I have found one positive way to defeat the demonic realm. Learn to pray the Scriptures. This exercise is best performed by those who have learned the Scriptures. Psalm 119:11 reminds us to hide His word in our heart so we will not sin against God. What utter wisdom this is. Several times in my own life when I have been haunted by the demonic, I simply build a nest of Scriptures. Into this nest of high confidence I lay my doubts. Again and again I prove this simple truth: the nest of triumph will never hatch the eggs of hell.

If you must face some lonely moment of demonic oppression, try this little exercise. Start with the book of Genesis. Begin quoting Scriptures out loud into whatever lonely darkness is oppressing you. On one occasion when my wife and children were on a trip to see her family, our house was alone and quiet. I do not know why Satan picks such moments to make his presence felt, but that is often when he does it. On this particular evening I had been out later than usual making an important pastoral call. It was quite late and very dark when I at last stepped in through the door of our house. While I have often felt Satan’s presence, until this time I had never felt it in my own home. The tempter was really there. I was not alone. In the dark just inside my doorway, I felt that subtle fear that makes the hair raise slightly on the nape of the neck. For an awful instant, I was afraid to turn on the lights. I was afraid that I might actually see this horrible presence that was oppressing me and making me afraid.

I decided not to turn on the lights at all. Instead, I dropped to my knees in the soft pile of my own carpet and began praying Scriptures. I simply started with Genesis and began quoting all the Scriptures I had memorized across the years. The minutes passed away and so did the fear. Finally, before I had prayed the Scriptures very long, I was utterly at peace and so was the house. I no longer needed to turn on the lights. After the horror came a warm enveloping darkness. Christ was all about me. Where I had quailed before the dark fears, I now reached out in praise to a Wonderful Presence. Without any electrical illumination, I felt His wondrous inner light. Gone was the night serpent -- defanged by Him whose children need never fear. I slept in joy.

                                    Calvin Miller. Disarming the Darkness,

(Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998)