where did the demons go?

[Prodigal Son]

i've had a satanic experience. is that the same as possession?

[Mastermind]

that would depends on the details of the experience.

[Prodigal Son]

when i was about fifteen, i got mad at God for not helping me in a very desperate situation. i yelled at Him with all the hatred i could muster, "i don't need you anyways! there's someone else who'll help me! you want to see!" i then started praying to satan. i begged him to show himself and help me. when i was done fuming, i turned to leave my room and there was a large indentation in my wall the size of a head (about half an inch deep). needless to say, i s**t my pants. my parents thought i had done it. they were not pleased. i paid my younger brother to sleep in my room with me for awhile. i wasn't under the influence of anything when it happened...or coming off. it was totally real.

never did that again.

[Mastermind]

That's not possession. To be possessed you'd have to actually feel Satan try to hurt you from inside.

[Poetic_Soul]

That's not possession. To be possessed you'd have to actually feel Satan try to hurt you from inside.

Very true. I do believe that it was an evil spirit though.

[Anonymous]

I had a similar experience when I was much younger. My grandparents raised me and by all accounts are considered very "religious" and "spirtitual" people. We said our prayers together every night as well our nightly "rosary" for a very long period in my upbringing.

Once when prayers were completed and the rosary was done, i stayed in our prayer room and continued to pray indepedently - afterwards I stepped up and left the room, as I exited the doorway I felt a cold breeze and looked back only to see a "perfect" shadow of satan on the wall asking me to come towards him. It was the wall furthest away from the point i was at.

Of course at my age, I froze and took my eyes off of the shadow and laid them back upon our prayer mantle. When I looked back the shadow was gone. As I attempted to explain this to my grandparents they went back into the room with me to inspect the room. Of course there was no shadow but there a slight hint of dirt and dust on the wall where the shadow was but nothing else around. The room was always spotless.

Looking back now and before of course, I realized that satan didn't possess me but I was resisting him through spirit and faith. Satan/the shadow I knew, could do me no harm. I have since placed my faith upon the Lord that he will protect me and will guide me in my daily decision making. At times in my life I have strayed but have always been led back to the Lord.

Satan will work harder on believers than he would of the already non-believers. He worked on me and lost. He has never forgotten about me and at times created wicked thoughts but yet has never beat my "heart of hearts".

Now shortly before this incident, I have to add, I had too questioned the Lord. About what I'm not at liberty to say, but when I questioned him and myself - both sides were listening.

But I only listened to one side.

[Prodigal Son]

how has he never forgotten about you and why not?

[Zoe]

Well, it's clear from scripture that not ALL demons are free to roam, so to speak. Jude tells us in verse 6 "And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire." So evidently, some demons are already bound for their sin. Punished? Perhaps, but certainly not judged as of yet.

I personally believe demons oppress and posess, just as the Holy Spirit would either "come upon" believers, vs. His "indwelling" them, filling them. etc. Certainly there are degrees to which believers and unbelievers have contact with anything of the spiritual realm, whether good or evil. And the same way in which we "open ourselves up" to good (prayer, submission, faith, obedience, etc.) we can alternatively open ourselves up for evil through witchcraft, drug use, tarot card reading, gambling, drunkeness, pornography, etc. Basically, if the object of your mind is not God Almighty, (including times when you 'clear" your mind through meditation and yoga) then it will eventually turn to evil. That's my personal belief.

[The edge]

Well, it's clear from scripture that not ALL demons are free to roam, so to speak. Jude tells us in verse 6 "And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.

That's an interesting verse you threw in. You may be right. I'll like to offer 2 other alternative interpretation to Jude 6.
1) This may be a reference to the Milennium kingdom where all will be bound till the great day of Amagadon.
2) The binding & darkness is figurative. To be separated from God & Heaven equates to hell & darkness. This is synonamous to some Buddhist thots that earth here is a living hell. I managed to find one commentary that has the same view:

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
This one volume commentary was prepared by Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown and published in 1871.

He hath kept them in His purpose; that is their sure doom; moreover, as yet, Satan and his demons roam at large on the earth. An earnest of their doom is their having been cast out of heaven, being already restricted to "the darkness of this present world," the "air" that surrounds the earth, their peculiar element now. They lurk in places of gloom and death, looking forward with agonizing fear to their final torment in the bottomless pit. He means not literal chains and darkness, but figurative in this present world where, with restricted powers and liberties, shut out from heaven, they, like condemned prisoners, await their doom.

[Dan]

I was visited by a devil one night. It was quite a terrifying experience, I could feel the demon standing in my doorway as I laid in my bed. I was turned the otherway and I froze stiff with horror. I broke into a sweat and was wracked with fear for what seemed like an eternity. I prayed to God in my head and did not dare to turn to see what it was. I could see it quite clearly, but it wasn't physical sight, it was sort of spiritual, I could see the devil behind me without my eyes pointed that way.

When the devil's presence left me, I turned on the lights and found nothing remarkable. I could hardly sleep that night.

[Zoe]

Dan, I too have had such a demonic visit, it came out of nowhere, seemed to last an eternity, and I knew clearly what was happening, although I still didn't want to believe it. It happened at dusk, just as it was getting dark. IN fact, I walked INTO it. It had been lurking all day, at a Christian Writer's Conference I was attending, and hit me hard that night. All day I had this urge to leave, and could not figure out why. So, I went back to my room, thinking I'd pray it away, and very quickly discovered I could not free my mind to concentrate on prayer, panicked, and went to the Word of God. I read Psalms OUT LOUD, the words confusing and blurring at first, then becoming clear and powerful. IN this way, I rebuked the evil spirit that was in the room (actually, there was more than one) I never at one time felt GOd had left me, merely stepped back, as it were, to allow this to happen for some reason. I was terrified, didn't sleep well, and for months wondered "why me?"

Scripture saved my mind from being attacked any further. And while I didn't SEE anything, the presence and evil was definately real. If you encounter that again, go to the Word and read aloud some of the verses, at random. It was in that way that Jesus rebuked Satan in the desert. And the Word is our Sword of the Spirit. By which we fight back.

[Strix]

This is an older thread, but it's new to me. Reading through, I didn't see anyone reference this passage: Zechariah 13:2

The NIV reads "spirit of impurity"; the NASB, NKJV, and KJV all read "unclean spirit".

[Zoe]

Zechariah is referencing the end times, not the present. (although we are living in the end times, I do not believe the unclean spirits have yet to be removed, unfortunately.) they are all around us. Bottom line, we need to be aware that demons exist, know how to stand or fight against them, and their tactics and strategies. And guess what? All of those answers come when we are fully surrendered to the Lord and filled with the Holy Spirit. Apart from the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are sitting ducks when it comes to demons.

[Zoe]

I don't think it is coincidence that demonic activity increases during two times in our lives, repeatedly: one, when we are actively pursuing God Himself, because Satan fears our surrender and defeat of Him through Christ's blood and Name. Second, when we are openly against God, questioning Him, indisobedience, etc. So, basically, Satan is ALWAYS at work in our lives, against us, just as God is always at work. We are either for God or against Him the Bible says. Either way, the illusion that Stan is "leaving us alone" is just that - an illusion. He may not manifest himself in tangible ways, but his work is obvious - pornography, sexual immorality, lying, etc...whatever it is, apart from God, it is from Satan, his work. So that makes many Chrisitans stop and think. THe lukewarm or backslidden Christian is just a softer way of saying that they are a worker of iniquity. Either you work for the Lord with all your heart, or you don't no gray area. SO many lukewarm Christiains claim this once saved always saved, and Satan can't touch them - King David was proof that is a flase claim, and unbiblical. Soloman as well, as many others, including the couple in Acts who were struck down for their sin. We should fear God, and serve Him alone.

[Strix]

Zechariah is referencing the end times, not the present.

I agree that Zechariah is referencing the end times, but if you go back through the verses, tracking the phrase "that day" backwards through the 12th chapter, you end up in Zech. 12:3 "It will come about in that day..." What day? Zech. 12:2-3 appears to refer to the destruction of Jerusalem. So when would these things start to take place in Zech. 12-13? - at the destruction of Jerusalem (cerca 70 A.D.).

I do not believe the unclean spirits have yet to be removed

Not to appear to be rude at all, but I'm interested in your Scriptural references for this point of view. Are there passages that state that there will be demon possession in our time?