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How does Jesus say to do it?

Deliverance Ministry page 001Matthew 17:21 - "However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
 
Mark 9:29 - "So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”
 
A lot of talk these days surrounds deliverance ministry. I want to say I absolutely believe in seeing people delivered. It is one of our rights as a Chrisitan in Mark 16:17-18. It is very powerful and effective when it is done properly as Jesus instructed. When you read the Bible accounts Jesus never had any difficulty casting out a demon. In the Book of Acts every time a believer comes face to face with someone who is demon possessed all they do is command the demon to come out and it comes out. That is the model we as believers should practice. What happens today is many deliverance sessions take hours to perform. This was never meant to be, there are no Biblical examples of that ever being necessary. Now yes there are some demons that are tougher than others, just like some humans are tougher than others, but Jesus tells us exactly how to deal with them.
 
First and foremost, the person must want to be delivered. If they don’t want to be it does not matter how long you pray for someone it won’t happen. God gave us a free will and God does not violate that ever. If God does not violate that, the devil can’t either. The person you are praying for must be told they always have the power of choice. The demon will make it seem like they don’t, but you must remind them they have the choice. Once they do, you have the power to cast the demon out in the Name of Jesus. The disciples were amazed how easy this was, Luke 10:17.
Now sometimes that person will not want it gone. The demon will fight to convince that person that can’t be free. That is really what the fight is about. The demon is not fighting you who are praying for the person, but trying so hard to keep that person from realization that they can be free. What happens in some of these long deliverance sessions is we actually do a disservice to the person who is trapped by continuing, because we subconsciously make it seem to the person that there is no hope because it is taking so long.
 
What are we to do in these cases? That is where Matthew 17:21 and Mark 9:29 come in. In this story the disciples cannot cast the demon out and Jesus says some demons are stronger and can only come out by prayer and fasting. Key word here is and. You must do both. Can you pray in a moment of time, yes you can. But can you fast in a moment of time? No, you cannot. Fasting is deciding to give up eating for a time period for the purpose of communing with God on a deeper level. Showing God how far you want to go to meet with Him. It also shows God how serious you are about an issue.
What is Jesus saying here, if you run into a person not ready to be delivered, don’t waste your time trying to convince them. And definitely don’t waste your time trying to fight the demon, no need to do that. Leave them and go pray and fast. The fact that fasting cannot be done in an instant shows us that we are to stop and do something else. The word AND is key because both must be done to deliver this person. Jesus says go and spend some time with me before you go back to that person.
 
When you fast and pray here is what happens. You get to first of all recenter your focus. It is so easy to get the focus off of the person and on to the demon. Remember it is not about the demon, it is about freeing the person. Many times, these sessions go on and on for hours, because people have the misguided notion that they are trying to defeat the demon. Your battle is not with the demon. When it is the devil laughs. Sometimes during these sessions, I think the demon allows you to think you are winning at times to keep you from focusing on the person. That is a good trick of the enemy that many fall for. Why? It is in our human nature to fight, and we think we are hitting the demon where it hurts. You are not. If you want to hit the demon where it hurts focus on helping the person realize they can be free in Jesus’ Name! Remember the devil and his demons have already been soundly defeated once and for all by the death and resurrection of Jesus!
 
But if I stop to go fast, aren’t I saying to the person, I lost? No, because Jesus said this is what you are to do. If anything, the demon inside the person should be more afraid of what is going to happen, because the demons know the word of God and they know the power of fasting. By going to fast you are hitting that demon where it hurts. You are making that demon very, very anxious, and nervous.
As you fast, allow Jesus to show you how to go back and approach that demon possessed person in a way that will get results. Jesus sees all things and knows how to defeat all the forces of the evil one. When you fast and pray focus on the person who needs delivered. Remember that person must want to be delivered in the first place. Ask Jesus how you can get that through to that person so they can be set free. That they can make that choice to be free no matter what the demon says. Then listen and Jesus will give you the answer once you are focusing on the person and not the demon. When He tells you, you can go to the bank that it will work. No struggle is necessary because you have exactly what you need to deliver the person.
 
What will that look like? I have no idea it will be different for every person and situation. No two situations will be the same. What worked for one person to be set free may not work for the next person. That is also a common mistake in deliverance ministry that there is some kind of formula. There isn’t. What Jesus tells you to do or say may even sound silly or off the wall. That is OK, the question is can you simply use what Jesus gives you. Here is the thing it might not sound to you like something spiritual. Many times, you will go well that can’t be from God, don’t be so sure. Sometimes what is silly or off the wall is exactly what is needed to get through to the person. It comes from out of nowhere and gives that person a moment of clarity. It is what allows the person to see that they can be free. They are so depressed and beat down by the demon that something silly or off the wall is what gets through the walls set up by the demon. What the person needs to see is that there is light, and a way out, a chance to be really free. Once they see that then they can go for it and want to be free. Don’t discount what God says, it does not have to be something that sounds super spiritual to you, because it doesn’t have to mean anything to you. It MUST mean something to the person you are trying to deliver. That is what it is all about. This also is something that the demon won’t see coming, and that is why it is so very effective. Jesus knows where the holes are and how to get into a person. Trust Jesus to help you to help the person.
 
This is what prayer and fasting do for deliverance ministry. It allows you to step back and re arm and come back and win, to help set that person free. The demons hate prayer and fasting, they know they are about to lose. The thing is so many times we skip this step and do the hour after hour intervention, that Jesus never said we had to do.
Imagine what you could have done with all those hours if we just followed His teaching on deliverance.
 
Jesus is all for deliverance ministry. Jesus is also undefeated and has no problem with any of the forces of the evil one. He is your leader and your best friend. Trust me Jesus wants you to be successful as He is. It is your right as a true believer. So, you can be there for the person wanting to be set free. Jesus also wants you to see that this works every time, and it is to be quite easy, so you know that the devil and his forces really are not all that scary to begin with when you are with Jesus!
 
Delivering people from the enemy is not supposed to be hard.
 
To sum up:
  1. The person must want the demon to be gone. That is the goal, because only then will they accept Jesus’ help to free them.
  2. Remember it is about the person, don’t get caught up in fighting the demon. That can be so alluring and romantic in a way. Don’t lose focus on the human.
  3. Let them know they can be free and then use the Name of Jesus. It may take a couple of times for them to accept that, but once they do the demon will leave. The demon has to James 4:7.
  4. If after a few times of trying to convince that they can be free, realize you may be fighting a demon who really has this person in a bad place. Jesus said that can happen. Don’t get flustered by that. Don’t let the demon suck you in. And say I need to go fast and pray. You are not leaving the person high and dry. You are telling the person I am still with you; I just need to do this next step so you can be free. By saying this you also put the demon on notice, and they will be very afraid of what happens next.
  5. Go actually fast and pray for the person, don’t even concentrate on the demon. Ask Jesus what you need to say to the person so they can realize they can be free.
  6. Listen for the answer. Remember the answer may not be as spiritual as you think it should be and that is OK. You are not the one who needs delivered they are, and Jesus is giving you what they need to be set free.
  7. Then go back and confidently use what Jesus gave you and see that person who you care about be delivered instantly from that demon.
    Rinse and repeat. This is your right in Christ Jesus to help others.

Remember Jesus loves and cares for you, I love and care for you, and you are awesome!