10 Signs That You Have a Demon

Do you feel you may have a demon, but you’re not entirely sure?  Maybe it’s the flesh, or perhaps you’re just going through a hard time. Or, maybe something deep inside of you is asking if you could have one or more demons and be unaware.  In this blog I’m going to give you 10 signs that you may have a demon, and then at the end we are going to pray a powerful prayer.  

Confrontation vs. Conquering

Just because your pastor may not confront the works of darkness doesn’t mean that the works of darkness are not confronting you.  The book of Ephesians tells us that we are in a spiritual battle.  We are not fighting against people but against principalities, powers, rulers, and high places (Ephesians 6:12). So what does that mean? It means that some of the problems you encounter in your life may be demonic, but because you never confronted the demonic, you are not conquering. Confrontation and conquering go hand in hand. You can only conquer what you confront.  If you confront the flesh, you will conquer the flesh.  The Bible says that you should crucify it (Galatians 5:24).  So if you confront your flesh and say, “Not today, flesh!  I’m crucifying you. I don’t care what you want!”  You will have victory over the thing that you confront. Conquering and confrontation go hand in hand.  If you never confront the demonic, you will never conquer the demonic.  

Discipline vs. Deliverance

You may have been trying to fight what you are suffering from with a pill. But if you need deliverance from the demonic, you can’t take a pill prescribed by a psychiatrist or a doctor that will solve the problem. No surgery will help if the source of your illness is demonic. No amount of therapy will help if it’s demonic.  Now I’m not diminishing surgery, therapy, or medication, but what I’m trying to say is there are problems in the physical and there are problems in the spiritual.  We have created a Christianity where it’s always the flesh; it’s always a need for discipline.  Sometimes, though, there is a need for deliverance.  

The Real Jesus

I don’t think every issue is a demon.  But if you are a pastor and do ten, twenty, thirty years of ministry and nothing ever manifests in your churches, I have to ask you – was Jesus ever really there?  In Mark 1, the first time Jesus shows up at a synagogue, a demon starts screaming, “Why are you here to torment me?”  When the Holy Spirit shows up in a church service, the demons begin to scream, “Why are you here to torment me?”  We’re not tormenting the demonic because the real Jesus is not in our midst. We invite the Jesus of religion, we invite the Jesus of tradition, we invite social justice warrior Jesus, or republican Jesus, or democratic, liberal Jesus. But yet, we don’t invite the real Jesus.  When we invite the real Jesus into our services, demons will begin to manifest.  

Throughout this blog, you’ll see me use the word “victim” in reference to the person who has a demon. I’m using the term victim because you truly are a victim if you have a demon. You shouldn’t feel guilt or shame.  But allow this list of ten points to help you identify whether you need deliverance and then pursue freedom!  Don’t allow yourself to continue to be terrorized by a demon!  Freedom is available to you!  

1. You have an irrational, uncontrollable aversion to the things of God

Sometimes not wanting to go to church results from a demon not wanting to be in the atmosphere of the actual presence of God.  Maybe you can easily watch garbage television or online content full of lust and sexual perversion, murder, and crazy things.  But yet you can’t watch worship or a church service.  This is a sign that you may have a demon.  

2.  The ability to speak languages completely unknown to the victim   

Whatever God has, Satan has a counterfeit.  In Acts 2, we see people speaking in other human languages that are known and declaring God’s mighty works. You best believe that Satan is going to distort and pervert that.  I have seen people speak in demonic tongues that are not known to the person.   

How do you know the difference between real and counterfeit tongues?  Just like a bank teller handles money frequently and can easily spot a counterfeit, the more you’re in the presence of the Holy Spirit the more you can tell what’s real and what is counterfeit. Develop your own prayer language and relationship with the Holy Spirit. Then, you can clearly discern between false and real tongues.    

3. You have a knowledge of things unknown to the victim

If you are a child of God, the Holy Spirit will teach you all things.  But as I mentioned above, there is always a counterfeit with the enemy.  So, what does the devil do? He also will give you hidden knowledge.  One of the reasons why people go into witchcraft or the occult is to know things. 

Psychics, mediums, witches, and warlocks are seeking knowledge.  The devil will give people knowledge and reveal things they could not possibly know. Some will say, “I have had premonitions my entire life. I felt like I’ve known things.”  Just like in the Old Testament, young Samuel was brought into the temple to be trained under Eli so that he could develop the prophetic gifting; I also believe that Satan grooms people. Demons groom people under a counterfeit spirit of prophecy.  

4. The person will already know that they have demons inside them.

Sometimes a man or woman of God is just there to confirm what the victim already knows.  A wise minister will check and verify though.  It’s similar to going to the doctor to get a diagnosis. How many people have died from undiagnosed cancer because the doctor didn’t check? If you are a pastor and minister and have people coming to you saying, “I think I need deliverance,” you should check and not assume everything is fine!

Let us not forget Ananias and Sapphira, who suffered the highest consequence for lying by omission to the Holy Spirit.  If you are a pastor and someone comes to you saying, “I think I need deliverance,” but you’re afraid to pray for them because you’re a spiritual coward, you need to stop telling them they don’t have a demon!  Deliverance is the children’s bread, and your refusal to discern the spiritual could mean holding back freedom from somebody.  You will be accountable for that before the throne of God!

5. You experience basic demonic manifestations

Some basic manifestations that may occur by a victim of demon possession are:

• Sneezing
• Coughing
• Yawning
• Shaking
• Convulsing
• Contorting
• Not being able to make eye contact 
• Eyes going back and forth
• Gagging, choking, or vomiting 
• Mocking laughter 
• Getting lightheaded
• Heart palpitations 
• Burping

This is not an exhaustive list, and the presence of any one of these things can’t tell you if you have a demon.  Ultimately you must rely on the Holy Spirit, coupled with experience to discern.

6. Intrusive thoughts

When you have repeated intrusive thoughts, that’s an indicator that those thoughts are demonic.  I’ve heard news stories of someone grabbing a baby and throwing them off a balcony, killing the infant.  This person had no prior criminal record and had never so much gotten a parking ticket.   They escalated straight to murder because they struggled with repeated intrusive thoughts, but the origin of was demonic. The Bible says the devil came to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10)  If your thoughts are telling you to kill, that’s the devil on assignment.  

Similarly, intrusive thoughts can be of lust and perversion.  Understand that not all sexual desire is lust. God gave us sexual desire as a gift.  He said to be fruitful and multiply in Genesis. So it is healthy and normal to have sexual desire.  But when it becomes obsessive, perverse, and ultimately uncontrollable, you need to discern if it’s demonic.  

7.  Uncontrollable behaviors

Sometimes tics that people have are demonic. If you treat all tics like they’re demonic,  then you will show a lack of empathy and understanding for people who have this as a purely physiological issue. 

But in Mark 5 there was a young man who was bound by demons who had uncontrollable behavior. They put him in chains because he had supernatural strength.  There are other instances of uncontrollable behavior in Jesus’ deliverance ministry.  Some had supernatural strength, some screamed uncontrollably, one man threw himself into the fire.  No human being would do that willingly.  Human nature is self-preservation. If you have uncontrollable behaviors like cutting yourself or self-harm and feel like you can’t get a grip on it, the demonic is at play.  

8.  Unexplainable illness

Jesus cast out the spirit of infirmity.  In Luke 13:11, we see evidence of a spirit of infirmity.  It says in this verse, “Behold there was a woman who had a disabling spirit for 18 years, and she was bent over and she couldn’t straighten herself up.”  Many people would say she needs a chiropractor or physical therapy.  But Jesus discerned that this was a spirit of infirmity.  

In contrast, not all sicknesses are demonic.  When Jesus healed ten lepers, he didn’t cast out the spirit of leprosy.  He healed them.  So need to discern between the spirit of infirmity and physical infirmity. One requires deliverance, one requires healing.

9.  Unexplained paranormal activity

Sometimes there are demons in the atmospheres of homes. The Bible says when you cast them out, they go roaming around arid places, and then they come back seeing everything swept, and they want to come back in. Here’s the thing: demons do not want to just float around your house.  They want to live inside of you.  However, there are times when you’ll see physical paranormal activity happen, which could point to possession.   

I’ve seen this evidenced by cabinets slamming, doors slamming, boxes being thrown, foul smells, and strange shadows.  Some may say their homes have ghosts.  There is no such thing as a ghost. What we refer to as ghosts are demons masquerading as deceased people. Maybe in a moment of grief, you started talking to dead loved ones, and the devil used it as an open door.  

10.  You have tried Christian disciplines and still struggle with repeated sin 

Maybe you have tried it all.  You read the Bible every day, pray daily, listen to worship, fast, and have gone to pastoral counseling, but you can’t get free; you may have a demon.  

If you do have a demon, dive into these resources for finding freedom.  I suggest going through them in this order to follow a process for self-deliverance:

Casting Out Demons for Beginners

How to Cast Out Demons By Yourself

How to Cleanse Your House from Evil Spirits

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