When I think of my most intense experience with spiritual warfare, I do not remember times when I was praying for people who were literally demonized. Those were intense, but relatively short. By far, my most severe experiences of spiritual warfare came in those times during my pastoral ministry when I was deeply discouraged with my ministry, my church, and myself. Now, discouragement is a natural human response to failure and doesn't require a demonic agent. But I believe that what I was going through during those difficult times was more than human. Based on my experience, and that of so many other Christians I know, discouragement can be a powerful weapon in our enemy's arsenal.

There were human elements in my discouragement such as exhaustion, failure, and frustration. But things happened that suggested that some other power was working against me. People who had been supportive of me inexplicably turned against me. Church members I had tried hard to love accused me of being unloving. ...