Paul confronts the evil one with God’s Holy Spirit in Acts 13. Paul allows the Holy Spirit to guide him. Here is a wonderful connection between the power and ministry of the Holy Spirit and Paul who had his own experience of opposing Christians.
“So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand.” Acts 13:4-11, ESV.
“Paul himself had earlier been fighting against God and the convictions of his conscience. I think the fact that he had previously also opposed the spread of the gospel may have affected how he reacted. Jesus got Paul’s attention as he was going to persecute the early Christians and, as a result of changing his mind about Jesus, Paul was greatly blessed and, as we know, became a devoted follower, the apostle to the Gentiles and the writer of much of the New Testament. Looking back, perhaps years later on his own conversion story, do you think Paul would have spoken negatively about it? Or might he have seen it all as a great blessing? Is it possible that Paul was not calling down a curse upon Elymas so much as he was seeking to bless him in the same way he had been blessed? It was not permanent blindness but only “for a season” and an opportunity for Elymas to reflect (as Paul had for his three days of blindness – Acts 9:9) on his choices. Paul even links it to his own experience by making reference to being led by the hand.” The Character of God website, article called, “Elymas the Sorcerer” by Ray Foucher.