“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge” (James 4:7-11).

James 4 is key to keeping the devil far off, and God, close.

1. Submit yourself to God: You must surrender the control of your life to the Holy Spirit. You are no longer in charge. You must step down and submit your will over to the Lord. Self-centeredness must end.

a. Absolute surrender is key here. You cannot walk in freedom if your heart is still submitted to Satan. Freedom is not possible under these conditions.

2. Resist the devil: You must declare war on the spirits and sin in your body, brain, and life. You must develop a hatred (Luke 16:13, Ecclesiastes 3:8) for anything of Satan.

a. Anthístēmi: to set one’s self against, to withstand, resist, oppose To resist is not an attempt to refrain from something. It is an active and deliberate waging of war against something that is sent against you.

3. Draw near to God: You must thirst for God’s presence and desire Him more than anything else in your life. The presence of the Holy Spirit is your key to victory. You go first, God moves second.

a. Again, He wants to be loved by you. He does not just want service. He wants His greatest commandment fulfilled in you. (Mark 12:28)

4. Cleanse your hands and your life from sin: Sin is the food the demons feed on in the brain. You can starve them out and weaken them to the point that they will collapse if you change your behavior. You must refuse to continue to listen to negativity and lies, for the kingdom of darkness is founded upon them (John 8:44).

a. Sin gives demons legal right to be there, and causes a natural separation from God. (Isaiah 59:2)

5. Purify your heart of iniquity: Internal sin such as resentment, bad feelings, anger, frustration, bitterness, jealousy, envy, and lust must be forsaken completely (2 Corinthians 7:14).

a. Verbal forgiveness alone will not be enough. It must be practiced until all feelings of ill will against those who have offended you is gone. This should be a central part of your prayer life and is a direct reflection of your spiritual maturity.

6. Be afflicted and mourn: The demons in the brain can cause you to develop a casual attitude toward sin and may have blunted your emotions and your remorse for the pain you have caused the Lord, yourself or others because of willful sin. They can cause you to develop defense mechanisms, such as laughing, acting foolishly or making jokes about sinful behaviors or the misfortune of others (Romans 1:21, 1 Timothy 1:6, 20). You must have remorse for what you have done and confess your sin and failures (1 John 1:9, James 5:16 ).

a. For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. (2 Corinthians 7:10)

b. The aforementioned is an example of what godly sorrow leads to:

i. Carefulness – Earnest diligence
ii. Clearing – Apologoa: Verbal defense (winning the argument)
iii. Indignation – Irritation against sin
iv. Fear – Dread against sin
v. Vehement desire – longing for Him
vi. Zeal – Excitement of mind, fervor of spirit
vii. Revenge – Punishment as per 2 Corinthians 10:6

7. Humble yourself: Pride will keep any form of sickness or evil spirit in your body permanently. Narcissism will prevent your recovery. The key to deliverance is a humble and broken heart with a contrite spirit (Psalms 34:18, 51:17, 147:3, Isaiah 57:15).

a. Pride is the sin that is designed to keep you from repenting. It is designed to inhibit godly sorrow so that you can be content in yourself as dark spirits laugh with you, all the way to hell.

8. Do not speak negatively about yourself or others. Spirits in the brain spend most of their time degrading you and causing you to “nitpick” and criticize yourself and others. They will also use factual negativity against you by reminding you of past failures and poor choices. Only the truth can set you free (John 8:32). Agreeing with the spirits will allow them to remain in your brain until you die.

a. Critical spirits come into play here also. The Word was not designed for you to focus solely on other people’s performance. Examine yourself. Are you holding yourself to the standard you have set for others? Do you have the authority to set a standard for others?