Hey, Church! 

This week, I spent a good bit of time studying the subject of demonic encounters. I will share a number of stories with you today from people close to me, all of whom I trust as reliable witnesses. In addition to the obvious goal of raising awareness that the demonic realm is very real and present in our world today, I also hope you take notice of the commonalities and patterns that emerge as you read. Demons, it seems, have a fairly predictable playbook. We would be wise to study it so as to recognize their tactics. 

Note: I know this is longer than usual due to the number of stories I tell, but please don’t miss the last section, in which I identify many objects–some very common–that may invite an evil presence into your home. 

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TOY BLOCKS
While babysitting a two-year-old boy, the sitter began to notice unsettling behavior. The boy would erupt into sudden fits, racing through the house shouting, “I want to be a girl!” At other times, she found him in his mother’s closet, clomping around in her dress shoes. Rather than correcting him, his parents indulged the behavior freely, which only deepened the sitter’s unease.

The boy’s bedroom added to her discomfort. Native American artifacts—a tribal mask, a dreamcatcher, and other items—were prominently displayed. Troubled by what she perceived as a dark presence in these objects, she mentioned her concerns during a phone call with a friend. The boy overheard and reported her. His parents confronted her coolly, suggesting that someone had put negative ideas into their son’s head. Mortified, the sitter pretended ignorance and carried on as usual.

On a later visit, she and the boy sat on the bedroom floor playing with Tangram blocks (pictured below). 

Absentmindedly assembling shapes, she focused on the child’s design until she glanced down at her own. To her shock, the pieces had formed a potbellied, horned figure with arms, legs, and eyes. A moment later, the garage door opened and the boy’s father, who had never before arrived home so early, appeared in the bedroom doorway.

Already shaken by the devilish creature she had unconsciously fashioned out of random shapes (which she quickly dismantled before it could be discovered), the father’s sudden and confrontational arrival suggested to her that she was getting too close to knowing something that someone did not want her to know. 

The family never asked her to babysit again. 

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RESTAURANT
In high school, I visited my older brother and sister-in-law in Dallas. We ate at the Spaghetti Warehouse in the West End. The moment I entered, I felt a heavy, demonic presence that wouldn’t fade. While we waited for our food, I noticed a large ceiling painting above our table: a mostly naked woman, wrists bound, posed like a sacrifice. “How grotesque,” I thought. “And what an odd decorative choice for an Italian restaurant!” 

The oppressive feeling followed me through the meal. As we left, I locked eyes with a female employee who stared back without blinking. The sense of evil surged; my hair stood on end, as if our spirits were having a confrontational conversation with each other. Later, my sister-in-law said she’d seen a lobby sign dedicating the restaurant “to Satan, ruler of the world.”

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VOICES
A troubled teenage girl frequently skipped school to get drunk on the beach with friends. Her parents, both newly converted Christians, were interceding for her in the living room when they heard a loud noise down the hall. The father went to investigate. As he approached his daughter’s bedroom, he felt an eerie presence that caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand up. Through the girl’s closed door, he heard two unfamiliar voices: one said to the other, “Well, that’s why we’re sending her to the beach.” Recognizing that what he felt was a demonic spirit, he prayed, “In the name of Jesus, get out!” And it left. 

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PINNED DOWN

A Christian woman worked as a nanny for a Jewish family with a six-month-old baby. As she went about her daily tasks, she often played Christian music, read the Bible, or wrote prayers in her journal. One afternoon, after settling the baby down for a nap, she lay down to rest on a guest bed across the hall, something the family welcomed her to do. She covered her eyes with a small bedcover and soon fell asleep.

A short time later, she woke suddenly but found herself unable to open her eyes, speak, or move. Fully conscious, she felt an overwhelming sense of a demonic presence. She heard footsteps in the hallway and then felt something sit heavily on her chest. Though paralyzed, she knew that if she could say the name of Jesus, the presence would have to leave. Struggling to squeeze the word through her teeth, she finally cried out, “Jesus!” Immediately, the weight lifted. She tore the cover from her eyes and ran from the room, calling out to the spirit in righteous anger, “Where are you?”

She then heard loud movement through the house—down the hall, across the living room, and into the kitchen, with cabinets banging, as if the presence were retreating toward the baby’s room. Standing in the middle of the house, she declared loudly, “Ok, here’s the deal: When I’m here, you are not! When I’m here, this house belongs to Jesus!” 

She never sensed that presence again. 

On a later visit, she sensed voices and movement once more, but this time the atmosphere felt peaceful and protective, as though she were surrounded by friends. She believes they may have been angels. 

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MANTRAS

I have witnessed several instances of people sitting and rocking back and forth, muttering the same phrases repeatedly. Each time, I sensed an evil presence. On one occasion, I offered to pray for a young man in this state. He objected, so I prayed for him silently. As I did, he became increasingly agitated, rocking and repeatedly whispering, “It’s not going to work.”

In 2016, a 24-year-old man attended Rio and often exhibited strange, unsettling behaviors. In one particular conversation, he spoke fondly of Constantine, a dark film about exorcism and demons. Another time, he was seen in church, seated in the back row alone, rocking and chanting satanic mantras. He was asked to leave and soon after sent the following email to a member of the worship team:

The police tracked him down, issued a no-trespass warning, and he never returned.

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OPPOSITION TO BAPTISM
A 50-year-old Cuban-born man recently came to Christ and prepared for baptism. When he was 11 years old, after repeated failed attempts to immigrate to the U.S., his mother sought help from a Santerian priest. Following a ritual, permission to immigrate was granted. As his baptism approached decades later, he experienced sudden, intense panic attacks despite no history of anxiety. The attacks intensified until his baptism, after which they ceased.

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THREE SPIRITS

A young couple who attended a local church approached the pastor after the service to request prayer for the woman’s “troubled” younger sister. Upon first sight of the 20-something sister, the pastor felt a chill run down his spine. He could not describe it, except to say there was “a vibe” expressed by her demeanor that utterly spooked him. Relocating to his office, the pastor and his wife sat down to talk with the woman. 

She explained how she came to be deeply involved in Santeria, eventually working her way up the ranks of leadership, and finally becoming a medium. “Ever since then, three spirits follow me around everywhere I go.” Growing more disturbed in spirit every second, the pastor reluctantly asked, “Are the spirits in the room with us now?” “No,” she said. “Thankfully, when I come into the church, they wait outside.” 

The pastor and his wife prayed for her deliverance, “In the name of Jesus, you will leave her alone,” and “Be cast out of her now, in Jesus’ name.” After both had spent several minutes praying, the pastor asked, “Are the spirits still here?” She said, “No, they’re gone now, but they were screaming in my ears the entire time you were praying.” 

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SEEING THE DEVIL
During a sermon, a teenage girl uncharacteristically burst into tears and had to leave the room. She later explained to the pastor that when he mentioned the devil, she saw him (the devil) in the room. “It freaked me out, so I just got up and left.” As she shared her story, the pastor learned that her stepfather was involved with the Masons, and that the same devil figure was present whenever she visited the Masonic lodge. 

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NEW AGE
For ten years, a young woman devoted herself to practicing and teaching New Age spirituality. Her apartment overflowed with crystals, guru-filled bookshelves, and a ritual altar worth thousands. What convinced her most was that the practices sometimes seemed to work. She’d follow a ritual promising wealth and later find a $100 bill on the street. Nothing within her spirit felt uneasy or oppressed.

Everything shifted when she stumbled on a YouTube video debunking her favorite gurus, followed by another titled From New Age to Jesus. She clicked it with a scoff, expecting nonsense, but instead felt her beliefs begin to unravel. The gospel struck her as unexpectedly beautiful, and she became aware of a deep, quiet emptiness in her heart.

After giving her life to Jesus, a Christian friend urged her to destroy her New Age items. That night, she burned the crystals, books, and Tarot cards in her yard. When it was over, she felt the atmosphere was noticeably thinner, lighter, and startlingly clear.

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CAT LADY
A young couple newly engaged in Christian ministry met a distraught woman in their neighborhood. When they asked if she needed help, she broke down, explaining she was trying to escape her drug-addicted boyfriend, who had recently threatened her life. She planned to return to his apartment while he was at work, gather her belongings, and leave for good. After praying for protection, the minister’s wife agreed to go with her.

At the apartment, the woman unlocked the door while her helper waited just outside. A strong smell of marijuana poured into the hallway. Suddenly, a piercing scream erupted from inside—an eerie sound that barely seemed human, later described as “like an injured cat.”

The helper stepped inside and found the woman frozen in fear. The dark, disorderly room felt oppressive, as if filled with multiple evil presences. On the table were ashtrays containing what appeared to be human skulls. With some effort, she managed to pull the woman outside with her belongings. They fled quickly, shaken but unharmed.

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PINK FLOYD
In the early 1980s, a minister of music and youth at a charismatic Southern Baptist church in Fort Lauderdale received an urgent phone call from a distressed mother. Her fifteen‑year‑old daughter had become violent and irrational, smashing mirrors and glass furniture with a hammer. The girl was convinced that a member of the rock band Pink Floyd was coming to take her to London to marry her on international television, despite having never met him. When her father refused to take her to the airport, she threatened him with the hammer.

The family’s church felt unprepared to handle what they believed was demonic behavior and referred the call to the minister. After praying for guidance, the minister, his wife, and a trusted friend known for spiritual discernment went to the family’s home.

The girl appeared disheveled and emotionally unstable but calmly explained her belief that she was in constant communication with the musician. 

The minister asked, “Your mom said that you have never met this man. How do you know this is going to happen?”

Looking towards him, she said, “We have never met but we talk all the time. Would you like to talk with him?”

Breathing a silent prayer, the minister replied, “Yes. I would.” 

At that moment, the girl began speaking in the first person with an adult male’s voice. The atmosphere shifted immediately, arm and neck hairs stood up all around, and the minister explained to the parents that they were confronting demonic forces. 

Addressing the girl and the demons within her, the minister stated that they were there in the name of Jesus Christ. She became violently agitated, screaming for him to stop. Pulling at her hair, she kept shouting, “Don’t say that! Stop saying that name!” The minister continued, “The blood of Jesus will cleanse you from all unrighteousness.” At that, the girl let out a blood-curdling shriek and retreated to her bedroom, still pulling her hair and shouting, “Stop saying that name!”

Fearing for her safety, the women followed her to her bedroom. Her room was very dark and filled with drug paraphernalia, burning incense, and vile posters and music albums associated with occult or anti‑Christian themes. They could sense a deep evil in the room. 

Eventually, everyone gathered in the den, where they prayed over the girl for an extended period. During the prayer, the discerning friend commanded the spirits, one by one, to identify themselves and leave in the name of Jesus. The others prayed in agreement. When the final spirit was cast out, the girl’s demeanor changed completely. Her eyes brightened, her agitation vanished, and she began calmly thanking Jesus. The hostility she had shown moments earlier was replaced with peace and joy.

Afterward, the girl asked for the hammer again, this time to destroy the items in her room. She smashed records, tapes, and posters, repeating “in Jesus’ name” as she worked. The group carried the debris to a dumpster, nearly filling it. Onlookers gathered, but the minister reassured them that everything was under control, and no authorities were called.

In the months that followed, the girl gave the minister a framed mirror etched with the poem “Footprints in the Sand.” Only later did he grasp the significance of the mirror—once an object of destruction, now a symbol of restoration.

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The Conclusion
Each of the above stories is true and has been represented as accurately as possible, despite the passage of time and being twice-removed from the subjects, in some cases. My purpose in sharing them is not to provoke fear or encourage anyone to see “demons under every rock.” On the contrary, I hope to highlight a pattern that can be observed with a little faith and discernment. By understanding the devil’s tactics, we can more readily recognize his wiles, avoid giving him a foothold, and reclaim spiritual territory for Christ. 

Each of these stories contained some version of the following elements: 

A Host. In each case, a person has been more-or-less controlled or tormented by a leeching, evil spirit. 

Shrieking. It strikes me that while some situations described above do not overtly feature screaming voices, most do. Furthermore, I can say with God as my witness that the evil spirit within the woman in the Italian restaurant was screaming to my soul through her wide, lifeless gaze, “You do not belong here.” In a way, I suspect a literal scream would have been less terrifying. (Also, the three spirits that screamed in the woman’s ears while the pastor prayed)

Territory. In addition to objects, it seems that spirits can also claim ownership of physical spaces. From the above stories: a house, a room, a restaurant. Conversely, the young woman’s three tormenting spirits were forbidden entry to the church building. 

Disturbing the Physical Realm. I have more questions than answers here. Why, in the nanny’s story, did the oppressive spirit announce itself with footsteps? Do demons walk, or obey natural laws like gravity? Why would a spirit retreat noisily through the house? Countless online videos show alleged paranormal acts—barstools tipping, wheelchairs moving on their own, doors opening and closing. I can’t verify their authenticity, especially as AI improves, but I’m open to some being genuine. Still, why move objects when no one is watching? I don’t know, but it does seem to be something demons do.

Voices. It is not uncommon for people who encounter demonic spirits to hear voices. Like the screaming described above, those voices can either be audible or internalized. Some report “hearing” in their head, or “seeing” in their minds, words like, “Kill,” or statements like “Scripture won’t save you.” These intrusive thoughts arise suddenly and feel foreign, not self-generated. Others, like the example above, report literally hearing conversations when no one is around, or a man’s voice speaking through a young girl. 

The Name of Jesus. If you take nothing else from this discussion, remember this: all authority in heaven and on earth belongs to Jesus Christ. The devil knows this and shudders at His name (Ja. 2:19). Claim the all-sufficient blood of Jesus Christ, and explicitly in His name, demand evil forces to leave. “Submit yourselves to God, therefore; resist the devil and he will flee from you” (Ja. 4:7). 

Submit to God. The second half of that verse in James (“Resist the devil and he will flee from you”) only applies to those who have, in genuine faith, fully embraced its preceding command: “Submit yourselves to God.” We who have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us cannot be possessed by demons. They were not allowed inside the church in the story above, and even less so in you, the Temple of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the gift of faith, given in salvation. It is not the Christian person–his or her intuitions, feelings, intelligence, or anything of the sort–but only the Spirit of the living God within that person that rightly discerns the spirits. (see 1 John 4:1-6 below; cf. 1 Cor. 2:14). 

The Sixth Sense. The best way I know how to describe sensing an evil presence to someone who hasn’t experienced it is this: You’re home alone at night, doing something mundane. The house is quiet, your mind relaxed. Then, without warning, an intense, intrusive awareness hits—you are being watched by something unfriendly. This is almost always followed by an automatic (i.e. unconscious; instinctive) physical response: hairs stands on end, heart races, chills run down the spine; others have described a sudden change in body temperature (think: fever chill), a heavy weight, or a sense of inexplicable terror and darkness. 

A Doorway. “Do not give the devil a foothold” (Eph. 4:27). The devil is an intruder; if you crack the door open, he will put his heavy foot in the doorway and force his way inside. We crack the door open and invite the enemy into our homes when we give safe haven to objects committed to destruction (that is to say, cursed). The Bible gives many examples of this (here are two: Josh. 6-7; 1 Kings 14:22-24) and warns us not to bring such items into our homes. 

“The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire. Do not covet the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the Lord your God. Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Regard it as vile and utterly detest it, for it is set apart for destruction” 

(Deut. 7:25-26). 

If you have any of the following items in your house (or in any other space you occupy), GET RID OF IT. Don’t sell it or give it to someone else; destroy it. Since practically anything can be an idol, pray for discernment. Walk around your house praying, asking God to show you anything that might not be of Him. And when in doubt, throw it out! Below are some of the more common things people (often, unwittingly) bring into their homes:

Games/Recreation. Ouija boards, Dungeons and Dragons, video games with evil themes, voodoo dolls, etc. I also want to caution parents against buying your kids the most recent trend, Labubu Dolls: ‘

False religions. This is a wide umbrella that may include any object with historic ties to evil, satanic/superstitious/spiritual rituals, witchcraft, the occult, New Age, or other false religions. The tribal mask on the child’s wall, for example. A very common decorative piece used by people with no idea of its meaning: dreamcatchers.

Also, magic crystals/stones, Tarot Cards, Horoscopes, gargoyles, statues of gods/saints/evil beings/creatures, yin yang, magic, incantations, oracles, psychic readings, rabbit’s foot, and all divinations or good-luck charms. 

Symbols and images. Most belief systems have several icons. e.g. Satanism can be represented by a pentagram, 666, certain hand signals, a goat skull/head, an upside down cross, and probably others. Get rid of pentagrams, Zodiac signs, evil eyes, and grotesque, pornographic, or sacrificial images. 

Media. Video games, music, movies, books, magazines, or art that depicts, teaches, or glorifies any of the above. Also consider the source. For example, if a song was written by someone who has proclaimed devotion to satan, it is unwise to listen, even if the song itself seems benign. 

Death. The gospel of Jesus Christ is characterized by light and life. The false gospel of demons is its opposite: darkness and death. Avoid anything that bears the marks of the enemy (to steal, kill, and destroy), such as skulls, bones, altars, murder, suicide, etc.  

1 John 4:1-6

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.