Evangelist Ray Comfort has seen his fair share of evil, but the Living Waters ministry leader said there’s a difference between Christians and non-Christians when it comes to the demonic realm.
“Whom the Son sets free is free indeed,” Comfort recently told CBN Digital. “I don’t believe a Christian can be demonically possessed. He can be oppressed. … We all have battles with demonic forces, with thoughts in our head. But, when someone becomes a Christian, they are set free.”
The apologist said he doesn’t have a deliverance ministry and that his decision not to engage in the practice dates back to a revelation he had in 1982.
Comfort said the battle against evil is won by the words found in James 4:7, which reads, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
“The Bible says, ‘Submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you,'” Comfort said. “And if Satan isn’t fleeing from someone, I believe it’s probably because they’re not totally submitted to God.”
He said he will often encounter people who have praised exorcising prayers for quite some time, yet they still have a bitterness or anger in their hearts — even resentment toward their parents, for instance.
“That’s one way to get spiritual problems is to hate your father, hate your mother,” he said. “Ephesians 6:1 says, ‘Honor your father and mother, that all may be well with you and your days may be long upon the earth.'”
Bitterness, he said, can “give a stronghold to the enemy,” thus, he encouraged people to ensure their hearts haven’t been sullied by hatred or enmity.
“Remember, Satan goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour,” Comfort said. “If you are in Satan’s territory — if you’re lying, or stealing, or looking at porn, or blaspheming and doing things you know are morally wrong — you’re opening the door; you’re giving foothold to the devil.”
The evangelist recalled spending hours praying for people at churches, finding the process exhausting until he realized the “person has to close the door themselves.” Delivering a person from evil’s influence, Comfort said, is entirely dependent on that individual’s willingness to cling to the Lord.
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“If someone has demonic problems, I say, ‘Well, let’s go through the Gospel. Let’s see what sin is,'” Comfort said. “And then you renounce everything you’ve been into, turn from it, say, ‘God, I’m totally yours. I give myself. I submit myself to your Lordship. I present myself as a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to you, which is my reasonable service.'”
He continued, “And that’s when you’re a new creature in Christ. Old things pass away. Old things become new.”
As CBN Digital recently reported, Comfort also recounted two shocking possession stories he encountered decades ago in his ministry.
He shared the story of a man named John, whom he met 40 years ago at a youth church camp.
It all started when John told Comfort, “I’ve got some problems. Can I talk with you?” John sat on a bunk in Comfort’s cabin, and the two chatted before the evangelist offered a prayer — and chaos ensued.
“Saliva from his mouth was coming out with such velocity it was hitting a chest of drawers at least six or eight feet from him,” Comfort said. “It was just weird.”
The evangelist started to pray and take action to thwart the evil before him.
“I began to pray exorcising prayer and demons began to manifest,” he said, describing John as being in a “blackout state” during the ordeal. “And [when] he came back to himself … I said, ‘John, what have you been into to get like this?’” Read more about what unfolded.
Comfort also shared a separate story about a woman named Jane, who was experiencing blackouts and other spiritual issues. When she came to him for help, it was clear she was dealing with the demonic.
“[She was] sitting down in my office, manifesting all these different weird demons,” he said. “And, at one point, the dexterity was quite amazing. With one hand, she reached into a blouse and pulled out a safety pin … and tried to swallow it.”
He continued, “I think three times she grabbed cords from lights in the office and tried to strangle herself, and the demon screamed out, ‘We’re going to kill.’ And I said, ‘You can’t touch us, because we’re Christians.’”
But that’s when Comfort heard this same voice clarify that Jane wasn’t a Christian and could thus be harmed. She eventually found freedom, as you can read about here.
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