“and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons,”
Luke 8:2 NKJV
I remember when I was a teenager in a bride’s changing room. While the bride was getting ready for the wedding ceremony, there was a discussion among the aunties there. They were talking about someone they believed was possessed and needed deliverance. Their discussion set me thinking then and more so even now as I am older. They concluded the lady was possessed because, according to them, she had been acting weird. Their solution was – ‘fire prayers.’
In this article, I will be looking at what the Bible says on the matter of demonic attacks and deliverance.
Mary was set free from seven demons! This is a subject we must understand to be free and keep all entry ways sealed.
Demons are evil angels – the one-third that decided to take Satan’s side (See Revelation 12 v 9).
Many of the stories of deliverance sessions today have one thing in common- shouts, shrieks, erratic movements and everything in that pattern. This happened during the apostolic period too:
“For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed.”
Acts 8:7 NKJV
Yet, it would be wrong to assume that demons find church attendance uncomfortable or that everyone attacked by demons would scream in church. There is an example in scripture where a demon possessed person joined the congregation to listen to a sermon by Jesus. There is another where a demon possessed girl was testifying about the efficacy of the gospel preached by Paul and others with him. Can you imagine a demon possessed person heading the publicity team for an evangelism?!
“Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught.
Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!””
Mark 1:21, 23-24 NKJV
“Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling.
This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.””
Acts 16:16-17 NKJV
God has not left the church without help in this matter. As Paul lists the gifts of the Holy Spirit, discernment of spirits is one of them. In essence, for every church that has the need, the Holy Spirit is able to work through some members of the church to discern if there is an evil spirit or demon in their midst.
“to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.”
I Corinthians 12:10 NKJV
I find great joy in the promise of God’s gifts but that is not the main focus today.
It is not enough to be on the lookout for activity of demons in others. The search should start from me. Am I being attacked by demons? How do I know if I am?
TYPES OF DEMONIC ATTACKS
Recently, I learnt of three ways the devil attacks. Here they are:
- Demon Harassment
An example is the experience of Job. Satan and his angels do not care for our wealth or health. They have no need for these things. They only harass to distract us from having close relationship with God, so we get very disturbed by our losses, so we can get engrossed with chasing earthly achievements to cause us to lose sight of God. God has promised that He is able to take what demons meant for evil and turn it around for good, turn it around for the perfection of our character.
“And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
Romans 5:3-4 NKJV
2. Demon Oppression
“Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 16:16-17 NKJV
“Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”
But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.””
Matthew 16:22-23 NKJV
One moment, Jesus affirmed that Peter had spoken from revelation of God to him and in another moment, the devil had taken control of the mental faculties of Peter. Peter believed Jesus was the Christ yet the devil was using him at another time to oppose truth said by the same Jesus. A similar situation is where we have Christians who believe in unbiblical doctrines, Christians who struggle with addictions – who know the truth but can’t seem to let go of lies.
Oppression also happens when demons plant thoughts in our minds that seem like our own.
“casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,”
II Corinthians 10:5 NKJV
3. Demon Possession
“Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?””
John 6:70 NKJV
It is not that demons own the individuals but that they have more control over the words and actions. In some cases, demons take charge and push the individual to the backstage like in the case of the man possessed by Legion in Luke 8:30 (the group of demons that replied Jesus). In the case of Judas and King Saul, they were possessed by evil spirits yet were still able to continue their day-to-day activities ( being a disciple and being a king) as if nothing happened.
OPEN DOORS TO DEMONS
The Bible does not mince words. Worshipping an idol is the same as worshipping demons.
“They sacrificed to demons, not to God, To gods they did not know, To new gods, new arrivals That your fathers did not fear.”
Deuteronomy 32:17 NKJV
“Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.”
I Corinthians 10:20-21 NKJV
Those that claim to worship the true God need to beware of the following possible open doors:
- Inherited Curses and Generational Sins.
“you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,”
Exodus 20:5 NKJV
““Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.”
Ezekiel 18:4 NKJV
There are diseases that are transmitted from parents to children. There are some diseases in parents that increase the probability of the disease in the children. The same applies with sin. God does not charge a father’s sin to his children, yet they often inherit the tendencies and weaknesses he refused to overcome. Here are examples:
| Abraham (Lying) | David (Lust) |
| Abraham lied about his wife | King David committed sexual sin with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, knowing she was married; an innocent baby died |
| Isaac lied about his wife | Amnon, David’s son, raped his half-sister, Tamar |
| Jacob lied to his father | Absalom slept with King David’s concubines |
| Jacob’s sons lied to Jacob about Joseph being killed | Solomon 1,000 wives and concubines |
| Jacob’s sons lied to a whole town of men before killing them | Many innocent babies died in the fires of Molek because many of Solomon’s wives were pagan and they kept their pagan practices of child sacrifice |
Idols passed from one generation to the next give demons continued legal access to a family line.
2. Sins of the Flesh
Enmity against God is friendship with demons. If we are not submitting to God, then there is no way we are resisting the devil (James 4: 7,8).
- Rebellion/ Conscious Disobedience
So Samuel said:
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”
1 Samuel 15:22-23
- Anger
“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.
Eph 4:26-27
This verse shows that if we do not cease to be angry, this would be the same as giving place to the devil.
- Unforgiveness
Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’
And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.
“So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”
Matt 18: 33-35
- Envy
A sound heart is life to the body, But envy is rottenness to the bones.
Proverbs 14:30
- Pride
not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil
1 Timothy 3:6
- Gossip and Criticism
And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not.
Therefore I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
For some have already turned aside after Satan.
1 Timothy 5:13-15
- Bitterness
looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;
Hebrews 12:15
- Greed
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
1 Timothy 6: 9-10
- Selfishness and Disputes
For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
James 3:16
For every sin we do not give to God to help us overcome is an opening for demons to oppress or possess us.
DELIVERANCE MINISTRY
As Christians, God wills for us to be free and to help others come to freedom in Jesus Christ. Jesus cast out demons (Luke 4:17-19; Matthew 4:24; Acts 10:38), ordained the twelve (Matthew 10:1, 7, 8; Luke 9:1), sent out the seventy (Luke 10: 17) and among others has commissioned the church to preach, heal the sick and cast out devils (Mark 16:15-18) in His name.
How can we be free?
- The Word of God
“When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with His Word, and healed all that were sick:”
Matthew 8:16 KJV
“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
John 6:63 KJV
“And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.””
Matthew 9:28 NKJV
“For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.”
1 Thessalonians 2:13 KJV
Few days ago, I listened to a testimony of a young girl that had been adopted and was obviously possessed by an evil spirit. Before a phone call with the girl, the man, who shared the testimony, had read various Bible verses about the love of God, the Father. Her father had recently left home and through the feeling of rejection and unnecessary guilt, an evil spirit had gained entry but through the truth, she gained freedom.
The Word of God is very powerful, not by shouting or not shouting, but by BELIEVING in the power of God to save us, that is, putting our entire trust in what He says and committing our lives to Him. If we do not believe then we do not get the power therein.
2. Cooperating with God by putting away or getting rid of that which is not of God.
“And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds.
Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totalled fifty thousand pieces of silver.
So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.”
Acts 19:18-20 NKJV
The people did not just accept truth, they threw out what did not agree with the faith, even though the items cost a lot. In our day, we would say they threw out the movies, songs, games, books, and every item that do not glorify God.
3. Putting on the Whole Armor
“Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—”
Ephesians 6:14-18 NKJV
Every part of the armor of God is necessary to protect the Christian. The sword of truth is important to attack, but defending, the head, the body, the feet is just as important. If the feet are not covered, that becomes a target for the devil
4. Fasting and Prayer (if my people would humble themselves)
“However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.””
Matthew 17:21 NKJV
“if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
II Chronicles 7:14 NKJV
We need to fast, not because God wants to see us starve to know how desperate we are but because it is a humbling experience. When we are humble, God can work with us and through us.
Mary Magdalene who was set free of seven demons became the first to see Jesus after His resurrection.
Every day comes with different struggles. Some days, it appears we are crushing it and glorifying God and other days seem like a big struggle. Whatever may come our way, God is constant and is ever willing to save us just as He saved Mary.
The Word of God is true, it is living. Memorize God’s Word today and as you are being freed, go into the world to help others be truly free.
Little Tittles 
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