Ask a Question - or - Return to the Spiritual Warfare Forum Index

Question Title Posted By Question Date
Is my Boyfriend under Demonic attack? Jessica Friday, December 17, 2010

Question:

Its a long story but I'll try to be as brief as possible.

I have 7 years with my partner(we are not married). I converted a little over 2 years ago, at first of course I wanted to obey God's will and remain celibate until we married but receiving the sacrament was impossible due to some situation that's too long to write in. I expressed to him my desire of celibacy and at first he agreed but a month-in he started acting like the victim and making me feel like I was harming him, not only that, his mother who was the one who got me going back to church was telling me that I was moving him away from God by being celibate (crazy I know) I was even called a fanatic. But Im not here to be the victim because I had my free will and I allowed my fears and insecurities to get the best of me.

As you can Imagine things did not get better after living in fornication but they became worst. I for one felt a complete absence of God and my faith became weak, my prayer life almost completely disappeared etc. He on the other hand became addicted to Marijuana, I caught him several times indulging in pornography, he cheated on me, his good morals disappeared, he grew hatred towards his father, he has become an angry person, depressed, he doesn't want to work or do anything besides stay home, he has considered dealing drugs etc. I really just don't recognize this person its like his a monster and at times its very unpleasant to be around him because he is so negative.

I recently decided to renounce fornication and I went to confession. I've been praying for his conversion and something amazing is happening he has started to pray the Rosary daily for the past 4 days and he says he will continue praying it everyday. This is HUuuuuGE! because he is extremely anti-religious and he basically believes or believed (I don't know anymore) that God is some impersonal God who doesn't care about our actions. He still is smoking Marijuana and still holds to some negative behavior and Ideas but I feel very hopeful about him praying the Rosary because praying the Rosary was what helped me convert.

I guess my questions to you are:

Could these changes in him have come from demonic influence or is it just the spiritual decadence of living in sin?

What are some prayers that I can say to aid in his deliverance or conversion?

I'm happy he's praying the rosary but I'm afraid the evil one will try to dissuade him, how can I protect him?

Thank you for you're time and patience. I look forward to your advice and insight. May God continue blessing you and keep you in our lives ..

Much Love--- Jessica



Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r)

Dear Jessica:

I thank God for your courage to realize your sin, to repent, and to resolve to remain chaste until marriage especially after a period of living in sin. The bible tells us that the angels rejoice when a sinner repents. As long as you remain chaste, confess your sins, and there are no other impediments, you can receive our Lord in the Eucharist.

As for your situation, the very first thing that is required is that you no longer live together. Even if you are now chaste, to live together is placing you in the near occasion of sin and giving the devil the opportunity to attack more acutely. For the time being, as long as you live together you must live like roommates. That means separate bedrooms and being dressed in front of each other at all times. In other words, you must live as if this man was a person who applied to rent a room and this is nothing more than a  roommate to whom you have become friends.

Second, this man is not eligible for marriage until he comes back to God and the Church. Your relationship with him needs to end, or be conditional on his coming back to the faith. That means he must stop smoking Marijuana, let go of his negative feelings, fall in love with Christ and his Church, and become a devout Catholic. If he does not do this, then he is not worthy of you and is not eligible for marriage.

As for your questions, what is happening can be just the natural effects of living in sin. The devil, however, loves to intrude upon that to make things worse than they have to be. Demons tend to hitchhike on problems that already exist, then to create problems.

As for what prayers you can pray to assist him, you will find several prayers in our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog linked below. The two prayers that come to mind for your situation are the Hedge Prayer for Return of Wayward Persons and Hedge Prayer for Protection of Others. There is also the Rebuking Particular Spirits, which can be said for yourself, or edited to say for him, to rebuke any evil spirits. We cannot know the names of the demons and are prohibited by the Church from asking, but we can call the spirits by their attributes, such as the spirit of lust, the spirit of fornication, the spirit of marijuana, the spirit of hate, the spirit of irreligious attitudes, etc. Ideally, he should pray the Rebuking prayer and also the version of the Hedge prayer for personal protection found in the Catalog, but in the meantime you can pray these prayers on his behalf.

Remember, however, that regardless of your prayers, he has Free Will. Not even God will force him to do the right thing. He must make the choice. But, your prayers and God's grace can facilitate his making the right choices. No guarantees though. He must choose. If he does not choose God and His Church and decide to be a good and devout Catholic, then you will be a fool to remain with him, and will suffer, as will your children, if you do. But, we will pray he will do the right thing, both for his own sake and for his soul, and for you.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary


For information on how to receive help see our Help page. We suggest that before contacting us directly for help you try the Seven Steps to Self-Deliverance. These self-help steps will often resolve the problem. Also our Spiritual Warfare Prayer Catalog contains many prayers that may be helpful. If needed you can ask for a Personal Consultation.