Can I ask you a question?

The other day I was talking with a young woman from town and she asked me, Can I ask you a question? When I said, Sure, she replied, What do you or your church believe about exorcism? I said, Well, it depends on what you are referring to. She said, Well, people having demons. I have asked several different people about it (a priest, her father, maybe another pastor), but no one really wants to talk about it...

What would you say if someone asked you the same question?

The Bible is always a good place to start... If the Bible talks about people who had demons controlling their lives, why wouldn't we? We don't skip over other areas of the Bible, so why this topic? I told her that there are many people, even within our extended church body, that probably wouldn't be real comfortable talking about the topic. (If you are interested in some of the reasons why this is an avoided topic you can revisit this post.) But I am not one of them. No, not at all. :) Of course, there are reasons for that... A lot of people don't know that dealing with demons and spiritual warfare has been a part of my life for a long time, long before I even knew what the words meant or that my experiences weren't "normal" or experienced by all. But praise God, in His perfect timing He brought me to a place in my life where a lot of things came together: the recognition of my need, desire to rid my life of Satan's control, knowledge, resources, and the support I needed to be able to find freedom through Christ.

As we continued to talk, this young woman admitted that she had had various experiences herself, things she had seen and sensed. She mentioned things within her family that revealed that there are definitely generational elements to her issues... And all in all I have to think, the question isn't really what do we think about it... but rather, what do we do about it?

If you want to want to know what to do about demonic control or issues, one of the first things to understand is how Satan gets control in our lives. A common way we "open the door" to Satan is through sin: our own, sin committed against us (ie: abuse), or by unresolved sin in past generations. Or we give power to Satan through the lies that we believe about ourselves, God, and others. Occult activity is a sure way to turn over control in your life to Satan, but often we don't take seriously the fact that sin like unforgiveness, pride, fear, rebellion, gossip, and dishonesty can do the same (though maybe in a way that is slightly more subtle). I could go on, but if you want a good tool to help you recognize the ways you may have given over control to Satan in areas of your life I recommend Steps to Freedom in Christ by Neil T. Anderson, which you can find here or here.

Personally, I am amazed at how much ground we give to Satan in our lives out of our own ignorance and also by our arrogance, thinking, oh, it isn't really that big of a deal. It is just a book, just a movie, just a game,... It won't effect me, won't effect my kids... (Our thoughts can originate from three different sources: the Holy Spirit, ourselves, or Satan/demons... I can pretty much guarantee you where those thoughts come from!) Who are we kidding? (Not Satan, that is for sure.) To be honest, it is easy to brush things off as not that big of a deal or not that serious until you see a child in torment at no or little fault of their own but because someone didn't take the battle that we are in seriously. Someone opened a door maybe thinking that they were strong enough to handle it, maybe selfishly thinking only about themselves, maybe seeking relief or power or pleasure, maybe not realizing how their actions would effect their children and how they would effect future generations...

Once you realize you have "doors open" in your life, what do you do? The Bible talks about renouncing, forsaking sin. We are to bring to light what Satan wants to keep in the darkness. He loses power when we expose him. We are to confess, renounce, and forsake sin, ask for God's cleansing through the blood of Christ. We cancel the ground in our life given to Satan and reclaim it for Christ. Then we exercise the authority given to us in Christ and in Jesus' name we command Satan and his wicked spirits to leave and to go to Jesus. That may seem too simple, but it really is the root of the matter. 

Going back to my conversation with the young woman, she went on to ask a few other questions that no one had been able to answer her in the past (questions that were a little more "socially acceptable" on the topic of evolution vs. creation, etc). I was once again thankful to be able to answer her with Truth. But as I later was driving away from our meeting I had to think back to her first question and as I reflected on it I was led to praise. Praise God for my past. Praise God for the many years of suffering, the terror I have experienced, the torment I endured. Praise God, that because of my past I don't have to be another person that skirts this question in this young woman's life. Praise God, I can speak truth and freedom to one more person that Satan is using, terrorizing, and controlling. Praise God for Christ and that because of Him we are given the opportunity to be free from Satan's torment. Praise God that in Christ we can find abundant life, hope, joy and peace.


Please continue to pray for us in the spiritual battles we face. Please pray against the spirit of fear, which does not come from God, but instead of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Tim. 1:7). Pray that we would be faithful to teach our kids how to fight against our cruel and ruthless enemy. Pray that God's purposes would be accomplished in each battle and that Christ would manifest Himself in Truth and power. Please pray for victory in God's way and God's perfect timing and that He would be glorified over all!

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10