I felt called to expand my study on spiritual warfare into a series that ultimately became “Demons vs Prayer,” which I usually present in a four-day outreach.
The first place I ever gave this seminar was in a very conservative church in Arkansas and I don’t mind telling you that I was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, but it went great.
One of the topics I cover in the third session is a list of 25 demons I found named in the Bible. Also included are the territories the Bible says that each of these demons are assigned to. These are listed in alphabetical order by the demon’s name, territorial region and Scripture reference.
Every demon in Scripture has an assigned territory: a city, a region or a nation, but none of them are “unassigned.” Satan, the head demon, is even confirmed as “god of this world”:
“Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God” (2 Cor. 4:4, NLT).
By the way, this gives us a STRATEGY: pray for Satan to take the blinders off the minds of those steeped in deception.
Remember, this was the first church I had ever given this seminar to (I’ve now spoken in over 300 cities in 25 states and 3 countries so far), so I was still putting it together, trying to decide how long each segment would take and working on the best order to put these slides in, when I got this voicemail from Billy on Monday morning:
“Steve, I think God sent you here to save my life, my soul and my marriage. My wife recently kicked me out of the bedroom because she found out I had a credit card she didn’t know about and I was buying porn and hunting stuff we couldn’t afford. I have been sleeping in the guest bedroom for the last few months. My 2 girls are in college so they don’t know about it. I am so embarrassed and angry at myself that I have been thinking about suicide. I didn’t think demons were real, but after seeing your list from the Bible last night, I believe you. They are real. So last night after church, I showed my wife all my hidden porn that was in the gun safe behind the shotgun shells and we burned it together.
“I really want to be a godly father and husband. But I think that I have been looking at all that stuff for so long that I now have a demon attached to me because I can’t read the Bible and I can’t pray. If I start to read the Bible, my eyes get blurry. I can read anything else but I can’t read the Bible. If I begin to pray, I start a sentence and then my mind is confused. Suddenly I can’t remember what I was going to say in my prayer; I can’t complete a sentence. Would you please meet me at the church and pray for me?”
I’m the last person you should hear miracle stories from because of my very conservative, Christian upbringing. I had heard of people casting out demons but I had no experience. However, Billy had asked for prayer so I was compelled to give it a go.
I drove to the church to meet Billy and the preacher. We huddled up in the preacher’s office to pray. I put my hand on Billy’s shoulder as the minister put his hand on the other shoulder.
“Lord, we really don’t know how this works but Billy thinks that since he has been involved with porn for so long that he has some demons attached to him because he can’t read the Bible or pray. If that is true, we command in Jesus’ name, and by His blood that they be bound and gagged and put in chains in the pit until judgement so they can never bother Billy or anyone else ever again; and we also plead that the blood of Jesus cover him and prevent any similar demons take their place. In Jesus’ name.”
I told this story in front of some missionaries from Africa one time and they came up to me with this question when I was done: “What made you think to bind and gag, put them in chains in the pit and command that no other demons that were similar could take the place of these that you sent away?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “A bunch of verses were just popping into my head as I was quickly thinking through what needed to happen to help Billy.”
First, I don’t feel like I need the demon’s name. I have the name of Jesus. It’s more powerful than any other.
Second, I know many call this “deliverance” and although I had never witnessed it, I had heard of cases where the possessed person would scream or spit or throw up, so I decided we should gag it and say, “You are not allowed to speak; this will be a quiet procedure.”
Third, I knew demons could return to a person from Mark 9:25 and Matthew 12:45. I didn’t want to run Billy’s demons over to a neighbor’s house.
Jude verse 6 mentions that at least some demons are in chains somewhere awaiting judgement. I didn’t know where this was but the idea of having demons in chains until judgement seemed good so I commanded in Jesus’ name that Billy’s demons be put there.
Finally, I feel that if Satan has one demon focused on promoting porn, then he probably has many. I also know of cases where people who have repented of an addiction had relapsed so I commanded that no similar demons be allowed to bother Billy either.
One of the missionaries said, “Those are good ideas. I wish we had been doing that. We have been casting out demons in Africa for years but we haven’t been putting them in chains in a pit, and we think that they all came to America!” Perhaps so.
Then I asked Billy how he felt.
“Great,” he replied, “I want three sets of stakes.”
“How many houses do you have?” I asked.
“One,” was his reply, “but castles used to have a moat, a wall, spikes on the wall and guards with bows and arrows. That’s five levels of defense! I want at least three!”
I could understand that when he put it in those terms.
He lived in a house on ten acres. He put one set on the corners of the ten acres, one set at the corners of his home and, just like the Jewish mezuzah, he put one on the doorframe of his four outside doors.
Two hours later, he texted me: “It worked! I can now read the Bible and my eyes don’t get blurry, and I can pray and remember what I was going to say.”
That night at the seminar, his wife came up and hugged me, saying, “You saved our marriage!”
“No,” I replied. “God did but it was fun being part of that!”
I recently talked to Billy and he is willing to come on my Battle Plan podcast sometime and share his thoughts during this bizarre event, so we are planning that for a future episode!
So in light of today’s thoughts, let me suggest that part of your personal battle plan might be to bind and gag the unwelcome, unseen enemies attaching themselves to you or your friends and loved ones; and by the power of the name of Jesus and the blood of Jesus, put them in chains in the pit until judgement and, add to that, that no other similar demons be allowed to take their places. Then watch what God does! Expect a miracle! Let the literal power of the Word of God change things for you and your friends and loved ones!
Keep praying because prayer works! God loves you and I love you! {eoa}
Steve Hemphill is an author, speaker, teacher and host of Battle Plan on Charisma Podcast Network. His books include My Search for the Real Heaven, My Search for Prayers Satan Hates, What Are the Stakes and God’s Power for Our Daily Battles. Learn more at active-faith.org.
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