There is a process in our resistance against the works of hell. If we miss the sequential process of that resistance we will continue to live a disempowered life. That process has three elements,” Humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). 

To humble ourselves before God refers to our being subject to the Lord. It is a conscious submission to humility that submits our thoughts and actions to the work of the Spirit. This is the first step in our battle to gain victory over hell’s influence in our lives. If a person does not submit themselves to a work of humility all their attempts to resist the devil will be for not.

Only then can we begin to resist the devil. A humble heart will see with greater clarity what it needs to resist. Apart from humility, we will fight the wrong battles.

When we have a humble heart and resist the devil, he will flee from us because our humility inspires fear in him and threatens his plan of attack. Humility does the heavy lifting in our faith causing the enemy to run from us because a humble heart submitted to God is the most dangerous offense against his plan.

James’s instruction on how to resist the devil and cause him to run away in fear was preceded by this verse, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (vs. 6). With a humbled life the Lord can do His deepest works of resistance and produce the most profound results by His Spirit.

Humility before God and the grace it provides is our most powerful plan of attack. It will keep us open to the kind of correction and resulting redirection from the Spirit that will create fear in the enemy camp.