A Question Has Been Asked:
Can you tell the difference between a mental illness and someone who is demonized?
Before we answer that question, we want to explain that most people who seek prayer for deliverance are not demonized. They have inner wounds that need healing, or they need freedom from addictions, strongholds, or they have emotional barriers with others that are holding them back in their relationship with Jesus.
Back to the question: yes, the teams we work with have lots of experience with discerning if a person is demonized. The team’s members are not trained nor licensed mental health practitioners and are not qualified to make a diagnosis of a mental illness, but they are trained in making a spiritual diagnosis.
The initial question has several responses:
1. There have been those who these prayer teams ministered to which did indeed have a genuine mental illness with no demonic influence attached to it. These teams have seen Jesus repeatedly heal people with mental illnesses.
2. There have been those who have had a combination of mental illness, as well as demonization at the same time.
3. There have been those who had been diagnosed as having a mental illness, but after prayer, and casting out the demon(s), the symptoms of the diagnosed mental illness disappeared.
How Do Prayer Teams “Test the Spirits”?
They apply Scriptures:
Without shame, we acknowledge that we follow Jesus’ method of deliverance, and that involves at times, speaking with demons when they manifest, as that is what Jesus did.
When these demons emerge and come to the forefront, we directly challenge them with Scriptures:
1. Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God?
So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. – 1 Corinthians 12:3
2. Do you believe Jesus came to the earth in human form?
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. -John 1:14
Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. 2 This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. 3 But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.
4 But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. 5 Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. 6 But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception. -1 John 4:1-6
3. Do you love Jesus?
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. -1 John 5:1
4. Do you love the person you are inhabiting?
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. -John 10:10
An evil spirit will not acknowledge any of these, so it is often very easy to determine if a person has a genuine mental illness or if they are demonized.
HELP IS AVAILABLE
If you know of people who are stuck in their relationship with Jesus, and are not able to make forward progress, or if they are experiencing emotional torment of any kind, please encourage them to start their process for freedom now.
CLICK THIS LINK TO START THE PROCESS FOR YOUR FREEDOM
