Posts Tagged ‘mental illness’
Recently, on one of the Christian forums where I share, I received a question about autism and whether it could be caused by demonic influence. Because this is a broad area, relating to all mental/emotional illnesses and not just autism. I thought I would take some time to look at it here as well as on the forum.
First, we need to understand that man is a three-fold being: body, soul and spirit. We are NOT, as some suggest, spirits who have a soul and live in a body. That is occultic/new age thinking, and leads to a belief in transmigration of the soul or reincarnation. Rather, our spirit, soul and body join together to form one complete whole. As a result, whilst the things that happen to us may operate primarily through one of the three, mostly they will be influenced by all three. For instance, when we think, it comes from our mind, which is part of our soul. However, that thought could never be expressed if it were not for our brain, which is part of our body. And the thought will be influenced either by the Holy Spirit working through our human spirit, or by a demonic spirit operating through our soul because our spirit is for some reason not fulfilling its role of directing our life.
How does all that relate to mental illness? Basically, the Bible does not acknowledge mental illness as a separate condition. What it does acknowledge is physical illness, demonic influence and sin (either our own or that of others toward us.) Now please, don’t think for a moment that I am saying that mental or emotional illness is not real. It is very real, and devastating to those who have to live with it, either in their own lives or in the lives of those they love. What I am saying is that, rather than being something separate and mysterious, mental illness has its roots in one of these three areas.
Many mental conditions are caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. That is a physical condition. In the natural it is addressed by medication, or by other natural means such as diet, exercise, dealing with stress and laughter. (Studies have shown that a good laugh is very effective in raising the levels of “feel good” chemicals in the brain. So if you are suffering from depression, try “medicating” it with large doses of comedy – it may not be a total answer, but it will certainly help.) As Christians, we also have the availability of God’s healing power released through prayer, and certainly any prayer for someone who is suffering mental illness should include prayer for physical healing.
Demonic forces can definitely also play a part in mental illness. The Gadarene man whom Jesus freed from Legion behaved like someone totally insane, and had he been alive in the twenty first century would certainly have been hospitalized and medicated to within an inch of his life, and possibly also subjected to electric shock therapy. All of it would have been totally useless, because his problem was demonic. When the demons were dealt with, the man was no longer insane. Even when demons are not directly the cause of mental illness, they can have an influence that makes it worse.
At this point let me urge caution. If you know someone whom you suspect is under demonic influence, please don’t just wade in and start casting out demons unless you know what you are doing. Yes, you have the authority to do it (assuming that you are a truly born-again Christian). Know what? The devil doesn’t care! He is not the least bit interested in the authority you have, he is only influenced by the authority you know you have! If you plunge into deliverance without knowing what you are doing, the person on whom you are practicing is likely to end up in a worse condition than when you started. (Believe me, I speak from experience. I had it done to me, it was not fun. Only a direct intervention from God saved me from the results.)
What you can do will depend on who the person is, and his/her relationship to you. If it is a child and your direct descendant (child, grandchild, great grandchild) you can invoke your covenant relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. (First make sure you are in that covenant relationship yourself.) A covenant always extends through the generations, so if the child is not yet at an age to make a decision for him/herself, you can extend the protection of your covenant relationship over him/her. You can also claim the Scriptures that say that the promise is to “you and to your household.” That is the promise of salvation, and deliverance from demonic influence is part of the salvation package.
Pray God’s peace over the person, if possible with the laying on of hands. When you can, play soft worship music in their presence – if it is someone living in your home and you are able, put a soft worship CD on continuous repeat and play it while he/she is asleep. Remember how David’s worship was able to suppress the activity of the demonic spirit that had taken hold of King Saul.
If the person is old enough to understand and willing to listen, talk to him about removing possible demonic influences in his life, renouncing them and repenting of any involvement. If he is a Christian, talk about the victory that Jesus won at Calvary, the fact that He has disarmed the powers and principalities, and that His Spirit within us is greater than any demonic force. Encourage him to stand in that victory. Try to find someone in your area you does move confidently in deliverance, and take or direct the sufferer to that person – but please check out his/her ministry first. Sadly, some who operate in “deliverance” are moving in control rather than the power of God, and cause more problems than they solve.
Finally, there is the area of sin. Unrepented sin affects all three areas of our lives. It affects our spirit, because sin cannot stand in the presence of God, therefore if we are continuing in unrepented sin we will effectively close down our spirit so that we do not have to encounter the Holy Spirit. It effects our emotions (part of our soul) because we will be carrying a burden of guilt. That guilt becomes a massive stress in our lives, which will in turn affect both our mind and our body. Since we have cut off the influence of the Holy Spirit, it will also open us up to the influence of demonic spirits.
Sin also includes our reactions to what has been done to us. Consider this: Jesus in His lifetime suffered a huge amount of rejection and abuse, but He never became mentally or emotionally disturbed because of it. Why? Because what hurts us is not what is done to us, but our reaction to it.
There are only two answers to sin. For our own sin, repentance and cleansing through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. For the sin of others, forgiveness and release.
But what about the wounds inflicted upon us before we were old enough to take responsibility for our reactions to them? What about the child whose emotional problems are rooted in the abuse he has received from adults? This is where the members of the Body of Christ need to step in. First, we need to pray that God would heal and release every wounded area. But our prayers need to have legs. We need to affirm to the sufferer both God’s love and ours, to demonstrate his value to God and to us, to uphold his worth as a person. It may be a slow process, but in time we can soften the scars. Even very young children can be led to the point of forgiving their abuser, and if we are dealing with an adult who has been hurt as a child then we can show him that, as an adult, he can respond in ways that the child couldn’t, and can choose to forgive and release the offender.
Mental/emotional illness is a very complex problem. I certainly would want anyone to think that I am suggesting a simplistic approach. However, by addressing the three areas of our being – body, soul and spirit – we will have a much better chance of finding answers.
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This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.
There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
WP-Bible plugin)in Whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9Colossians 2:9
English: World English Bible - WEB
9 For in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily,
WP-Bible plugin)and Whom God the Father has exalted to the highest place, giving Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11Philippians 2:9-11
English: World English Bible - WEB
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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