When the believer battles to regain his ground, he will pass through very painful times. In resolutely trying to regain his freedom, he will feel great pain and an intense struggle because of the resistance of the power of darkness. When he tries to use his will to (1) oppose the authority of evil spirits and (2) to carry out his duty, he will experience the intensity of the resistance of the evil spirits who have been occupying him. When he begins to fight he does not realize how deeply he has fallen. Only after he has fought with evil spirits little by little and regained the ground bit by bit, feeling the opposition and bondage from the evil spirits, does he realize the depth of his fall. Because evil spirits are so intense in their opposition, and because they are so reluctant to let go of their bondage, his symptoms become worse when he initiates the warfare to regain the ground. It seems that the more he fights, the less power he has, and the areas that are possessed by the enemy are more confused and disorderly. This condition is a sign of victory. Although the believer feels worse than before, his condition is actually improving because these symptoms indicate that the believer's resistance has produced effects, and the evil spirits are feeling the believer's attack. Consequently, they have risen up to resist. However, this is only their final struggle. If the believer persists, evil spirits will definitely flee.

During this warfare, it is very important for the believer to always stand on Romans 6:11, recognizing that he is one with the Lord and that since the Lord has died, he has died also. This faith will free him from the authority of evil spirits because they have no authority over a dead man. This must be the believer's firm standing. During this time he also has to learn to use the Word of God to deal with all the lies of the enemy, because they will tell him that he has fallen so deep that he cannot be restored. In the midst of the suffering of the conflict, particularly when the evil spirits are making their last struggle and the believer experiences the uttermost pain, they will cause him to become discouraged and feel that he is hopeless and unable to be free. If the believer listens to the devil, he will fall into the greatest danger. The believer must realize that Golgotha has destroyed Satan and his evil spirits (Heb. 2:14; Col. 2:14-15; John 12:31-32). Salvation has been accomplished. Every believer can be delivered out of the authority of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the Son of His love in his experience (Col. 1:13). Moreover, based on the fact that the reclaiming of ground has brought about greater suffering, we know that the evil spirits are trembling at this reclaiming work. Therefore, what has been done is right, and more ground should be recaptured. No matter what new manifestations evil spirits come up with, and no matter how much they have caused one to suffer or act, as long as he recognizes that the source is evil spirits, he should reject the manifestations and ignore them. Do not feel sorry about them or discuss them. After one has refused them, he should not pay any more attention to them.

If a believer is very faithful to ignore any temporary sadness and boldly reclaim his ground with his will, he will see his freedom gradually coming back. If the ground is rejected and reclaimed in a detailed way, the degree of demon-possession will also be reduced bit by bit. If a believer does not give new ground to evil spirits, the power of demon-possession will decrease in proportion to the shrinking of their ground. Although it may take some time before a believer can be completely free, nevertheless, he is on the way to freedom. Perhaps in the past he had no feeling for himself, for his own senses, his appearance, or his daily life. Now gradually these feelings will come back. The believer should not be misled to think that his spiritual life is going backward because he feels these things once again. He should realize that he lost consciousness of these things when he was possessed by the demons. Since he is beginning to be freed, the feelings for them are coming back. These feelings show that evil spirits were attached to his senses but they are departing from him now. When a believer reaches this step, he should advance faithfully, because he will soon experience a full release. However, before he has returned to his normal condition, he should not be satisfied with a little success. If the demons are to be fully expelled, the ground must be fully recovered.