After the believer realizes his own normal condition, his most important job is to fight to return to his normal condition. He knows that he has a "point of origin" and wants to be recovered. But he should know that evil spirits will guard the ground that they have gained in the same way that worldly kings guard their territories. He cannot expect evil spirits to willingly return the ground that they have gained. Unless evil spirits have no other choice, they are unwilling to give up. Therefore, the believer should realize that it requires effort to regain the lost ground, even though it is very easy to surrender it. One thing, however, deserves our attention. Just as our country has laws, and the judgment of its laws is the highest authority that every citizen should abide by, God's universe also has laws, and the judgment of its laws is the highest authority that every evil spirit must abide by. Therefore, we should understand the laws in the spiritual realm and walk accordingly. Then the evil spirits will have no choice but to surrender their ground.
The most important law in the spiritual realm is that everything related to man must have the consent of man's will before it can be carried out. When the believer ignorantly accepts the deception of evil spirits, he allows them to work on him. In order for the believer to regain the ground, he must exercise his will to overturn the initial permission and insist that he belongs to himself, and that the evil spirits have no right to utilize any part of him. In this kind of warfare, evil spirits cannot go against the law; they must retreat. When the believer's will is passive, his mind also is passive. Consequently, his mind becomes occupied by evil spirits. At this point he should declare that his mind is his own in accordance with God's law. He should choose to use his own mind and no longer allow external forces to instigate, impart revelation to, utilize, and press his mind. If the believer continually regains the passive ground and uses his own mind, his mind will be gradually delivered to its original normal condition. (Details concerning regaining the ground and the warfare will be specified in the following section.)
In this warfare, the believer must exercise his own mind. He must try his best to do his work. He must take the initiative every time and not depend on others in everything. If possible, he should make his own decisions in everything and not passively wait on others and the environment. He should not look back on the past or worry about the future; he should live only for the present moment. He should go on step by step with prayer and watchfulness. He must use his own mind and think—what he is doing, what he is speaking, and what he is. He should give up the crutch and not use worldly things and methods to substitute for the capacity of his mind. He should use his mind to think, weigh, remember, and understand.
Because the believer's mind has been passive for a long time, it takes time to fight back to the position of freedom. Before he is free, many of the thoughts in his mind are not his own; they belong to the evil spirits in his mind. Therefore, during this period, every thought must be examined one by one. Otherwise, before the old ground is regained completely, new ground will be given unknowingly and ignorantly to the evil spirits. At this moment, all the accusations and praises that the believer receives are not necessarily caused by the believer's wrongdoing or good works. Mostly they are words from the evil spirits. Hence, when his mind is full of discouraging thoughts, he should not think that he is truly hopeless. If his mind is full of uplifted thoughts, he should not think that he is really doing well.
Furthermore, the believer should repeatedly confront the lies of evil spirits. Whatever thoughts the evil spirits have suggested in his mind, the believer must answer specifically with words in the Scripture. Evil spirits will cause him to doubt, so he must reply with verses on faith. Evil spirits will cause him to be discouraged, so he must reply with verses on hope. Evil spirits will cause him to fear, so he must reply with verses on peace. If he does not know what verses to use, he can ask God to show him. Alternatively, if he recognizes that these are assuredly from evil spirits, he can tell them, "These are your lies. I do not want them." This way of applying the sword of the Holy Spirit is the way of victory.
In this warfare, the believer must not forget the position of the cross. He must stand on Romans 6:11 and believe that he is already dead to sin and made alive unto God in Christ Jesus. He is a dead man and has put off the old creation. Now evil spirits can no longer do anything on him, because the place where they can work is hung on the cross. Every time he wants to reject the evil spirits and exercise his mind, he must depend completely on the accomplishment of the cross. He must realize that his death with the Lord is a fact. Therefore, he should hold fast to this fact before the evil spirits. He is already dead, and the evil spirits have no authority over dead persons. Pharaoh could no longer harm the Israelites who were on the other side of the Red Sea. Resting upon the Lord's death will give the believer the greatest benefit.