Guest post by Julie Young, Canterbury Evangelism Network
Demons can put thoughts, songs or images in your head or give you feelings (e.g. fear). Any negative thought is usually from them. Over time you will get faster at distinguishing between what is your thinking and what is not and getting rid of it.
My experience
I used to think the words in my head were all mine and every now and then God would speak. But I have come to realise there are more voices; these include mine, God’s and the naughty angels. All the negative thoughts weren’t mine at all.
This has been great news! My days are much happier without all the negative thoughts in my head.
One of the biggest breakthroughs came the day I realised the devil and his naughty angels could speak into my mind. After five months of being really sick, some friends came around and prayed for me and anointed me with oil.
I believe their prayer helped me to realise a naughty angel had slipped up with his words.
I was thinking: How I would manage to get to the women’s conference for our denomination? I had attended six years in a row and didn’t want to miss it.
But now even having a shower was a problem. As I lay in bed planning how I would have a shower that night so I didn’t have to in the morning, and what I would wear, and how I would drive across town and find the room and walk into the conference, a voice in my head said, “You don’t want to do that again do you?”
I had a horrible vision of how I had got so unwell in the last conference; I even had my doctor friend taking my pulse, as I hadn’t been able to stand, thinking I would faint.
But . . . I realised the words had been in the third person “You don’t want to do that again do you?” I don’t speak to myself like that, and I’m sure it wasn’t God as he would want me to go to women’s conference.
So I learned that naughty angels can put thoughts into my head. Later I learned they can also put songs, images, dreams, and feelings into my mind. Anything negative is usually from them.
Over time I have learned more and more to distinguish between what is my thinking and what is not and have therefore shut them down more quickly.
Any thoughts not in accordance with how God thinks about you, and/or if it is accusing, it’s very likely the devil or his demons.
What to do
Say, “Stop it in the name of Jesus Christ.” You need to use Jesus’ name to stop the bombardment. He is much more powerful, having conquered and overcome.
Rebecca Brown suggests if we try saying “stop it” in our own strength, the demon’s persistence is likely to outdo ours. [1] Using Jesus’ name sorts it out.
Some people who have written about these things think you should speak out loud to demons (e.g. Rebecca Brown), while others such as Derek Prince think you can speak to them in your head as that is where they are speaking to you. If you’re in public it’s probably best to do it in your head.
Declare what God thinks by finding verses from the Bible or a Christian song that declare God’s truth. This is fighting with the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17).
Be persistent. If they are persistent then you need to be persistent using the name of Jesus and declaring the truth.
Only think about good things. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
Here are some common lies and verses of truth. You can use www.biblegateway.com or a Christian friend/pastor to help you find verses.
| Lie I’m believing / being told | What God says (Bible verse) |
| I am a nobody | Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12 |
| Life sucks | Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 |
| I can’t escape the devil | Submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7 The one who is in you (God) is greater than the one who is in the world. 1 John 4:4 |
| Letting others down | Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. Colossians 3:23 |
| I am a failure | The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him. Psalm 37:23 |
| I am not lovable I have no worth | For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14. But whoever loves God is known by God. 1 Cor 8:3 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matt 6:26 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Matt 10:29-30 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them. John 14:21 God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5 |
[1] Rebecca Brown, He Came to Set the Captives Free.