How to Resist Satan

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7 NIV)

Satan does not attack for no just reason. If you ever suffer spiritual attack, the right thing you should seek to know is what the target of the enemy is. Satan would have no time to waste on you if you have nothing worth his attention. 

For instance, if you decide you are going to commit yourself more to Bible study, prayer or any Christian devotion that would lead to spiritual growth. You should know that such decision is an assault to Satan whose will is that you shouldn’t grow spiritually. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that you experience all sorts of trouble you can think of at the time. This is Satan at work just to distract and make sure you do not rise above where you are. This is the essence of spiritual battle. Satan raising force to swing you off to the other side of your decision and devotion to God. How then do we fight this? 

What is needed first and foremost, is the true knowledge of who we are in Christ. In time of trials and temptation, it always look as if the enemy has conquered us already. May be because of the way he comes “like a roaring lion seeking to devour us” For example, at such times he could cause us to lust passionately over something or someone, afflict us with sickness, calamity, or raise a human agent against us in such an unbearable manner. 

All these however, do not mean that the enemy has conquered us. It could be true that he has afflicted us or place us in a bad situation but that is not his actual target, our bodies and assets are not the real target of Satan. His real target is our sincere devotion to God, our faithfulness and submission to Him.

Therefore, the true and right way to fight Satan is to maintain and increase our devotion to God. We wage war against Satan by not allowing him to distract us from our commitment to God. 

Unfortunately, most Christians do not realize this. In fact, most charismatic folks specialize on colliding with the devil in their concentration on "spiritual battle"and spiritual deliverance activities. The sad thing is that when we concentrate too much on casting and binding of demons, chances are that, we get carried away while Satan advances with his cause in our lives. 

Little wonder why most Christians do not grow in their knowledge and relationship with God. We really achieve nothing simply by casting and binding away Satan. Satan cannot be destroyed now it is a burdensome thing to do. You bind him now, the next minute he is back. You get at Satan and really get him worried when you remain steadfast in the midst  of temptation (roars) especially when the trials make us grow anyway. Satan can only be defeated now by not allowing him to interfere and hinder our relationship and commitment to God.