While I was pastoring a church in Baltimore Maryland a young woman who just started attending our church approached me and asked, “Do you think a Christian can have a demon.”  I replied bluntly, “Yes.” She had experienced salvation in Jesus name, but had never connected to a church or been baptized.  We will refer to this woman “Ashland.”

Ashland and I agreed to meet in a park (neutral ground) and talk about this potential demon problem.  While her husband, child, and dog played in the park she and I sat on a bench.  She confided in me that she loved her husband and child very much, but sometimes a “feeling” would come over her and she would leave her family, go to a bar, pick-up a random man and have sex with him.  She was ashamed to tell me this, but reached out because it was tearing her husband apart and she didn’t want to lose her family. 

I told Ashland that I believed she had an evil spirit causing these feelings.  I suggested that she could come to the church during the week and I could pray for her.  She walked away to talk with her husband, who is not a Christian.  He then approached me and asked, “What are you going to do to my wife in that church, rape her?”  I knew where the statement was coming from.  I had already been introduced to the fact that there was a huge problem with sexual abuse in the local churches where I was located, denomination didn’t matter.  That spirit was present in my area and the question was valid.  I answered him, “I do not intend to rape your wife.  I want to pray for her because of what she’s told me.  I believe that Jesus can take that spirit away from her and you are invited to be there also.” 

He agreed to come. I invited another female Christian who had just been delivered from spirits of depression and DID (dissociative identity disorder) months prior.  When they came to the church the husband decided to go downstairs when he noticed another female in the room and we began the deliverance process. 

Just so you understand, I wasn’t well versed in deliverance.  I was a newbie!  I didn’t really know what to do but pray for her, but I did believe Jesus was going to free her!  We started praying.  We were standing and I placed my hands on her head.  At first nothing was happening visibly.  Then her knees buckled, she looked down, and she seemed to be week.  I continued to pray and her body became erect again and she raised her face to look at mine.  When she did her face was different and she bared her teeth at me like a dog.  I felt as if she was going to bite my face off.  This was very uncharacteristic of Ashland who was typically very passive and docile.  Suddenly her face went back to normal, she fell back into a seat and said “That’s enough for today.”  I wasn’t sure what happened, if anything.  I just knew she wanted to bite me a minute ago, now she just seemed tired.  So her and her husband left my church. 

The Result:  The next Sunday, she was at church again.   The subsequent Sundays her husband started showing up.  The husband and I started meeting out and talking about Jesus and in a couple months he got saved.  After months of continued follow-up with Ashland, she never experienced an attacked again.  She was free!  I baptized both her and her husband on the same day.  Jesus is awesome right?