Families of Demons

Evil spirits do not as a rule work as individuals in a person's life. Rather they work together in families or groups.

If a person has a fear problem, the greater the fear, the stronger the hold and the more spirits involved in the bondage area. Evil spirits gain their strength through their numbers.

Under the general heading of fear there are many different kinds of fear. For instance, insecurity is a type of fear, as is inferiority, embarrassment, shyness, worry, anxiety, etc. Also there are multitudes of fears such as the fear of man, fear of failure, fear of disappointment, fear of loneliness, fear of death, fear of water, fear of animals, fear of authority, fear of the supernatural, fear of heights, etc., etc.

If a person has a stronghold of sorrow, working together in the sorrow family may be names such as regret, self-pity, anguish, and mourning.

If a person has a spirit of rejection, usually he has the fear of rejection as well. Loneliness may also be involved.

A person who has spirits of anger often needs release from frustration as well. Spirits works together. One opens the door to the other. It is also important to realize that a person may have a number of exactly the same kind of spirit. For example, a person may have several spirits of acrophobia (fear of heights). The person comes for deliverance, receives prayer, spirits leave, and he goes away rejoicing, praising God for the victory, and continuing to walk in the ways of the Lord. Next week he goes mountain climbing and find that (to the same or to a lesser degree) he still has the problem. What does he do now? He may become discouraged, either concluding that deliverance doesn't work or that the spirits have returned. But if he knows that there can still be others of the same spirit remaining, then instead of being disheartened, he can rise up and come against them and press on to receive complete deliverance.

We will see that deliverance is a process and it may take much time to break down a whole family of spirits. In my own experience I had many deep deliverances in the same areas over extended periods. On some occasions I literally vomited so deeply while being released, that I thought there could not possibly be any more spirits left in that stronghold. And yet I had to continue pressing in to total freedom month after month. It was these experiences that taught me the strength and depth of some demonized areas. The stronger an area of bondage, the more spirits there are involved, and usually the longer the deliverance takes to complete.

Because demons work in families, I have found it best when dealing with them, to speak in the singular, but think in the plural.

In the Gospels a group of spirits can be referred to interchangeably as "spirit" (singular) or "spirits" (plural).

In Mark.5 we read the story of the Gerasene demoniac. Verse 2 says that a man. . . with an unclean spirit (singular). . . met Jesus. In verse 7 again it is referred to in the singular: . . . "What do 1 (singular) have to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I (singular) implore You by God, do not torment me (singular)!" But when the demon was asked its name, notice the switch from singular to plural: ... "My (singular) name is Legion; for we (plural) are many." Verse 12: . . . "Send us (plural) into the swine so that we (plural) may enter them." Verse 13: And He gave them (plural) permission... In Mark 1:23-24 the Bible says the man had an unclean spirit, as if in the singular. But when the spirit spoke, it was speaking on behalf of many spirits, for it said, "What do we (plural) have to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us (plural)? I (singular) know who You are - the Holy One of God!"

In both these incidents there was a spokesman. Some spirits exercise more power and authority than others. Often I speak directly to the head of a family, to the key spirit, to the leader of the group, and thus get right to the core of the stronghold.