Do We Have Our Own Personal Demons?

Q

I wanted to ask you about whether or not we have specific demons with their own personalities that attack us on a regular basis. I am in the word daily and take my relationship with Jesus Christ very seriously. I am very careful about the media I subject myself to and have a genuine love for God’s discipline and refining nature. I do, however, have very specific attacks involving mental pictures that are terrible, and don’t seem to make any sense at all, but have a unique “stamp” on them. I’ve prayed and thought about these attacks a lot. Does this sound like a common theme… from a single demonic entity? If so, are there any specific ways to more permanently fend this thing off?

A

I know it’s popular in some circles to speak of a spirit of this or that type of sinful behavior as if it comes from a particular demonic entity. However I haven’t found any confirmation in the Bible to support that idea. I don’t think we understand why one person can be particularly susceptible to a certain kind of attack while another has a weakness in a different area.

However, I do know that the Bible offers instruction on fighting all kinds of attacks. 2 Cor. 10:3-5 speaks of the divine weapons we have to demolish strongholds and take disobedient thoughts captive. Ephesians 6:10-18 stresses the importance of putting on the full armor of God. And James 4:7 tells us to submit ourselves to God, and to resist the devil and he will flee from us.

Together they give us both offensive and defensive tools with which to fend off the fiery darts of the wicked one. But we should understand that as long as we’re on this earth, we’re aliens behind enemy lines and are subject to attack. The moment we let down our guard, we are vulnerable. I think the only way to permanently avoid being attacked is to cease being a threat to the enemy. But even though the possibility of attack is a constant in our lives, so is the promise of victory. Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).