When a believer carries out an examination in the light of God, he will see that in the past he accepted countless lies from evil spirits. Consequently, he fell into the present position. (1) Sometimes he misunderstood God's truth by believing in the lies of evil spirits which resulted in a wrong attitude and behavior. This attitude and behavior gave rise to the work of evil spirits. For example, he may have misunderstood God's relationship with man and may have thought that God should directly impart His thought into him. Therefore he passively waited and accepted what he believed to be a thought from God. In so doing, he allowed the evil spirit to counterfeit and impart into him similar thoughts. (2) Sometimes he believed the words which the evil spirits directly spoke to him about his physical health and other matters related to him; consequently, his body and these matters responded according to what the evil spirits told him. For example, evil spirits may speak in the mind of the believer that a certain thing will surely happen to him. His will does not resist and, in some cases, even accepts it fully. Consequently, at the time designated by the evil spirits, that certain thing actually happens to him.
If a believer examines his situation, he will see that many of the worries, weaknesses, illnesses, and various undesirable situations that have occurred in his life were caused by accepting the lies of the evil spirits, either directly or indirectly. The result is his present condition. All kinds of related things happen to a believer according to what he has doubted and feared, because he has either directly believed in the lies of the evil spirits or because of what he has done as a result of believing in their words. If he wants to obtain deliverance, he must understand what is God's light and what is God's truth. In the past, he gave them the ground through believing in their lies. Now he can regain the ground and obtain freedom through rejecting their lies. Only truth can eliminate lies, just as only light can dispel darkness. Therefore the believer must pursue after all the truth that is related to himself, God, and the evil spirits. He should pay the price to seek the truth. He should pray definitely and ask God to give him the light so that he would know his true condition (the truth), his past experience, how he was deceived, and what kind of sufferings he experienced because of this deception. He should examine where the sufferings have come from, which he is presently undergoing, mentally, physically and environmentally. He should understand the cause of every suffering that comes upon him. Is the suffering related to him believing in certain words from evil spirits, or is it related to wrong behavior that results from their lies? He should examine the suffering by tracing its origin peacefully, prayerfully, and with expectation.
Evil spirits hate light and truth the most because this takes away the basis of their work. However, in order for a sentence of truth to enter into the mind of the believer, it must pass through warfare. Evil spirits do not want the believer to find out that they have done many things. Neither do they want the believer to know which one of his present conditions is caused by which lies he has believed in. The principle of their work is always "that the illumination...might not shine on them" (2 Cor. 4:4). Therefore, the believer must be very careful that he understands the truth in all things. The meaning of truth is the actual condition. Although the believer himself cannot cast out evil spirits, he can set his will on the side of truth and cause evil spirits to lose the ground of their work. He can declare, at least, that he wants the truth, wants to understand the truth, and wants to obey the truth. His prayer and choice should be the rejecting of all the lies of evil spirits, no matter whether the form of these lies is a thought, an imagination, or a doctrine. By doing this, he will make way for the Holy Spirit to lead his darkened mind into the bright truth of God. Experientially, the believer will see that sometimes it takes several months (or longer) before he is able to understand one lie of evil spirits. He should first reject all the ground of the evil spirits in his will and then carefully overthrow their lies one by one. He should no longer believe what he once believed before and should gradually claim back his ground. He should no longer believe in what the evil spirits say. They will then lose their power.