Some people are under the influence of demons, while others are under the influence of their emotions. It is difficult for an inexperienced minister to distinguish a demon from a person's emotions. I want to share my experience of how I discern the difference.
When I pray for a person, my eyes are always open. At the same time, I look with “panoramic vision”—that is, not only at the person standing in front of me, but also at everyone standing nearby, and even in front of and behind me, as far as this wide-angle vision allows. In this way, I scan for demons hiding in people.
Demons know that I am a man of God and that I am dangerous to them
I may be 1 meter, 5 meters, or 15 meters away—it does not matter; they fear me and sense where I am in the room. They are afraid and begin to reveal themselves through manifestations or strange behavior. This is exactly what I scan for as I move along the prayer lines.
I may be praying for one person while keeping another in sight, standing 5 meters away from me. Even though the person I am praying for may be displaying certain manifestations, I can sense whether it is a demon or “theater.” But I am more concerned by another person who “leads me” with their eyes, which show fear, and who is already behaving strangely upon seeing me from a distance. When I approach such a person, I immediately begin casting out the demon. This is a good practice that no one knows about.
And of course, the classic case is…
When you pray for a person and manifestations begin, it means you need to move on to casting out the demon. However, manifestations alone are not an indication of demonic possession. It may be a demon affecting the person's body from outside; it may be the person's “strange” reaction to the power of God; or it may be “theater,” when the person “helps” and overacts. Anything can happen.
There are subtleties by which you can determine whether it is a demon or not, but they are difficult to describe; it comes with experience.
But I can confidently say that many people have imagined that they are demonized, convinced others of it, and then believed it themselves; others have been taught to play along… coughing, exhaling, spitting, sucking in their stomachs—in other words, they “help” themselves.
In any case, every person who has had manifestations but has not received freedom needs ministry again, and perhaps many times, in order to discern the root of the problem… whether it is demons, the flesh, a performance, sin, or… every person is a closed book.
