This is what happened
The bible talks about Jesus casting out evil spirits from people, and then afterwards, the person to whom he cast them out then became in their right mind. For example, Legion was naked and roaming around the graveyard crazy. Still, after he was delivered, he got dressed and was like an average person. (Mark 5:1-20)
I wouldn’t say I have ever been as crazy as Legion but only suffered mild forms of not being in my right mind. What do I mean? Well, I was in my early 20’s and had failed my exams, and various other factors made me feel depressed. So much depressed as to think, “Oh no, at this rate, I will end up in a psychiatric hospital.” Looking back, the only symptoms that I remember were feeling a bit heavy and very lethargic. I remember not wanting to get out of bed in the morning, but I did, so I can’t have been that bad. I have worked on psychiatric wards and seen how bad depression can become, and it is really debilitating. I think I was saved from ever getting that far because I was delivered from those spirits afflicting me.
To add a bit of drama to my experience, I will explain when I was first aware of evil spirits. In the late 1980’s I went to a small meeting in the back room of a church of England church in Exmouth with a few Christain Union members from the college I attended there. The man speaking at the front spoke quietly but was very intense. He talked about prayer, and all the time he was talking, I found myself physically shivering even though it was not cold in the room. At the end of the meeting, he asked if any of us would like prayer. I went forward, and nothing spectacular happened. Still, he did pray that the spirit of insanity would be bound in Jesus Name.
I thought not too much of the incident and carried on with life. I attended a Pentecostal AOG Church. One day my Pastor announced that he and his wife were going to a place near London to find out about the deliverance ministry. They came back happy, claiming they had been delivered from evil spirits and would I too like to be delivered? I said yes but felt like nothing would happen. They got me aside and asked me questions. Have I ever been involved with the occult, such as reading my horoscope or what things have I read and other life experiences? They counselled me, saying that the actual deliverance need not be dramatic as I imagined in the film “The Exorcist”. They wanted to ensure I was being filled with Gods Holy Spirit daily. Once evil spirits leave you, they can come back in more significant numbers. If you aren’t reading the bible and praying daily, your condition would be worse than it was before. They warned me that the spirits would try and come back and that I was just to resist them and not let them.
The day arrived for me to be delivered.
I was in the Pastor and his wife’s home. They started praying for me and asking me to forgive people and renounce all my involvements with reading my horoscopes and the Ouija board. I did all that then they asked me to name some spirits I think I had. I remember depression and self-pity being two spirits, so I called them out, telling them to leave. The Pastor and his wife also told the spirits to go. I just breathed them out and noticed a tingling in my hands and an incredible warmth appear in my stomach, moving upwards into my lungs. I felt my eyes pop also. And most notably, I felt so much lighter. I looked in the mirror and saw two rosy cheeks that weren’t there before and the look of depression gone for weeks after I was on cloud nine as I felt so good.
Before I was delivered from evil spirits, I would frequently dream I was being chased. Afterwards, one night, I dreamt that The Invasion of The Body Snatchers was chasing after me. I was lying in bed in the dream, and an old lady who was a body snatcher was about to touch me. I realized I should not be running from her. Instead, I rose up and started singing, “In the Name of Jesus, In the Name of Jesus, we have the victory, In the Name of Jesus In the Name of Jesus, demons will have to flee.” As I sang that, the old woman backed away, and I woke up from the dream.
A week after my deliverance
A week after my deliverance, the feeling of not wanting to get out of bed returned. I remembered I am not to let it back, so I said, “Spirit of depression – leave in Jesus Name.” and it did. About twenty- four years later, I felt like the spirit was trying to come back again. I found a Nigerian prayer against depression as I was looking into how some Nigerians prayed at the time. Their process was to pray against issues repetitively, so I did this for thirty minutes before falling asleep I dreamt I was in a car crash. This African man was standing over me as I woke up from unconsciousness in the dream. I knew this man wanted to finish me off, so I got up from the car crash and chased him away. I woke up with that horrible depressed feeling gone.
I have had other battles since and not quite got the victory over them. Still, this one victory I had has kept me going knowing that I got free of depression which means I can defeat other battles.
