A Simple Prayer for Fighting Evil

During Lent and year round, we are often fighting against our own temptations in the desert just like Jesus was in the Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent (Mt. 4:1-11). We are in a fight with the devil constantly as he tries to drag us into a life of sin leading to eternal damnation with him forever. This past Sunday, our priest gave a homily in which he described the various ways that the devil tries to take possession of us and how we can fight back. Whenever we face a certain temptation, he gave a simple yet powerful prayer that we can use to help fight it and keep the devil at bay.

The devil’s wiles are not something that we can fight on our own. Even Jesus in His humanity needed the support and power of His Father in order to overcome him. This is why He spent forty days and nights in prayer and fasting before this encounter. In order to overcome our temptations, we must spend time in prayer and also fast in order to train our bodies to resist giving in to its own wants. Perseverance in this is key, and that’s what our priest stressed in giving us this prayer, which is an exorcism-type prayer that we may have to use several times a day if we want to truly overcome these spirits of darkness. We can use it against any type of vice that we are fighting. This is the prayer:

Spirit of (anger, lust, slothfulness, greed, distraction, etc.), I cast you out in the name of Jesus. I cast you at the feet of Jesus on the Cross, where He may do with you as He wishes.

As I said, this prayer will need to be said many times, but over time the temptations will weaken and will not have that firm of a hold on us if we take it seriously and persevere. Calling on Mary and your guardian angel to say this prayer with you will add to its strength and they will be more than happy to assist you. This prayer, along with regular mental prayer and fasting, will give us the strength to fight our battles and overcome the devil.