Many Church leaders have stressed the importance of not being preoccupied with Satan or darkness, or things related. Our eye should "be single to the glory of God" so that we may be "filled with light" (D&C 88:67). Nevertheless, I have assembled here a list of helpful quotes and scriptures about how to get Satan off our backs.
"All beings who have bodies have power over those who have not. The devil has no power over us only as we permit him. The moment we revolt at anything which comes from God, the devil takes power" (TPJS, p. 181).
Joseph Smith "said he had a subtle devil to deal with, and could only curb him by being humble" (TPJS, p. 225). Like holds to like—"...intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light; mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own..." (D&C 88:40). It makes sense then that the more our attitudes and feelings resemble those of heavenly beings, the more those beings will cleave to us, and also the reverse. "Pride is a switch that turns off priesthood power. Humility is a switch that turns it on" (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Pride and the Priesthood, Oct. 2010). That power includes discerning and casting out Satan.
The word "devil" means accuser, and not false accuser, either. Just because something is true does not mean we should condemn or criticize others for it. D&C 50:33 tells us that when commanding Satan to depart, we should not do it "with railing accusation, that ye be not overcome, neither with boasting nor rejoicing, lest you be seized therewith." Enmity makes us like Satan, and gives him access to us. When we fight Satan using his tactics, we have already lost. We should avoid fear. Moses saw "the bitterness of hell" when he began to fear (Moses 1:20). Joseph's sense that destruction was imminent in the sacred grove was undoubtedly real to him, but I personally heard Elder Bruce C. Hafen at a fireside explain that Satan "cannot hurt you" physically. (I add, unless expressly stated otherwise by the Lord or his appointed servants; there have been rare exceptions).
We can command him to leave in Jesus' name. "Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve" (Luke 4:8). (Notice Jesus' familiarity with scripture contributing directly to His ability to rebuke Satan.) "Know that any person who has a body has power over one who has not. Satan is denied a body; so if ever you are confronted with temptations, know that you outrank all those temptations if you will exercise the agency given to Adam and Eve in the garden and passed on to this very generation" (Boyd K. Packer, Truths Most Worth Knowing, Nov. 2011).
I give the following as my opinion: When Satan pesters you in your mind, you need only tell him to depart silently, in your mind. You reclaim the space in which your voice sounds.
Jesus' disciples were having difficulty casting an evil spirit out of a boy. Jesus did it for them, and they said, "Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting" (Matt. 17:19-21). Greater faith, fasting, and prayer are all listed by Jesus as curative against Satan.
There is no contest between the Lord and Satan. He can sweep Satan away like lint blown by a fan, or shadows disappearing before light. The many ministering angels sent by God are also invested with power to disperse Satan. However, "When our conduct hedges up the way of angels how can they bless us?" (Brigham Young, Young Women's Journal, p. 262).
The real battle is the salesmanship tug-of-war occurring in our own hearts and minds—Satan and the flesh inviting us to sin, and the Lord and our own spirits, our consciences, inviting us to repent and obey. Satan cannot force us, and the Lord will not. It is possible to choose our way into a trap, such as addiction, but we can be pried loose from those as well, if we repent and humble ourselves, and exercise faith in Christ.
Repentance also loosens Satan's grip on us. We have received a universal command to repent from Jesus Christ Himself (D&C 133:16, etc.). In fact, you could conceivable characterize every commandment as yet another way to stave off Satan and escape his influence. But the gospel is not centered around Satan; it is focused on Christ, and that is probably one of the reasons why we are counseled not to dwell too much on the adversary or related things. How do you examine a shadow? It is much easier to learn about light.
