The deliverance ministry
By deliverance we would understand that to mean freed from the influence of an evil spirit also known as a demon (whatever form that influence may take). By ministry we would usually mean that to be someones area of expertise. Is the deliverance ministry biblical? well the deliverance bit is certainly biblical as Jesus did it many times and even sent out His diciples to do it while preaching the kingdom of God. There will be some churches or group of believers that refuse to do such a thing. Its usually because they are inexperienced in this area or dispute that demons are influencing people today. In the same way, some dispute the spiritual gifts like tongues or spiritual discernment are for today. The term used to describe them is cessesionists. That was just for Jesus and the disciples, they would say, without giving any biblical reason why that should not happen throughout the life of the church. However there are today those who are gifted and experienced in the deliverance ministry who have taken up that role for the wider church and are called upon to help a church to fulfil this role when the signs of demonic activity are there, hence the term deliverance ministry.
Prayer Is Essential
You are much better off if you pray against evil spirits and spiritual forces than if you dont and you wont if you dont believe they exist, this may explain why some people have survived disasters and others did not. Note that the prayers can be said by people outside of the situation. In some cases people have been raised from the dead by such prayers.
So how does a church or an individual go about the deliverance ministry in such a way that its effective and not abused by the inexperienced to the detriment of both Church and deliveree? Training is the answer and a deliverance minister can offer that. So can the Holy Spirit.
On the job training
I remember once when I was new to all this that the Lord taught me so much in 10 minutes in the kitchen while making some toast than I have ever learned in 40 years of being a Christian before, mainly because it just was not taught in the churches I attended. So what happened? Well while making some toast, I kept getting irreverent thoughts about God which I kept rejecting. They kept coming back and I kept rejecting them. This happened several times until I eventually thought “wait a minute, these thoughts are so irreverent and so not how I think that they can’t possibly be MY THOUGHTS”. After that bombshell realisation that I could have thoughts that were not coming from me I went on to ask that if they were not coming from me then where are they coming from? At that point I realised that the thoughts must be coming from a demon or to be more specific an irreverant spirit to give it a name. At which point I got the distinct sense that it was shocked at being discovered, if you like it’s jaw dropped, mouth wide open. I could sense that in my spirit and now that it had been discovered I knew instinctively what to do – rebuke it! So in a loud voice I said something like “How dare you! You irreverant spirit in the name of Jesus I command you to stop and leave me alone”. It stopped straight away and left me in peace with my own thoughts. To think I had put up with it for so long.
A quick summary
So summarising what I learned. First is that evil spirits can drop thoughts into your head that you don’t own (by the way so can God when he is trying to protect you or communicate something important to you). Secondly, that the evil spirit likes to hide its presence so that you can’t interfere with its operations or tell it to go. Thirdly it has a name that you can address it by. Forthly, You have authority over it in the name of Jesus if you are a Christian. Wow quite a lot for a 10 minute training session. Do you think God helped me by dropping the thought into my head that this was not coming from me… it wouldn’t surprise me because thats God for you, always loves to help His children.
What are the signs and symptoms?
So what sort of things can evil spirits do? There’s no exhaustive list that I can give you but if its a continuous problem (sin or bad habit) or fear that won’t leave you alone, its probably an evil spirit. If the person of concern responds badly to the name of Jesus, that is a strong clue. Inappropiate anger or violence is another. Self harm or suicidal thoughts. There are some problems of our own creation, no demon required, these need to be repented of. That usually involves a work of grace in our hearts from the Lord and we need to ask for His help with a humble recognition that we can’t do it in our own strength. The rest, just command them to go in the name of Jesus the Messiah.
There a huge amount to write about this subject that one does not know where to stop. Derek prince is an author worth getting aquainted with in this area and so is Frank Hammond’s book “Pigs in the Parlour”.
What should you do?
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you. Recognising you have a problem is a major step forward. Remember to use the armour of God especially the shield of faith to extinguish the arrows of fear and the sword of the Spirit to distinguish the lies of the enemy. For more information please read my article “The Armour of God”. We need all the help we can get and so do those around us.
Consider getting an experienced and reputable minister in this area to come and speak and minister in your church. It’s far better to have prayer support and others around to help in this area. This is a biblical ministry but there are those who do not have a well balanced approach and leading who could cause more harm than good. The minister in this area should come with references and be above reproach.