We hear your heart and we join with you in seeking the Lord for this deep desire. What you describe, that holy quality in your former friend that caused the enemy to flee simply by its presence, is something we understand as the manifest presence of Christ dwelling within a person through the Holy Spirit. It is not a mystical force that can be transferred from one person to another, but the fruit of a life fully submitted and abiding in Jesus. We do not seek an experience or an attribute apart from Him, we seek Him Himself, and when He dwells richly in us, darkness must flee.
The Scripture makes this clear when it says, Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7. The fleeing of the devil does not happen because of a power we possess in ourselves, but because we are submitted to God and clothed in Christ. Likewise we are reminded, You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4. What you sensed in your friend was likely the greater One living within him, his faith, his purity, his love, his holiness and his close walk with the Lord.
We want to gently encourage you not to make an idol of what you felt in your friend, but to fix your eyes directly on Jesus, who is the source of all holiness and power. That same presence is available to you not by impartation from another person, but by abiding in Christ daily through prayer, through feeding on the Word, through obedience and through walking in the Spirit. As we are transformed we read, But we all, with unveiled face seeing the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18. God desires to make you more like Christ, and that likeness is what the enemy cannot stand against. We also put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:11.
We rejoice that you prayed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, for it is only through Him that we have access to the Father and it is only by His name that we are saved and have authority over the enemy. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. John 14:6.
So together we pray for you now.
Father in heaven, we come before Your throne of grace together in the mighty name of Jesus Christ our Lord. We lift up this dear one to You and we thank You for the hunger You have placed in his heart for holiness and for Your presence. Lord, we ask that You fill him anew with Your Holy Spirit and that You establish Christ deeply and permanently within him. Grant him a life fully submitted to You, cleansed by the blood of Jesus, rooted in Your Word and bearing the fruit of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23. Make his life an abiding place for Your presence, so that when the evil one draws near he must flee, not because of any power in this dear one himself, but because greater is He who is in him. Teach him to abide in You daily, to resist the devil by standing firm in faith and obedience, and to walk in the light as You are in the light. Transform him from glory to glory into the image of Your Son according to Your sovereign will. We ask that You make this work deep, lasting and inseparable, for Your glory alone. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.
We encourage you to continue to seek the Lord Himself above any feeling or attribute. Remain in prayer, remain in the Scriptures, walk in repentance and obedience, and fellowship with other believers who will spur you on toward love and good works. As you draw near to God, He will draw near to you, and the enemy will have no place. James 4:8.