We have just seen how an evil spirit can oppress the body or mind of a person, whether they are saved or not. It is also possible for a Christian to give place to an evil spirit when under oppression.

The Scriptures show that an individual can surrender to God and later turn around and yield to the devil. That’s what Peter did. He was not yet born again, because Jesus had not yet gone to the cross to pay the price for our redemption. Peter was an instrument of God to bring a revelation from the Holy Spirit, but almost immediately after, he yielded to the devil. (Matthew 16:20-23)

However, there is a vast difference between yielding to an evil spirit and being possessed by one. It is possible to yield partially to evil spirits, but the more a person yields to them, the more they will influence and try to dominate that person (Romans 6:16). The good news is that Christians do not have to yield to the devil or to the flesh. They can learn how to surrender to the Holy Spirit.

“Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?” – ROMANS 6:16

The Bible teaches that if you yield or submit to someone, you will eventually become their servant. Sometimes, we yield partially to the Holy Spirit, and other times, we surrender fully to Him. I don’t know anyone who is totally surrendered to the Holy Spirit—we are working toward that, but we haven’t fully arrived yet.
The same is true on the negative side.

Just as a person can partially surrender to the Holy Spirit, they can also partially yield to evil spirits—or even fully surrender to them. The more they yield, the more ground these spirits will take in their life, and they may eventually end up possessed.

Let me give you an example of a Christian yielding to the devil. I sometimes refer to the case of my son-in-law, Buddy Harrison, who, at one point, had serious problems because he was yielding to evil spirits. Today, Buddy Harrison is a pastor and founder of Faith Christian Fellowship in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is also the president of Harrison House Publishers. But in 1963, he was facing severe challenges.

At that time, he couldn’t settle down. He couldn’t keep a job—he would quit and walk away. He wouldn’t stay in church long. One moment, he was in church leading the choir, the next, he was gone. Sometimes he would walk up to me and blow cigar smoke in my face. I never said anything to him. I just loved him. I knew in his case it was the influence of a demon. He wasn’t just under the control of his flesh. He was a “rollercoaster” Christian—up and down.

One night, after a meeting, while I was praying, suddenly the Spirit of God spoke to me about him: “Three demons are following Buddy.” Immediately, I had a spiritual vision. I saw him walking down the sidewalk, and behind him, three demon spirits were following him like little puppies—except they didn’t look like dogs; they looked like very nervous monkeys. One was walking along the curb, another on the left, and the third was right behind him.

The Spirit of God said to me: “These three spirits are following Buddy. He will turn to the right and yield for a moment to the demon on the right. Then he will turn and yield for a moment to the one on the left. Then he will turn around and behave like a Christian again. Then he will follow the demon behind him for a while.

“At certain moments, he follows these three spirits; at other times, he also yields to the Holy Spirit. That is why his personality seems split.”
Buddy would act according to the demon he was yielding to. His family members would say, “I don’t understand Buddy. Is he schizophrenic?”
He was born again, Spirit-filled. But just because a Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit doesn’t mean they are incapable of yielding to the devil. Believers always have their own will; they have free will.

When the Lord showed me those three demons following Buddy like puppies, I asked Him: “Lord, what do You want me to do? Do You want me to pray about it?”
“No,” He said, “don’t pray about it.”
“Well then, what do You want me to do?”
The Lord replied: “Speak to those evil spirits. Command them in My Name to stop their maneuvers and stop harassing Buddy.”
“But,” I said, “I’m in Oklahoma and Buddy is in Texas.”
Jesus said: “In the spiritual realm, there is no distance. You can speak to spirits from where you are, even while they’re acting against someone in another location, and in My Name, they must obey. You don’t have to be physically present.”

I asked, “How should I do that?”
“Simply declare: In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I command you three evil spirits following Buddy to stop your maneuvers and cease harassing him.”

I simply said the words Jesus had given me. And in the spiritual realm, I saw the three spirits vanish. Then the Word of the Lord came to me: “In ten days, Buddy will find a job. He will keep it until the day he steps into what I have planned for him.”
I wrote all this down, dated it, and placed it in my wallet.

The next time I saw Buddy, he said: “Dad, I’ve got a job.” I replied, “I know.” I pulled the note from my wallet and handed it to him. He looked at it and said: “That’s exactly right! I got the job on the tenth.”
He kept that job and succeeded. The owner of the company made him assistant manager. Later, the Lord called him into full-time ministry, and since then, he’s been walking with God…

This text is an excerpt from the book “The Triumphant Church: Dominion Over All the Powers of Darkness” written by Kenneth Erwin Hagin.

We invite you to read the following article: “THE PLEASURES OF FRESH“.

YIELD TO THE DEVIL. YIELD TO THE DEVIL. YIELD TO THE DEVIL.