FIGHTING DEMONS

“For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms,” Ephesians 6: 12

“Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh. They told him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go,’” Exodus 5: 1

n the same way, we are called to stand up to the powers of darkness and declare boldly, “Let my people go.” Evil forces have no right to hold God’s people. The blood of Jesus Christ purchased our freedom.

Introduction

Jesus is the deliverer.

When we experience or witness deliverance in His name, we are witnessing evidence of His power and resurrection.

Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak new languages. They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick and heal them,” Mark 16: 15–18

Casting demons out of people is not an option it’s a mandate. It is part of our great commission and it demonstrates the validity of the gospel.

Believing

The first step to deliverance is believing that demons exist and that they can I habit people. Neither should we limit their activity to those not confessing Christ. Even a Christian can have a demon.

Anyone can have a demon. They enter by permission when we willfully engage in activities that open our lives to them. Such activities include but would not be limited to those mentioned in the passage below.

“When you arrive in the land the LORD your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there. For example…do not let your people practice fortune telling or sorcery, or allow them to interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead… You must be blameless before the LORD your God. The people you are about to displace consult with sorcerers and fortune-tellers, but the LORD your God forbids you to do such things,” Deuteronomy 18: 9–14

Most of the things mentioned above have modern occult or new age counterparts. When we engage in such activities, we invite demonic activity into our lives. Spirits travel in and out of our level of existence via doorways. When we willfully open those doorways, we invite the presence and activity of evil spirits.

God told His people to avoid certain types of foods because He knew it they would be dangerous to the physical well being of His people. In the same way He has told us to avoid certain spiritual activities because He knows they can be dangerous to our spiritual well being.

If we have engaged in such activities, we need to seek God’s forgiveness, we need to separate ourselves completely and without reservation from such things, and then we need to seek deliverance from the demons that we invited in when we participated in their game. Rest assured, God stands ready and willing to forgive and deliver you. He will delight in your renewed love for Him and He will set you free.

It takes humility to admit that your struggle could have a demonic component. It takes humility to admit that you might have made a mistake that opened you up to demonic attack. And, it takes humility to ask God to forgive you and to deliver you.

“God sets himself against the proud, but he shows favor to the humble. So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you,” James 4: 6–8

Jesus said, “The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness,” John 10: 10.

You have the authority to drive out the demonic, the root cause of your confusion and pain. When you exercise this authority, you will be making room for Jesus and for the Holy Spirit who will fill the void left by the demons with His abundant love.

The Authority of the Believer

Jesus said, “I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy... nothing will injure you,” Luke 10:19.
He also said in II Corinthians 10:4 “We use God's mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil's strongholds.”

Fear is the number one weapon used by Satan. But “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline,” II Timothy 1: 7.

Confess Your Sins

“If we are living in the light of God's presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin. If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong,” 1st John 1: 7–9.

Please pray the following prayer sincerely and from the heart.

“Dear heavenly father, I know that I am a sinner, that I have not lived for you as I’d like. Please forgive me. Please cleanse me in the blood of Jesus. Bring to my mind any specific sin that I may have committed that I might confess it to you and receive your loving forgiveness. Thank you God. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.”

Forgiveness

When teaching his disciples to pray, Jesus said, “forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us... if you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins,” Matthew 6: 12–15.

Look at it this way; you are giving the person that hurt you permission to stand between you and God when you harbor unforgiveness. Why would you ever grant anybody that much power?

All it really takes is a willingness to forgive. You don’t have to “feel” it; you don’t have to be reconciled. Forgiveness and reconciliation are two different things. All you really need is the willingness to forgive. If you can just offer that much to God, He will do the rest.

Pray this, “Father, in Jesus name, I forgive my mother, my father, my brothers, my sisters, my uncles and aunts, my grandparents and teachers, my friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ, my boss, my husband or wife, my ex-spouse, and anyone else who has hurt me. God please show me where I might be harboring unforgiveness in my heart that I might lift it to you and in faith believe that you will heal me and accomplish a genuine work of forgiveness within me. In the mighty name of Jesus I pray. Amen.”

If any name comes to your mind then speak their name. Just speak their name and say, “I forgive you.”
You don't have to feel good about forgiving these people. You just have to be willing. The Lord Jesus will take care of the rest. He’ll do a work of grace in you so that the forgiveness you say you want will become a reality.

Discernment

We need to seek God for the gift of discernment.

“He gives someone else the ability to know whether it is really the Spirit of God or another spirit that is speaking,” 1st Corinthians 12:10

When the gift of discernment is in operation, the demon can be seen in the countenance of the person. It is as if the entity is superimposed over the person. There is a glare in the eye and a pitch in the defiant voice that is unmistakable. Even in the absence of the supernatural gift of the Spirit, God has given us biblical principles to guide us:

1. Habitual sin

We all sin, and habitual sin is not necessarily an indicator of demonic activity. It is a question of degree. When demonic forces are present, the person in bondage will often say they feel “detached” while engaging in the sinful activity, as if someone else was working through them. That is because someone else is working through them.

“But when people keep on sinning, it shows they belong to the Devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy these works of the Devil,” 1 John 3: 8

2. Resistance of or even disdain for God’s word

The word of God is the lifeblood of the believer. Believers look to it for guidance and encouragement and God speaks to the human heart through His word.

“For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are,” Hebrews 4: 12

The Bereans tested Paul’s teaching against its standard.

“And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to check up on Paul and Silas, to see if they were really teaching the truth,” Acts 17: 11

Behaviors, thought patterns and practices that are inconsistent with the word of God as well as discomfort with the word of God, may be rooted in the seductive forces of evil at work in our lives.

“Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn your back on evil. Then you will gain renewed health and vitality,” Proverbs 3: 7–8

“Don’t lose sight of my words. Let them penetrate deep within your heart, for they bring life and radiant health to anyone who discovers their meaning,” Proverbs 4: 21–22

“Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path,” Psalm 119: 105

The word of God brings life, health, vitality, and wisdom to the believer. Believers naturally love the word of God but Satan sees the word of God as the enemy and he will do his best to put fear, resentment and loathing in the heart of a person for the word. He knows God’s word is the very gateway of life that’s why he hates it so much. Resist the devil and he will flee. Cultivate a love for God’s word and watch and see how quickly your life will change.

3. Inconsistency or the absence of endurance

“These people left our churches because they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left us, it proved that they do not belong with us,” 1st John 2: 19

People suffering under demonic influence feel compelled even driven to get away from God’s house and God’s people. In their deepest heart, they want to respond to God and be with His people and in His presence but they can’t endure the pain and confusion caused by the demonic forces within and so they let the demons have their way. When you see this kind of struggle, you know Satan is at work.

4. The acknowledgement of Jesus

Our salvation hinges on Jesus Christ. Satan knows this so he will do everything he can to discredit and distort the person and work of Christ. An evil spirit will “curse,” abhor or renounce the name of Jesus. And, a person under the influence of an evil spirit will find it difficult to confess that Jesus is his or her Lord. Rebellion against the Lordship of Christ is Satan’s primary mission.

“So I want you to know how to discern what is truly from God: No one speaking by the Spirit of God can curse Jesus, and no one is able to say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit,” 1st Corinthians 12: 3

“Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God, for there are many false prophets in the world. This is the way to find out if they have the Spirit of God: If a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ became a human being, that person has the Spirit of God. If a prophet does not acknowledge Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist,” 1st John 4: 1–3

It’s really all about Jesus. A resistance to Him always has a satanic origin. A distortion of who He really is, God incarnate, our Savior and Lord, has a satanic origin.

Jesus put it this way, “Anyone who isn’t helping me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me,” Matthew 12: 30

There is no middle ground. Any spirit that does not direct your attention to Jesus, that does not acknowledge Him as God and as Lord, is working in opposition to Him. They are by definition under the command of Satan.

“Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light,” 2nd Corinthians 11: 14

The spirits that you thought were helping you are in reality trying to lead you astray. It is their mission to lead you away form Christ your Savior.

Resist the devil and he will flee and God will pour out in your heart His abundant life.

Casting Out Demons

During the first four years of my walk with Christ I was delivered from no less than eight demonic entities. When we are saved, demons do not automatically flee. Remember, they were invited in when we made a willful decision to participate in occult activity. We must exercise our God given authority over them to require that they leave.

Dealing with the demonic is part of the process of growth in God. Obviously, not everyone needs to. In fact, those acquainted with the deliverance ministry are very much in the minority today. Satan has done a good job at blinding a great many people. But for those acquainted with the enemy, it is essential that we take back the ground that he has stolen. It frees us up to experience more of God’s presence in our lives.

The Greek word often interpreted “spirit” in the bible is pneuma. A literal translation of the word would be breath. This is particularly relevant when expelling demons, as they tend to respond to a breath of expulsion rather readily after the command is issued. After you have asked God to deliver you, expel the demon from your body with sharp breaths. You will feel the demon move within you almost immediately. Depending upon how deeply entrenched it is it may require several breaths before it comes out completely. You may be in for a fight and you may sense a pulling on your ribs from the inside as if the creature is hanging on against a strong wind.

I know it sounds a bit bizarre but anyone that has experienced this knows exactly what I’m talking about. I have participated in many deliverances aside from my own. I have participated in two that took hours but there were several demons involved. Demons do not want to yield ground. They will confuse, harass and torment to keep you off balance. Don’t let them. You have the authority. Use it. Take back the battleground of your mind and secure your peace in the process.

If the creature is deeply entrenched it will take several sharp breaths to get it lose. As long as you feel it coming you must persist. Let it know that it is no longer welcome. Demons will usually but not always leave with a shriek or a scream. If you feel this rising up in you, let it go. Don’t worry about the neighbors or anyone else just do what you have to do to get it out.

When the demon leaves the presence of God will fill the place it vacated. When this happens you will experience a rush of His presence and love. God will want to make His love vibrantly real to you just after deliverance. It is a trauma and God understands. His love in the moment of deliverance is a wonderful thing. As I write this I’m remembering it vividly. Enjoy it.

A basic prayer of freedom from demonic oppression is:

“Lord Jesus I love you and I know that you love me. I want your best for me and I want to give my best to you. I thank you for the forgiveness of sins. I forgive those who have sinned against me. I commit my life to you; I commit my heart and soul to you. You are my Lord and where your light is there is no darkness at all. I command every demonic force in my life to leave in the name of Jesus and by His blood.

I expel you in the name of Jesus. You have no place in me and no right to stay. In the name of Jesus, get out.”

Our authority and power is in the Blood of Jesus. Cover yourself, family, home and possessions in the Blood of Jesus.

Housecleaning

“You must burn their idols in fire, and do not desire the silver or gold with which they are made. Do not take it or it will become a snare to you, for it is detestable to the LORD your God. Do not bring any detestable objects into your home, for then you will be set apart for destruction just like them. You must utterly detest such things, for they are set apart for destruction,” Deuteronomy 7: 25–26

Objects that you bring into your home allow demons to stay in your home. The Lord will show you items in your home that are problems, attractive to the demonic. Be obedient and destroy them. Confess, repent, and ask forgiveness for having these accursed objects in your home. Be sure to command the demons attached to these articles to leave in the Name of Jesus.

As a child, I was the neighborhood medium. I conducted seances in my parent’s home that they were unaware of. I used a carved wooden image of a demonic entity to attract spiritual manifestations. Many years later, after I had given my life to Jesus, I began to hear breathing in my ear as I lay in bed at night. Each night the breathing became more intense until it was a loud hiss or growling.

I prayed. I asked God to show me what was wrong. My eyes immediately fell to a dresser drawer. I went to the drawer and removed its contents. Under all of the clothes in the back was this wooden image I had used in seances.

I renounced it, repented of my sin and destroyed it. I took authority over the growling demon and it left and has never returned.

Remember deliverance is not a one-time thing. Deliverance is walking in the Spirit, it is a part of the sanctification process and it is ongoing.

Cover yourself continually with the Blood of Jesus. Bind every demon. Command them in the name of Jesus to leave you alone. Ask for God’s protection and He will give it.

Immerse Yourself in God

Jesus said, “When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and clean. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before,” Luke 11: 24–26

It is important that when the spirit returns, it finds God in residence there. You need to fill your life with God and the best way to do that is this:

“They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord’s Supper and in prayer,” Acts 2:42

1. Expose yourself to as much bible based teaching as you can get.
2. Associate with other believers and cultivate close intimate relationships with them.
3. Participate in the Eucharist as often as you can. You can even partake of it in small groups. This is the way the Apostles originally did it. Jesus Himself initiated it in an intimate setting.
4. Pray, pray, pray. Do it from your heart. Just speak as honestly and as transparently to God as you can.

David was an excellent prayer warrior and his psalms are a fine example for us to follow. Read them.
Remember always, God has placed you in a community of believers. Depend on them, rely on them, they are there to serve you. They are God’s hands to touch you, His heart to love you, His eyes to see you. God has chosen to work through His body, the church to minister to His people and you are His treasure. He loves you beyond measure. He humbled Himself and shed His precious blood to heal you, to set you free, and most of all, to love you.

- David Dellman