A New Doctrine

Demons Going To Church


By Phil Scovell






23  And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit;
and he cried out, 
24  Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus
of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou
art, the Holy One of God. 
25  And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of
him. 
26  And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a
loud voice, he came out of him. 
27  And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among
themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this?
for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and
they do obey him. 
28  And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the
region round about Galilee," (Mark 1:23-28).



     We generally consider church a place of safety and a place we
go to be encouraged.  It is a place we pray and worship God.  The
last thing we would expect is for a demon to be in church.  It
didn't seem to surprise Jesus.

     One Sunday, I felt quite discouraged.  I didn't feel like
teaching that morning but I went over the notes I planned on using
and familiarized myself with what I had written and planned on
sharing that day.  Yet, I didn't feel comfortable about it.

     As I sat in my office thinking, I felt the Lord directing me
to a totally different passage of Scripture with a totally
different theme.  I dialed up the miracle on the computer, typing
in the reference, and began to read the text.  I immediately knew
that was what I was supposed to teach on that morning.  I still
didn't feel right emotionally or spiritually but I decided it was
simply due to discouragement.  I jotted down a handful of notes
about what I would say that morning.

     Before church, everyone sat and visited for awhile as we
often do.  I said little as I listened.  I just wasn't feeling
well.  In fact, by this time, I felt right down rotten, to tell
the truth, but soon it would be over and I could go home and try
and relax for the rest of the afternoon.  I should have been more
spiritually alert.

     The closer we came to beginning our Sunday service, the worse
I felt.  As we began to sing, it finally hit me what was wrong.  I
sensed the demonic presence near.  I could also hear his words in
my thoughts and felt his unholy feelings.  "You don't have to
sing.  You don't need to worship today.  Just stop singing. 
Don't do it any more.  You feel bad enough and aren't well.  No
one will criticize you for not singing today and worshipping the
Lord because you are the pastor.  Stop.  Stop singing."  My chest
flushed and tingled as the anxiety of the demonic presence
intensified.  My stomach felt nauseous.  Maybe I really was sick. 
There had been some virus or colds or something in the family that
past week.  His words and thoughts mixed with my thoughts, an the
feelings of fear and anxiety, mixed with even the physical
sensation of illness, gave him away.

     Trying to pray and sing at the same time is difficult but in
this particular living room sitting, we were meeting in a home,
and not my home, it was a little different so getting up to go to
another room to pray wasn't convenient.  I tried to get the Lord
to run the demon off for me, or at least to hold him at bay until
after church.  Jesus wasn't interested in doing my job for me and
made that clear.  What I should have done was stopped the singing
and prayed out loud because later, I learned, I was not the only
one feeling the demonic presence in church.  Next time, by the
way, I will do exactly that.  I will stop the service and pray out
loud for others to hear in case they are being attacked as well.

     Silently, I finally prayed the following prayer which is
normally what I do when becoming aware of any attempt of demonic
infiltration or intrusion.

     "Dear Heavenly Father, I come to you in the name of the True
Lord Jesus Christ, your only begotten son.  If I have listened to
any lies of Satan's or his demons, If I have listened to any of
their words and repeated them as though they were true, if I have
thought any of their thoughts as if they were my thoughts, if I
have felt any of their feelings as though they were my feelings,
I confess this to you as sin.  I ask you to forgive me.  I take
back all the ground I have given them and I give it back to you
for your honor and glory.  I now call this lying spirit to
attention and all those under his authority that might be working
with him against me.  I dismiss them from all of their assignments
against me.  I bind all of their words and utterances they have
spoken against me, or are trying to carry out in my life, and I
now bind them all together as one.  I command them to leave now
and to go to the place the True Lord Jesus Christ wants them to go
in the name of the True Lord Jesus Christ I pray.

     "Did they leave?" someone is asking about this time.  No,
they didn't leave.  "So what did you do?"  I started singing. 
"Why?"  Because I know this lying spirit, and any others operating
under his authority, would leave because I had told them to do
exactly that in the name of Jesus because I was using His
authority and not mine.  I, therefore, ignored him following my
prayer.  Yes, it was hard to sing.  I could hardly get any sound
out of my throat but I forced myself to sing.  The louder I got,
the easier it became.  Within less than a minute or two, the
spiritual sensation of malevolence faded, my stomach returned to
normal, my chest stopped tingling, and by the time I opened my
notebook to begin teaching, I felt perfectly normal.

     First of all, the prayer is a combination of more than one
prayer I use when a demon is trying to gain a foothold in my
thinking.  My version of the prayer came from a man I know who has
been in the Christian counseling ministry for several decades and
are a mixture of prayers the Lord gave him.

     Secondly, demons always begin with your thoughts.  Let's look
at a passage of Scripture.

"3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the
flesh: 
4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty
through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 
5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth
itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ; 
6  And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when
your obedience is fulfilled," (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).


     Thirdly, since we do indeed have this authority in Christ,
the 6th verse, which says, "And having in a readiness to revenge
all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled," means pushing
your authority in Christ to the limit.  You see, your authority in
Christ is based upon Him and His authority which He has given you. 
Therefore, we are complete in our Lord's authority over the
demonic realm according to Colossians 2:10 which says, "And you
are complete in Him who is the head of all principality and
power."

     The people who witnessed what Jesus did thought this was some
new doctrine.  Do you think the same?  As you can see, it is not. 
Demons go to church just like you do.  They come to cause
confusion, discouragement, deception, and to do as much spiritual
damage as possible.  The question is, how much are we going to
allow them to do before exercising our authority.


The Curse That Works Is The One We Believe
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