Hi,
Does anyone have any experience with spiritual/demonic oppression in line with what Paul says in Eph 6: 16? "In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."
What are your experience/s, and how do you cope?
This is a complicated subject and as such has no simple, lock and load and shoot answer. If anyone thinks it does then he or she is laboring under a delusion.
Oppression comes in many forms, but is usually caused by one or more persons who are involking the demons or unclean spirits (2 different bugs) in some way.
There are two types of oppression; personal and communal.
The first type obviously affects only an individual.
The second type can affect a group either small or large. I've seen spiritual oppression affect an average size church as well as a medium sized city. I've seen its temporal effect limited to a few minutes and its effect to be nearly permanent. Bottom line is that there's no rule of thumb.
The most obvious and difficult to live with is oppression that affects an entire city. I experienced the worst of this type when I passed through a city in Brazil several years ago. My son did some mission work in the highlands of Guatamala in Central America and reported the same thing. In both cases the population was heavily into paganism and familiar spirits. Consequently the spiritual presence was more overt. It was also quite unpleasant I can tell you. I was glad to leave the place.
Back in the states I've noticed that periodically an oppression will settle over a Bible believing church. Without getting too specific the causes of this can be either a desire by the enemy to lull the congregation into a state of non-participation or some secret sin by one or more members. Sin is usually the cause in most cases, but not all. Sometimes you can look for secret sin all day and not find it. Other times, it's quite obvious. Like I said, there's no certain rule or procedure to go by.
In the case of an individual, spiritual oppression may be experienced as a result of some pet sin or secret personal sin, a significant other person in the family who is encouraging demonic or unclean spirits might also be the cause. Even a next door neighbor can be a 'carrier' with spiritual influences washing into an otherwise clean Christian home. I experienced this type while in seminary of all places.
There are two general classes of unholy spirits; demons and unclean spirits. Contact with an unclean spirit will literally make you feel dirty. That's why they're called unclean I suppose. Demons are terribly powerful and dangerous and may often appear as angels of light or fearful spiritual objects such as weird combinations of human and animal. Pagan folk worship this type as gods, while oppression usually comes from unclean spirits.
WARNING: Under no circumstances should contact with any spiritual entity except the Holy Spirit be encouraged or attempted. This is extremely dangerous because once one of these filthy things fastens itself upon you it is impossible to get rid of it. No human has the power to do so despite many Hollywood devices to the contrary.
Only the blood of Jesus can do so and only then if Our Lord applies it. There is no such thing as a set formula, prayer, liturgy, noisemaker, small explosive, flag waving or incantation for this purpose.
I'm not kidding about the explosives. My son worked outside a small village where small bombs were always being set off to scare away the evil spirits. Manufacturing these mini bombs is a cottage industry in Central and South America.
Scripture is specific regarding the eviction of evil spirits. One should NOT attempt it unless one has been taught and led specifically by the Holy Spirit. In short, this is a job for trained experienced persons, certainly not for someone who is curious and wants to experiment.
If spiritual oppression or some sort of bodily spiritual occupation is suspected one should immediately consult one's church elders. This isn't a job for the Lone Ranger. As members of the body of Christ, such things affect us all. Do not try to deal with this nasty business on your own - EVER.
I've said all that so I can say this- because HE lives we can face tomorrow. Because Christ shed His blood on the cross, we can hope for a clear mind and a clean heart. Spiritual oppression is a fact of life, but nowhere is it written that we have to put up with it.
but that's just me, hollering from the choir loft...
