I received an email this morning from a friend who said someone called her church asking for help as evil spirits are bothering a person. This is what you need to know.

There is a war going on in the heavenly places, and it’s between the powers of good and evil. It wasn’t always this way. But when Satan, whom we call the devil, became prideful and wanted to sit in a place higher than God sits, God, the Lord, tossed him out of heaven. We’re told he took one third of the angels with him, and we call those who followed him evil spirits, devils, or demons. Satan hates God, and he also hates those who are, or will be, children of God. He fights against us. He’s smart, and he knows the Word of God (our Holy Bible), but when he uses it, he twists the truth.

How does he fight against us? The battlefield is the mind; he can put thoughts into our minds, “the fiery darts of the evil one” [Ephesians 6:16]. If we act on those thoughts, they can lead us in the wrong direction and we can make poor choices. We sin. And unconfessed sin can open the door to the devil; it can give him “rights” to bother us.

How do we fight back? By appropriately quoting the Bible. God gave us His Word to guide and protect us. It’s a very interesting book, by the way. It’s continually been the world’s best-selling book. It’s called the living Word. Every time I read it I learn something I hadn’t noticed before—and usually something pertinent to where I am today. Scripture is truth (which also is another name for our Lord Jesus—the Spirit of Truth), and the devil can’t stand against truth. In fact, the devil is called the father of lies [John 8:44]; speaking Scripture to him hurts, or wounds, him. When he can no longer stand to hear the truth of God’s word, he leaves the person he is tormenting. When we use Scripture to fight against the devil, it’s called spiritual warfare. However, here’s the trick. We can’t effectively use just any Scripture, we must select Scriptures relevant to the present situation. (Another reason to read and know the Bible.)

So what can you do? For starters, talk to the Lord. That’s prayer. Acknowledge his greatness and his authority. Talk to Him about the problem. And spend some time confessing sins. He may bring some to your mind. Ask for forgiveness. And then thank Him. Also, begin reading (or rereading) the Bible. One can easily read through the Bible in a year. Some people like to start at Genesis and read straight through, and some prefer to start both at Genesis and at Matthew, reading a little of both the Old and the New Testament each day. Either way, if you haven’t read it before, it’s an eye-opener. And you’ll become a strong warrior. An easy way to know how much to read each day would be to see how many pages your Bible has, and divide by 365. My New King James Version has 1426 pages, which divided by 365 is 3.9, so round up and read four pages a day.

If you’re troubled by demons, there are many helpful books you can read. As a start, you’ll learn from reading my book, Mary’s Story, and at the end of the book there is a bibliography listing the books Mary and I read and found helpful. Another helpful book is Pigs in the Parlor by Frank and Ida Mae Hammond. They address many different types of demon. And always remember, we are on the side of victory. By Jesus’ shed blood on the cross and by His resurrection, Satan was defeated. He may still have some influence, but he has no real power. God is our all-powerful Sovereign Lord.