3-Step Deliverance: Break Demonic Oppression, Possession, and Spiritual Bondage
Megan Turner
Excerpted from Seriously Supernatural.
We are in a spiritual war.
Ephesians 6:12 (NIV) says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Somewhere along the centuries, we have maybe become a bit skeptical or even afraid of confronting the demonic and the kingdom of darkness to the point where our passiveness has become the norm. We have maybe ignored the ministry of deliverance because it is too risky. Maybe there are some things in your own life, family, or ministry that you have held off confronting that you know are not God-centered and in need of freedom.
I would say a majority of Christians believe that once a person receives salvation, they are forgiven of their sins—but are they delivered from the demons that keep them captive? We see many believers and those saved by grace still wrestling with the same cycles over and over again. Does that mean they need deliverance? I don’t believe that deliverance is a “one size fits all” process, and we must not put the way deliverance is carried out into a box. Although I do believe someone can get delivered at the point of receiving salvation through that miraculous encounter of receiving Him, I also believe that with others, it is more of a process of deliverance. Nonetheless, I believe that even Christians still need deliverance.
We know we are living in a predominantly godless culture, especially with the rise of the New Age and all sorts of spiritualist activity raging. We need to see the Church awakened to the knowledge of deliverance and that it is a New Testament reality that springs from the very heart of God. We find this fact in Jesus’ own ministry, which was a constant demonstration of the authority of God. If we don’t take this topic seriously, we are robbing the glory of God that wants to be manifested on earth.
We do not need to think that everything has a demon, but we do need to recognize and exercise wisdom in acknowledging evil’s existence and activity. Let’s talk about ground-level spiritual warfare that deals with the demonic in individuals. We will get into strategic-level spiritual warfare a bit later. This deals with principalities and powers in cities, regions, and nations, as that is a whole other topic.
We are first going to look at the theology of deliverance and what Scripture says pertaining to deliverance and spiritual warfare, so we have an understanding before going into the practicalities of deliverance.
When I was a young girl, about 8 or 9 years old, I was attending a church youth camp. It was in the middle of summer and very hot outside. Where we gathered to meet for church services was quite warm, and the Holy Spirit was hot in our services. I remember having incredible encounters during those summer youth camps. I recall a young girl at the altar getting prayed for, and she had fallen to the ground and began to shake and squirm on the floor. It was what I would call a rather frightening moment, as I was quite young at the time and really didn’t know what was going on. All I remember was some of the leaders laying hands on her and declaring in Jesus’ name for her to be set free. In the end, she was, and that was that. Job done. She’s free!
Two specific things I remember from attending that youth camp: 1) I learned of the power of Jesus through my own personal encounters, and 2) I learned about the power of Jesus through deliverance of demons and the authority that believers have over them.
We are nothing outside the citizenship of Heaven, and it is from this position, seated with Jesus in heavenly places, that all ministry flows. If you are not led and filled by the Spirit on a regular basis, you should not do deliverance ministry to anyone. That can do more harm than good. If you are not free yourself, you cannot free others.
The historic view of the Church regarding demons is that they are fallen angels. They are identified in Revelation 12:4 and 9. Verse 4 says that a third of the angels in Heaven were flung to earth. Because we know there are a large number of angels in Heaven—numbering thousands and thousands—we can deduce that one-third would mean there are a great many fallen angels at satan’s call. The flip side of this is that there is an even greater number of angels in Heaven who are able to assist us. The enemy is outnumbered two to one and underpowered. This is our identity, and He is the hope of glory! In the book of Daniel, you will see an example of the assistance of angels in battling satan and the hierarchy in the demonic realm. An evil spirit may enter through some open legal door-way, or when a Christian’s defenses are down. Under the first rubric, we find the area of habitual sin, that is, ungodly habits developed before conversion, which per-sist under demonic influences. Ancestral curses and sins are also a legitimate basis for demonic activity, which may hold the Christian in bondage. The theological justification offered for this doctrine is rooted in the curses outlined in the book of Deuteronomy on those who act against the covenant law in Deuteronomy 27.
This particular passage of Scripture can make God sound like He had a bad temper or had a bad day so He chose to take it out on everyone, but that was not the case! He loved the people enough to boldly tell them, “If you do these things, you will not have My blessings!” So when He read the list of curses and things they should refrain from, they responded with AMEN because God’s people had a responsibility to uphold. These curses are regarded as still relevant today. The punishment for transgressing the law is eventually carried out by evil spirits and passed on through generational lines in the form of spiritual and perhaps physical affliction.
Under another rubric are placed emotional traumas of various kinds experienced by Christians (both before and after conversion) that can also open doorways to evil spirits. Like ancestral sins, these emotional problems may not be a direct result of the actions of Christians. Indeed, they may result from sins perpetuated by others, for instance, sexual abuse.
This is why we cannot just preach grace, mercy, and love. We certainly need to teach those topics as well, but we have ignored the personal sins of others, and it has become like a contagious disease because it was left untreated. The same works with deliverance; if we don’t deal with the cycles of sin and demonic activity within us and the corporate Church, it will turn into a decayed substance that lacks power, truth, and freedom.
Stephen Hunt states that “after the great Pentecostal revivals of the early 20th century, the major bodies came out against the practice of deliverance for Christians. Whatever the origins of this strong dualist theology, the worldview that fostered an acceptance of the active nature of demonic forces gave a momentum to the practice of deliverance on the unsaved in the missionary field at home and abroad.”
Now let’s take a look at Scripture. The Old Testament perspective of satan is that he is a deceiver, the enemy of God’s people who tempts them to sin against God. He is also portrayed as the accuser of God’s people, both in the book of Job and in passages in Zechariah. Only the word satan is found in the Old Testament, not the word devil. We actually find little about satan in the Old Testament. Some of those passages are found in 1 Chronicles 21:1, Job 1:6-2:7, and Zechariah 3:1.
In Genesis 3:1-19, this passage is connected to satan but he’s not directly named. This is where the “serpent” tempted Eve and is identified as satan. The name satan in the New Testament is found 33 times, and devil is also found 33 times in the New Testament (NIV). Unlike the Old Testament, where satan is an undefeated enemy, the New Testament reveals satan as a defeated foe. The head of the great serpent is crushed under the heel of believers to whom the power of the Spirit is made available through Christ.
I will never forget when we were in a service, and we began to pray for deliverance in a room with about 200 people in attendance. I walked over to a lady who was shaking, but didn’t know for sure if it was Holy Spirit moving or if a demon was manifesting. As I approached her and began to pray and lay hands on her, she began to shake even more and then let out a horrible, loud screech. I immediately knew that the demons were irritated, but also knew that God was going to deliver her.
I told her to look me in the eye as I began using my God-given authority and calling the demons out. She quickly calmed down, and we were able to finish the ministry time in a calm manner—she had been set free. It is as simple as that. We can’t be afraid of these things. Demons tremble at the sound of Jesus’ name. When we use our authority, demons flee. Now I have the courage to pray for deliverance, but you have to be willing to step out and confront the spirit of darkness. Greater is He who is in you than he that is in the world. Your spirit dominates the gates of hell!
In the book of Romans 8:37-39 (NIV), Paul makes it quite clear that “…we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons…will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The first three Gospels present a strong emphasis on Jesus’ victory over the devil and his demons. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we see Jesus’ victory over the devil’s temptations during His 40 days in the desert immediately after His baptism.
Luke records Jesus healing a woman who was bound by satan for 18 years and tells the 70 who returned rejoicing that the demons submitted in Jesus’ name. Mark tells of Jesus casting a demon out of a possessed man after the demon identified Jesus by name. A little later, Mark tells the story of Jesus healing the Gerasene demoniac. In the book of Acts, Peter speaks at Cornelius’s house, declaring the power of God in Jesus to heal and deliver all who were under the power of the devil.
In Ephesians, Paul addresses two issues that are very important to the ministry of deliverance:
The first is the issue of forgiveness, which is crucial to healing and deliverance (which we will cover later).
The second is the point of instruction to believers about how to be equipped to take a stand against the devil’s schemes. Here, Paul tells us our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, authorities, powers of the dark world, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Paul is giving us the hierarchy of evil.
Each one of us is a body, soul, and spirit, created as a spirit being. Our spirits connect us with God. When any-one asks Jesus Christ to come into their life, God’s Spirit connects with their spirit, and they are joined with Jesus (Romans 8:16). When sin separates us from God, our spirits still function, but because the spirit was designed to connect and relate with God, sin causes it to separate from God. The soul is part of our inner self. It comprises the mind, which gives us the capacity to think, our will, which is the capacity to choose, and our emotions, which are our capacity to feel. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and they give us the physical identity to enable us to relate to the physical world.
At the time of salvation, all three of these are redeemed. What is redeemed in us must be reclaimed! Since God’s Spirit indwells our spirits, our spirits have been reclaimed, but our souls must also be reclaimed. This is what apostle Paul is teaching us in 2 Corinthians 4:16 (NIV) when he says, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” Deliverance is the “children’s bread” Jesus was talking about in Matthew 15:26. The bread is the gospel and its miracles, including healing and deliverance. It is central to the ministry of healing that He entrusted to His Church (us). Deliverance, as a New Testament reality, flows from the finished work of the Cross. Jesus was not defeated on the Cross by satan. Jesus defeated the devil when He rose from the dead. “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he [Jesus] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:15 NIV).
Let’s hear and see with our spiritual ears and eyes Paul’s prayer of praise and thanksgiving in Ephesians 1:18-23 (NLT):
I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will under-stand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.
Amen!
We never see Jesus wrestling or struggling with demonic powers. He always acts from a position of authority, manifesting the Father’s Kingdom. Jesus told the multitude: “But if I am casting out demons by the power of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you” (Luke 11:20 NLT). He simply commands the demons to come out, using the authority He has from the Father, and the demons have to obey. All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What authority and power this man’s words possess! Even evil spirits obey him, and they flee at his command!” (Luke 4:36 NLT).
When Jesus tells us in Mark 16 to go into all the world with His good news and that we will see miracles, signs, and wonders, He also says that “in My name they will drive out demons” (Mark 16:17 NKJV).
Spiritual things have become a fascination within the American culture, and I would say the European culture as well, with New Age and occult practices becoming more prevalent. The fascination within the entertainment industry has led the world into a spiritually confused culture and society. In UK schools, they are taught the six major religions, one of which is Christianity, and others include Islam and Judaism, which gives our children the impression that all gods are the same, so now they can choose.
There is no need for the Church to remain ignorant or confused about deliverance. If we study the ministry of Jesus in its cultural context, we can more accurately assess our own cultural assumptions about healing and deliverance. Luke, the physician, was able to distinguish between illness with a demonic root and illness with a physical root. If Jesus’ disciples were able to combine medical knowledge and spiritual insight and apply it to Jesus’ ministry of healing, then maybe we in the Church today should be more willing to do the same to bring a holistic approach of healing to the body of Christ in the 21st century.
Ministering Deliverance
Before I dive into some practicalities of praying for deliverance, let me set this up a bit first.
