Derek Prince - War In Heaven and Earth - Part 2
Thank you very much. God bless you all. Last night if I remember correctly, and my memory is getting a little crowded, we covered spiritual warfare in the heavenlies. I can't go back to that, but tonight we're going to continue and deal with spiritual warfare on Earth, and especially the people we're making war with on Earth, who are demons or evil spirits. And that's what we're going to talk about tonight in a simple and practical way. But I think it would suit me to begin with a brief, up-to-date personal testimony. Last September I was living with one of my married daughters, my only Arab daughter, in England, and I went for a medical checkup and was referred to what in England they call a consultant, the highest medical rank, and I was diagnosed bladder cancer. This was a very thorough diagnosis with a cystoscopy and internal inspection. And then they told me it was a dangerous cancer because it could spread to other parts of the body.
Well, I wasn't scared. I felt that God was in control. And I lived with one of my married daughters, as I said, and she had a boyfriend, the family had a friend who was a chaplain. Now I don't think most Americans know what a chaplain is. A chaplain is about the lowest rank in the office of the, what do you call that? Anglican Church, what do you call it here? The Episcopal Church. Thank you. So I was at my daughter's house, and we got a call from a young man, a chaplain in the Anglican church, young enough to be my grandson, and he said, "I'd like to come and pray for you. May I come "? So of course I said, "Yes, please, welcome"! He was a bit timid. He was sitting across the living room and after a while I said to him, "Now, I want you to understand that I don't necessarily expect that if you pray for me I will immediately be completely cured of cancer. But come and pray anyway".
So he came. I sat in a chair. He stood next to me, put his hand on my shoulder and started praying, and it was like, I can only say like cats fighting in my chest. I have never experienced such an intense conflict inside. And I let out a loud, long, sustained roar; not just a scream, it was a roar. And in that moment I knew I had been delivered from a demon of cancer. Now, about six months later, to my knowledge, there is no evidence of cancer anywhere in my body. So I want to encourage you, it pays to get rid of demons. Don't be ashamed, don't be afraid, just accept what God has for you.
Now I want to turn to the example of Jesus' ministry in this particular aspect of deliverance from evil spirits, and I want to read from Mark chapter 1 a description of the beginning of Jesus' ministry beginning with verse 21. Mark 1:21. And they came to Capernaum; and on the sabbath he went straightway to the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. Now there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. The Greek says 'in an unclean spirit'. And I want to point out that that man had probably attended the synagogue as a good religious Jew for many, many years. But it says, and he, and if you read it carefully it is not the man, but the spirit, And he shouted and said, "Leave us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus the Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are, even the Holy One of God"!
Now it is a remarkable fact that the demon in the man immediately knew who Jesus was. It took His disciples about twelve months to discover what the demon already knew. So we are dealing with persons with supernatural knowledge. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Shut up! [Greek says: be muzzled] Get out of him"! Now Jesus did not speak to the man. He spoke to the demon in the man. It's very important to see that. There comes a point where we don't have to deal with people anymore. We are dealing with the demons in people, whether they are in us or in other people. And the unclean spirit convulsed him and went out of him crying with a loud voice!
You see, you have two people. He, the demon, went out of him, out of the man. So there was more than one person here. There was the man and there was the person (or the demon or the evil spirit) in the man. And Jesus did not deal with the man. He dealt with the demon in the man and He was not embarrassed. If that kind of behavior happened in some churches, including Pentecostals, do you know what they would do? They would take the man out of the service and put him in the basement and one of the deacons would stay with him. And I'm not theorizing. I've seen this happen. Thank goodness we don't have to take the man off duty. We need to get the demon out of the man and let the man stay in the church. Then it says: And they were all amazed, so that they asked one another, "What is this? What new doctrine is this, that He also commands the unclean spirits with authority, and they obey Him"? And the rumor about Him immediately spread throughout all the region of Galilee.
I want to point out that Jesus was not only first recognized here as the Son of God or the Messiah. What first attracted people to Him was that He had the power to deal with demons and that caused His reputation to spread throughout that area. And then we read a little further in verses 32 to 34. Now when it was evening and the sun went down, they brought to Him all who were ill and those who were possessed by demons. Well demon-possessed is a bad translation and I'm really mad at the NIV that in many ways has modernized English but that they've gone back to this old-fashioned religious language, demon-possessed. And I tell you why I object: because the word suggests possessed property. If you are possessed by demons, then you are owned by a demon. Well, I don't believe that a born-again, sincere Christian can be owned by a demon.
I do not believe that a sincere, born-again Christian can possess demons. But the Greek word used can easily and should be translated as demonized. And I do believe that many born-again Christians are still demonized. That is, there are areas in their personality where the Holy Spirit is not yet in full control. There is a demon that must be dealt with and Jesus did. "They brought to Him all those who were ill and those who were demonized." And notice, they didn't really come for deliverance, they came for healing. But in receiving healing, many of them needed deliverance from demons. And then it goes on: And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons, and He did not permit the demons to speak [or say] because they knew Him. You see, the demons all knew who Jesus was. "And He cast out many demons."
How many of you have cast out many demons? I'm not asking for a demonstration, I just want you.. How far are we on the standard of Jesus? How far are we below the standard and example of Jesus? You say, "Well, they weren't Christians." That's true. They were Jews. But actually they basically lived by the law of Moses and in most cases they lived a much more righteous life than most people in the United States today. The penalty for adultery was death. If that penalty were imposed on the American people today, we would immediately lose about a quarter of our people. Is that right? I'm not exaggerating, am I? So don't say, Well, those were people who didn't know justice.
Many people say, "Well, I'm sure there are people who need to be freed from demons, but they're in prisons or they're in insane asylums." That is not true. Demons can be very comfortable in many churches. Then we continue in Mark chapter 1 verse 39. And He preached in their synagogues in all Galilee and cast out the demons. He did two things. He preached and He cast out demons. He did not preach alone. He preached and He dealt with the problems of the people. When God brought me into this ministry for quite some time, at least two or three years, that's exactly what I did all over America. I preached and cast out demons. And I wasn't ashamed because I can't improve Jesus. The best I can do is do as much as He did. So I want you to understand that this is a regular part of the Christian ministry. It is an integral part of the ministry of Jesus. It's not something extreme or fanatical. It's just doing what Jesus did as He did it.
Let's also look at Luke 13 verses 31 and 32. On that same day some Pharisees came and said to Him, "Go and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill you." And He [Jesus] said to them: 'Go and say to that fox, [that is Herod. He was really not too polite in some respects.] Go and say to that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform healings, today and tomorrow, and on the third day I shall be finished. In other words, Jesus said, "During my earthly ministry I will do two things. I am going to cast out demons and I am going to heal the sick." That's how He started, He went on that way, and He ended that way. That is the example of the earthly ministry of Jesus. Personally, I have no ambition to improve that. If I can do even a small part of what He did, I'm content.
Now there is a very important meaning to this particular ministry of casting out demons. If you read the Old Testament I think you will see that almost all the miracles that were performed in the New were also performed in the Old. They raised the dead, they healed the sick, they fed multitudes, but there's one thing they never did. They never cast out demons. You will not find an example of this anywhere in the Old Testament. And in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 28 Jesus said, "And if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then surely the kingdom of God has come upon you." So His casting out of demons was a distinguishing mark that the kingdom of God had come. It was a miracle that was not performed, as far as we know, in the Old Testament. It's a distinctive statement; "the kingdom of God has come". And in reality casting out demons is war between two kingdoms; the kingdom of God, the kingdom of satan. And Jesus demonstrated the victory of the Kingdom of God by casting out demons. Now let's read the instructions that Jesus gave to His disciples.
In Matthew chapter 10, verses 7 and 8, we cannot look into the background. We don't have time. But He said this: "And as you go, preach, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. You have received it for nothing, give it for nothing". So Jesus said, "You must do four things. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons." That was part of their overall ministry wherever they went. Now you say, "Brother Prince, have you seen the dead rise"? The answer is "Yes, I have".
In East Africa, when I was the director of a school for the training of African teachers, two of my students died and were raised from the dead. And they each give a very interesting testimony of what happened to their minds while it was out of their bodies and what happened when their minds returned to their bodies. I'm just saying that because some people say, "Well, people don't raise the dead." The answer is: people raise the dead. They do not raise all the dead, but they raise the dead if it is God's purpose for the dead to be raised. Okay. Let's take another look at those instructions. Verses 7 and 8. "And as you go, preach, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' But it is not enough to preach. You must prove the validity of what you preach. That is why Jesus says, 'Heal the sick, cleanse lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons.'"
Four things. One is the exorcism of demons. And then in Mark 16 at the end of the gospel record, Jesus gave the final instructions after His resurrection to all who would go out and preach the gospel. Mark 16 beginning with verse 15. And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be damned." And those who have believed shall follow these signs: [or accompany] those who have believed: In my name they shall cast out demons; in tongues they shall speak; Let us stop here. How many has heard of speaking in new tongues? Everyone here. It's a very popular topic. But how many has heard of the casting out of demons? How many has seen it in action? Praise God. You are quite an exceptional church. But I want to point out that the first supernatural sign was not speaking in tongues, but casting out demons.
You see we have kind of gaps in our theology and our practice. Some things we do and some we don't. But the way Jesus tells us e to do it is the right way. Now let's see how they obeyed. During Jesus' earthly ministry in Luke chapter 10 verses 17 to 20, He had sent out the seventy or seventy-two to prepare the way for Him. The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." That was what excited them the most. You see, that was the new thing. Healing was not new, miraculous provision was not new, but to have authority over demons in the name of Jesus, that was exciting. And Jesus said to them, "Behold, I give unto you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and power over all the strength of the enemy, and nothing shall harm you."
That's what I want to emphasize here tonight because we're going to take action later. Nothing will harm you. Do not freak out. Demons have no power over a true believer who understands his right. And then there is one of the most interesting examples in Acts chapter 8. How many of you know that there is only one person in the New Testament who is really called an evangelist? Did you know? Do you know who that is? Philip. That's right. He is the only person actually designated as an evangelist. And his ministry is described in Acts chapter 8 so you can say that his ministry is the example ministry of the evangelist. And it says in Acts 8:5. And Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. I'm so glad he didn't have a complicated theology. He preached Christ.
The message of an evangelist is very simple. In Samaria he preached Christ. Later, when he met the eunuch on the road to Gaza, he was preaching Jesus. That is the message of an evangelist; Christ and Jesus. And the multitudes held with one accord what was said by Philip, because they listened and saw the signs which he did. Now Philip had no commission. He had no sponsoring church. He didn't have a large conference room. He had no trained choir. I mean, all those things are good, but not necessary. What is essential is preaching the gospel with signs that follow and you always get a crowd. You don't have to invest in the cost of a hall or a choir or anything.
I had a young friend, an African friend in East Africa who was an evangelist. And he said, "Brother Prince, it is no problem in Afrikag to gather a crowd". He said, "I walk into a village and ask how many sick there are in the village. They bring them, I pray for them, they are healed and I get my audience." He said: "I need not do more". That is New Testament evangelism. I'm not criticizing other ways of doing it, but they are more elaborate and more expensive. All right, then let's move on. Philip went to Samaria and preached Christ to them [or the Messiah]. And the multitudes held with one accord what was said by Philip, because they listened and saw the signs which he did.
What attracted the public? In a word? Miracles. Precisely. Miracles are not optional; they are not accessories. They are an essential part of the ministry of evangelism. And I emphasize again that there is only one person who is truly called an evangelist in all of the New Testament. It's Philip. If he is not an example, we have no example. What kind of miracles happened? For many who had unclean spirits came out with a loud cry [it says possessed, but it is wrong] who had been demonized; and many paralyzed and lame were healed. And great joy arose in that city. That is the ministry of the evangelist. It is to preach Jesus the Messiah, it is to preach Jesus, the message confirmed by supernatural signs; heal the sick, cast out demons and you will get your crowd. I mean, success assured. You can also face resistance but that is part of the whole package. But I want you to note that they did not go for an air of solemn dignity in their meetings.
I grew up in the Anglican Church and there are many things I respect in the Anglican Church. But you tiptoed into the church. You sat down quietly. You wouldn't raise your voice. No one did anything very unusual. It was all very quiet and neatly arranged. And all those people who came in in their fine Sunday clothes spoke these neat words. I mean the Anglican prayer book has some of the most beautiful spiritual words. But as a boy watching them and listening to what they said as they walked out of church, I wondered, did they really believe what they said? I couldn't answer that question. I remember thinking to myself, "This venerable lady here. If she dropped her lace handkerchief and I ran after her and picked it up, she would be more excited to get her handkerchief back than about all the things she said in the liturgy."
So I just want to say: there is dignity and dignity there is religious dignity that is often a cover for demons I mean I was in a meeting and this saddens me so much I was in a meeting of a very well known American evangelist if I gave her name, everyone would know it. To a certain extent she was a friend of mine for a while. But in one of her meetings there was a black woman who very clearly started demonic activity. And you know what they did? There Two men came and took her by the arms and carried her out. That's all they did. That's a tragedy. She desperately needed the ministry of the evangelist. But the evangelist was afraid it would damage her reputation. people n wouldn't want to come to her meetings. I think she was wrong. I think actually more people would have come. I respect her. She is now with the Lord. But I'll never forget this desperate black woman who screamed for help, couldn't contain herself and got dumped. That's all they did to her. They just kicked her out.
When I was dealing with a demon in a woman in a church, one of the church ladies came up to me and said, "Brother Prince, do you know what they would have done in most churches? They would have said, 'Our sister needs help. Would any of the deacons take her to the basement?" That's not the biblical solution. She needs help, but not in the basement. I just want to give you a brief description of what demons are like me understand. My understanding is limited, but I'll give you the best I have. I think it's best to say they are disembodied persons. Demons have real personalities. They have distinct personalities. One demon is not. just like another. I remember something so vivid. I was dealing with a man. His wife had come to me and said, "Brother Prince, my husband needs deliverance." And I made a mistake. I prayed for him based on what his wife asked.
You see? I never did t done more. If he needs liberation, let him tell me he needs liberation. Well, I started praying for the man and he started getting violent. And his wife took me aside and said, "Brother Prince, at home he throws chairs at me." So I said, "Why didn't you tell me before we started"? Anyway, the demons spoke out in the man and one of them said, "I am unclean". And I thought, I don't want to embarrass the man in front of his wife. I could think of all kinds of unclean things that could be the problem. But I said, "You spirit of unclean thoughts come out of the man." He said, "That's not my name." I said, "Come out." He said, "That's not my name." I mean, it's not easy to understand how much a demon really is a personality. It wanted to be recognized by its proper name. Well, eventually it came out, but the last thing it said before it came out was "That's not my name".
I am trying to give you an impression of the fact that we are dealing with real persons with characteristic features. I've already pointed it out, but I'll say it again, two things; first, the word is not devil. The word devil comes from the Greek word diabolos, which means slanderer and which is a title of Satan himself. The things we are dealing with are daimonions demons and they are not devils. They are a different kind of creature. Where do they come from? Well, I don't believe anyone has an absolutely authoritative answer. In my mind, the most likely explanation is that they are disembodied spirits of a pre-Adamic race, who perished under the judgment of God between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. I'm glad to find that our pastor thinks about the same. Am I right? Good. Thank you. That's encouraging.
I mean, we could be wrong, but that's the best I can think of. But the most distinguishing fact about demons is that they desperately crave a body to occupy. They are not satisfied until they can enter a body. Preferably they occupy the body of a man or a woman, but instead of being disembodied they would rather go into the body of pigs. Because you remember the man in Gardara, where the demons said, "Send us in those pigs. We don't want to be disembodied." What they didn't realize was that going into the pigs would cause the pigs to be killed and then they would be left with the same problem again. But what I'm doing is you're with a person who has no body and desperately longs to be in a body because, as I believe, only through a body can they exercise their wicked lusts. If it is a demon of alcohol, it must have a human throat through which they consume. If it is a demon of sexual immorality it must have a sexual organ through which it can work. If it is a demon of hate it must have emotions that it can tap into to work through. In other words, we are surrounded by an invisible crowd of persons without bodies who desperately desire to occupy bodies, and who struggle desperately not to get out of bodies.
Now I think I must say, just briefly, how I got involved n hit. I have not volunteered to join this ministry. I was forced into it. First of all, when I became the pastor of a very small Pentecostal church in West London in the early 1950's. I had a serious, ongoing problem with depression. I know none of you have ever struggled with depression, but be patient with me. I do. And it threatened to destroy my ministry because I constantly felt like a failure. I can't do it, I can't. And I struggled and struggled. I didn't know the answer but I was referred to a passage in Isaiah chapter 61. What I thank God for is that I always had the Bible and I always turned to the Bible and I have always accepted the Bible as authoritative and definitive. That has protected and preserved me through many different problems and situations.
But it is this famous passage that Jesus quoted in the synagogue at Nazareth, Isaiah chapter 61. "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD hath anointed me to bring good tidings to the meek. He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and to those who were in bondage, the opening of the prison; to proclaim the year of the favor of the LORD, and the day of vengeance from our God; to comfort all that mourn, to ordain concerning the mourners of Zion, that they may be given adornment instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a robe of praise instead of a distressed spirit. And when I was reading that passage God showed seeing me, "That's your problem. It's a stuffy mind. It's a mind of sorrow. An unhappy mind."
And let me tell you that the protection is a robe of praise. If you wear a robe of praise, that spirit cannot have access to you. But I had grown up, I can't go into all my background but I had exposed myself to demons in many ways. And there was this stuffy spirit. And then God brought me to this passage in Joel chapter 2:32, It shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be saved. So in my despair, I, all alone, called on the name of the Lord. I said, "Lord, deliver me from this troubled spirit." And something moved in me, in my chest. I let out a sort of mixture of a sob and a groan and I felt something like a dark cloud rise from me. And I realized that I was delivered from a stifled spirit, or a spirit of mourning, or a spirit of sorrow. But that didn't immediately immerse me in public ministry.
It was later when I was in Seattle, Washington State, pastoring another small Pentecostal church, being much involved with the Full Gospel Business Men, that one day a Baptist pastor called me and said, "Brother Prince, I have a woman in my congregation who needs deliverance from demons". Well, I wasn't used to Baptist ministers saying things like that. But what he said next was even more astonishing. He said, "God has shown me that you and your wife are the instruments of her salvation." Well, I don't let the revelation of people dictate to me so I sent a quick telegram to heaven: "What am I to do with this"? And I got the answer, "Well, this is Mine." So I said OK. I've made an appointment, bring the woman and we'll do our best.
Well, we chose a Saturday morning and at that time I had just befriended a Presbyterian couple who had just been baptized in the Holy Spirit. And while we waited for the Baptist woman to come, the Presbyterian couple came by. So we said, you might as well stay. We don't know what's going to happen, but it can be quite exciting. Well, the Baptist minister comes with this lady who was once the secretary of the church. She was about thirty-five I'd say. She was a perfectly normal American housewife. I've been watching her from every angle. I saw nothing strange about her. No metallic tone in her voice, no fire in her eyes, just an average, neat Baptist. But the pastor was sure of it. So he put her in the chair and said, "Well, she's already rid of a demon of nicotine." I thought, "Oh, is that so"? But he said there are others. So he stood in front of her and started yelling at the demons.
Well, I learned that later through experience, you don't get more power by yelling. Demons are not deaf. Even ghosts of deafness are not deaf. You don't have to yell and you waste energy. Anyway, he stood there and yelled at that demon, "I command you: come out"!, and nothing seemed to happen. Then he said, "In the name of Jesus I command you to come out", and the woman's face changed. A different expression crossed her face. Well, he stood there for quite some time and didn't get any further, so he stepped back a little and I thought, "Well, if he can do it, so can I". So I stood before the woman, and I had all the theology, and I said, "Now, you spirit that's in this woman, I'm speaking to you and not to the woman, what's your name? And it wouldn't answer. So I said: "I command you in the name of Jesus to answer. What's your name"?
We went on like this for a while and suddenly it answered. But before it answered, she changed. She crossed her hands over her throat and started strangling herself. And I had this Presbyterian brother who was bigger and heavier than me It took our combined strength to pull her arms from her throat Well then we were past that stage and suddenly the demon reacted "My name is hate" And when it said hate every crease of her face showed seeing the most unspeakable hatred I had never seen such pure hatred in anyone's eyes So I said "You demon of hate come out of this woman" And this gruff male voice replied from the woman "I'm coming here not off. This is my house. I've lived here thirty-five years and I can't get out."
Well, I checked everything in my mind with the Bible. I thought, That's right. Jesus said, "When the unclean spirit went out of a man, he went through dry places seek rest." Then it says, "I will return to my house from which I left". So that's Biblical. So I knocked it down with the name of Jesus and with the Scripture. And suddenly it came out with a loud long roar. And when it came out, the woman slumped forward, relaxed and the tension in me melted away. I knew the demon was gone. But the demon had said before he came out, "Even if I come out , my brothers are here, and they will kill her." So I knew there was more than one demon.
So anyway, we went through with this, it must have been two or three hours, and there came about seven or eight different ghosts out. One that really impressed me was self pity and I started a few ways understand what people react to that are not natural. The last ghost that came out was a ghost of death. And again I checked. I thought, "Is this Biblical"? I thought death is a physical state, but then I remembered in Revelation chapter 6 there was a rider on a horse whose name was Death. So death can be a person. Well, when the ghost of death came out, this woman was sprawled on her back on the floor, all limp, her face was all pale, there was no color, her skin was cold. If you had come in and looked at her, you would have said there was a dead man on the floor. Well, she lay there for about ten minutes and then put her arms in the air and started speaking in tongues.
One of the things the demons said, I said, "How did you get into this woman"? And it had said, that was death. I said, "When did you get into this woman"? He said: "Three and a half years ago when she almost died on the operating table". So I saved all this. Well, then apparently the woman was free, so I gave her back to the Baptist minister. He drove away with her. About halfway through the week, the woman called Lydia and me and said, "I think they're trying to come back. Can you come and help me"? So we drove to her house, spoke to the woman, and determined that it was fear, that she was afraid they would come back, and that opened the door. But while we were there, she had a six-year-old daughter who was a shy, thin, rather unhappy-looking girl. And wherever we walked, she walked with us. But every time I looked at her, she averted her eyes. She didn't want to look at me.
So I said to the mother, "You know, I think your daughter has the same problems as you." She said, "Will you pray for her"? I said, "Definitely". So the next Saturday morning we had the daughter there. In fact, we have experienced much of the same with the daughter as with the mother. Most of the same spirits that were in the mother also came out of the daughter. Not all. But hatred was one and so was the spirit of death. And when death came out of the little girl, she lay flat on her back on the ground, looking like a dead man. So I checked them for about two years, apparently they stayed free. The little girl had been assessed as mentally retarded. She became a normal, happy, healthy girl. Well, gradually, in stages, the Lord led me into a ministry of mass liberation.
And I have conducted such services in Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, New Zealand, Australia, in at least a dozen countries. And I discovered that you can do it en masse. I'm not saying it's the best way, but when the needs are so great, you should do what you can. And I've learned to instruct people, help them recognize their problem, and show them how to be set free and pray for them to be set free.
Now I want to answer some common questions. How do they get in? And my answer is: usually through a moment or place of weakness. The devil looks for the weak moment or the weak spot to get in. What are those moments or places of weakness? This is not a complete list but it will give you some insight. First, prenatal. Many babies are born with a demon in them. And it happens because of something the mother did or didn't do. And the biggest problem that exposes children to demons, unborn children, is involvement in the occult. And I want to say that you cannot get involved in the occult in any form without being exposed to demons. There was a proverb that said, "He who eats soup with the devil needs a spoon with a long handle."
I want to tell you that there is no spoon with a handle long enough to make it safe to eat with the devil. And I want to read from Deuteronomy chapter 18 in the NIV because the language is more current. This is what God says about the occult, that is, involvement with any kind of spirits that are not the spirit of God. It was written to Israel before they entered the land. Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse 9. When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to do according to the abominations of those nations. No one may be found among you who will let his son or his daughter pass through the fire. So the first kind of person is he who actually makes his own children into living sacrifices, by presenting them in an oven to the god Moloch.
And I want you to understand how important all the other practices to follow are in the same category as offering your baby as an offering to Moloch. God makes no distinction. No one may be found among you who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire, who practices divination, who is a sorcerer. Do you know what fortune telling is? Predict the future. It tries to discern something supernatural through a spirit that is not of God. Every fortune teller is a predictor of the future. If you have ever been to a fortune teller you have been exposed to a spirit of fortune telling.
I remember dealing with a woman who needed deliverance from the spirit of divination. She said, "I don't understand how this ever got into me". But I discovered that she regularly read the horoscope pages in the newspaper. That's all you need to do. None of you, I know, have ever done that. Whoever practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, (which is rampant in the United States today—from the top in our country down, from the White House to the bottom, sorcery abounds.) who consults a soothsayer, who casts incantations, or who consults the dead. For anyone who does such things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving these nations out of their possession from before you. You must be upright before the LORD your God. Anyone who does any of these things is reprehensible. Going to a fortune teller is disgusting. God puts it in the same category as people who sacrifice their children to an evil god.
You might say, "Well, what's wrong with the occult"? I'll try to explain it this way. When you get involved in the occult you make friends with God's enemies and God takes offense and you have to repent, and you have to give up all involvement if you want help from God. So that's... Let me give you a remarkable example and it happened quite recently. A woman, a very fine Christian woman, came to me with real sorrow. She said: "We just got a letter from my son who is in college telling us that he is gay from birth, that he was born gay". So I started talking to her and I said, "When you were pregnant with your son, did you do something occult"? She said, "Well, yes. I was trying to figure out if it was a man or a woman, a boy or a girl. I had a pendulum hanging in front of my womb and I knew if it went one way, it was a boy was and the other way it was a girl". I said to her, "You exposed your unborn son to a demon because of what you did. ' That's why he's homosexual from birth."
Now she's a very solid Christian woman. She understood, she repented, and I believe that in time her prayers will bring her son to salvation. But let this be a warning to you. You can't mess with the occult in any form and if you want a further definition of the occult, it's in my book. I have another common demon that invades unborn children, and that is the demon of rejection. You see, every little baby come into the world longing for one thing more than anything else. What's that? Love. That's right. But you see the mother has too many children. She has not enough income. She finds that she's pregnant and she's sorry, she doesn't have to say anything. She just says, "I wish I didn't have this baby. That baby is born with a spirit of rejection."
This goes for my second wife Ruth She was born at the height of the depression, in 1930. She was the eighth child and her mother was already struggling to feed the seven previous children. And without saying anything, the mother had great difficulty having to feed another mouth. And Ruth had to be delivered from a spirit of rejection. Thank God we knew what to do, and she was miraculously freed. But rejection is one of the most common demons and it very often comes in while one is still in the mother's womb. Then there is pressure in early childhood. James chapter 3:16 says this. James 3:16 For where there is envy and self-interest, there is disorder and all manner of evil deeds. So, in a quarrel-torn, discordant family, children, born or unborn, are automatically exposed to demons. And most kids don't have strong enough defenses to keep the demons out.
So every child born into an unhappy, strife-diversified family is exposed to demons. How many such families are there in the Western world today? Are there many? Look, parents are responsible for maintaining an atmosphere in their families where the children can grow up free from demonic influences. Very few parents in America today do this. That's one of the reasons I wrote my book Husband and Father, because the greatest failure in American culture lies with husbands and fathers. And in the end, everything revolves around him. It's amazing what women and mothers can do, but no woman and mother is a substitute for a father. And the greatest need of the West today is men who are real fathers. Amen? Amen. Come on ladies, you say Amen. Good.
I am married to two wonderful women. I'm not a misogynist. Never has been, never will be. I admire women. In fact, I envy women. I want the best for them. I hate to see them prostitute themselves to the world. I have high standards for women. I know what a woman can be. Please don't get me wrong when I say we need fathers. I'm not saying we don't need mothers. But today we have more good mothers than good fathers. But many, many children in today's West are exposed to demons in early childhood and most of them don't have the mental resistance to keep them out. Then there's what I call emotional shock or persistent emotional pressure. I remember a woman once told me that she needed to be rid of the spirit of fear. I said, how did it get in? "Well," she said, "I was standing on the sidewalk and then a terrible accident happened right in front of me and at that moment I was seized with fear, and I realized that the demon of fear entered me".
Let me give you a Scripture on that now. In 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 6, this is about Christian women. as Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. You have become her children if you do good and are not afraid of anything that might frighten you. So to be Sarah's daughter, don't be afraid of anything that can terrify you. You don't have to give in to a sudden emotional shock. But if you do, it's quite possible that a demon will enter. Then they come in another way which is natural through sinful acts or habits that you repeat. If you are constantly indulging in a sinful act, then sooner or later—and perhaps sooner rather than later—the demon of that act will enter you. If you continually indulge in sinful habits or foolish habits. Once I was praying in a church when a woman came up to me and there were several other people around me, no matter what she said, I said, "I think you have a demon of criticism. Do you want me to eject it?" She said "yes," I said, "You demon of criticism, come out".
Well, about three people around us were liberated at the same time. Criticism is a sinful habit and can expose you to demons Let me talk about a topic that no one is talking about in church So because people don't talk about it in church, churchgoers have to go to a psychiatrist for help. But I'm talking about masturbation. Some people say that masturbation is natural is, not bad. I disagree. But you are free to have your opinion. But what I do know is that there are masses and masses of people who regularly masturbate and hate themselves for doing it. And they say "Never again!" But moments later they do the same thing again. Well, that's a demon. It's a demon of masturbation. And since I don't want to embarrass you later, I'll tell you how it will come out. That will come out of your hands and your fingers And you will feel it tingle I n your fingers, and your fingers will stiffen, and maybe bend backwards. I've seen this happen many times.
Someone comes up to me, "Brother Prince, I don't understand what's happening to me. My fingers tingle and they bend back." I say, "You have a demon of masturbation. Hate it. Get rid of it." And I want to tell you that masturbation won't go away unless you hate it. You must really hate it. You could say, I'm a married man and happily married, and thank goodness you but I threw a demon of masturbation out of a man of fifty who was married. But he was still a slave to masturbation. And let me speak to you honestly. What happens when a married partner has a masturbation demon? The satisfaction of the sexual act that the other person has to get goes to the demon and not to the person do you understand what I am saying I hope so I try to be honest without offense and then there is a whole, very common way that demons come in and that is through vain words.
And I want to read to you what Jesus says in Matthew chapter 12 about vain words, verse 36, "have to give on the day of judgment". People often say, "well I didn't really mean it". That's exactly what Jesus says. That's a useless word. Any words you speak that you don't really mean are useless. And whether you mean it or not, one day, unless you repent, you'll have to give an account for it on the day of judgment. Every idle word. So often people say to me, "Well, Brother Prince, I didn't really mean it." I say it is exactly what it is: a useless word. It's a word you didn't mean. And I can't tell you how many people I've dealt with who have a spirit of death because they let it in. They got depressed or discouraged and they say, "Well, I might as well be dead. What's the point of living? I'd better be dead." That's all you have to say.
The demon of death will then be right in front of you. He will come in many times. I don't always say. That's how they come in. I'm just going to repeat it and that's not all. Number one - prenatal, an attitude in the mother that makes the baby feel unwelcome. Busy early childhood, kids growing up in fight-torn families are automatically exposed to demons. Emotional shock or persistent emotional pressure. Sinful acts or habits. And empty words. Well, it's not a complete list, but it will give you an idea of how demons get in. Now I want to mention characteristic activities of demons. Number one: seducing demons. They tempt us to do evil. They tempt us to sin. Take an example. You are walking down the street and someone has dropped their wallet full of money. And an inaudible voice says, "Pick him up. Might as well. If he were yours, they would too. Why not"?
All that can talk is a person. And behind that inaudible voice is a person, and that person is tempting you to do evil. You don't have to follow it. You can resist, yet there's that demon, trying to get you to do something that exposes you to him. Furthermore, demons bother you. The example I always use is that businessman who had a terrible day at the office. The air conditioning was not working, his secretary made a mistake, he had a customer who complained and threatened to sue him. Well, he gets through the day, but gets in his car to drive home and there's an accident on the highway. And he sits there for an hour without air conditioning on the highway. And I mean, he's getting hotter and hotter and hotter. He comes home and what happens? His wife is late for dinner, the kids are running around screaming, and as they say in America, "He blows his stack" (became furious). And at that moment the demon of anger enters him.
You see, he's been following him all day, waiting for a moment of weakness to come in. And then he's a different person. He still loves his wife and children dearly, but every now and then something comes over him that makes him do things that are harmful to those he loves most. And from time to time when his wife looks him in the eye she sees something that wasn't there before. What happened? The demon of anger followed him all day and chose the weakest moment and the weakest place and got into it. Devils pollute. They are dirty. They are all called unclean. They make you feel unclean. They fill your mind with filthy, unclean attitudes, emotions, and thoughts, especially if you plan to read or worship your Bible. Anything that attacks you at such a moment is probably a demon. And you never really feel pure. You can sing about the blood of Jesus, how wonderful it is, but there is something in you that is not responding. Devils pollute. Torture demons.
Jesus says in Matthew 18:35 Even so will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each one of you forgives the trespasses of his brother from your heart. What's the point? Hand him over to what? to the torments. That means you and I, if we don't forgive, if we hold onto bitterness and resentment and unforgiveness. The sentence of Jesus is to deliver him to the torturers. Who are the torturers? demons. Very easy. They torture in many ways. They torture emotionally, they torture with fear, with guilt, with a kind of uneasy feeling that you haven't done the right thing, but you can never put your finger on it. They torture you physically. I have dealt with many people who have been delivered from a spirit of arthritis. To me when you look at arthritis, that's demonic. It twists, it torments, it incapacitates. Please understand that I am not saying that everyone with arthritis has a demon, but many do.
I remember a scene in South Africa a few years back when Ruth and I served together. We were praying for the sick, and somebody, I think it was a woman, come down with arthritis. I said to her: I want you to know that I treat this like a demon. Is that good? She said yes. Ruth and I prayed, cast out the demon and she was set free. Well, then I thought to myself, why go through this process? with everyone individually? for everyone has seen and heard it. So I said I believe you can be delivered from the spirit of arthritis without being individually prayed for. So everybody, and it was a big church, everybody that needs relief from arthritis, will you stand up? Well, about thirty people got up.
Now I prayed and commanded the spirit of arthritis to leave them. Then I said to the people, don't sit down until you know you're liberated. And we continued to serve, but after about half an hour, all those people had sat down. Later, Ruth and I traveled through different parts of South Africa, and then we met several people who were among those who got up and sat down and each of them testified that they were healed. Please understand I'm not saying all arthritis is demonic, but if you want to get a real picture of what demons are like, arthritis is a pretty good picture. They torment, they torture, they incapacitate, they bind, they are bad things. And again there are exceptions, but it's amazing how many people who suffer from arthritis have some kind of bitterness in their lives, or resentment or unforgiveness. I need not say more. Please don't be offended. If you have arthritis, it doesn't mean you have a demon. But if you have a demon, get rid of it.
Then number five: forcing demons. They make you do things you don't really want to do. I could name almost any act or habit that is compulsive. It's probably demonic, not necessarily. Demons also make slaves. They make you slaves. Take the demon of alcohol. It enslaves you. You just can't live without your glass of whiskey. You know it's harmful. You don't really enjoy it, but you can't help it. But people can become addicted to other things. They can be enslaved to television. Did you know? You can be addicted to television. Some television addicts walk into a room, and the first thing they do is turn on the television. They don't know what program is on, they don't know what to watch, but they are just as compulsive as someone who reaches for a glass of whiskey and drinks it. Now add coercion and slavery together, and you get addiction, and our culture today is full of addictions. And I'd say 99.9 percent of that is demonic.
Let me give you a scripture from 1 Corinthians 6. This to me is the Biblical definition of addiction. Verse 12. All things are lawful to me, but not all things are useful. I'd rather say inexpensive. So all things are lawful. I'm not talking about a law that says, "Thou shalt not eat, and thou shalt not do this or that." But not everything is useful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not allow myself to be brought under the power of anything. The food is for the belly and the belly for the food, but God will destroy both the one and the other. But the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. So overeating and sexual immorality are specifically mentioned by Paul as possible examples of addiction.
And an addict is a slave and I'm sorry to say that the church is full of addicts. Not all of them are addicts, but there are many, many good Christians who are slaves anyway. Slaves to masturbation, slaves to idle talk, slaves to polluting habits, slaves to wrong attitudes, slaves to wrong eating and drinking. I have come to see that my body is a temple to the Holy Spirit and I am responsible for how I treat that temple. I am not free to defile her. I'm not free to do anything that would make it less good than it should. I am very careful about what I eat and drink. I am under no law, but I try to honor God's temple. And you? Do you take good care of your temple? If it was a physical material temple you would be very careful with it, wouldn't you? I mean, you'd keep it swept, you'd keep the windows clean, you wouldn't let dust build up, you wouldn't clog the toilet. What about your physical temple? How well do you maintain it?
Let me say this and I won't charge extra for it. I came to the United States in the 1960s. And I have myself; this is my own subjective impression. There's been three strong men, one after another across this nation, trying to dominate it. The first was rebellion. In the 1960s, there was a resurgence of rebelliousness. The Bible says, "Rebellion is the sin of witchcraft." When people rebel, they end up in the occult. So the next demonic power was sorcery. But in my personal subjective judgment those are a thing of the past. They are still very active, but the number one strongman seeking to dominate the United States today is self-indulgence. And while both witchcraft and rebellion were considered wrong by the church, self-indulgence is practiced by the church. You can still love me anyway. But a while ago someone said to me, "If you want to know the best restaurant in town, ask a preacher".
And it is true. I mean, it's definitely true. Pastors know what the best restaurant is. Well, I'll go a little further. In about 1990 I was diagnosed with a serious physical ailment and I prayed to God many times. I said, "God, I don't understand. I believe in healing. I preach healing. But I'm not healed. I've seen many healed. I'm not healed." Well, God didn't give me a definitive answer, but He gave me a brief overview of the way I had lived in previous years. And He never said nothing; He never made a comment. But He just showed me in different situations. Do you know where most of them were? At restaurants. And I saw that I had become a slave to self-indulgence.
In 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 7 Paul says: For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and self-control. That's the NIV translation. Everyone wants power. Everyone wants love. But how many people want discretion (or self-discipline)? You see, the Holy Spirit will not discipline you unless you discipline yourself. He will not take over and do the work for you. But if you make up your mind, He will help you. I mourn for people who are very close to me but who are slaves to their stomachs. Strange silence, don't you think? And they destroy themselves and they defile the temple of the Holy Spirit. As someone said, now he has stopped preaching and he is meddling in other people's business.
What about coffee? Coffee is a medicine. I mean, everyone knows that. I'm not saying you're addicted, but I'm saying do this. Just stop drinking coffee for 48 hours and see if you are addicted or not. You'll find that if you get through it, it's all right. But if you can't live without it, then you have to do without it. Paul said, "All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of anything." And really, what it comes down to for modern America is food and drink. That's where we have to say, "Am I under the power of anything"? And many, many good American Christians are slaves to their stomachs to call it by its proper name. And it's an addiction and it's demonic. I'm not saying you need to get rid of a demon per se, but check it out and see. And mind you, you won't be saved if you want to keep doing it.
Okay. The last thing demons do is make them weak or sick. And almost any kind of disease can be demonic. I'm not saying it is, but it could be caused by a demon. As I mentioned, arthritis is a very striking example. Migraines are another notable example. Almost anything tormenting is demonic I would say. Torturing and enslaving. Okay, now we come to the big question. Let me say one more thing about illness. You know, sometimes I pray for people, check their legs. How many of you've seen me do that? Anybody here? That is good. Okay. And very often when I'm holding someone's leg and it grows out, the person starts twisting and sliding, acting in a strange way. And I've learned it's a paralyzing mind. And I have seen many people freed from a paralyzing mind. Something that twists, distorts, enslaves. In fact, I think I would have been on my way to having that problem myself if I hadn't met a good chiropractor. I am willing to take help from anyone who can help me. And I thank God for chiropractors; I thank God for doctors. I'm not against doctors. But the best of all is Jesus, His name. Correct.
Now we come to the practical questions and here are the steps for receiving liberation. Step number one: Confirm your faith in Christ personally. Scripture says that Christ is the High Priest of our confession. It is our confession that initiates His high priestly ministry. If we don't make a confession, He cannot serve as our High Priest. He is the High Priest of our confession. When we say the same about ourselves as what God says in His word, we release the high priestly ministry of Jesus on our behalf. Step number two: Humble yourself. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. And I haven't found anywhere in the Bible where God says He will humble us. Always, says God, you do it. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and He will exalt you in due time.
Humility is a decision. And in this ministry of liberation, you may have to make a choice between keeping your dignity and your liberation. And if your dignity is more important to you, then you probably won't be liberated. People who are liberated are sometimes very unworthy. But my advice to you is: let go of your dignity and receive liberation. For after you receive redemption, your dignity returns. I want to point out something very, very beautiful from Scripture. There was one person to whom God gave a unique honor that was never given to anyone else. It would be the first human witness to the resurrection of Jesus. And do you know who she was? Mary Magdalene. And do you know what it says about her in Mark 16?
I want you to notice this. In Mark 16:9. And when Jesus had risen early in the morning on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. It's all in the same passage. So she was not inferior because she was freed from seven demons. In fact, she is the first human witness to the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus felt such compassion for her broken heart that He would not even go to the Father until He revealed Himself to her. To me that is one of the most beautiful illustrations of the compassion of Jesus. There was a woman so broken-hearted, so full of love for Him, that He couldn't even leave the earth until He revealed Himself to her. Who was it? Mary Magdalene. What was her testimony? "He has delivered me from seven demons." Brothers and sisters, do not be ashamed if you need deliverance. You could be ashamed if you let pride stop you from receiving liberation.
Number one was: personally affirming your faith in Christ. Number two: humble yourself. Number three: confess all your known sins. Don't go looking for sin, but if the Holy Spirit shows you unconfessed sin, confess it. I think you will find this to be true. God has never committed himself to forgive sins we don't want to confess. So if you want forgiveness, you must be willing to confess. "If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) But only if we confess our sins. Now you don't profess to tell something that God doesn't know. Because God knows all about your sins long before you confess them. What you do with that is bring something dark into the light. Because as I understand it, the blood of Jesus does not purify in the dark. You have to expose it with all its embarrassment. But if you bring it into the light, the blood is applied and you are washed whiter than snow. It's worth it.
And listen, we're not talking about confessing our sins to me or to the pastor. Just confess your sins to the Lord. And actually, you're not going to tell Him anything that He doesn't already know, because He knows all about it. But He still loves you. But it is His condition that brings you openly into the light. Repent of all sins. It is not enough to confess, you must repent. The Bible says in Proverbs 28:13, "He who covers his sins will not prosper." If you keep it covered, you will not prosper. But whoever confesses and forsakes his sin will have mercy. So you must confess, and then you must refrain. Maybe you should throw it away, whatever it is, Maybe you should throw it away. It may be expensive, but you may have to throw it away. Forgive all other people. Well this is absolutely essential. If you don't forgive, God won't forgive you. That is the only remark Jesus made at the end of teaching the Lord's Prayer. If you forgive sins, God will forgive you. If you don't forgive, God won't forgive you either. You have to make a decision.
And let me say that forgiveness is not an emotion. It's a decision. You carry IOUs in your hand from someone to you, maybe for who knows, ten thousand dollars. But God has in His hand IOUs from you to Him for a hundred thousand dollars. God says, 'Let's make a deal. You tear up your IOUs and I tear up Mine. But if you don't tear yours, I'll hold Mine too." I taught this years ago in Florida. At the end of the session, a neatly dressed young woman of about thirty came up to me down the aisle, stood up in front of me and said, "Mr. Prince, I just want to tell you that I got rid of thirty thousand dollars in IOUs." She turned and walked out. She received the message. I didn't have to advise or counsel her. She had received the message. So maybe you should tear up some IOUs.
I've found that the two most common causes of people not being liberated are: number one: unforgiveness and number two: not repenting. So you have to do it. And you have to break with all the occult, and all false religion. That is essential. And maybe you should get rid of occult objects that are in your house, because God told Moses if you bring them into your house, any cursed object, then you will be cursed, just like that thing. Some of you have things in your house that bring a curse on you. Objects related to the occult. Objects of superstition. Get rid of them. Do a cleanse.
Let me tell you my own experience. My grandfather was an officer in the British Army who suppressed the so-called Boxer Rebellion in China. You may not know about it, but there was a revolt by the Chinese Nationalists around 1900 and all, and the British sent an expeditionary force under the command of my grandfather who suppressed it. I'm not saying it had to be suppressed, but that's what they did.
Well, my grandfather came back with some rather precious Chinese antiques. And in due course that was passed on to me through my mother. And underneath were four beautiful embroidered Chinese dragons. I mean, they were beautiful. And they had five claws. And a dragon with five claws is an imperial dragon. So I had them framed and hung on the wall in my living room. But when I started the ministry of deliverance, the Lord had a conversation with me. He said, "Tell me, in the Bible, who there is represented by a dragon"? Well, I didn't have to be a theologian to answer that. I said, "The devil." Then He said, "Do you think it is appropriate that you, as a preacher, have something on the walls of your living room that depicts or advertises the devil"?
I received the message, so I put them away. And I want to tell you. I didn't change what I was doing. My ministry was exactly the same. I was a traveling Bible teacher, but the following year my income doubled. That speaks a language you can understand. Do you understand? It would not have doubled if I had not removed the obstacle, the barrier to God's blessing. So get rid of everything occult. Let me say that one of the most dangerous and subtle forms in the occult is Freemasonry. If you have a relative or you yourself have been involved in Freemasonry in any way, break that down completely, totally, end it, get it out of your house. Don't have any connection with it.
Some of the most horrific cases of demonization I have seen have been related to Freemasonry. Forgive all other people. Break with the occult and all false religions. And God warned Moses, saying, "If you take one of those satanic items into your home, you'll become a curse like them." Prepare to be freed from every curse on your life. We are going to work with that without going into it. Jesus was cursed on the cross. That was the last thing that happened to Him that we might be delivered from every curse and enter into the blessing of Abraham, whom God blessed in all things. There's another book I've published, called Blessing or Curse, your choice.
I think it's the most, if I may say so, the most unique revelation God has given me. Other people talk about casting out demons. But I don't know of any other book that systematically deals with - or thoroughly addresses - the issue of swearing. Many, many people in America, England and Europe today do not believe in swearing. They think it's superstition. Trust me, if you go to Africa or Asia, they know that curses are real. They are just as real here but they are dressed in nice smart clothes. So you can be released from a curse. Why? Because Jesus was made a curse on the cross. That is the only basis for liberation. Take your stand before God. Come on God's side. Say, "God, I'm Your child. I'm Your servant. I want to serve You, want to live for You. I hate everything that comes between You and me. I don't want it. I'm for You."
Number nine, expel. That's very, very important. That's why I titled my book "They Shall Cast Out Evil Spirits." For expel is not a religious word. I was looking for a word that wasn't religious. It is in a certain translation of the New Testament. So what is exorcising? You have something in you that you don't want. What are you doing then? You drive it out. You breathe it out. You blow it out. You sob it out. You cough it out. You scream it out, but you take it out! You're not holding it in.
Now I saw this wonderful example it was somewhere near Washington DC, quite a few years ago. A mother brought her four-year-old son to me. She said, "Will you pray for him"? I said, "What's his problem"? She said "Allergies". I said, "What kind of allergies"? She said "Food allergies". I said, "What is he allergic to"? She said "Tell me what he is not allergic to". I said, "I deal with this like an evil spirit. Are you ready"? She said "Yes". So then I put the little boy down and I spoke to him in very simple language. I said, "There is an evil spirit or breath in you that prevents you from eating things you really like. I'm going to command that spirit to come out in the name of Jesus. I want you to blow it out".
Well, he was like a little soldier. I mean, everything just went military. I've been through it all. I said, "Now, come out, spirit." I said, "Blow it out." And he blew out four times. No emotion, nothing. Well, I didn't know what had happened. So I said, "That's the best I can do". So he left with his mother. About three days later the mother was back. She said, "Pray for me too." I said, "What are your problems"? She said "Allergies". I said, "First tell me what happened to your son." "Well," she said. "He marched home with me, marched to the fridge, took out everything he liked, ate it all and nothing did him any harm."
You see? This is so simple that religious people can't always do it, but drive it out. Years ago I received a letter from a woman. She said, "Brother Prince, never hesitate to teach people to breathe it out." She said, "My husband went to one of your meetings, went forward, prayed like you said, blew out four times and that's all that happened. But," she said, "he's become a different man since." This is very real. You see, it's not up there. It's down here on the face of the earth. So on pages 216 and 217 (English version) is the prayer for deliverance. So I want you to think about what I've said, open your heart and mind to the Lord and say to Him, "Lord, is there something in me that I need to get rid of? Because I want it out"?