How Demons Enter

How do these evil personalities get inside?
Jesus gave us the analogy of our bodies being a house; they get in if a door is opened to them, (Matt 12:44-45) Then it says ;I will return to the house I left, when it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there.

Man was made in the image of God and so structured physically, emotionally and psychologically as to be a dwelling place for God;s Spirit
(1 Cor 3:16) Don,t you know that yourselves are God;s temple and that God,s Spirit lives in you?
(2 Cor 6:16) For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said I will live with them; but this means he can also be a dwelling place for evil spirits, for his house; is difficult to keep empty.

There is a lesson for us in the Temple of Jerusalem
(Matt 21:12-13) Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.
It is written, he said to them,My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers; designed as a house for God's presence it had become a den of thieves that needed cleansing by Jesus.

Demons cannot walk in and out as they please for God made us with a natural defence. Even the unsaved have a natural resistance to demons gaining entrance. What, then, opens the door? Primarily, sin lets demons in. Contrast (Gen 4:6-7)

Then the Lord said to Cain
Why are you angry?
Why is your face downcast?
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?
But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it, with (Rev 3:20)

Here I am, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. The demon will spring in through the open door
Jesus waits for an invitation. Thus we are warned in (Prov 4:23)
Guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.

1. SIN sin opens the door to demons.

The story of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11) is very instructive.
They agreed to lie and deceive; Satan has filled your heart (Ac 5:3).
As they gave way to lying, covetousness and deceit, demons were able to control them.
In (Galatians 5:19-21) the acts of the sinful nature are listed, sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like.
There are demons who correspond to all such acts and if a person persistently yields to the sins of the flesh he opens a door for demons to come in.
We are to crucify the flesh, i.e. say no to sin and refuse to gratify evil desires, and thus give no ground to the enemy.

Part of the work of ministering deliverance is to teach the need of crucifying the flesh, and through discipline to keep the door shut, (Rom 6:16-19)
Don't you know that when you offer yourself to somebody to obey him as slave, you are slaves to the one you obey whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness.
But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves

Just as you used to offer the parts of your body to slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness; (Job 31:1)
I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl.

We must teach people about the dangers of loving money, (1 Tim 6:9-10)
People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs; (1 Jn 2:16)

For everything in the world the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does comes not from the Father but from the world. Judas fell through lying and theft. If we do not guard ourselves we will be in trouble.

2. CIRCUMSTANCES OF LIFE

Adverse circumstances can reduce our natural resistance to demons by our being weakened physically, emotionally or mentally.
Times of crisis can always be dangerous, but particularly so in childhood; upset in the home, anger and violence between parents, separation, broken homes, being attacked or abused, or simply not feeling loved or accepted, can all open the door.
Earlier still, the trauma of a difficult birth can have its effect. Times of physical weakness can be dangerous, too.
Sickness, lack of food and sleep deprivation can all leave their mark.
Women after giving birth can be in danger, perhaps not so much in allowing a spirit to enter as giving more ground to one already there.

Accidents can let in the spirit of death and fear of accidents; indeed any shock or sudden fear can allow the enemy in nightmares, films that cause fear, asthma attacks etc. (shell-shock suffered during the First World War is a good example of emotional trauma letting demons in).
Children should be particularly protected from emotional trauma that would make them vulnerable its good to pray with a child immediately when there's been a sudden shock or fear.

3. WRONG THINKING

(In Philippians 4:8)
Finally brothers, 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, Paul counsels us to think on good things, precisely because the opposite, wrong thinking, can be so dangerous.
Negative thoughts, rebellion, resentment, fantasy, day-dreaming, unclean thoughts and anger (Eph 4:26)
In your anger do not sin.

Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. are all to be guarded against, and if necessary dealt with, (2 Cor 10.5)
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ Wrong thinking will inevitably lead to wrong speaking, and such things as hopelessness, unbelief and doubt can be detected by listening to people's words they will say its no useor nothing can be done or similar.

4. FALSE RELIGIONS

Idol worship is demon worship, and involvement with false religions lets demons in. Roman Catholics worship of Mary and the saints, the burning of incense and the use of rosary beads, can open the door, too.
Often the very possession of religious articles can hinder deliverance.

5. OCCULT

False religions and the occult often overlap.
The basic meaning of the word occult is hidden or obscured.
It covers all fortune telling, magic practices, spiritism, all attempts to gain knowledge, power and abilities outside of what God has decreed permissible. There is a flood of occult practice today in Britain, Europe and the USA.

God's Word makes it very clear that all occult practices are forbidden; (Deut 18:9-14)
When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.
Let no-one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practises divination (fortune telling) or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist who consults the dead.

Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God. The nations you will dispossess listen to these who practise sorcery or divination.
But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so; (Lev 19:26-31)

Do not eat meat with blood in it.
Do not practice divination or sorcery.
Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edge of your beard.
Do not cut your bodies for the dead.
Do not put tattoo marks on yourselves.
Do not make your daughter a prostitute.
Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists.

FOR YOU WILL BE DEFILED BY THEM;

(Lev 20:6,27)
1 will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people.
A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death.

You are to stone them;

(Ex 22:18)
Do not allow a sorceress to live; (Rev 21:8)
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murder, the sexually immoral, those who practise magic arts, the idolaters and all liars their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulphur.
Often you will have to point out that it is wrong, so have these scriptures already marked in your Bible to turn to, and then you will have to be able to spell out what these practices are in today's terms.

Occult practices often found today:

ouija board, horoscope, meditation, Dungeons and Dragons, automatic writing, water divining, ESP, telepathy, charming away illness, faith healing, yoga, hypnosis, tarot cards, acupuncture and superstition.
This list is not exhaustive.
Theres no such thing as white and black magic it's all black.

There is a tendency in the fallen nature of man to seek the supernatural through occult practices, which exert a real fascination for the mind. But the occult always brings depression and confusion, as well as obvious moral evil. (Ecclesiastes 10:8)
Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake, tells us that God has set the limits, with his Word as a wall or hedge which we may not break through without opening ourselves up to demonisation.

6. DRUGS AND ALCOHOL

By taking away a person's self-control, drugs and alcohol are a direct opening for demons, (Prov 25:28)
Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.
Even prescribed drugs can have this effect. Praying for someone on drugs can be especially difficult as it often neutralises the person's will so that the demons have a tighter hold.
Often drugs prescribed for psychiatric disorders seem to cut a person off from being aware of the manifestation of the demon and from the feeling of release as it leaves.

7. INHERITANCE

Spirits can be passed down from one generation to another, with a curse upon disobedience, (Ex 20:4-5)
You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me; (Deut 28:15)
However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you; (Jer 31:29)

In those days people will no longer say, The father have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set as edge Occult involvement, sickness, sexual sin, alcoholism, Freemasonry and illegitimacy are all things that are likely to hand down evil effects, in many cases with the same pattern of life being repeated: the curse gives the demon the right to enter. However, Christ has redeemed us from the curse and can break this chain of evil effects by casting the demons out, (Gal 3:13-14)

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written:
Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.
He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

DOES IT MATTER HOW THEY GET IN?

It matters inasmuch as it can help those delivered to shut the door in the future.
Revelation often comes to those praying or to the person receiving deliverance, as to how and when that demon came in; the latter may remember an incident or feel certain emotions or sensations that they recognise from the past.