The Devil in the Back Pew: Dealing with Dark Spirits in the Church

By Joe Kovalcik

The Devil in the Back Pew is a simple manual bringing to light the need for, and methods of, personal spiritual warfare and deliverance. The motivation for this book is rooted in the experience and observation of the author: far too few understand the extent of the enemy’s works or know how to deal with them if they do. The devil is pursuing everyone . . . and he does not give up!

Explained are the Biblical foundations of the dark spirit realm, and how this can be discerned and dealt with. The various types of enemy harassment are explored in depth, and methods to overcome barriers to victory (the prerequisites for success) are discussed in detail. Importantly, these techniques are applicable to all types of dark spiritual incursions, from simple temptation to significant demonization.

The many issues and topics relevant to effectively confronting the enemy are fully explored. And Biblically-sound solutions are offered. Learn how to exercise your God-given authority and drive the prince of darkness away!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Dec 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9781400303106

Joe Kovalcik

Joe Kovalcik lives in central Ohio with Patti, his wife of 38 years. Raised a Catholic, he “wandered” on the edge of faith for nearly 2 decades, until a life-changing encounter with Jesus. Since then, he’s been an avid pursuer of God, active in several Protestant churches as a study leader, teacher, church board member, worship leader, and more. As a retired VP of a multi-billion dollar corporation, Joe brings a results-oriented approach to spiritual warfare.

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INTRODUCTION

Dealing with Darkness

There is something distasteful about writing a book which gives so much attention to satan and the dark spiritual realm. The focus on the enemy, though, is 100% for the purposes of exposing his deceptive ways and bringing him under the lawful authority of the believer. I intend no regard, no respect, and certainly no admiration – whatsoever – for the one who wars against all that is good and Godly. My hope is that, by the Lord’s grace, this writing may play a small part in shining the light of the Savior on those places darkened by the prince of evil.

If you are a Christian believer, and you feel uncomfortable or troubled reading this book, I suggest you take that as a clear sign that you should be reading it. Assuredly, the enemy of your soul does not want you learning how to expose his work – and to defeat him in your life.

For those who consider the topic strange, irrelevant, or even fantasy, this text offers much to refute that by way of Scripture, examples, and testimonies. However, at the onset, I raise a few questions for the doubter:

• Do you believe in Jesus Christ?

[Your Response Here]

• Do you believe He died and bodily rose again?

[Your Response Here]

• Do you believe what He said about the enemy of your soul?

[Your Response Here]

As author C.S. Lewis stated, Jesus is either a liar and a lunatic, or He is Lord. There is no middle ground. Jesus claimed to be God; if He is not, He is to be ignored – but if He is God, we deny Him at our peril! He told us about the ways of satan, and from His words and other Scriptures, we learn how to overcome this adversary and his cohorts.

Our worldly inclination about things of life might be: Show me, then I’ll believe. But the Kingdom¹ way is different. There is a Biblical principle about spiritual revelation which has to do with faith, obedience, and understanding. In the Old Testament account of the priests carrying the ark through the dry riverbed of the Jordan River, importantly, the river did not part until they stepped into the water! (Joshua 3:13). Likewise, in 2 Corinthians 3:14–16, Paul states that those who refuse to believe in Christ have a veiled understanding of the Old Testament, but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Significantly, the order is not once I see, then I’ll turn to Jesus. It’s precisely the opposite. And the same with the priests at the Jordan: the river did not part before they stepped in, but afterward.

It may seem an absurdly simple truth, but we can only learn what we don’t know. If there is a bias for or against a particular belief, we may limit our ability to learn and grow. Knowledge can be categorized in three ways: intellectual knowledge, heart knowledge, and spiritual knowledge. We are engaged in life, for the most part, on an intellectual level – that is, with what we grasp and perceive with our minds. We pass the majority of our existence functioning in this manner. Beyond this is heart knowledge, the full expression of which we call love. We can throw brain-sourced words toward a description of love, but none will adequately explain the experience of knowing love in our heart. It’s beyond our words and thinking. But then there is an undeniable spiritual knowledge, different and deeper than that of the brain and the heart. It is not comprehended like intellectual or heart understanding, but it is real, and it is both foundational and powerful. It is, in many ways, our link to the spiritual realm. If this concept is foreign, I ask that you forge on and remain open to what the Holy Spirit may reveal to you.

My bottom-line suggestion for any believer who struggles with this topic is to accept what Jesus says – what the Bible says – about the works of the dark spiritual realm. And become equipped to drive this very real enemy out of your life, as well as the lives of others.

If you still question the reality of Christians being pestered by dark spirits, there’s more on page 44 in the section entitled Can a Christian Really Have a demon?

Why This Book?

A few years ago, I began to hear from attendees of our Dealing with the demonic class that I should write a book on the subject of deliverance. I did not, at that time, feel led by the Lord to pursue it, though it did stir inside of me.

As my wife, Patti, and I continued in the healing prayer ministry, with its frequent confrontations with demonic spirits, a frustration grew in me: there is too much work being left undone. Not enough people are equipped to help victims of spiritual attack, and there are far too few who even understand this aspect of spiritual warfare. And, most significantly, there are so many individuals being harassed by the enemy who have no clue as to the nature of the problem or that real peace is within their reach. Bottom line, the issue is ignorance. Folks are uninformed – they just don’t know! And, in many cases, they have been tricked or deceived and led to believe untruths about dark spirits and their own distress. The reality is that those things caused by the enemy – or aggravated by him – can be resolved.

This book is written with simplicity and practicality in mind. There are many texts which delve deeper theologically and even scientifically (psychology and psychiatry). My approach is more hands-on and how-to than an exhaustive scholastic study. The goal is that you will understand that confrontational spiritual warfare is a routine part of the Christian walk. I am motivated by the words of Hosea:

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

(HOSEA 4:6)

During the process of writing this book, I felt prompted to list – for private assessment – the names of those who sought to be relieved of demonic torment but, for one reason or another, remained victimized. It saddens me to admit the list was rather long. Reviewing the details of each situation, there were many perceived explanations for why persons were not freed. But, in virtually every case, the person refused to confront an issue of forgiveness or submission. The tormented man or woman believed the enemy’s lie that it was too difficult, that they couldn’t change, or that the problem lay with someone or something else. Significantly, the wounded person’s focus was very often not on the forgiveness or submission issue itself; instead, they were sidetracked by a debilitating fear which seemed to mask the underlying problem. I believe God’s Word gives hope where they believe there is none. This book attempts to build that case – and to show practically how victory can be attained.

Should you, while reading, desire help to deal with dark influences on your life (and we all have them – that’s what this book is about!), or if you wish to know more about the guarantee of freedom through Christ, you may wish to read the Afterword before completing the rest of the book.

What Is Deliverance?

This book is about recognizing and dealing with the enemy’s everyday attempts to disrupt our lives. Perhaps you’re drawn to read because you wish to learn more about deliverance prayer (i.e., freeing those who are demonized or oppressed). And you will, but there is much more. From my experience, most believers consider only the extremes: either you are wild-eyed, irrational, and blaspheming (i.e., seriously demonized), or you have zero problems with dark spirits. A foundational premise of this book is that satan and his cohorts are very active in between. With everybody! And we wish to be delivered² from all this harassment. Though much of the focus of this book is on confronting dark spirits in more troublesome situations, the battle tactics you will learn are likewise applicable to the enemy’s lesser intrusions, like temptation.

How can satan gain ground with people who sincerely follow the Lord? An easy initial response is: deception. We also need to acknowledge that, if satan tempted Jesus, the powers of darkness will go after anyone, and that our imperfect human nature sometimes succumbs. Or we can be victimized from indirect or external sources. Suffice it to say, the consequences run the gamut from temptation to oppression to demonization, each discussed at length in Chapter 4.

Further, there are degrees to the intensity of the enemy’s involvement. Some spiritual attacks are rather lightweight and easily dismissed, as in the case of a minor temptation, a sinful thought, or a flash of resentment or anger. When we prayerfully eject these and the enemy who plants them, this is a deliverance of sorts, but on a very small scale. Similarly, when we pray for someone’s healing from disease, for example, we might command a spirit of infirmity off the individual. This simple, authoritative prayer is also, in principle, a form of deliverance.

In this writing, however, the term deliverance is used to mean the process of confronting and forcefully ejecting an unclean spirit from a victimized individual. Often that spirit has demonstrated a right or ability to remain. Generally, these spirits are more powerful, more stubborn, and more aggravating than the lighter examples of the previous paragraph. But the battle is the Lord’s, not ours. And Jesus is stronger!

PART I

UNDERSTANDING THE SPIRITUAL ENVIRONMENT

CHAPTER 1

BEGINNING THE DISCUSSION

In writing this book, the most challenging aspect is convincing the skeptic that this subject matter is real – and that it affects all of us! To be clear, the skeptics of whom I speak are those in the Christian church. That is, those who believe in God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and basic Bible teachings.

Do you have difficulty accepting that God might supernaturally deliver someone from spiritual torment or heal someone’s physical or emotional hurts in this day and age? Looking at most churches, we get the impression that the prevailing expectation is against any hope of supernatural intervention. Or perhaps there’s a belief something like, "We know God can heal, but He doesn’t seem to do it these days." Why, when the Bible encourages us to pray for healing and cast out demons, does so much of the Christian church not embrace this with faith and vigor?

In an age of politicians, professors, and media types saying absolutely anything to get attention (not to mention the lies of con artists and hucksters), it is necessary and appropriate to question what we hear and read. The Bible tells us that we should Test everything (1 Thessalonians 5:21 NIV). Surely this verse means, at least in part, that we should use our God-given intellects. It also means we should test our beliefs about God, and our beliefs about the Bible or how we interpret it. Maybe we are biased; maybe there are multiple meanings; maybe we are wrong! We really must test what we believe. Have we faithlessly put God in a box where He is powerless?

Beyond wonderful truths and guides to live by, the Bible contains history, allegory, symbolism, metaphor, parables, and many mysteries. Frankly, I cannot claim to have a theologian’s depth of understanding of any of it. Yet I have seen God do the miraculous in ways some say are not possible. I encourage you, do not allow yourself to say, God doesn’t do […] anymore, just because you haven’t seen Him do it. Instead, ask yourself, Why not? We will talk about removing barriers to the supernatural throughout this book.

Our Journey

I believe that the only spiritual understanding which anyone can internalize emanates from God’s revelation through the Holy Spirit. As a writer, my responsibility, therefore, is to bear accurate witness. I will begin by sharing how my wife, Patti, and I became involved in this ministry, which is misunderstood by so many believers.

My introduction to extended, hands-on healing prayer for individuals came many years ago at a weekend conference led by Francis and Judith MacNutt of Christian Healing Ministries.³ Francis, a former Catholic priest, and his wife, Judith, a professional counselor, told of their successes in protracted prayer for healing. Francis shared their experience in one of his sessions: in praying for ten people, typically they see one or two people completely healed, one or two who experience no healing at all, and the remainder gaining some level of improvement. This, frankly, was a better record of success than I had seen or heard of before.

This practice of spending time praying for someone, of soaking a person in prayer, was nothing I had observed in any church that I had attended. In many congregations, prayer was limited to brief pulpit-led blessings or mentions of prayer needs, while in other churches, individuals were directly prayed for by leaders, special ministry teams, or folks nearby, but for a few minutes at most. The MacNutts taught of praying for an hour or longer, and doing so repeatedly over a period of days, months, or even years. And they gave examples of actual healings, even of major diseases.

Like you, perhaps, I wonder about the scarcity of powerful healings today when I read about the healings and promises of the New Testament. I cannot help but ask:

• What are we doing wrong?

[Your Response Here]

• How is it that some are healed, but many are not?

[Your Response Here]

• What barriers exist which we are not dealing with?

[Your Response Here]

And so on …

Irrespective of my personal experience, the internet permits me to see that wonderful healings do occur regularly now. Additionally, it is well-documented that there have been numerous healing ministries⁴ where large numbers were miraculously healed (at times many rising from wheelchairs). Yet, notwithstanding these powerful displays, documented even by secular newspapers, many left those services unhealed. Healing prayer remains a spiritual mystery; the best stories we have still fall short of Biblical accounts where all⁵ who came were healed.

Nevertheless, the Bible encourages us to "always pray and not give up" (Luke 18:1 NIV). So we stir our faith as best we can, eliminate known barriers, and cry out from the depths of our hearts … and pray for our brothers and sisters for healing. Much more about this in the chapters that follow.

Healing Prayer Ministry

After the MacNutts’ teaching weekend, a wonderful couple who were respected lay leaders in the church that hosted the conference, was given the go-ahead to begin a healing prayer ministry modeling the MacNutts’ prayer approach. The ministry began to grow, and several teams of two or three people met with prayer recipients twice a month for 40 to 60 minutes each. A few years later, Patti and I were drawn to join this church, and eventually became part of this ministry of extended healing prayer.

Moving forward several years, the couple who had begun and led the prayer effort, now called Soaking Prayer for Healing, stepped down. Patti and I took over the lay leadership, and the ministry eventually grew to 28 prayer teams of two to three pray-ers praying for in excess of 70 people twice each month. There were consistently 50+ people in the queue waiting for prayer, and there were, additionally, four monthly open prayer sessions, where anyone seeking prayer could be prayed for on an unscheduled basis. Folks were welcomed with any prayer need: physical, emotional, relational, familial, financial, and other.

In our leadership of this ministry, we rarely participated on any of the regularly scheduled prayer teams. Rather, we selected and prayed for those:

• we felt the Lord specifically led us to;

• who seemed most broken, usually due to severe emotional trauma; and

• who might be called the hard cases (yes, some church people can be challenging!).

As a result of our selection process, we were exposed to many, many situations of demonic oppression and outright demonization (discussed in-depth in Chapter 4). For a season, we were involved in full deliverance prayer two and three times a day, several days a week. But it was all good … and glorious! And, I have to add, not stressful to us whatsoever.

So, without seeking it, Patti and I have found ourselves, for nearly twenty years now, thrust into an amazing world of spiritual warfare. Our involvement with different churches, and their ministries to individuals seeking healing, has given us ever-increasing evidence of, and interaction with, the very real world of the demonic.

Equipping Others

As mentioned in the Introduction, the motivation for writing this book is simple: more are needed who can both recognize the enemy’s lies and tricks, and expose and remove him from themselves and others. I believe it is a lie of satan that special power or authority is required to gain the freedom Jesus bought for each of us on the cross. This battle is winnable, and it is not hard. Really! We can defeat the enemy of our soul – as we face him today!

Throughout our involvement in these activities, we have done much research, absorbed many teachings, and read many books – all of which encourage an aggressive approach. We remain convinced that spiritual warfare is, in some measure, every Christian’s business and calling. It is not for a special few.

How great is the need? In the small world of our own experience, we have encountered few churches which can respond effectively when a need for deliverance presents itself. Sadly, I have seen pastors offering cursory prayers or recommending counseling for folks clearly caught in a spiritual battle with the enemy. Also, there are leaders and believers who proclaim, No Christian, who is a temple of the Holy Spirit, can have a demon, so the problem is not addressed. And the person is not helped. Or, perhaps too commonly, a person displays behavior indicating some level of oppression or dark influence, and they are ostracized by friends or the believers they should be turning to for help first. Maybe the individual is one of those challenging church people I mentioned earlier.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this should not be so! We all should know many other Christian believers, pastors, leaders, and pray-ers who can bring victory to those caught in a spiritual battle. Significantly, Patti and I are regularly approached by struggling individuals who have sought us out by local reputation, because there is no resource in their own church to deal with their need.

The reality of the enemy in our midst today must become better recognized, and God’s promises of victory must be more readily embraced by the people of the church.

The devil in the Back Pew

Oh yes, the devil’s in the back pew. And many other places as well. But the case will be made that the tools and resources to deal victoriously with the dark spirits in the church⁶ are effective and free for the taking.

When I teach this material in a classroom format, I typically explain that studying the subject is rather like jumping on a moving merry-go-round. There is no precise beginning or simple place to start, and many points seem to need a bit of context and prior explanation. So, the approach here will be similar. I will lay down basics, which will be broadened and expanded on later.

Note: This is not fiction. It is presented as an informational tool for the Christian church. There are many great books on this subject (see the Bibliography), but I was prompted to write this text explaining the topic using a how-to approach.

Note also: This doesn’t pretend to be an exhaustive review or research effort. Its focus is simplicity, acknowledging that no text on the subject could be complete. Certainly, the enemy is crafty and quite creative in his deceptions, schemes, and methods. He is, however, no match for the Holy Spirit or the power behind the name of Jesus, and therein is the foundation for this teaching, as well as for all spiritual warfare.

It is fitting, in a writing like this, to make a comment about conclusions drawn from experience. Though one should be wary of forming any experiential theology (i.e., defining God or His works solely by what we have personally seen), there is much we can learn from what we observe. Author and teacher Derek Prince says it this way:

Personal experience by itself is never a sufficient basis for establishing Biblical doctrine. At times, however, it can have the effect of illuminating a doctrine that previously one did not know how to apply.⁷

The enemy’s Schemes

Over the last few decades, several books have been published titled or subtitled, The World, the Flesh, and the [d]evil. Such a description is supported Biblically, where Paul spoke to the Ephesians about what they were like before receiving God’s mercy:

"And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air [satan], the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others."

(EPHESIANS 2:1–3, EMPHASIS MINE)

This phrase will be used several times in this book for its plain meaning, but we should be aware that the enemy not only works (attacks) on his own, but also is quite adept at piling on to worldly and fleshly circumstances and temptations. John 10:10 reminds us that satan comes only to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. It is unwise to drop our guard and assume that an unfavorable situation does not, to some degree, involve the enemy.

Though more evidence will be presented later, I offer a few comments at this point. Some of the enemy’s oft-used tools are confusion, obfuscation, and trickery. He does not want his presence or involvement suspected, because then he might be confronted. But we have the power and authority to cast him out when he comes after us or those we’ve been asked to pray for.

Dr. Ed Murphy writes:

"… in general, our churches are filled with believers who are hurting through the activity of evil spirits. Many are Spirit-filled believers by anyone’s definition of the term. Yet a war rages inside of them and around them. Often areas of their lives are in bondage to feelings, thoughts, and practices not compatible with their Christian faith. They know something is wrong, but few suspect the possibility of a direct demonic dimension to their problem."

While the Bible contains a vast amount of material about [s]atan, his evil angels, demons, and evil spirits, we will often be left still questioning because of what the Scriptures do not reveal. For example, the Scriptures do not directly explain the origin of [s]atan and his demons. They do not explain the relationship between malfunctions natural to human personality and personality malfunctions caused supernaturally. We are left mostly on our own in these and many other areas. The Bible does not develop a doctrine of [s]atanology or demonology …⁸

Some dimensions of spiritual warfare are controversial both theologically and in practice.⁹

Ed Murphy’s observations are right on the money and, unfortunately, so many remain in the struggle because they do not deal with the real problem. The pathway to freedom is not followed because the source of the problem is not acknowledged.

What the Scriptures Say About satan and his demons

The Bible is God’s story, and it reveals His goodness, His nature, and His victorious plans for us. Many Scriptures are instructive in how we can obtain that promised victory and overcome the enemy in our lives. These will be emphasized throughout this book. For now, I list some verses referencing the enemy’s activities and power in order to broaden our understanding of who we are dealing with:

satan is Active and Purposeful

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like