Four Important Places that must be closed to the Enemy

Eph 4:27 “neither give place to the devil”.

If Paul, writing to Christians, told them that they should not give place to the devil, it implies that it IS possible for a Christian to do so.

The fact is, Christians all over the world have done this, and this is one of the main reasons we are falling short of God’s intentions for our lives.

The Bible says a curse without cause cannot rest. If we are walking in the Spirit consistently, we need not fear the devil, because “greater is He who is in us than he that is in the world”. But too many times THERE ARE CAUSES that give place to a curse in our lives. There HAVE BEEN access points or doors giving evil spirits a right to come in and cause misery. It is these things that we must address.

The devil and his demons cannot just come and do things to us if we as the body of Christ are standing united in truth and love. But when we are disunited, deceived and disobedient to God, it is a different matter. In such cases, the devil and his demons have access points to harrass and attack us. Incidentally, I believe this to be one of the reasons Jesus prayed for the unity of his followers in John 17. If we are united in the Spirit of God, Satan will not be able to prevent us making God known in all the world.

When we are understanding and doing the will of God fully, Satan will constantly be on the retreat.

There are “doors” or “access points” that give Satan’s Kingdom access at both corporate and personal levels. And if YOU have such doors open in YOUR life, do not presume that you will be left alone by the enemy. No, the enemy will use his access to create a lot of unrest and misery in your life.

When a person opens the door to evil they may not even know that they are doing just that. There are times you can open a door and nothing will come through, so I am not saying that if you do any of these things you will need deliverance from a demon. However, the Bible says that the evil one is like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. If you open a window, the wind could very well blow through your house. And if you open a door to Satan, you may very well end up oppressed by the devil.

I will also tell you how you can close these doors and receive the benefits of what Jesus our Savior has done to rescue us.
The simple answer is REPENTANCE and FAITH towards GOD – but sometimes what those words mean in a particular case need to be spelled out and put into practice – or they are just meaningless concepts with no power for you.

Four Places which Where Jesus, not Demons should be in Control

First Place – The Mind

Unfortunately, demons have access to our minds – to sow suggestions and thoughts there to some extent. A thought may take the form of words, or of a picture or the internal representation of some kind of feeling. We are all subjected to such temptations from time to time. Even Jesus Christ was tempted on the earth. It is no sin to be tempted – sin comes when we choose to yield to the temptation. Never accept guilt because of the mere fact you were tempted! That is yet another ploy of the evil one. It is only when you yield to the temptation that you are guilty. And if that happens, you should know that when you confess, repent and forsake the sin, you have mercy from God on the basis of the sacrifice of Jesus in your place. Take those steps as often as you need to, in order to keep your relationship with Christ right.

When people sin and don’t deal with it immediately, these sinful seeds take root, germinate and start working a process of bondage and death.

Second Place – The Heart

If a person has been deceived by the enemy in their minds, and persist in that deception or sin, then a habit builds and the door is now open for evil spirits to fortify that sinful attitude or behavior pattern and form a “stronghold” or a “bondage”. Any evil thing that has a strong hold on you is a “stronghold”. At this point, demons are in a part of your soul and they can exercise a degree of influence in your life. You won’t have to consciously yield to temptation in order to sin in these areas – it will just happen easily when certain “triggers” are activated.

Don’t let the evil one into the inner gates of your soul to take a place in your heart. But if you have, there is still help if you will consciously put yourself in a place where this evil can be exposed and dealt with. This is one reason it is good to be involved in the kind of church that preaches God’s Word strongly and CONFRONTS SIN.

If you spend time establishing an evil habit, to break it you are going to need not only deliverance in some cases, but also TIME to establish godly habits to take their place. God will do His part, you and I must do our parts.

Third Place – The Mouth

Jesus taught that it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth – the things we say and sing – these things defile a man.

Mat 15:10 When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand:
Mat 15:11 Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

Mat 15:18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.
Mat 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

“Death and life is in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21).

The things we speak can trigger the activity of spiritual power. When God’s Spirit speaks through us, it brings blessing. Sometimes we are just revealing our own human spirit. At other times, when the evil in our hearts finds expression, curses are released – yes – even Christians can effectively release curses.

Jas 3:9 With it [the tongue] we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.
Jas 3:10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.

God does not want us to keep speaking a negative view on everything. This is a kind of cursing. When we curse, sometimes the curse comes back on us. Once, when frustrated with the Romanian bureaucracy, having just come onto the street, I shouted out from my heart “COUNTRY OF THIEVES!” A few minutes later, I was with my wife on a tram in Bucharest, where some gypsies succeeded in stealing my wife’s handbag containing ALL HER ID DOCUMENTS and a little money. The process of getting all these documents re-issued took a couple of months out of our lives. I would have been much better off not cursing Romania out of my frustration with its bureacratic systems at the time. The curse I uttered hurt me and my wife more than anyone else.

We are exhorted to bless and not curse. As children of God, we are supposed to be bringing the blessings of the gospel wherever we go. Yes, Satan’s children will make problems for us along the way – this is to be expected. However, we must keep reaching out in love and blessing. In this way, we can “overcome evil with good”.

You can train yourself to speak the right things. Start by using the “Prayers and Confessions of the Word” section of this site if you want something really powerful and effective to get you started. Learn to give thanks to God all the time. Quit complaining and of course, seek God to purify your heart. If the heart is right, right things will come out of the mouth.

Fourth Place – Relationships

The devil gains access where individuals and groups begin to hate one another. It makes little difference if they are “Christians” or not. The fights between various factions of Christendom have glorified the devil and turned people away from the truth all too often. This does not mean we should not take a stand for truth, but if our words and actions show no love for those with whom we disagree, then we are giving Satan access.

Satan works to poison relationships between husband and wife, parents and children, employers and employees, business people, church people, church leaders, civic leaders and leaders of nations. Wherever Satan, acting through the agency of his fallen spirit followers can do this, he gains a measure of effective control. We have to close these doors by seeking reconciliation, offering restitution, humbling ourselves and honoring others we don’t always agree with 100%.

Seek to promote true peace and godly unity wherever you can.
In this way, you will be working to open a door for God to move in the situation.

Personal Strife

We must stop strife. It is a work of the flesh. Many times we have to go to those who are offended with us, even when we don’t have a problem with them ourselves. In this way we become the “peacemakers” whom Jesus calls “blessed”.

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.”

Even if someone refuses to reconcile with you, you can still close the door on the devil by doing what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount – “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who despitefully use you”. We can overcome evil with good. In this way we can deny the enemy access to our lives, even though human enemies may abound on every side.