The Right of Exorcism

“You do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.”

Jesus Christ

This may be CONTROVERSY! but the first thing I would like to say about this subject, the subject matter of demon possession and exorcism, is that it will only be addressed in a loving and compassionate way towards those who may be personally suffering or to those who may be looking for answers for a loved one.

For any involved there is no shame in this. There is no blame.  There is absolute hope and complete and permanent freedom.

John 3:17 
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

THE RIGHT OF EXORCISM

We stood looking at the games on the shelves in the master bedroom closet at the house where my friend was babysitting.  Something caught my eye, something I had been trying to get my hands on for a long time.  A Ouija Board. 

“Yes!” I said, “Let’s play this!”

~  ~  ~

I hear many of you saying “Oh no…” and some of you may be rolling your eyes because you know what’s coming next.  Okay, give me a break here.  I was only 14 yrs old.  As a teenager I never did drugs or drank for that matter.  There were no mind altering substances involved and even though my experience with a spirit board was a completely spiritual experience, it was just as real as anything in the material world. 

Before we get into the nitty-gritty I want to say these experiences are not things I've ever gone looking for.  To say they fell into my lap, well that's not quite the right wording either.  I would never advocate that a person should seek out the demonic, but I want to tell this story.  I want others to know that they can be free and have a life they never knew was possible.

One that is full of love and power.
    

Bad spirits, negative energy, uncomfortable feelings coupled with paranormal activity and demons. For this post we are going to focus on that last word. 

Demons.

I’ve had experiences with demons (I’m speaking of actual demons, not my own personal ones).  I have had experiences before and after coming to Christ.  We’re going to talk about just a few of these occurrences.  We’ll talk about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to getting rid of them and we are also going to talk about why banishing them may work for a while and why they can come back (sometimes with a vengeance).  Last but not least we’ll talk about how to get rid of them permanently. 

~  ~  ~

I had been trying to get my hands on a Ouija Board for years and every opportunity I had in the past to use one never worked out.  I was eager to get started. 

We sat at the kitchen table and pulled everything out of the box.  “Hang on.” I said. Even as a freshman in high school I was thorough.  I meticulously read through the directions before we got started.  I told my friend to put her fingers close to the planchette, but not to touch it.  I did the same.  I religiously watched her hands during the night to make sure she never placed her fingers on it.  We kept our fingers about a half inch above the pointer the entire night.  A solemn atmosphere fell over us and we began asking questions. 

Nothing. 

At first nothing was happening.  I was determined to concentrate, not give up and not let either of us touch the planchette.  I started feeling an energy between my fingertips and the planchette.  I asked another question and it slowly started to move towards a letter. 

~  ~  ~

Quite a number of years after the spirit board incident, which we will get back to in a moment, I attended a church that offered prayer for healing after services.  People could come up, talk about emotional or physical troubles they were having and receive prayer.  I was a member of one of those prayer teams.   

On one occasion a young man who led worship every so often came over for prayer.  I knew him a little.  He was a great guy.  He always had a smile on his face and was friendly.  I don't remember what he originally came up for, but as we started to pray for him he began to act strangely.  He placed one of his hands over his stomach and started convulsing and heaving in an exaggerated manner, as if he was going to vomit.  He then stopped and stood very still. 

I will never forget the next thing that happened.  He opened his mouth and without moving his lips this sound came out of the pit of his stomach, a sound that I have never heard come out of a human being before.  It was evil laughter and it didn't sound like it was coming out of a person.  It sounded like it was echoing out of a very deep hole in the earth.  It sounded like it was coming out of an deep cavern.  We stopped and the three of us on the team looked at each other.  Here was this beautiful young man with evil laughter coming out of the depths of him and his mouth wasn't even moving.  His mouth was just hanging wide open.  A gentleman on the prayer team began to rebuke the demon and I started to calmly pray too. 

What happened next was even more shocking to me.  The leader of our prayer team told the two of us to stop praying and said that we should all just leave him alone.   I know I had that "Are you kidding me?"  look on my face.  The young man that came up for prayer immediately started laughing hysterically and began jumping around like a frog, throwing himself into the wall and knocking things over.  Our team leader went to find some leadership higher up the food chain.  They directed this young man over to some chairs and we stood off to the side and watched them talk to him. 

Days later I went to the leader of our prayer team and asked what had happened.  He told me that the leadership of the church decided that the young man just needed some counseling, some direction in life and not to worry about it.  Over the next couple of months this young man still led worship from time to time and whenever I saw him he looked exhausted and had dark circles around his eyes.  As time went on the circles around his eyes got darker.  So dark that they looked bruised, as if someone had punched him in the face.   

This is unfortunate but there are many pastors, churches and sometimes entire denominations that do not want to face or deal with demonic possession.  It can be hard for someone in desperate need to find help in this area and that is a shame.  Over the years I've wondered what became of this young man and if he ever found the healing he needed.    

~  ~  ~

The dog at the house my friend was babysitting at had given birth to ten or more puppies about a month before.  The puppies were in the garage that was stationed off the kitchen.  The mother was in the house with us.  She was this big, beautiful, friendly, short-haired, black dog and her head almost came up to my chest.  The baby was fast asleep in his crib. 

It was getting late and things were really picking up.  We were asking all these silly questions that only teenage girls could come up with.  "Who will I marry?"  "What year will I have my first baby?"  The planchette was moving much faster now, like it was free.    

~  ~  ~

As an adult, early on in my Christian walk and also years after the spirit board incident, I had to visit a certain hospital on a regular basis and I became familiar with a woman admitted there.  She was not capable of speech.  She was pretty crazed and would regularly rip off all her clothes and run down the halls.  I'm not one that sees demons in everything or thinks every problem comes from demonic influence or a possession.  Odd or disturbing behavior can also stem from something purely medical or emotional.  I can't explain how I knew, but in this situation I knew this woman was suffering from a demonic possession.  

As the weeks went on, I felt so terrible for her and it weighed on my mind a lot.  At the time I didn't have anyone I could talk to about it.  I had read a book called You Shall Receive Power by Derek Prince and a book on prayer by Watchman Nee.  These books made a deep impression on me.  I wanted her to be set free.  I wanted to pray for her.  But honestly, I was scared.

~  ~  ~

Our fingers were just hovering over each side of the planchette and it was moving really fast now.  It had been over two hours since we had started and we were asking more serious questions now.  We specifically asked about the spirit that had been answering our questions all night and then I asked the spirit its name. 

It quickly moved to individual letters, one right after another.  The planchette was making a pattern over and over and over.  It wouldn't stop moving.  My friend and I couldn't figure out what was happening and we were getting nervous.

I was looking at the board, watching it do this pattern repeatedly and then I had a sudden realization.  It's spelling its name over and over.  Then it felt like a fraction of a second became carved out in time and I made out the name. 

I looked at my friend and shouted "X*****!"

The moment I said his name this demon jerked me out of my body in a spinning motion and I was pinned against the ceiling.  I could see my body and my friend frozen, staring at the board.  I spun back into my body.  

Before I had time to even take a breath, every dog in the garage and the dog in the house went frantic and started barking.

~  ~  ~

I was at the hospital again and I had decided the night before that I would pray for the woman I was always seeing there.  I walked down the long, dark, desolate hallway.  Her room was the last room on the left.  I wasn't sure if she was in there.  I walked in.  There was only one bed and it was over by the window.  One of the curtains that surrounded the bed was pulled about half way, so I couldn't see the top of the bed.  It hung from the ceiling and was about four feet from the bed on all sides. 

 

As I approached I could see her balled up by the headboard.  She was sitting on top of her neatly made bed.  She was looking at me in her red and brown striped long sleeve t-shirt and blue sweat pants.  There was a second section of curtain that hung down on the opposite side of the bed.  It wasn't pulled around the bed very far and I could still see out the window.  There was also a large painting hanging on the wall across from me.  I stood off to the side of the middle of the bed and thought, "I won't touch her or anything else.   I'll just stand here and pray.  If I'm wrong and nothing happens, no harm no foul."  She looked agitated.  She was showing her teeth a little and breathing hard.  I had been around her numerous times and she had never acted like that before.

I quietly began to pray, commanding the demon to leave in the name of Jesus.  Her chest was heaving and she was gripping the bedspread. With each forceful breath that came out of her, she made this sound that was somewhere between a grunt and a growl.  I closed my eyes and stretched out my hand towards her.  Then I felt something from God that I had never felt before.  I can't explain how powerful it was or the light came with it. 

I opened my eyes and was determined to do this.

She was still all curled up, white knuckling the covers, bearing her teeth at me.  As soon as I started to pray again the bottom of the painting quickly pulled away from the wall.  Hovering there for a brief moment, it twisted to the left and flew across the room.  Before I could digest that, the curtain across from me jerked halfway down the other side of the bed.

I ran into the bathroom. 

~  ~  ~

Over a dozen dogs were going crazy and they were all barking so LOUD!  We jumped out of our chairs, away from the spirit board and I said, "Let's go get the baby."  I was still trying to get my bearings from just seconds before of being pinned against the ceiling.  We hurried to the nursery and the mother of the puppies was in the doorway.  She was barking at us and wouldn't let us in the room.  We talked softly to her, trying to console her and then we tried to get past her.  She lunged forward to attack us.  There was no way into the room.  We could see that the baby was fine and was surprisingly still fast asleep in his crib, even with what felt like an eternity of dogs barking.

We went back into the kitchen.  There it sat in the middle of the table.  

We knew we had to put the Ouija Board away and my friend looked at me.  I started rambling.  "No!  I'm not touching it.  You've got to put it away.  I'll walk with you all the way to the closet, but I'm not touching it."  She boxed it up and we put it away.  

The dog still wouldn't let us in the baby's room and we sat quietly on the couch.

~  ~  ~

I was kneeling on the bathroom floor, thinking about the curtain flying around the bed and the painting being flung off the wall.  I didn't know what to do and I'm not sure how long I was there. 

Total silence.

It was one of those very uncomfortable silences.  Then the strangest feeling came over me.  I turned my head and looked out the bathroom door.  There she sat, not more than a few feet from me.  I never even heard her come across the room and get up on the chair.  She sat there staring at me.  Her eyes were wide and she had this disturbing (I would say even unnatural) evil grin on her face.

I quickly looked down and thought,  "Not looking, not looking, not looking."  

I finally got up the nerve to stand up and leave.

I felt terrible about that for a long time.  A very long time.  I prayed many times that God would send someone to her that wouldn't chicken out like I did.  I had only been a Christian for a short period of time, but I always thought that was a lame excuse.

~  ~  ~

I went home that night and tried to not to think about what had just happened with the spirit board and getting yanked out of my body.  It was late, so I crawled in bed.  

It actually wasn't home that I went to.  I was in foster care at that time in my life.  I had left my brutal and abusive home just weeks before.  From the 4th grade up until my first year of college I struggled with intense thoughts of suicide and violence.  Going to bed was never a peaceful time for me.  The most horrific thoughts always plagued me there, but this night was different. 

As soon as I laid down the demon's name started running through my mind.  It was as if the way it was spelled repeatedly on the board became a part my mind.  Now my mind was spelling it and saying it over and over and I couldn't stop it. 

 

I honestly felt like that thing was right there in the room with me as I laid in bed.  I could feel it.  I could hear it.  I couldn't sleep and the thoughts of doing harm to myself were more intense then they had ever been before.  It was all I could do not to kill myself.  All I could think of was doing the most horrendous things to my body.  I could barely stop myself from going downstairs and hacking myself up.

Or...

"Eat your arms.  Just give in.  Start screaming and laughing and do it." 

Every night for about a week or so it was the same thing, the name repeating in my head, the more-terrorizing-than-normal thoughts going through my mind.  

I was very lucky that this only lasted a short period of time and I thank God for His grace.

~  ~  ~

You know, after all these years I still can't remember this demon's name.  I only remember that it started with the letter X.  We'll just call him "x" for the rest of this blog post.  And yes, I am purposely not capitalizing his name.  

Bastard. 

I'm quite sure he doesn't have a mother.  No harm, no foul.

Being attacked or possessed by a demon is different for each individual.  And sometimes it isn't even a frightening experience.  They can be content keeping a person distracted, even happy, because demons know in the long run it will work against that individual and destroy their life:

Acts 16:16-18

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." And this she did for many days.

But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour.

Very quickly, before moving on to expelling them, something else that is important to realize about demons is that they really don't care about objects or places.  If they like a place or thing it's because they can get to a person through it.  It may be well known that they are hanging around a certain area or you may have an object that is causing you trouble, say a mirror, books or anything really.  What they care about is how they can get to a person through it.  A building is just made up of stones, trees and other materials that were crafted to make something.  An inanimate object cannot be inherently evil, or good for that matter.

Say a building is abandoned, but it truly was a place of horror when it was active.  Demons love going after the weak and powerless, so of course they had a grand time when the place was up and running.  If people keep coming back, why would they want to leave?  In this age with the internet, smartphones and eBooks we can pretty much get any information we want, whenever we want it.  But demons are patient.  They don't think of time like you and I do.  They are very good at finding a crack in someone's personal armor, their mind, their emotions or desires, and they'll wait days, weeks and even years for an opportunity if they see one coming. 

What I'm getting at is if you are having demonic trouble, throwing objects out, leaving a certain place isn't a complete answer. They may use tools or places to get to a person, but a person is what they really want.

So what are some ways to get rid of them?  How are demons exorcised or banished?

There are many rituals available:  Rituals with salt, cleansing a person or place with saltwater, bathing rituals and ceremonies with herbs.  There's smudging with sage or other herbs, using the smoke to carry away the demons or negative energy. 

 

And you can use these rituals in different ways.  There's secular versions of these rituals, Wiccan or Pagan ways of doing them, Native American versions and even Christian adaptations.  No matter what your flavor of religion, you can adjust these rituals to work for you. 

But many times when people are really scared, what will pop out of their mouths even if they haven't stepped foot into a church for years?

 

The name of Jesus.

And that leads us to the mother of all rituals, The Roman Rite, The Rite of Exorcism.

The Roman Rite, in which the Rite of Exorcism is a small part of, is rich with history.  The creation and completion of it spans over many centuries.  We are going to briefly look at that history so that we have a clearer understanding of exorcism.

About 100 years after the death of Jesus the church started to go through major changes.  Some of these changes included exorcism becoming a part of Christian initiation and becoming a part of water baptism. 

 

For over a thousand years several churches had their own volumes and rituals.  When you get to the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries you have many people working on compiling all the sacraments and rituals into an official volume for the Roman Catholic Church.  In 1523 Alberto Castellani published Liber Sacerdotalis and Leon X introduced it officially into the church, but it wasn't church law by any means.  Cardinal Santori modified it later and it was published by Paul V in 1614.

Paul V's Roman Ritual had corrections in 1926 and 1953.  There were some changes during Vatican II and tests were carried out of this modified version during 1990-1991 by exorcists in the Catholic Church (I'll give you the inside skinny here; many of the exorcists were not happy with the new version).  Reformations were also made in 1999. 

This is very brief history regarding the sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church and there are many other rituals that pertain to The Rite of Exorcism.  Before an exorcism is started it is important to cleanse (technically exorcise) and bless certain objects and relics for use in the exorcism ritual and this rite can only be performed by an ordained exorcist with the approval of the Roman Catholic Church.

Let's look at three examples of demons being cast out in the New Testament.

Matthew 8:29-32

And suddenly they (the demons possessing a man) cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?"  

Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. So the demons begged Him, saying, “If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine."

And He said to them, “Go.” So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.

Acts:16:18

But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour.

Mark 9:21-27

So He (Jesus) asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?”

And he said, “From childhood.  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."  Jesus said to him, “If you can believe,  all things are possible to him who believes.

 

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" 
 

When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it: “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!"

Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead."  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.

We talked about a lot of different rituals used to cast out demons.  Rituals using salt, sage and water.  We talked about the Rite of Exorcism used by the Catholic Church.  That rite uses water, salt and relics among other things. 

So what do these rituals have to do with casting out demons?   

Well, absolutely nothing.  In fact it leaves out the most important topic regarding exorcism and how the scriptures teach us to banish demons:  With The Holy Spirit.

Jesus said in Matthew 12:28 "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you."

I know some make the argument that it is biblical to use relics or physical tools in exorcisms, citing verses in Acts 19. 

In this chapter items of clothing that had been on Paul's body were given to the sick and demon possessed and they were healed and freed.  But people were not set free because these material items were cleansed and then used in a ritual.  They were healed because Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit, so much so that it even seeped into clothes.  In the Old Testament Moses spent so much time talking to God that when he left His presence, Moses' face shown with God's glory.  It's about knowing God through Christ and being filled with Him.  That is where the real power lies.  It's not about putting our hope in religious photos, symbols, crosses or objects used in rituals. 

We talked about the horrible things demons can do.  How they attack people, possess people and makes their lives a living hell.  They also deceive people.  Here is something demons do not want you to know.  You can have complete power over them.  So much so that they are less than a speck of dust in the wind.

Mark 16:17-18

And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

And in case you thought it was just for the people back then or for only special people that God has called now, check this out:

Acts 2:38-39

Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” 

Read any of the four gospels and read the book of Acts and you will see a pattern that every person experiences when coming to Christ.

• Belief in Jesus Christ, and His death and resurrection. 
• Water baptism by immersion where an individual's old life is buried with Jesus as he goes into the water and he is risen to new life with Christ as he comes out of the water.
• Baptism of the Holy Spirit, a filling of the Spirit of God.

The rest of the New Testament, the epistles and the book of Revelation, just expound on these three things.  The Old Testament teaches about these three aspects of following God too, but it does it more in the way of typology.  

If the name of Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God is the most powerful weapon against a demon why do other things work?  Sometimes smudging with sage or cleansing with salt does work.  The Catholic Rite of Exorcism can work.  Why?

James chapter 4 says "Resist the devil and he will flee". 

 

Demons like an easy target and sometimes it is just enough to stand up to them.  Sometimes it's enough to stand up to them and resist them to make them leave.  It's not the ritual or the items you are using to cast them out that's making a difference, it's the fact you are making a stand.

Let's address another topic that is extremely important:  Why they come back.

Luke 11:24-26 (Jesus teaching) 

"When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.  Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first."

Notice what a demon calls a person in that scripture.  He calls him "my house."  People are created to be spiritual houses, and we weren't created to sit empty. 

 

God created us to be a home for His Spirit.

Revelation 3:20 (Jesus speaking)

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him..."

1 Corinthians 6:19

"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?" 

If you choose to banish or cast out a demon in any way, other than with name of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit of God, it is a crap shoot whether it will work or not, and the odds are not in your favor. 

If you've been freed from a demon and are not water baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit there's no guarantee that it won't come back to its clean, but empty home.  

Maybe your reading this and you or someone you love is having demonic trouble and you're thinking there's no way you could take all three steps to become a Christian and have the Spirit of God in your life.  Just take one step towards Him.  Or take a half step, if that's all you have left inside.  He'll come towards you too and will never leave you abandoned.  I can tell you that God is merciful, loving and He does not want anyone suffering or being tormented.

I love that verse in Mark 9 we read a moment ago regarding the father coming to Jesus, asking Him to help his demonically tortured son.  He says, "Lord I believe, help my unbelief!"  Jesus will help us in any state that we are in if we just reach out to Him.

Years ago I was hanging out with some friends and I was sharing about my utter failure decades earlier regarding the lady in the hospital and me running into the bathroom like a big scaredy cat.  I was talking about how differently I would have done things now.  I now knew this demon was making a last ditch effort to frighten me because the woman was close to being set free.  A friend of mine said something to me that I will never forget.  She said, "Heather, you don't have to know where she is or be with her to pray for her.  You can still pray for her now."  I realized how true that was, and I was happy to do that. 

That got me thinking about "x".  I had no problem praying for the lady in the hospital, or any other situation regarding demons, but after all this time I was still terrified of "x".  Then something happened. 

 

I found out that my friend who was babysitting the night we used the Ouija Board was dead.  She had lived a very troubled life and had killed herself in a drunk driving accident.  I never did know what happened to her the night we used the board.  I never knew if it terrorized her like it did me or if it had lasting consequences in her life.

I thought about my friend and that even though we were only teenagers, we may have set something loose on the family that owned the house.  As far as I knew the board was still in their possession years after our experience.  I wanted to pray, but I was still afraid to face those events.  I was too afraid to even think about what happened.

When we come to God through Jesus we receive many wonderful gifts:  Peace, love, forgiveness.  But there is something else He bestows on us and that is power and authority. 

Luke 10:17-20 

Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

Acts 1:8

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

God doesn't just give us an itty bitty amount of power over the enemy.  The Greek word for power in that scripture is the word DUNAMIS and that is where the word DYNAMITE comes from!  We're talking explosive power here.

All these spiritual gifts seem pretty amazing and they are.  We also can't earn them.  Gifts are free to the person receiving them because someone else bought them.  Let's read this scripture again, but with the next verse included.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s."

Christ purchased our freedom and our peace.  His grace, power and authority are free gifts to us because He paid the price.  He paid a steep price.  The cost was His life and absolutely nothing can take His Spirit and these gifts away from us. 

Jesus gave us The Right of Exorcism.

An exorcism, or casting out a demon, is expelling it by the Spirit of God and the name of Jesus Christ.  

That's it.

Exorcism is not an involved ritual.

For the person casting out the demon it does include having a solid prayer life, seeking God for guidance and sometimes fasting beforehand, but the scriptures teach that it is not an elaborate ceremony. 

Paranormal investigating is very popular right now.  Many paranormal investigators sincerely want to help people and they come from all walks of life.  I have heard some Christians say that the methods they use are not right and that people needing help should stay away from them.  There are methods some investigators use that I wouldn't, but let's keep in mind something Jesus said.

Mark 9:38-41

Now John answered Him, saying, “Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us." 

But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me.  For he who is not against us is on our side.  For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.

~~~

Sitting in my living room many years later, I thought of my friend who died, the horrifying events of that night so long ago and the demon we unleashed on ourselves as teenagers.  

I thought of people that I had prayed for since then, after coming to Christ, and those that I had seen God set free.  I wasn't afraid to face "x" anymore.  

I remembered the story of the centurion in Matthew 8.  He had asked Jesus to pray for his paralyzed servant.  When Jesus said he would come to his house the centurion told Jesus there was no need for Him to come.  The centurion knew Jesus could heal his servant from wherever He was. 

Even though I was over a thousand miles away from where those events occurred that night with the Ouija Board, I knew it was time to face "x". 

I began to pray.

As always, you are invited to leave a comment.  All opinions are welcome. 

 

This can be a sensitive topic and I am including my email if anyone would like to contact me personally rather than through the comments:  boneycat@gmail.com 

Many people live in terror and confusion because of demonic influence and possession.  I understand how frightening that can be.   What we focus on can be very important during times like these.  I put together some peaceful thoughts that you welcome to print out and keep near you:   Peace And Power Over Fear  

There is no need for shame or condemnation, only hope and complete freedom. 



I discussed this post on Renee Live Online Radio.  I am on for the last hour of the show:  Archived Show Thursday August 23rd 2012
 

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