Deliverance: Things I have learned, concerns people have, and common misconceptions...

My first introduction to deliverance was pretty dramatic. A friend had invited me to a gathering in Dallas where a deliverance minister from California was holding a meeting. I didn’t know anything about deliverance at this time and very little about spiritual warfare in general. The man taught a little in the beginning and eventually someone started manifesting a demon. He dealt directly with that person for about an hour. There was a lot of showmanship, the person looked distressed through the session, but eventually said they felt free. Then, he moved to the next person manifesting. It was odd but intriguing. I took it to the Lord and began asking questions. I searched out all the information I could find on deliverance. I got books. I watched some YouTube videos of people manifesting, and someone trying to deliver them. Despite being a bit disturbed by seeing people manifesting demons, I wanted to understand what was going on and how these people would receive freedom from these demons.

The year was 2015/2016, and I had a resale shop and ministry center for I Will Stand International in Hurst, TX. As I began to dive deeper into understanding spiritual bondage, the Lord began to send me people at the center who were in bondage. This bondage was so severe – hearing demons, catatonic states, crippling fear and anxiety, seeing demons, etc. I could not ignore the pain and torment these people were experiencing despite my limited knowledge. I had been tormented once and knew that what these people were experiencing was not what God intended for them. Scripture also makes it very clear that we do not have to live this type of life. Many of the people that were coming did not know where else to go. The church wasn’t talking about it, and these people felt isolated and without hope. So, I dug deeper with the Lord.

When I first started “trying to do” deliverance, I did the best I knew how to do, but I felt like it was never enough. I would have people repeat prayers of deliverance. I would speak to certain spirits they thought they had and command them to go in the name of Jesus. I would see demons manifest in them and then command those demons to leave. The person would experience relief but would then call again days or weeks later saying they were struggling with the same thing. I was not ok with this…for their sake or my sake.

I kept going back to the Lord because I struggle with many aspects of the way I was seeing deliverance done and how I was trying to do deliverance. I felt compelled to write this post because I am continuously running into people who say “Oh, I have been through deliverance. I have been set free from that.” But they are still struggling with “that”. Or… “I read generational curse breaking prayers so they have all been broken.” (and possibly that the person who had them read the prayers may have told them they were broken) My response is: Have you verified that the curses have actually been broken or did the person verify that the curse was actually broken? The response is usually no.

When I was seeking understanding in this area, I was not ok with the results I was seeing and really was not comfortable telling people they were free if I did not know that with 100% certainty that they were really free. I also did not like demons manifesting. It was kinda creepy at first, but after a while, it was just simply annoying. Trying to pray a manifesting demon out took up so much time, they played so many games, and then there was never any certainty that it actually left. For all I knew, it just decided to stop manifesting and just hide within the person again. For the person, a relief from manifesting would feel like peace. Or maybe they had multiple demons of the same type and only one actually left. How could I know? There had to be a way. I told the Lord that if He was calling me to deliver His people and lead them to a place of freedom in Him then I needed to know that if I told them they were free then they were actually free. I knew freedom was possible because He had delivered me throughout the years. I just didn’t quite know how to do it. If I was going to represent Him in this area then I wanted to represent Him well. I wanted thorough deliverance for people not just partial deliverance. I wanted efficiency and effectiveness because there is a lot of work to do in the Kingdom, and I didn’t want to waste time with demons.

Below is a list of things I have learned, concerns people have, and common misconceptions:  

1. “I have seen and/or been through deliverance. It is scary.” Deliverance does not have to look like one person in the middle of a group of people shouting at demons to go while the person going through deliverance is manifesting and throwing up demons. This does happen, but this does not have to happen for a person to be set free. I find this to be quite traumatic for the person and not fully effective. Can demons be cast out this way? Yes, I think some can. However, not all of them will be. Demons have real legal rights to be in people’s lives and will not go until these legal rights are found and broken. Also, in this scenario, people usually are not verifying every last demon is gone and verifying the entire person is fully cleared of every last demon. I personally like to be completely thorough and confident when I tell someone they will be fully free. The deliverance method taught to me by Don Dickerman’s ministry is calm, peaceful and demons do not manifest. Deliverance is a truth encounter not a power encounter. They are not allowed to manifest. If demon tries to manifest, it is commanded to stop in the name of Jesus. No one is puking in buckets. No one is growling. No one is slithering like a snake on the floor. Deliverance is a courtroom process of discovering why demons are there, how they got there, what they are doing there, if they have a legal right to be there, canceling the legal right, and sending out the all the demons in the name of Jesus. Gathering this information helps a person understand why they were in bondage in the first place and how to stay in a place of freedom in the future. This process also allows for verifying that every last demon has left. Think of an actual courtroom. Are people allowed to act any way they want in a courtroom? No! If they do start act out, they are forced to stop. Acting out is not tolerated. If you have been through deliverance, can you confidently say that every last demon is gone?
2. “You don’t have to get the name of a demon. Why would you even want to talk to a demon?” I have been back and forth on this particular belief of actually getting a name. The name can be the hardest piece of information to get because demons don’t want to give up their names. Names are significant biblically, and logically, if a demon doesn’t want to give up their name then there is a reason they don’t want to give up their name. The Lord explained it to me this way: If a person with authority stood in the middle of a football stadium during the halftime show and yelled, “Get out in the name of Jesus!” There probably would not be one person who got up and left. If they wanted to stay, they would stay and justify why the person in authority was not talking directly to them. If the person in authority called out someone directly by name and said they had to leave immediately, there would be no question as to who had to leave. Demons want to stay right where they are within a person. Demons are also very legalist and tricky. If demons are not told specifically that they need to go then they will not go. Some generalities can be spoken in regard to specific types of demons, but knowing the name of the demon does make for an easier time navigating the session and making sure that every last demon is gone. Again, demons are legalistic and tricky; they work to find loopholes in what is being. Being specific and thorough is key to complete freedom.
3. “I took a deliverance class and prayed generational curse breaking prayers so all of the curses on my family line have been broken.” My response: Did they tell you the curses in your generational line were broken? “Yes” My response: Did they verify that the curses were actually broken? “No” Sometimes praying the generational curse breaking prayers can be enough to break the legal right the curse has to operate in a person’s life if that is all that is required of the curse. Sometimes, there are very specific things that need to be dealt with in order to break a curse. Sometimes with a curse, I have found that it has to be specifically identified to be dealt with just as in the case of identifying a specific demon name. I have also found recently that some people who keep having specific demons or demonic kingdoms return have an underlying curse that must be dealt with because the curse is giving permission for those kingdoms to be pulled back in over and over again. These curses have had to be specifically identified.
4. “I don’t think I have many demons, if any at all, because I have renounced and repented everything I know to renounce and repent.” Renouncing and repenting are great to do and are a part of the deliverance process but that is not all that is required. Demons are like squatters and will not leave unless they are specially told to leave. Renouncing and repenting cancels legal rights but does not get the demons out. General renouncing and repenting does not always work if there are specific generational legal rights that need to be cancelled. Demons have to be told to leave. Deliverance is an exchange of all the work the enemy is doing in our lives for all the work that the Lord wants to do in our lives.
5. “Manifesting must happen for deliverance to take place.” This was a belief that someone had years ago that kept them from gaining full freedom. This person saw a demon enter their belly and needed to see the demon actually exit their belly before they could believe the demon was actually gone. Seers can sometimes be tormented by the visions they see in the spiritual, and demons can use trickery to bind seers up in confusing images and thoughts. Wisdom and strategy are needed to navigate these sessions. I have already addressed that manifestations do not need to happen for deliverance to take place. I do not like giving demons a stage to perform.  
6. “What if this is just how I am, and deliverance won’t work on me?” This is a lie that the enemy has used to try and get people to not go through with deliverance. The only thing that needs to be said here is that we need to recognize the lies of the enemy by knowing the truth of God. God tells us exactly what His people should look like in regards to foundation character traits. The world should be able to look at the people of God and know there is something different about them. Deliverance and freedom are for ALL of His children.
7. “What if I don’t hear anything?” This is a concern many people have coming into a deliverance session. Demons have to bow to the name of Jesus. They have no option other than to obey commands given in the name of Jesus. There has not been one person who I have take through deliverance who has not been able to “hear” or get information from demons they want to get rid of.

I hope this post gave you some things to think about regarding things you may have heard or experienced about deliverance previously. If you have any other concerns, questions, or thoughts, please reach out. I am always happy to discuss anything related to freedom and deliverance. It is an inheritance that often goes unclaimed by Christians.