Demonic possession is real. Most people will dismiss it because they are used to thinking with their mind and flesh and not their spirit. When the carnal mind can’t understand it they reject it and look back to the world for their convictions.
Derek Prince (RIP) has a lot of videos on youtube and has a lot of testimonies where he was put on the spot by possessed people and he had to cast them out. He has a lot to say about demons and such, a great teacher!
I am familiar with Derek Prince’s teaching and ministry. Demonic possession is a real possibility for a non believer and the Bible confirms it. I don’t believe it’s possible for a child of God, but demonic oppression is a possibility. In such a case, the Believer has opened a door through sin. They are still God’s child and once they take care of it through confession and repentance, that doorway is closed.
I think this is one of those topics where it’s easy to go to extremes.
When I read the Bible, it’s clear that spiritual things are real, but at the same time not everything is spiritual or demonic. Some things are just part of life or even mental and emotional struggles.
So for me, it’s less about labeling everything one way or the other, and more about being careful and grounded. Taking both the spiritual side and the practical side seriously without jumping too quickly to conclusions.
Derek Prince talked about that in one or more of his sermons. He had run into so many sick people and people possessed that he said he came to the conclusion that an injury or illness can over time open the door to an evil spirit which comes later. Or a person possessed may develop an illness of some type.
Like Epileptics for example. He recounted casting out several of them and it was always the same, they received an injury and it brought on a possession later on which he cast out of them and they stopped having seizures.
I am epileptic, for most of my life. It began after I had been jumping on the bed and bounced off the wrong way and hit my head on the baseboard, and I began having seizures. Now, I have come full circle to dealing with it as a spirit. A spirit which only goes out by prayer and fasting. I’m hungrily working through that now.