How You Can Crush the Spirit of Pride in Your Own Life

I want to remind you that there is nothing too hard for God. Though pride is a stubborn demon that shows up in almost every known demonic cluster, God is more stubborn still—stubborn enough to rescue you.

In Job 41, pride manifests itself in the spirit realm as Leviathan, the crooked sea serpent. Spirits operating within the demonic cluster of pride include arrogance, haughtiness, puffed up, self-exaltation, vanity, rebellion, stubbornness, scorning, defiance, anti-submissiveness, egotism, perfection, and the spirits of Rahab and Orion.

Pride brings destruction and a curse, causing a person to err (Ps. 119:21). God resists the proud (James 4:6). The fear of the Lord is to hate pride and arrogance (Prov. 8:13). God attempts to hide pride from man through dreams (Job 33:14–17). Sometimes sickness is the result of pride (Job 33:19–26). God is able to abase those who walk in pride (Dan. 4:37). This spirit blocks prayer, worship and the moving of the Holy Spirit.

Within the rejection personality the spirit of pride convinces a person, “You really do have a lot to be proud of.” This cluster of demons even helps “promote self-advertising publicity campaigns to convince others” and forces “the gauge of inferiorities and low self-image to rise to an unreasonable level, and covers over the warning of Proverbs 27:2—’Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.'”

King of Pride—Leviathan

“Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or snare his tongue with a cord which you let down? … He beholds all high things; he is a king over all the children of pride” (Job 41:1, 34, MEV).

In the last chapter I introduced the concept of demonic kingdoms. Pride is another demonic kingdom that establishes occupancy in the soul of a person who is oppressed with a spirit of rejection. In this kingdom the demon-king is Leviathan.

Job 41 is the key passage on leviathan. Most of the people who have this powerful spirit never get deliverance because one of his chief jobs is to block deliverance. Ministers who refuse to open up to the ministry of deliverance are being controlled by a leviathan spirit. This is their chief problem. Most of the people who fight the deliverance ministry have powerful leviathan demons, and are therefore rarely delivered.

Those involved in the deliverance ministry will be familiar with Leviathan. But if you aren’t, you may be surprised when you encounter spirits that identify themselves as Leviathan. Some Bible translations refer to him as “the crocodile” or a large sea serpent.

Job 41 is the key passage on Leviathan. I talk about this demonic kingdom in depth in my book Spiritual Warfare and Deliverance Manual, but I will briefly describe its characteristics again here as we develop a spiritual strategy specifically focused on destroying the spirit of rejection.

Unable to Flow in the Holy Spirit

“His scales are his pride, shut up tightly as with a seal. One is so near to another that no air can come between them” (Job 41:15-16).

Leviathan’s scales are his pride, and as the verse says, no air can come between them. Air represents spirit, and one of the manifestations of pride is the inability to flow in the Spirit.

Leviathan will attempt to block the flow and manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the assembly of believers. Proud people can hinder the flow of the Spirit; humility is a key to operating in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Self-Preserving

Leviathan’s scales are his pride. He protects himself with armor. Proud people have a way of closing themselves off and hiding behind the scales of pride. When attacking Leviathan, we attack and strip his scales.

Blocks Prayer and Prayer Ministry

“Will he make many supplications to you?” (Job 41:3).

Supplication is prayer, and Leviathan does not make supplication because he is too proud. Leviathan will therefore attempt to block prayer and attack prayer ministries. We have dealt with people who get sleepy when praying and found that it can be connected to Leviathan.

When we pray, we should always approach God with a spirit of humility. The concept of supplication in Bible verses such as Philippians 4:6 is about submitting a request to one who is in authority over us. God is our creator, our ruler. He is sovereign. He is to be reverenced and feared. He is our ultimate help. But those who operate with a spirit of pride will have the attitude that they don’t even need God, that they don’t need His covering and protection. Pride will cause us to strive and work things out on our own.

Pride causes us to lean to our own understanding, which is, at the very least, limited. We cut God’s infinite wisdom and unlimited strength and provision out of the picture, and we set ourselves up for failure and burnout, among other things.

Ron Phillips says about Leviathan:

“When someone is affected by this spirit, it destroys covenant relationships. This spirit breaks up marriages, business partnerships, friendships, and, worst of all, churches.^“

Pride makes you think you don’t need anyone, that you can do everything on your own. It leads you to see people as resources to leverage and use to achieve your own ends. Pride keeps you from experiencing the intimacy of relationship, collaboration and exchanging of thought and ideas. It keeps you from seeing the value in others. Pride will lead you to compete rather than collaborate. You will have a “me vs. the world” mentality.

For prideful people, honoring covenant is not possible. They do not see the blessings of walking in covenant. With covenant, you have to be willing to compromise, to give and take, to hear and sometimes act on behalf of another. Leviathan hardens the hearts of those he possesses, causing them to reject covenant—even covenant with God. People controlled by Leviathan do not value others; therefore they cannot honor others by keeping their word to them. Marriages, friendships and families are the types of covenantal relationships that fall apart because one party is subject to pride.

Defeat Leviathan With the Power of God and Fasting

“You crushed the heads of Leviathan in pieces, and gave him for food to the people inhabiting the wilderness” (Psalm 74:14).

God has the power to smite and break Leviathan’s head, which represents its authority. God is our King, who is working salvation (deliverance) in the Earth.

The psalmist said, “I humbled my soul with fasting” (Ps. 35:13). He knew that humility is a great weapon against pride, and it also invites the grace of God (James 4:6) into the battle to give another level of strength against this stubborn demon. When we fast, we humble our souls. Deliverance from Leviathan brings peace, favor, joy and liberty.

Pharaoh was a Leviathan. God released his people from Pharaoh’s grip through terrible judgments. The people of Israel left Egypt and journeyed to the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Prosperity will come with deliverance from Leviathan.

The Leviathan spirit can only be overcome through the supernatural activity of God’s Spirit, not by any human means. This spirit produces a hardness of heart in people (Job 41:24), making it even more difficult to bring those being used by this spirit to the repentance they need.

As you begin to thrown off and dismantle spirits that operate within the spirit of rejection, know that your bout with pride will be the toughest of them all. It is at the root of our fallen nature. It goes deep into the spirit of man. But you can win, though not without humbling yourself before God and seeking Him for deliverance. You will not win against Leviathan in your own strength. {eoa}

Excerpted from John Eckhardt’s book, Destroying the Spirit of Rejection (Charisma House, 2016). To purchase the book, click here.

Apostle John Eckhardt is overseer of Crusaders Ministries, located in Chicago, Illinois. Gifted with a strong apostolic call, he has ministered throughout the United States and overseas in more than 80 nations. He is a sought-after international conference speaker and has authored more than 20 books, including Prophet, Arise!, Prayers That Rout