Pastor can't get spirits to leave QUESTION from Gail Marie on October 1, 2002 I have been prayed over my by my parish pastor a few times to bind spirits mainly of fear and anxiety that I have picked up over the years. (I am a very sensitive person, so I was apparently very vulnerable to being hurt and allowing these demons to enter inside of me.) After my pastor bound these fear and anxiety spirits, other spirits began to manifest themselves. These spirits are spirits of infirmity (physical problems)--tingling in my hands, feet, and head; twitching in my eyes; cough; etc. They're not debilitating or serious; they're just really annoying. My pastor is unable to get these spirits to leave, and he doesn't know how they got inside of me. I have already racked my brain as to possible causes (events that hurt me in the past), but I have come up with nothing that fits the bill, and so it appears that these spirits have some other source. He said that a dedication to the devil could be the answer, but there is nothing in my history that suggests that. He also asked if I had hurt someone in such a way that they would curse me, and I have not (he said that demons people have as a result of occult curses usually manifest themselves in some physical way). A relative of mine committed suicide a few years ago, but these spirits do not seem to be connected to that either. My pastor is quite mystified and said that God has sent him seven or eight people recently who have the same problem--he can get them almost completely cleaned out, but there's always these few annoying things left behind that he can't get to leave. Do you have any advice as to where these spirits might have come from and how to get them to leave?
ANSWER by Mr. Joe Meineke on October 7, 2002 Dear Miss Marie,
There is another possibility that needs to be considered: namely, that the sensations you were experiencing may not be caused by the demonic.
Eye twitching, for example, is often caused by stress. The tingling sensations that you described in the head, hands and feet are common bio-neurological phenomena also often caused by stress, but also can be caused by muscle fatigue, low potassium in the body, and a host of other medical or psychological causes.
The bottom line is that we should not and cannot jump to conclusions that what we are experiencing is demonic. Before anything else, to be on the safe side, you need to see a doctor about these symptoms to see if any medical explanation is found.
Even if what you are experiencing is spiritual in nature, we cannot always know why it happens. Evil does not need a reason why. Trying to search for a cause can be futile and, in any event, it not necessarily needed.
We also know that it is possible the God will not heal us of afflictions. St. Paul had a thorn in his side that he described as a buffeting of the devil. He ask God three times to take it away and God refused. Our Lord told St. Paul that the thorn would remain to keep him humble.
Sometimes we must humbly accept our afflictions.
But it is critically important to realize that what you have described are NOT automatically demonic symptoms.
If you need, please take a look at the Spiritual Warfare Catalog linked below. It has several prayers that you may adapt for your situation.
God bless you,
Joe Meineke Assistant to Bro. Ignatius

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