The following quote is awesome. It is from David Chilton in his book, Paradise Restored.
Indeed, a very common evangelical worldview is that “the earth is the devil’s, and the fullness thereof” – that the world belongs to Satan, and that Christians can expect only defeat until the Lord returns. And that is exactly the lie that Satan wants Christians to believe. If God’s people think the devil is winning, it makes his job just that much easier. What would he do if Christians stopped retreating and started advancing against him? James 4:7 tells us what he would do: he would flee from us! So why isn’t the devil fleeing from us in this age? Why are Christians at the mercy of Satan and his servants? Why aren’t Christians conquering kingdoms with the Gospel, as they did in times past? Because Christians are not resisting the devil! Worse yet, they’re being told by their leaders not to resist, but to retreat instead! Christian leaders have turned James 4:7 inside out, and are really giving aid and comfort to the enemy because they are, in effect, saying to the devil: “Resist the Church, and we will flee from you!” And Satan is taking them at their word. So then, when Christians see themselves losing on every front, they take it as “proof” that God has not promised to give dominion to His people. But the only thing it proves is that James 4:7 is true, after all, including its “flip side” – that is, if you don’t resist the devil, he won’t flee from you.