How to avoid being repossessed

In an earlier message, Demon possession is for real I told the story about a close friend who was set free from demonic possession. If you know someone like my friend, you might be wondering how someone can prevent being repossessed by demons.

Jesus warned us what can happen after even one demon is cast out.

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.
Luke 11:24-26

Do you think that Jesus would have cast out demons if we had no way to prevent them from returning with reinforcements? I don’t think so, but be warned that they can.

Here are some things that you can do to protect yourself from being possessed or repossessed by demons.

Repent of your sins

Demons are more powerful than us mortals but they’re not more powerful than our Lord Jesus Christ. If you’re going to stand against the enemy, you’ll need the Lord’s help. But, if you’re not in obedience to Jesus or at least trying to be obedient, then you don’t have the right to ask Him for help. Being in obedience to Jesus means obeying his Word which includes repentance, which means turning away from your sins.

Repentance doesn’t mean to just acknowledge your sins, ask for forgiveness, and then willfully repeat the same sin over and over. Repentance means to change your mind. In this context, it means to change your mind about your sin.

In the fifth chapter of John, we read a story about Jesus healing a man who had been an invalid for 30 years. Later when Jesus found the man in the temple he said to him “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you”.

Not only do you need to acknowledge your sins and ask God for forgiveness, but you also need to decide that you’re going to stop repeating those sins over and over. Yes, even the ones you love. Thus a life change is required. Are you struggling to break free of a reoccurring sin that you can’t seem to shake loose? There’s power in the name of Jesus. Ask your Father in heaven for help in Jesus’ name. Do this as many times as it takes to break free of the sin that you’re struggling with.

Yes, we are saved by grace but Jesus expects us to obey him. If you think otherwise, consider Jesus’s words:

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Matthew 7:13-14 

But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? 
Luke 6:46 

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 
Matthew 7:21

If you’re still not convinced that you need to obey God to be (what I like to refer to as) a true Christian, I’d highly recommend that you read Pastor John MacArthur’s excellent book The Gospel According to Jesus.

Pray for protection

I like to ask God to protect me and my household from the evil one, especially before I go to sleep at night. I do it at this time of day because it’s when I usually feel the most vulnerable. But you should pray for God’s protection anytime you sense the need for it.

Read the Word and obey it

I talked earlier about the need to obey Jesus, who is also called the Word. To know how to obey Him we must first know the Word, which is the Holy Bible. To know His Word, we need to read the Bible every day because it is a powerful weapon that we can use against the evil one (see Ephesians 6:11-17).

How else will you know what God expects from you if you don’t know his Word? You might be thinking, well I go to church every week or I watch Christian programs on television or on YouTube. One or two hours a week is not enough time to learn God’s Word. Also, since the full gospel is not taught from many pulpits these days, and because we are living in an age of ever-increasing apostasy, you need to read the Holy Bible for yourself. This doesn’t mean to stop going to church. Not at all. You need to do both.

Ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit

If you’re full of the Holy Spirit then there will be no room for demons to move in and possess you. When we accept Christ as Lord and Savior, we receive the Holy Spirit. Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as our Helper.

If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
John 14:15-17

I recommend that you ask God every day to fill you with wisdom and the Holy Spirit. If you are full of the Holy Spirit then there’s no room for evil spirits.

If a demon tries to come back to attack or repossess you, command it to flee from you in the name of Jesus.

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. - James 4:7

For this to be effective, you need to be a child of God. You need to be a true Christian. The demons, at least some of them, know if you’re under the Lord’s protection or not, so make sure you’ve done the things I described above. Otherwise, you might end up like these poor souls:

Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Also, there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. 

And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”

Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
Acts 19:13-16

Whether you have been previously possessed by demons or not, you need to always be on the alert to keep evil spirits from creeping into your life. I get a tingling sensation up and down the back of my neck whenever I feel the presence of an evil spirit and I know first-hand that they will flee from you when you command them in Jesus’ name.

May God bless you and keep you. May He make his face to shine upon you.

Daniel