Symptoms of Demonic Attachment
Let's talk about the symptoms of demonic attachment. There are several symptoms. One is hearing voices. (I'm not talking about hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit.) If somebody has a spirit guide or if he's in communication with dead people, this is not a good thing. If people say they are in communication with God, you might need to always test those spirits.
I was a counselor at a Spirit West Coast event a couple of summers ago. There was an evangelistic meeting that was going on across the place and most people were at it. But somebody had to be at the prayer tent along the main place. So I was the only one at the prayer booth, and a man came in for prayer. Of course I wasn't expecting anything major when this guy came in. He said, "Well I need some prayer for the new ministry I feel like God has called me to do." I said, "Really?" He said, "Yeah." He said, "God always speaks to me. In fact, God gives me a lot of scripture that's not in the Bible." That was clue number one that something was wrong. I said, "Is that so?" He said, "Yeah. I'd like you to pray that God will help me in this ministry because I'm trying to start a ministry with children and I'd like to gather an army of children together and I'd like for you to pray that these parents will just simply let these kids go with me." My yellow flags were waving as he said this. In fact, they turned from yellow to red. I said, "Is that so?"
I began to talk to him a little bit about the way that God was speaking to him and about all this extra scripture that this person was getting. And I asked, "Do you have a church that you belong to?" He said, "No. I attend a couple, but I don't have a church that I'm committed to."
That was a warning light, warning that he was not under authority. "Do you have a pastor or someone who you call or consider a pastor?" I asked. He said, "Well, no I don't." "Do you have anybody who can speak into your life?" I asked. He said, "Well, no." I said, "OK. Can I pray for you now?"
At that moment he took off running and halfway turned around, just said a few choice words to me and he would not let me pray for him. Now this guy was hearing real voices and it wasn't the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Whenever a person hears voices, we must remember that there are some mental conditions where people hear voices that are simply due to some imbalance in their brain. I'm not talking about that. But I'm talking about a person who is hearing "real" voices -- and they need to discern if these voices are coming on the outside or are coming on the inside. You need to discern here. A lot of times when the voices do come, darkness comes as an angel of light. And if the person hears something that is not God -- there is an inroad there. There is something that needs to be cut off. It is important to discern the difference between God's voice and the devil's voice.
Another symptom is any uncontrollable sin. Uncontrollable sin is when a person knows he is going to do something. He doesn't want to do it, but he can't help himself. He does it anyway. He knows he's about to do it again and he doesn't want to do it, but finds himself doing it anyhow. And afterward he experiences a lot of remorse and guilt. He thinks how dumb, how stupid that was. But, at the time it was so compulsive, so uncontrollable that the person couldn't stop it if he wanted to. He tries to put the brakes on, but he is just unable to do so. He finds himself falling right into it and afterward there seems to be a little bit more control in his life. But at the time he can't control it, and he doesn't understand and then there's the great remorse and great guilt. Usually when that happens, there is probably some demonic attachment there.
The next symptom is a habitual uncontrollable behavior. It's very similar to the uncontrollable sin. But here I just use the terminology "behavior," not necessarily sin; it's just uncontrollable behavior. Compulsions that rule our lives, they are just out of control in some areas. What starts out to be a habit turns into a compulsion. They are just driven by this. And this thing may not necessarily be sin, but it's just as disabling. It disables them. It's kind of like people who are cutters. There are people who cut themselves. Mostly it's young people. If you talk to them and ask, "Why do you do this?" They say, "I don't know. I can't help it. I couldn't control it when I did it." They have these little scars and these cuts all up and down their arms and they're always cutting themselves to bleed. I ask, "Why are you doing that?" A lot of them say, "I can't help it. I can't control it. I can't stop it. Something tells me to do this and drives me to do it and I do it." Be real suspicious when that happens.
Another symptom is abnormal emotions, such as an overwhelming sense of negative emotions like a dominating fear. It may be simply an unrealistic fear. But yet even though it is unrealistic for them to have that fear, it's still real to them. I'm not saying that all fear or all emotions that seem to be a little quirky are demonic; but if it is very abnormal and consuming, you should at least check it out. At least be a little suspicious.
An example is a woman who has a fear of rape. Now, there should be some very normal checks and balances and warnings that God gives a woman. In other words, she pulls up to the parking garage and it's all dark. OK. Those are normal cautions. When a woman gets around certain people, there are certain normal cautions. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about when it's dominating and consuming her -- even around people when it just shouldn't be there. Then you have to be real suspicious.
Another example is an irrational fear of rejection. Every time they get around somebody, they think, "You're going to reject me, you're going to reject me, nobody's going to like me, you're always going to reject me." They approach every situation assuming that they will be rejected. If that dominates their life, then be real suspicious.
Another symptom is the person who is consumed with bitterness and unforgiveness. They just refuse to give it up or to release or let go of that bitterness -- be real suspicious.
Another symptom is when somebody has a chronic sickness, maybe even hereditary, something they can't seem to get rid of. I'm not saying their sickness is demonized or somebody is demonized; I'm not saying that at all. But there are some sicknesses, like we read earlier, that are caused by demons. Always check that out. You don't know. Now, obviously if you had a car wreck and you have a bad back from having a car wreck, you can't say, "Well, that demon got hold of my back." No, you just had a car wreck, but always check it out. Just always check it out if it's chronic.
There are a few other symptoms. Rage is one. It is an uncontrollable emotion. I talked about that earlier when I talked about myself. Another symptom is habitual depression, which could be a chemical imbalance. Just check it out. You just don't know. Another one would be self-hatred. People who just can't learn to love themselves because of self-hatred, always thinking about suicide. I'm not talking about the person who has the occasional pity party, because we all go through that from time to time. If things don't go our way, we throw our little pity parties. I'm talking about the person who is simply consumed with depression.
Now let me throw something in here. Just because a person is mentally ill doesn't mean that they're demonized. I know some people want to put all mentally ill people in the category of people who are demonized, but I don't do that. I think some people are born in a way that there is simply a brain deficiency. It could be that they were born with something that wasn't there. There may be something that doesn't connect adequately. Some of it could be a physiological nerve-ending problem. Some people could have a chemical imbalance in their bodies. For some people, you just get them on a good diet and it will cure them. They just deplete their bodies of so many things, and that just causes the brain not to work and function adequately.
That's why we really need discernment in this area, because a lot of people can have those things that are there and really not be demonic at all. What I'm saying is that when these things are there, just be a little suspicious. Don't assume that just because they're having those symptoms, they are demonized. But, here again, be real suspicious if that happens. Make allowances for that.
I know some don't believe in demons. I remember attending a conference one time and the guy didn't believe in demons. And I challenged him on that over and over again. I said, "How can you not believe in demons? You believe the Bible, but you don't believe in demons." He said, "Well, I believe they were just like, they were just mental illness." So what did Jesus do? Did He cast that mental illness into a bunch of pigs, and that's why they went off the cliff -- because they were mentally depressed?
You know, there are some things that you just can't quite get an explanation on. But the truth is, I don't think that everybody that we may characterize as being demonized is. There may be something actually mental or physiological than can be at its root. So don't put everybody who is struggling in that area as being demonized. That is not to say that they don't have a critter or two, even in the midst of mental illness either.
Demonic Manifestations
Let's talk about demonic manifestations. Now let me just say, when we come to these manifestations, here again, just because they have the manifestations doesn't mean there is a demon. Just be real suspicious. OK? Just be real suspicious.
What are some of these manifestations? One is facial contortions, where the person's face is contorting. The face is so amazing, the muscles it has in it that it can contort like it does. But I also say the flesh can also contort. So, just because you see a face contorting, doesn't mean that they have a demon. It could be that they just had a kidney stone or something. That will cause the face to contort. But, if you're in the midst of ministering and all of a sudden there is a facial contortion, it's OK to be suspicious of that.
Another manifestation is screaming. When Jesus delivered that boy, that thing came out with a scream. Just because there is screaming doesn't mean that they're demonized, but it can be. Another manifestation is a rigid body. This is when they get really stiff and they can't move. It's kind of like rigor mortis has set in. Well, be suspicious.
I will have to say this. I was reading the book on the Shantung Revival, which is God's outpouring in China, and in that particular outpouring, as people fell under conviction of sin, they had a rigid body. They just got stiff and that was the work of the Holy Spirit. Now here again it takes great discernment. If a person gets really stiff and gets really rigid, don't just say, "Demon!" You don't know. I mean, if you address it the way you know how to address demons and if nothing comes out, then you think well, this may not be it. You'll have that.
Here is another manifestation: eyes rolling around and a lack of eye contact. Matthew chapter 6:22 says, "The eye is the lamp of the body. If therefore your eye is clear your whole body will be full of light." Now, there is a lot of spiritual symbolic meaning in this as well, but there is some very literal meaning in this. When I'm praying for somebody and I'm trying to discern a demon and I tell them to look into my eyes. And they can't, I become real suspicious. When you say, "Look into my eyes," and they are backing away and looking away, be suspicious. You go, "Look in my eyes," and they go, "I can't, I can't, I just can't do it." Why not? They just don't want to look at you. OK, be real suspicious. I mean it's moving up the ladder here. In other words, be extremely suspicious.
By the way, there is also a lot of discernment. You'll be able to discern a lot of times by looking at their eyes, whether or not there is a demon present. Now it just takes one or two times of looking at that for you to recognize it. And once you see it, it's kind of a glazed-over look and you'll just see it in their eyes and you'll recognize you're not speaking to that person. You're thinking, "Who is in the house?" You're looking at this person and you're able to discern it. I think a lot of it is discernment as well. You just need to discern it and to see it.
I've been engaged in conversation with people before and all of a sudden I realize I am not speaking to that person. I am speaking to a spirit and that changes every way that I begin to communicate with that person. That is because I realize I'm not talking to them, I'm talking to that spirit. Now I didn't figure this one out for a long time and I ministered to a lot of demonized people before I ever figured this one out. But once I did, it is one of the things I look for. Whenever I'm ministering, I stare right through that person's eyes and I try to see what is there. You make people uncomfortable when you do that. You'll find out when you say, "Well, look me in the eyes." They'll go, "No. I feel naked inside when you do that." And if they say that, you'll know that you've got the Holy Spirit that's penetrating here. But the eyes are one of the ways that you discern and once you do see that in people's eyes, you really don't forget it. You will recognize it every time if you see it.
Another manifestation is changing voices. When you're ministering to somebody and they start changing voices, be real suspicious here as well. Usually it is that person's voice. It is that voice, either their vocal chords are getting constricted or getting loosened, normally beyond their normal capacity. If a man comes out with a woman's voice, it's usually that person's vocal chords that have been simply constricted very tightly. Or a woman who has a man's voice; it's usually her voice and it is simply enlarged and it comes across male, larger than she normally would or could do. There has been, I think, only one time in my life where I've actually encountered a voice coming from a person that wasn't that person, but that is a very rare thing. Most of you will never encounter that. (I don't know, I'm just lucky I guess, to get some of these kinds of encounters.)
I also found out the more you get armed up for this stuff, the more the enemy doesn't like to do a lot of this manifestation stuff because they kind of sense the authority that is there. They know once they expose themselves they are kind of a cooked goose. They can pretty much sense that. But changing voices is a manifestation you will probably encounter.
Another manifestation is a foul odor. Now I am not talking about the type of foul odor that happens just after burritos the night before. There is a stench that sometimes arises and I don't know if this is physical or spiritual. It is very distinctive. Once you smell it, you will never forget that smell. It is the most rotten egg smell and it is a stench and it just fills the air and it can fill, and it may fill the air only for just a moment or two. It may be you just get a couple of breaths and then all of a sudden it's not there anymore. Or it may just kind of fill the air.
The next manifestation is what I would call a drunken stupor or drowsiness. This doesn't happen when the person shows up, it's usually when a demon begins to manifest and doesn't want to go out. All of a sudden the person gets real sleepy. It's like they need a little caffeine jump. They feel like, "I'm so tired, I just want to go. Oh, I'm just so sleepy I just need to lie down here. Can we do this another time? I'm just so tired." Or they enter into a drunken stupor where they are just kind of like not in control and that's happened to me several times.
When that happens, you need to rebuke that stupor. Say something like, "In the name of Jesus, I rebuke that stupor. I break it. I break drowsiness in the name of Jesus." You may have to persist in this a little bit, OK? You know, this thing may not want to stop immediately, so you may have to continue until you get some results.
Anytime you address the demonic, they are very stubborn -- so they don't always like to obey you immediately. It's kind of like a little kid. Have you ever disciplined a child? In the way that you discipline a child, they just sometimes look at you as you correct them and you have to keep correcting them until they do it. It's like the demon says, "I'm going to stay here until you really make me leave." A lot of times when you're casting out or addressing a demonic spirit, they are that way. They just don't like to leave and they're very stubborn so you've got to be persistent in this and stay with this thing. It may be real frustrating, but just have patience and stay with this.
By the way, on the opposite side of the spectrum, too, there can be a drunkenness that does come with the Holy Spirit. Some people may struggle with that one, but there is. There is a drunkenness. It's kind of like in Acts chapter 2 when Peter says, "These men are not drunk as you suppose." Why did they even have to put that in there? Were these guys acting in a behavior kind of like drunk people? Let's figure this thing out here. Apparently, everybody kept saying that these guys were drunk. That would have been the appearance that they had. So, that's on the positive side. But a lot of these people may enter into kind of a drunken stupor or drowsiness when there is a demon involved. So pray and use discernment to figure out which spirit is causing it.
There are other things, too. There is some really weird stuff. If somebody has been involved with witchcraft, they're going to have some really weird manifestations. And if they start doing weird things that are not in what we have described in this list of manifestations, it's a good sign. It's a good indication. We had this woman one time and she put her hands like a snake dancing. We were watching her and wondering what in the world is she doing? I can't believe this. And then she slithered on the floor. If you've never seen somebody slither, that is a highly unusual (or weird) thing. It's not like you're really made and designed like that physically. Our bodies aren't made to slither. They just aren't. But these are rare manifestations.
These are not normal things and usually whenever you run across this kind of weird extremities, then that is usually an indication that there probably is some involvement with witchcraft going on. Something is very entrenched in that person's life. And it may not be as easy as just rebuking that thing and just saying get out and leave. There are some things that the Lord wants to dismantle in their life. That particular woman went off for about an hour or two doing weird stuff like that. We finally sent her home. We said live with your demons. What can I say?
The problem is that some people do not want to get rid of their demons. They have to want to be free, or you should not be trying to set them free. If they want the demon and you drive it out, they will probably just invite it back in again.
I used to be under the impression that you just get everybody. You get them down until everything is gone. I've changed my philosophy. Neal Anderson wrote a book where he talks about the difference between truth encounters and power encounters. Truth encounters are the thing that we really want to speak to you and promote with the understanding that there are many times you cannot help but have a power encounter. Both encounters are appropriate, but if you're going to be pursuing one, pursue a truth encounter so you can help bring a person through the entire process and involve their will so you can involve them in this.
Now God began to move me from power encounters to truth encounters. When I first got started I didn't know anything else but power encounters. That's where you just face this thing and confront this thing head-on. And so, I would say from 1982 until 1987, for about five years there, I was having these encounters and confrontations on a regular basis and they were purely power encounters. Now there was something that changed me that moved me toward what I would call, or what Neal Anderson calls, a truth encounter and I was so glad when he finally wrote his book!
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