There are a variety of ways and means in which demons enter people:

1. Heredity:
Exodus 20:5 states that the sins of the fathers will be visited on the children to the third and fourth generation. Spirits of sin from our ancestors can enter each subsequent generation until there is true repentance and the commanding of that demon to leave, and is true for the occult and all sinful practices.

(NOTE: There is another link that shares possible demon entry points).

But, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:" (Galatians 3:13).

For us to be free, we have to appropriate what Jesus has done for us. Faith in God's word and believing that you HAVE been delivered from the curse of the law is a good first step. This way, once you exercise your will and faith that God has set you free, authority can then be taken over familiar or hereditary spirits. (See the link below for Family Patterns and Open Doors/Demonic Oppression Groupings)

2. Disobedience of Parents:
When parents, especially fathers, don't follow Jesus Christ, the home is then open to demonic attack and children can grow up in rebellion. With no absolute values, this can lead involvement in sexual practices, witchcraft, the occult, smoking, drinking, drugs, and all sorts of activities that invite demons.

3. Friction Between Parents:
When fighting, backbiting, fear, division enter into a marriage, the children can then be filled with fear and other demons. Once this happens it can also bring physical ailments and afflictions such as asthma.

4. Molesting of Children by Parents:
Unfortunately, this has become a very common occurance. When a mother molests her son or daughter, or especially when a father (spiritual head of household under Jesus Christ) molests a daughter or son, demon activity begins. As the child grows older, besides the demons associated with sexual impurity, he or she might also remain unforgiving, which in turn can lead to a spirit of unforgiveness (and many others).

5. In The Womb:
Sometimes demons enter during pregnancy while the child is still in the womb, or just at birth. Demons can easily enter the child when the mother doesn't want the child, when the parents are in disagreement/turmoil/not getting along, even due to shock, fear or trauma on the part of the mother. Spirits of rejection or abortion often enter during pregnancy when the mother feels rejected or rejects the child. The spirit of rejection then brings many other spirits with it.

6. Sin:
Behind every sin there is a spirit. If we continue to sin then we open ourselves to other spirits. This is true of masturbation, lust and many other activities that can grow to the point of binding us to that act/sin. Jesus said, "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." (Matthew 5:28-29).

When your life becomes out of order, spirits enter. And they can especially enter through the eye gates and the ear gates. We are to be committed to Christ in all things, even what we watch with our eyes, or listen to with our ears. That's why simply looking at a woman with desire makes it already done. We must yield our thought life and our attitudes to purity and holiness, and yield all our members as instruments of righteousness.

7. Sowing and Reaping:
Many wonder why, when they come to Jesus Christ, they can still have problems, as can their children. God proclaims in His word, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." (Galatians 6:7-8). Those problems were sown earlier in life, and the principle of reaping must be fully worked out. As we yield more and more to Jesus Christ, the time of reaping can be shortened. The deliverance minister needs great discernment in the explusion of the demons.

8. satan is a legalist:
Ephesians 4:27 admonishes us not to give place to the devil. Once we give him ground (which truly should have been given to Holy Spirit), the enemy brings great demonic activity. We are to walk holy and justly and without blame before Almighty God, thus keeping the enemy at bay.

9. Involvement in the Occult:
Past or present occult involvement on your part or that of a relative (even a soul-tie) will certainly give entry to demonic activities.

10. Possessions (Belongings):
Having occultic objects in our homes/possession is an abomination to God. Deuteronomy 7:26 proclaims, "Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing." Be particularly aware of occult objects, birth signs, birthstones, ouija boards, tarot cards, etc (See Occult Check List - Possible Demon Entry Points)

11. Rejection:
Besides being rejected before or after birth by parents, rejection can also result from bad relationships with friends, men/women, marriage, other Christians, pastors/church leadership, etc. Jesus told us to love our enemies, to bless those who curse us and to do good to those who hate us. (Matthew 5:44). If instead you would pray a blessing for those who have hurt you the curse can be reversed, confusing the demons involved. In the case of broken marriage, forgiveness and speaking a blessing can make demons leave and facilitate reconciliation.

12. Shock:
Traumas such as marriage breakup, accidents, or death can allow demons to enter. satan takes every opportunity to attack, and most especially when we are vulnerable. One deliverance minister said that he found that the split second before an accident the spirit of fear enters a person, which is then quickly followed by shock and a host of other demonic powers. (NOTE: With this or any other trauma, while counselling, Holy Spirit will take the person back to the point of entry/origin - when the event occured - and the resulting lie that allowed the demon to enter. Besides deliverance ministry (laying on of hands and commanding demons to leave, Theophostic ministry is greatly successful in setting a person free....See Theophostics Ministry). Another alternative is to offer 'standard' deliverance then pray for the healing of memories (doing both).

In the case of death, not only are people subject to unholy grief but also kissing or touching the dead can cause transference of spirits.

13. Multiple Personality Disorders:
Some causes include: satanic ritual abuse, severe prolonged childhood trauma, or severe shock. These various personalities are demons. One of the most common is the spirit of memories. When you try to minister healing, the demon supressing the memories has to step aside and allow the memories to surface. This spirit often manifests using the voice of a small child. To bring lasting healing/deliverance requires much patience and loving ministry, usually over a period of time. Most important will be helping the person gain trust in Jesus Christ and in the person ministering to them on His behalf.

14. Transference From Other People/Things:
Demons transfer extremely easily. Whether from ungodly soul-ties (especially sexual relations outside of marriage, but not limited to) or ungodly demonic objects in your possession, you are opened to demonic transference. (See Soul-Ties list/prayer, and Occult Check List - Possible Demon Entry Points)

15. Dominating Personality:
Also a form of transference from another person, this occurs when you are associated with/around a person with a dominating personality. This can happen in church, in business, in schools, etc. You will notice a person begin to try to be like that person.... dressing like them, talking like them, getting the same type of hairstyle, etc. This opens them to a transference of spirits from those they are copying.

16. When Entering Buildings:
Sometimes buildings have been used for immoral purposes, some evil action, or has been built on ground that has been defiled by murder, bloodshed, rape, abortion, or some abomination that causes the ground to cry out. Then, when anyone enters that building you can be attacked by demons without even realizing it. Knowing where the person was last when you noticed that they began to change is helpful. (Read books/view videos by Henry Gruver, prayer walker for God).

17. Obsession:
THIS CAN BECOME A VERY POWERFUL DEMON. One deliverance minister identified this spirit in a person and the person literally somersaulted in the air. Holy Spirit revealed that the demon had attached itself to the person's legs, neck, etc and as the minister identified this spirit the victim left the floor and either somersaulted or twisted violently in the air as the spirit left him. He also reported that as these demons came out the noice was frightening.

18. Curses:
Curses can result in MAJOR demonic activity. It can also affect us generationally. Dr. Derek Prince offered the following as conditions indicating curses (based on his experiences in deliverance ministry):
***mental and emotional breakdown
***repeated or chronic sickness (especially without clear medical diagnosis)
***repeated miscarriages/related female problems
***breakdown of marriage - family alienation
***continuing financial insufficiency (especially where income seems sufficient)
***being prone to accidents

According to Scripture, there are several sources of curses:

A. From God Himself - Deuteronomy 27:15-26 pronounces 12 curses for the breaking of the Law of Moses. Some of these include: having carved images; treating parents with contempt; moving a neighbor's landmark; perverting justice due to a stranger; causing the blind to wander off the road; various sexual perversions; attacking your neighbor secretly; taking a bribe to slay innocent person; not conforming to all the Words of the Law. Deuteronomy 28:16-68 is one of the most well-known lists of curses pronounced by God:

16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
17 Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.
18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
19 Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
20 The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
21 The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.
22 The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

23 And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.
24 The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
25 The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
26 And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.
27 The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.
28 The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:
29 And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.
30 Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.
31 Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them.
32 Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long; and there shall be no might in thine hand.
33 The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:
34 So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
35 The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.
36 The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.
37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.
38 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.
39 Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.
40 Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.
41 Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity.
42 All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.
43 The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low.
44 He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.
45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:
46 And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever.
47 Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;
48 Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.
49 The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
50 A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young:
51 And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.
52 And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.
53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:
54 So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave:
55 So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates.
56 The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,
57 And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.
58 If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD;
59 Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance.
60 Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee.
61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
62 And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God.
63 And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.
64 And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.
65 And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:
66 And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life:
67 In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
68 And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.

B. Men, on God's Behalf -

C. People in Authority over Us -

D. Anyone - "Life death power of tongue - people who talk against us

E. Ourselves - same as D....what we speak

19. Influences From Satan:
There may be satanic instances operating in our life. As part of the process of overcoming these, we should resist the devil and bless the place of cursing.

'Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.'-Romans 12:14