A Christian Response To Demonic Attack
If we are under demonic attack from outside, the answer is to submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee JAMES 4:7. We need to submit to God first and receive the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Then we are to fight the enemy with all the resources Paul lists in EPHESIANS 6:10-18.
If for some reason we find ourselves under demonic attack from inside us, we need to be set free from whatever spirit(s) have infiltrated us. This involves deliverance by one or more born again Christians called and anointed to this form of ministry.
Possible Symptoms of Demonic Infiltration include:
• difficulty in reading the Word of God, in praying or praising God during worship times
• a paradoxical attraction and repulsion to listening to the Word of God read or expounded in a church service
• a sudden desire to shout out or run out of a service at the mention of the Blood of Jesus
• a feeling that something or someone inside us is stopping us from moving deeper in our Christian walk
• a feeling that the whole family is under a curse because of a history of unexplained illnesses or tragedies down a family bloodline
Prior involvement in the occult before being born again is also a common source of problems, if the person has not confessed, repented of and renounced his/her involvement in the works of satan.
NOTE: It is important to eliminate all other possible explanations for a person's behaviour before concluding s/he may be demonically afflicted. This is because some psychiatric conditions have symptoms that are similar to those seen in a demonised person. The major distinction is the reactions to the Word of God, to prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, and the presence of the Holy Spirit in a Spirit-filled Christian. Psychiatric conditions do not in general react to the presence of the Holy Spirit or to the name of the LORD Jesus Christ, unless there is also demonic activity involved.
The following books are useful sources of information on this subject: Neil Anderson THE BONDAGE BREAKER; Francis MacNutt DELIVERANCE FROM EVIL SPIRITS: A Practical Manual; Karl Payne SPIRITUAL WARFARE; Derek Prince THEY SHALL EXPEL DEMONS