First time in the deliverance ministry????

[Lee]

I am a young one who desires to be used by God in the deliverance ministry. Can some elder folks with experience on this particular ministry tell me your first time getting involved in it? Please do be in details, I like to read all.

 

[firecracker]

There is no deliverence ministry. Deliverence is a sign that follows other ministries, such as preaching the gospel, etc. You better be sure its what God wants you to do, otherwise you could get into a lot of trouble. Also, your own life needs to be absolutley right, otherwise Satan will have legal right to give you a hiding.

Seek counsel from your elders and be sure of the gifts and calling God has given you for sure. Here's an acid test... is your desire for this ministry based out of a Christ deriven love for the healing of those you would minister to? And of course, ANY deliverence is a soveriegn act of Gods Spirit, you are merely a vessle. Have you got the humility, love and wisdom required?

IMHO.

 

[Father Rick]

This is an area where God has used me for a number of years.

First, let me say let me say I commend you for wanting to be used by God.

I agree with parts of what Firecracker said. This is something that should 'follow' you, not you trying to chase down demons. Jesus specifically told his disciples not to rejoice that they had power of demons, but that their names were written in the Lambs Book of Life.

As to "how" things work with me. Personally, I don't go looking for people who need deliverance-- They tend to find me. Usually, it is just in praying for people's needs... whatever they may be. In the process of praying for them, if there is junk there that needs to be taken care of, you just take care of it. It's that simple. How do I know there is junk? Sometimes God shows me. Sometimes the demons begin to manifest. It just depends. It is not some kind of 'magic formula' but rather just being obedient to God to handle the situation when it arises.

Every Christian has the authority, in the name of Jesus, to cast out any devil in anyone. It has nothing to do with us, how perfect our walk with God is, etc. It is all about the authority of Jesus Christ over the works of darkness. We are just acting in his authority, "in His name". It's kind of like having power of attorney to act on His behalf.

One thing I have learned is that devils try to make themself look big and scary. They know that when Jesus died for the sins of mankind they were stripped of all power and authority. They don't like to admit that though, so they try to use the only weapon they have left--lies-- to try to stop you.

It's kind of like in the Wizard of Oz. If you remember how when each person went to see the wizard, they saw whatever it was that intimidated them the most-- a giant ball of fire, a floating head, etc. but when Toto pulled back the curtain, it was just a little old man in the corner using 'smoke and mirrors' to scare everyone. It's the same way with devils. They try to show off to intimidate. When they started this with Jesus, He said to them "hold thy peace and come out." In south Georgia slang, that's "Shut up and git out!" It has no choice but to go. Not because of you, but because of Jesus.

One more bit of insight-- Some of the greatest deliverances I have seen have been when I was the least 'prepared'. One of these occurred when I had not been feeling well for a week or so. I don't think I had prayed or read my Bible in a week. In the middle of this deliverance, I said to God (very sarcastically, I might add), "Lord, I'm so glad you let me get ready for this." To which He answered me, "Whose righteousness are you doing this in anyways, yours or Mine?" It was one of the clearest He has ever spoken to me, and I won't ever forget it. It's all about Him and His righteousness, His work on Calvary, His authority over the enemy. We are just obedient servants.

 

[rainbowprism]

The above posters are very wise. Deliverances is something that is nessacary but the idea of 'demon hunting' is difficult....and can be one sided. I would suggest rather becoming involved in prayer ministry, for healing people of physical needs, emotional hurts, and the occasional demonic oppression. I discovered my own need for a deliverance on accident, I had gone forward to recieve prayer for something else and this individual who released me was blessed with a nessacary word of knowledge The rest is history--demon gone!

 

[Tobias]

Every Christian has the authority, in the name of Jesus, to cast out any devil in anyone. It has nothing to do with us, how perfect our walk with God is, etc. It is all about the authority of Jesus Christ over the works of darkness. We are just acting in his authority, "in His name". It's kind of like having power of attorney to act on His behalf.

Well said!

I agree too that "Deliverance Ministry" rarely stands out by itself, but is usually just a small part of a much bigger ministry of counseling and inner healing.

Christians are notorious for running around trying to things without learning to wait for God's specific direction to do so. They think that just because the Bible tells a tory of how God asked someone else to do it at one point in time, they have a commission to do it whenever and wherever they choose.

To be a effective servant of God, we must learn to wait for His command. In deliverance it is important to not only be able to correctly discern the spirits in question, but to also be able to hear from the Lord concerning His timing.

 

[Tobias]

I was a teenager on a rather large campout with the church youth ministry. We were far from home in the Sierra mountains staying in tents. It was a Charismatic church we were with, so many of the leaders knew how to deal with this, but of course not all of them.

What happened was that we had several girls start manifesting, one after another. They were all friends from their own little "click". I think there were 5-6 total that night that started thrashing around and stuff. They said later that the demons would get cast out of one, and just hop into one of the others. I don't really know, I was just one of the kids.

Anyway, after several were already down being ministered to by as much of the staff as was able, another one of the girls near me started to manifest. I was normaly a rather quiet guy, but fealt the spirit of God come all over me and I walked over to her commanding forcefully that the demons should leave. I know beyond any doubt that it was God that came on me and led me to do that, as it was totally opposite of my personality and I would never trust my own insticts at the time but wait on adults.

I still wonder though about how long the group ended up wrestling with these spirits. That was back in the day when everyone believed deliverance takes hours and hours of shouting and vomiting. As it was, the demons were probably able to hang on or jump between girls because the girls were so freaked out and completely embarrased.

I think if I ever run into this same senario again in the future the thing to do would be to silence the demon (they totally disrupted the service), and deal with preparing the person(s) for deliverance -- quietly and away from the spotlights.

As it was, this was the last time the church let the youth group go camping...

 

[Father Rick]

Well, earlier today I posted and did not answer your OP at all, you asked for stories of your first experience dealing with deliverance and I gave a lot of teaching about deliverance in general. Sorry, that's the pastor/teacher in me coming out.


The first time God used me in deliverance was about 15 years ago in Germany. I was 18 at the time and there for several months on a missions trip living with one of the elders in the church. One night there was a group of a dozen or so who had come over for a time of prayer. Some of them were people from the church and some I had never seen before. During the prayer, I felt impressed by God to go pray for this man "Hector" that I didn't know.

Now let me interject that I did not speak German, and only a couple of the guys there spoke English.

Everyone was standing kind of in a circle. I went over and stood in front of Hector and began to quietly pray in the spirit-- I wanted to ask him what he needed prayer for, but he didn't speak English. Suddenly a change came over him. His countenance changed and he began hissing like a snake. I just kept praying in the spirit (just harder). I had no clue what to do. At the same time I was praying in the spirit, inside I said to God-- "Ok, now, I've read all the books, I know what Your Word says, I've even seen this a dozen times or so--- What in the world do I do now?" I was like a deer caught in the headlights.

Just at that moment one of the guests, a youth pastor from Holland, turned to him and said (in English) "You spirit of perversion, come out of him in Jesus name." When he did so, it kind of startled me out of my moment of panic and I said, "yeah... yeah... that's it.... come out of him". (As you can tell, I was not a pro at this.) He fell to the floor and the hissing, etc began to get louder and more pronounced.

As he fell, it was almost like a blanket of the presence of God fell over me. I looked at the man and the words just came out of me with an authority that was not mine... only Christ's: "Devil-- you show off-- stop that , and come out of him." There was a finality and authority in my voice that caught me off guard. Immediately the manifestations began to 'reverse'-- the hissing became quieter, etc. It took a couple of minutes, but you could see/sense the demonic spirit leaving him. The whole thing took maybe 5 minutes. I remember it almost like it was yesterday-- I had never experienced the authority of Christ like that before.

Afterwards, I found out that Hector had been a male prostitute. He had come to Christ a while before, but had 'backslidden' and gone back to prostituting. He was there that night 'reaching out' to come back to Christ.



I thought it important to share this with you guys who may be new to this area. It's so easy to make it sound like you have to be SOOO spiritual, or trained, or whatever to minister in deliverance. I had absolutely no clue what I was doing--- yet God did it all in spite of me..... wait a minute, isnt' that the way it's suppose to be all the time .

Bottom line.... just trust God. Live for Him the best you can. And He will empower you for whatever is needed at the moment.

 

[Lottedah]

Not all of that is necessary lee
I learned a few things working in the field away from here and that is Satan has ABSOLUTELY no power. Lee read 1 corinthians I think it is, where it says with the holy spirit life and death are literally your servants. Now if life and death are your servants and Satan has no power then how come these demons are allowed to strike fear in peoples hearts and keep them in bondage? They arent! the only thing allowing them to torment us, IE my health or a night time threat vistitation from one or a demonized person is our FEAR and our lack of faith and our ignorance not knowing just how much power GOd gives all of us through the holy spirit.
Next time you see a demonized person.. remember life and death are our servants and the Lord gives us ALL his power through the holy spirit..when you really have a grasp on the power and authority the Lord gives us you will see those demons flee like lightening bugs without harming the victim or manifesting at all..

 

[Jim B]

Although I read in the Bible and know of people who perform exorcisms – have even done it myself – I have not found in the New Testament that it was a “ministry.” Like healing, it is a sign that accompanies the gospel we preach. We are given authority over demons. But it is not “a ministry” like any of those mentioned ion Eph. 4.11.

The so-called Ministry of Deliverance is a 20th Century invention of someone.

\o/

 

[Andrew]

Well, we have the logistics ministry, publications ministry, ushering ministry, video ministry, tapes ministry, etc in my church. Such ministries are not mentioned in the Bible. I mean, they didn't have video or cassette tapes in Peter's time.

So, does that mean those ministries aren't valid? Perhaps "ministry" is just a convenient way of classifying the types of good works God has called us to do. So why not a deliverance ministry? No need to split hairs here over the term.

Lee, if God has called you and equipped you for such a ministry, go for it!

 

[Andrew]

The so-called Ministry of Deliverance is a 20th Century invention of someone.

So are TV, radio and Internet Evangelism ministries.

 

[Jim B]

So are TV, radio and Internet Evangelism ministries.

And that’s my point.

Too much false information is too easily accessible these days. You can invent any pop-doctrine you want and disseminate it to millions immediately(providing, of course, you have a large and gullible support base) .

\o/

 

[Tobias]

And that’s my point.

Too much false information is too easily accessible these days. You can invent any pop-doctrine you want and disseminate it to millions immediately(providing, of course, you have a large and gullible support base) .

\o/

So, in your opinion, true Christians should abandon all forms of getting the gospel out there that have been used in any way by others to spread lies?

No more tv, radio, or internet. Magazines, books, heck even tracks have been printed and passed out by cults.

And what about going out witnessing 2 by 2 like Jesus commissioned? We might be mistaken for Mormons or JW's, so scratch that one off the list.

Is there anything left that we can do?

 

[Jim B]

So, in your opinion, true Christians should abandon all forms of getting the gospel out there that have been used in any way by others to spread lies?

No more tv, radio, or internet. Magazines, books, heck even tracks have been printed and passed out by cults.

And what about going out witnessing 2 by 2 like Jesus commissioned? We might be mistaken for Mormons or JW's, so scratch that one off the list.

Is there anything left that we can do?

Talk about a leap of logic, Tobias.

Did I say any of that?

I guess I could ask (to follow your logic), Are you saying that anything and everything should be received through the media and internet and digested without discrimination or discerment?

See what I mean?

I will repeat my statement - “Too much false information is too easily accessible these days. You can invent any pop-doctrine you want and disseminate it to millions immediately (providing, of course, you have a large and gullible support base).”

I can’t believe you can find fault with something this obvious!!

\o/

 

[Andry]

I am a young one who desires to be used by God in the deliverance ministry. Can some elder folks with experience on this particular ministry tell me your first time getting involved in it? Please do be in details, I like to read all.

I want to encourage you to step out in faith in some of the things God has called you to do. I think only you can know what that is for yourself.

That being said, my default position (rightly or wrongly) is that everytime someone mentions within earshot they have a deliverance ministry, I just cringe at the thought..... just what the heck is a 'deliverance' ministry? Outside of Christ all are dead. In does not matter what they died from. And the whole point of the Gospel is ressurection life to the dead. So everyone needs deliverance.

The people I knew from my own life experience who claimed to have deliverance ministries had a sense of false humility. They wanted to be the one who cast that demon out, or that infirmity out. Glorious. But funny how God calls few of us to be in (as Andrew mentioned) the 'tapes ministry' or 'books ministry' without our churches repeatedly begging for volunteers.

What's a good gauge on whether we're called to deliverance ministries (and as JimB mentioned, not quite the 'ministry' set out in Scripture)? Next time those Jehovah's Witnesses irritatingly come knocking on your door, answer it. And understand that it's not about 'persuading' them Scripture with Scripture. It's deliverance that they need. Which is the same as how we were all saved.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Father Rick]

I think all of this can be summed up with one scripture...

"And Jesus of Nazareth, anointed by the Holy Spirit, went about doing good and healing all those who were oppressed by the devil."

If we focus on 'doing good', God will use us to heal those oppressed-- in whatever form that healing takes.

 

[Lottedah]

Thank you father rick. that is the best way to describe it i believe!!
What matters is that healing takes place whether an oppression leaving or a physical infirmity which jesus called oppression not who does it or how its done.
Remember faith as small as a mustard seed.

 

[rainbowprism]

I want to encourage you to step out in faith in some of the things God has called you to do. I think only you can know what that is for yourself.

That being said, my default position (rightly or wrongly) is that everytime someone mentions within earshot they have a deliverance ministry, I just cringe at the thought..... just what the heck is a 'deliverance' ministry? Outside of Christ all are dead. In does not matter what they died from. And the whole point of the Gospel is ressurection life to the dead. So everyone needs deliverance.

The people I knew from my own life experience who claimed to have deliverance ministries had a sense of false humility. They wanted to be the one who cast that demon out, or that infirmity out. Glorious. But funny how God calls few of us to be in (as Andrew mentioned) the 'tapes ministry' or 'books ministry' without our churches repeatedly begging for volunteers.

What's a good gauge on whether we're called to deliverance ministries (and as JimB mentioned, not quite the 'ministry' set out in Scripture)? Next time those Jehovah's Witnesses irritatingly come knocking on your door, answer it. And understand that it's not about 'persuading' them Scripture with Scripture. It's deliverance that they need. Which is the same as how we were all saved.

Just my thoughts.

I understand and agree somewhat with you....anyone that feels called to pray for people will run into the occasional demon. Like scripture says, 'there isn't a demon hiding in every bush. Everytime you get ready to pray for someone you need to figure out whether this person needs physical, emotional or demonic healing. That said, I can agree that specifically focusing on just deliverance, this term meaning freedom from demonic oppression, can cause one to miss oppurtunity to let God use you for other forms of prayer. There are undoubtedly people who are more gifted at praying for others, that's just a fact...but it shouldn't be restricted to just one area. OP is sounds like you can pray for alot of people and have faith that good things will happen--just get out there and do it.

 

[Andrew]

And that’s my point.

Too much false information is too easily accessible these days. You can invent any pop-doctrine you want and disseminate it to millions immediately(providing, of course, you have a large and gullible support base) .

\o/

no Jim,

Your point is that becos its not mentioned in the Bible, therefore it's an "invention of man", and therefore you dont support it.

to be consistent with your logic then, you shouldn't even be using your PC and this Net forum to debate/teach or preach.

 

[Jim B]

no Jim,

Your point is that becos its not mentioned in the Bible, therefore it's an "invention of man", and therefore you dont support it.

to be consistent with your logic then, you shouldn't even be using your PC and this Net forum to debate/teach or preach.

Huh?

\o/