Demon-possessed

[Hockey_Fan]

I have no idea which forum in which to post this, but....

How can one tell if a person is demon-possessed or has an evil spirit in them?

Is there anything one can do about it?

 

[JimB]

I was taught that we can know if a person is demonized in one of two ways—by discernment or by detection.

Sometimes the Lord reveals to us that a person is demonized (discerning of spirits). Sometimes it is, well, obvious (detection). Both have worked for me in helping me serve the spiritual needs of demonizedd people.

~Jim

I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you. ​

 

[Elijah2]

I have no idea which forum in which to post this, but....

How can one tell if a person is demon-possessed or has an evil spirit in them?

Is there anything one can do about it?

There are many ways, but first of the word is "demonisation" and not "possessed", as a Christian can be influenced, oppressed, and suppressed, but NOT "possessed".

This can be discerned by the Spiritual Gift of the discerning of spirits, and by their attitude and behaviour.

It's really and indepth subject.

Why do you ask?

Blessings!

 

[sebastian]

i'd add that if you don't know what your doing, then don't do anything if you can help it. find help from experienced people.

 

[SharonL]

From someone that didn't even know this was possible all I can say is the Holy Spirit will let you know.

I knew nothing about it and my best friend had 3 familiar spirits in her - they started manifesting at night to her and she considered them her friends. The Holy Spirit gave me a quick education - when I tried to talk to her about it, she laughed at me and said I was the one with the bad spirits.

The Lord put up with it for just so long - and then finally drew a line in the sand after she was saying she would never get rid of the spirits because they were her friend.

The Holy Spirit just said - no more and that was it - I was to do nothing because they were invited in - if I had cast them out and she wanted them, they would return and bring 7 more and she would be worse off than before.

The Holy Spirit will give you guidance as you need it and let you know what you are dealing with.

 

[ydouxist]

i'd add that if you don't know what your doing, then don't do anything if you can help it. find help from experienced people.

Agreed. Good advice.

I had a friend who had a severe stuttering problem.
I suggested that it may be a spiritual and not physical condition.
I prayed a simple prayer, and next thing I know these things started talking to me.
This continued for hours. I had no idea it would take this long and I wasn't prepared.
Choose your battles wisely. I suggest you pray and fast before you attempt any deliverance.

"Age and treachery will overtake youth and zeal"
Some leave without a fight others may challenge you.

 

[Supplanter]

I've discerned them through the Holy Spirit and also had them reveal themselves. Often I doubted what I was discerning at first but then as I prayed and sought God, he always revealed to me the truth. In the times that they are revealed, especially one specific incidence I can remember, it was during a small group prayer time.

We had been together for awhile, just my friend and I and had learned to move together in the Spirit through this prayer with one another and the Lord. A friend of ours asked to join so we could teach her how to pray. We told her that we couldn't really teach her much about it, but that if she wanted to join us then we would help her seek the Holy Spirit to teach her, because that was how we had learned.

She joined us and she kept falling out in the Spirit, at least that was what we thought was going on and nothing else. It was a little weird. None of us had ever seen it before, but believed that it could happen. This went on for quite sometime, over a period of weeks. We knew something was going on but couldn't quite put our finger on it. Really, it was hard for us to believe that this girl could be this oppressed by demonic spirits given how we knew her. But anyone can be. We didn't discus this with her because every time, she left out little prayer meeting, she would talk about how wonderful she felt afterwards.

Anyway, it all culminated one night in a park we went to to pray. This had to be God's hand in this. No one was around in the park at that time and we began to pray. Often we began our prayers with worship. I would usually sing as I felt lead and m friend would join in or begin praying in tongues or in English before we got into a more focused prayer session and went through sort of trade-offs as the Spirit moved within us. We had learned to move together in this way.

I was holding this girls hand and so was my friend as she sang along with me and I kept looking at her because a white film seemed to appear over her, but I could hardly believe it. Then her voice kept getting lower and lower as she sang. It finally got so low and distorted that it sounded electronic.

She fell out. I caught her and we laid her on the ground. We stood there looking at one another momentarily stunned because we knew what we were seeing was a demon manifesting. We had briefly discussed this one another, but not with her after her last fall-out session. At that point, we weren't sure about moving forward with casting it out, so we waited and prayed. We knew that this was the time to do it whether we felt prepared or not. Out in the open with no one around.

We stepped off about 10 feet and began to pray about the cross and the blood of Christ. My friend got up and hovered around us but stayed about 5 feet off. Her eyes looked empty at that point and she didn't say anything, just hovered. My friend and I prayed for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and surrendered this situation to Him and asked Him to just guide us to do the right thing. At this point she came over close to us and grabbed our hands and dug her nails into them.

I stepped behind her and my friend stood in front of her and began speaking in tongues as she held her hand just over her forehead. At this point she fell back into my arms and we laid on he on the ground once again. THis time we bagan to pray over her. I began praying in tongues and then my friend bagan to rebuke the demons that were oppresing this girl. At that point, the demon manifested as a white fog coming out of her and our friend on the ground began screaming and convulsing.

The sight of that did make me cry, because 1) I was scared and 2) It is hard to imagine what sort of torment your friend has been through and for how long. However, we both just kept praying over her. So, ts t for the faint-hearted.

When it was all over, she jumped up and began praising God. She said she felt so much better, but she doesn't remember at all what happened and my friend and I didn't tell her everything. We did talk to her and got to the root of what most likely caused this particular spirit, so that she would know and not allow it a foothold again.

Basically, demons will try to fight against the presence of God. They don't stand a chance, but this demon was basically drawn out and revealed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I'm no expert or anything, and sorry that this is so long but thought it might be useful to you in some way. I would say that it is much better if you have someone to stand in agreement with you. Two are better than one. There is indeed strength in numbers, but the greatest strength comes from the Holy Spirit.

 

[ARBITER01]

Good Post Supplanter.

Demonization is a subject that a lot of Christians are afraid of and argue against or for, but somewhere along the line, we are going to have to confront these things as we continue to mature in holiness.

To the OP, demonic spirits are revealed through spiritual discernment or physically by the discerning of spirits gift. Prayer is our foremost tool in removing them as well as we can have members in the body of Christ with a ministry in the gifts of healings to do so.
​

 

[Supplanter]

Good Post Supplanter.

Demonization is a subject that a lot of Christians are afraid of and argue against or for, but somewhere along the line, we are going to have to confront these things as we continue to mature in holiness.

To the OP, demonic spirits are revealed through spiritual discernment or physically by the discerning of spirits gift. Prayer is our foremost tool in removing them as well as we can have members in the body of Christ with a ministry in the gifts of healings to do so.
​

Thanks.

You're right about having to confront these things. It still amazes me how many Christians don't believe that demons exist or that they are not something that really manifest and can have a great deal of influence on people's lives. But I suppose it shouldn't surprise me too much. What could be a better plan than to convince people that evil forces do not exist so that way they won't fight against them as they ransack their lives?

 

[Elijah2]

Before we take on the enemy, we need to fully understand the "earthly and heavenly things" of the natural and supernatural realm

New chums don't go into no-man's land without their Armour on. If you haven't anointed grenades or a spiritual rifle then stay at camp, because you can get burnt and destroyed.

Don't go chasing them, they will find you, they are there all the time roaming around like a roaring lion seeking to devour you (1 Pet. 5:8).

Please explain more, why you are interested in this ministry?

Blessings.

 

[liketotalk]

Yes, great post Supplanter! I can relate to it alot. I had a similar experience a few years ago with a close family member. It was upsetting to say the least. But praise God this person is saved and serving the Lord now.

 

[AudioArtist]

Before we take on the enemy, we need to fully understand the "earthly and heavenly things" of the natural and supernatural realm

New chums don't go into no-man's land without their Armour on. If you haven't anointed grenades or a spiritual rifle then stay at camp, because you can get burnt and destroyed.

You are right... I have known people who are most probably demonized in some way - and I sensed that even though I knew Christ was Lord over these things, I was not ready to just run in there and cast them out myself. I felt that I should wait, or call in others more experienced to confront the issue.

 

[SharonL]

Let me ask this? I knew someone that thought they were talking to their guardian angel, but was a spirit guide - she passed away - the dog she had and was overly protective of it seems crazy - can the demons that possess humans go on to possess dogs? This dog never stops - paces all the time, stops in the middle of the floor like it sees something. It is spooky to be around that dog.

 

[gratefulgrace]

Well there are biblical examples of Jesus expelling the demons and them running into the herd of swine so who knows. Maybe you should pray over the dog and see what happens? (make sure your prepared like E2 says). OR it could be that the dog is just old senile or really misses its owner. gg

 

[Elijah2]

Let me ask this? I knew someone that thought they were talking to their guardian angel, but was a spirit guide - she passed away - the dog she had and was overly protective of it seems crazy - can the demons that possess humans go on to possess dogs? This dog never stops - paces all the time, stops in the middle of the floor like it sees something. It is spooky to be around that dog.

Hi Shaz,

Yep, when demons leave a “house”, that is, the “soul” of the body, it goes to dry places and seeks another “house”, another "soul".

There are only two reasons when demons leave a “house”; when they are cast out by the power of our Almighty God, our Lord Jesus Christ; or when the person dies.

When the demons leave their “house”, they roam around like a “roaring lion” in dry places "seeking whom they can devour".

If they can't find another “house”, then they will return to the "house" that they came from, and try to re-enter, and if they re-enter, they will normally take other demons with them, and make that person worse off than they were before.

If they can’t find another human being, then they will reside in an animal, such as dogs, horses, birds, cats, and so on and so on. That is another eason when those who believe in reincarnation will say that at sometime in their life they were an elephant, Shirley MacLean, Film Actrist, is an exampl of such, because the demons that dwell in those people probably had been residing in an elephant.

On many occasions when a person dies, those demons in those people will make a “soul tie” with a member of the family. And when that demon leaves it doesn’t go to dry places it takes up residence in the other member of the family through what we refer to as “transference” or “impartation”.

Therefore, demons are transferred from the owner of animals into their animals.

There is much more to this, but I won't take this any further.

Blessings.

 

[Elijah2]

Hi Supp,

I've discerned them through the Holy Spirit and also had them reveal themselves. Often I doubted what I was discerning at first but then as I prayed and sought God, he always revealed to me the truth. In the times that they are revealed, especially one specific incidence I can remember, it was during a small group prayer time.
This is so, and most of us in the healing ministry can’t minister if we are in our own strength and sometimes flesh, as in the case of many “hit-and-miss” ministries who do more damage than good, as they are experimenting.

We had been together for awhile, just my friend and I and had learned to move together in the Spirit through this prayer with one another and the Lord. A friend of ours asked to join so we could teach her how to pray. We told her that we couldn't really teach her much about it, but that if she wanted to join us then we would help her seek the Holy Spirit to teach her, because that was how we had learned.
First off, when you are involved with this sort of thing, do you bring the person to confession and repentance of sin, and to forgiveness of those who have offended, hurt, or abused them. Or in the case that the person may have been actively involved in the Occult, Witchcraft, Satanism, or had dabble with the Ouija board?

You may think you have set them free, but those demons of those powers of darkness are strong demons and they are not easy to shift.

She joined us and she kept falling out in the Spirit, at least that was what we thought was going on and nothing else.
What’s this “falling out in the spirit”? Doesn’t make any sense!

It was a little weird. None of us had ever seen it before, but believed that it could happen.
Believe that could happen? Mate, we believe in faith knowing full well that we have authority of demons.

This went on for quite sometime, over a period of weeks. We knew something was going on but couldn't quite put our finger on it. Really, it was hard for us to believe that this girl could be this oppressed by demonic spirits given how we knew her.
Mate, many Christians are demonised, and they are demonised because their “house is empty, swept, and put in order”. They haven’t confessed or repented their sins, and they still have unforgiveness in their “soul”.

They are like this because they haven’t: submitted to HIM; or drawn near to HIM; or cleansed their hands; or purified their heart; or resisted Satan and his demons; or confessed and repented their sins; or forgiven those who trespassed against them, other words their “house isn’t filled; cleansed and purified; transformed and renewed; and walking in obedience and discipline to His Word and our Lord Jesus Christ”!

I know a lot of Christians who are demonised, because they have been seduced and deceived by false teachers, and false beliefs, which is fed to them by the “doctrine of demons”, and not the philosophy of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But anyone can be. We didn't discus this with her because every time, she left out little prayer meeting, she would talk about how wonderful she felt afterwards.
This is normal, as usually you find it’s their demons that are saying how wonderful they feel, to put you off your task. I’ve seen fall down paralysed to stop them from being cast out, as if they are dead. I’ve seen them scream out that they will not leave, and I tell you so, they won’t leave either, because that person hasn’t been fed His TRUE Word, and has not submitted to our Lord Jesus Christ. After all, HIS WORD says to submit to our Lord Jesus Christ and the demons will flee.

Anyway, it all culminated one night in a park we went to pray. This had to be God's hand in this. No one was around in the park at that time and we began to pray. Often we began our prayers with worship. I would usually sing as I felt lead and m friend would join in or begin praying in tongues or in English before we got into a more focused prayer session and went through sort of trade-offs as the Spirit moved within us. We had learned to move together in this way.
That’s good having a prayer partner, did you fast beforehand, and did you have any oil, and were you preparing to pray “The Prayer of Faith”?

I was holding this girls hand and so was my friend as she sang along with me and I kept looking at her because a white film seemed to appear over her, but I could hardly believe it. Then her voice kept getting lower and lower as she sang. It finally got so low and distorted that it sounded electronic.
Two things it was either the Holy Spirit or it was the demon counterfeiting the phenomena. And it appears that you were experimenting?

She fell out. I caught her and we laid her on the ground. We stood there looking at one another momentarily stunned because we knew what we were seeing was a demon manifesting.
So, were you experimenting?

We had briefly discussed this one another, but not with her after her last fall-out session.
I now see what you “fall out” means---demons do this all the time, didn’t you know that?

At that point, we weren't sure about moving forward with casting it out, so we waited and prayed. We knew that this was the time to do it whether we felt prepared or not. Out in the open with no one around.
Where was the oil, you should have anointed her with oil there and then!

We stepped off about 10 feet and began to pray about the cross and the blood of Christ. My friend got up and hovered around us but stayed about 5 feet off. Her eyes looked empty at that point and she didn't say anything, just hovered.
Hovered???

My friend and I prayed for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and surrendered this situation to Him and asked Him to just guide us to do the right thing. At this point she came over close to us and grabbed our hands and dug her nails into them.
Why did she dig nails into you?

I stepped behind her and my friend stood in front of her and began speaking in tongues as she held her hand just over her forehead. At this point she fell back into my arms and we laid on he on the ground once again. THis time we bagan to pray over her. I began praying in tongues and then my friend bagan to rebuke the demons that were oppresing this girl. At that point, the demon manifested as a white fog coming out of her and our friend on the ground began screaming and convulsing.
Yes, this will happens, and nine times out of ten, they don’t leave!

The sight of that did make me cry, because 1) I was scared and 2) It is hard to imagine what sort of torment your friend has been through and for how long. However, we both just kept praying over her. So, ts t for the faint-hearted.
What else could you do?

When it was all over, she jumped up and began praising God. She said she felt so much better, but she doesn't remember at all what happened and my friend and I didn't tell her everything. We did talk to her and got to the root of what most likely caused this particular spirit, so that she would know and not allow it a foothold again.
Praise our Lord Jesus Christ!

So how is the girl now? Is she still free? Have you followed her up?

Basically, demons will try to fight against the presence of God. They don't stand a chance, but this demon was basically drawn out and revealed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
That is so, and I am still concerned about the girl.

Are you sure that she is completely set free, and you didn’t get DUPED by the demons in her? I’ve seen people like this who then float around the church in a form of godliness hat puts most off, believing that they are well.

Be very wary, my dear brother, because the roaring lion always roams around seeking whom they can devour.

I'm no expert or anything, and sorry that this is so long but thought it might be useful to you in some way. I would say that it is much better if you have someone to stand in agreement with you.
You need more that someone to stand in agreement with you my dear brother, because I’ve seen far too many Christians screwed up by “hit-and-miss” ministries.

Two are better than one. There is indeed strength in numbers, but the greatest strength comes from the Holy Spirit.
Mate, we all start off immature, and we gain our maturity in this ministry by reading good books written by GOD-anointed members of the healing and deliverance ministry.

Have you read any of Derek Prince’s and Francis MacNutt’s books on healing and deliverance?

We may feel that we have done HIS job, but there has to be follow-up with the person to ensure that they are set free in Jesus’ Name. And there are certain tests that you can use to see if that is so.

Demons are smart, and I’ve seen many who claim they are delivered and set free from captivity, but that was the demons, because those demons that came out of the people were MINOR demons, and the PRIMARY demons were still there, hidden away, laying dormant ready to strike.

In many incidences, people have said that something left them, but later on they still felt a dark shadow hovering over them.

Do some follow up to ensure that the person is definitely set free, and their house isn’t empty, swept, and put in order (Luke 11:24-26).

Blessings.

 

[Elijah2]

Good Post Supplanter.​

Demonization is a subject that a lot of Christians are afraid of and argue against or for, but somewhere along the line, we are going to have to confront these things as we continue to mature in holiness.​

To the OP, demonic spirits are revealed through spiritual discernment or physically by the discerning of spirits gift. Prayer is our foremost tool in removing them as well as we can have members in the body of Christ with a ministry in the gifts of healings to do so.​

Yes, they are afraid of them, because of the false teaching and doctrine that flows around the foyers of the Body of Christ.

Also, because of the "hit-and-miss" ministries, and those self-claimed deliverers who impart false spirits into those who they lay hands on, such as, many of the false revivals we see today.

Many in the Body of Christ squash any real Spiritual Warfare, and healing and deliverance ministries.

Blessings!

 

[Elijah2]

Well there are biblical examples of Jesus expelling the demons and them running into the herd of swine so who knows. Maybe you should pray over the dog and see what happens? (make sure your prepared like E2 says). OR it could be that the dog is just old senile or really misses its owner. gg

You could anoint the dog with "oil" or "salt", but do pray beforehand and put leather gloves on.

 

[Hockey_Fan]

Thanks for the responses.

I have a friend who is going through a really hard time. Not that that, in itself, is totally strange. He's depressed and, at times, suicidal. Feels the whole world is against him. Got laid off from his job, had a relationship breakup and is in the process of filing for bankruptcy.

He's quite angry, even to the point of wanting to take it out on someone. He's really not a bad guy, just a bit moody, perhaps. Right now, he is pretty withdrawn and doesn't socialize much. Cut off from family and has just a small handful of friends. Sometimes feels rather paranoid, that the government is spying on him, etc. Can go from quiet and withdrawn to loud and threatening in a very short time. Says he's been to counselors and taken various anti-depressant drugs, but that they haven't helped him much.

A lot of his emotions could be explained quite naturally, but I was just wondering if the mood swings and personality stuff was a symptom of being possessed. I don't want to say anything like to that to his face, because if someone came up to me and said I was possessed, I would be hurt and offended. So I don't want to do that. And I don't have any real "proof", either.

Was just curious if things like that actually happened to people.

 

[Elijah2]

Thanks for the responses.

I have a friend who is going through a really hard time. Not that that, in itself, is totally strange. He's depressed and, at times, suicidal. Feels the whole world is against him. Got laid off from his job, had a relationship breakup and is in the process of filing for bankruptcy.

He's quite angry, even to the point of wanting to take it out on someone. He's really not a bad guy, just a bit moody, perhaps. Right now, he is pretty withdrawn and doesn't socialize much. Cut off from family and has just a small handful of friends. Sometimes feels rather paranoid, that the government is spying on him, etc. Can go from quiet and withdrawn to loud and threatening in a very short time. Says he's been to counselors and taken various anti-depressant drugs, but that they haven't helped him much.

A lot of his emotions could be explained quite naturally, but I was just wondering if the mood swings and personality stuff was a symptom of being possessed. I don't want to say anything like to that to his face, because if someone came up to me and said I was possessed, I would be hurt and offended. So I don't want to do that. And I don't have any real "proof", either.

Was just curious if things like that actually happened to people.

G’day mate,

I have a friend who is going through a really hard time.
Is your friend a believer in our Lord Jesus Christ?

Not that that, in itself, is totally strange. He's depressed and, at times, suicidal.
When we are angry, bitter, resentful, rejected, and feel that we have been emotionally and physically abused, then what else can you expect, if you have no faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, if your friend is a Christian, then they need to confess and repent their sins, such as anger, bitterness, resentfulness, and possibly hatred; also the thought of suicide. Then they need to ask HIM for forgiveness and then forgive those people who they are angry, bitter, and resentful toward.

Feels the whole world is against him. Got laid off from his job, had a relationship breakup and is in the process of filing for bankruptcy.
Yep, they are really in the “war”, and this is how the enemy works, as he comes to steal, destroy, and kill.

We can pray for them, and ask our Lord Jesus Christ to protect them, and if they are not a Christian then all we can ask is for HIM to put another person across their path to bring them to know HIM.

He's quite angry, even to the point of wanting to take it out on someone.
Well, if they are a Christian then they need to remember that HIS WORD says not to let the sun set on anger, and don’t allow the root of bitterness to rise up and defile others.

Double-mindedness will cause all of these trials, and with the help of Satan and his forces.

He's really not a bad guy, just a bit moody, perhaps.
He can not be a bad guy, and a bit moody, but without our Lord Jesus Christ in his life then what can you do, but to bring him to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Right now, he is pretty withdrawn and doesn't socialize much. Cut off from family and has just a small handful of friends. Sometimes feels rather paranoid, that the government is spying on him, etc.
Why do you think he is paranoid? Has he shared with you, why he feels this way?

Can go from quiet and withdrawn to loud and threatening in a very short time.
Of course he will, particularly if he isn’t a Christians, Satan’s forces are giving him a hard time, to stop him from receiving our Lord Jesus Christ, if he isn’t a Christian. Now if he is a Christian, then I would be doubly concerned, because that’s not the action of a believer in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Says he's been to counselors and taken various anti-depressant drugs, but that they haven't helped him much.
Of course they won’t help him, because there are deeper spiritual problems in his life.

A lot of his emotions could be explained quite naturally, but I was just wondering if the mood swings and personality stuff was a symptom of being possessed.
Normally, seven times out of ten. And if he isn’t a Christian, then ten times our of ten, particularly you are his friend, and you are a Christian.

I don't want to say anything like to that to his face, because if someone came up to me and said I was possessed, I would be hurt and offended.
I am confused; because the way you are talking I can only discern that he is an unbeliever. Now if he is a believer then he needs to be set free from bondage, and delivered from evil, because all the things he is thinking is evil.

So I don't want to do that. And I don't have any real "proof", either.
Mate, if he is a Christian he needs to see a good GOD-anointed counsellor in the healing and deliverance ministry, and he really needs to get rid of all his garbage that is buried in his “soul”.

Our task is to submit to our Lord Jesus Christ, we are to draw near to HIM, we are to resist Satan and his forces, we are to cleanse our hands and purify our heart, and to humble ourself.

Does he do those things?

Was just curious if things like that actually happened to people.
Yes, things like that happen to many Christians, and a lot more to non-Christians.