive anyone who have hurt you.

Source: Emotionally Free by Dr. Grant Mullen