HOW I FAILED AT DELIVERANCE - PART 1
My husband and I used to frequent a local neighborhood coffee shop many years ago when I first began my journey in ministry.
Every week, we would see the same, emaciated male in his late 30’s who was in the process of “transitioning” from a male to a female. He often wore a knit skirt, oversized blouse, pantyhose, wedged heels, a red scarf tied neatly around his neck, bright red lipstick applied over the natural lip line, fake lashes and heavy concealer.
He always ordered the same drink and sat in the same spot away from everyone on the outdoor patio. I would attempt not to stare but it was impossible. I felt immense compassion towards him as a human being and believed he simply needed someone to help him. Unfortunately, his spiritual condition was more severe than I realized. He was possessed with multiple layers of demons from multiple layers of deception and lies the devil convinced him to believe over his lifetime.
At this time in my life, I was fully immersed in a fantastic bible college and over zealous for any ministering opportunity that demonstrated God’s love and power through deliverance and healing.
God knew this. So did the devil.
One particular day, I felt an extreme urge in my spirit to engage in deliverance and spiritual warfare on behalf of this tormented young man (indirectly of course) as he was sitting about 20 yards away from me in his usual spot outside. I figured he didn’t have to know I was battling for him, nor would he understand what I was doing in order to help behind the scenes.
I felt confident that the Holy Spirit chose me for this special assignment in order to equip me in deliverance. What I didn’t realize was that the entire situation was a masterful set-up from the enemy to take me out physically and spiritually.
Fast forward three weeks later, I began to experience horrific, shooting pains in both of my breasts. It felt as if someone was jabbing knitting needles full thrust into my chest. Initially, I was concerned because the pain was intense and came out of nowhere.
One particular morning while Ryan was out of town, the pain became so excruciating, that I couldn’t get out of bed and was contemplating driving myself to the urgent care center.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
James 1:5 NIV
I asked God to help me understand what was going on. Almost immediately, something came to mind so I decided to run it by a mentor friend who had served in deliverance ministry for many years.
During our phone conversation, I anxiously spilled out all the details of my coffee shop experience. Within minutes, he politely interrupted and began to council me on exactly what had happened.
He shared that the voice I thought was the Holy Spirit urging me to do spiritual warfare and deliverance was actually from the enemy. He was simply using:
· My lack of knowledge regarding deliverance.
· My ignorance regarding spiritual warfare.
· And, my over-zealous, kind-hearted nature against me.
“Therefore, confess your sins (shortcomings) to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
1 Jn. 1:9 NIV
After an hour or so on the phone, my friend led me in repentance (a change of mindset regarding deliverance). He then prayed over me and commanded a spirit of infirmity to come out of my chest.
Later that day, most of the pain had subsided and within a few days, I was completely healed.
I learned 3 valuable lessons from the coffee shop experience that have helped me avoid unnecessary future attacks that can also help you as you are feeling led to minister deliverance.
1. Never, ever engage in actual deliverance with anyone directly or indirectly, by casting out spirits, without their consent and cooperation. Demons have legitimate, legal, territorial rights to people through their own free will and will fight dirty to protect them.
2. Learn to minister orderly through the prompting of the Holy Spirit. In the above example, the young man, first needed to be open and receptive to the good news and gospel of Jesus Christ’s love and forgiveness. This would have then led him to make a heart-felt decision to receive Jesus Christ as His Savior and Deliverer. Only under those conditions, would all legal rights and grounds for the enemy to steal, kill and destroy be relinquished and revoked, giving Jesus, through me, the ultimate authority to set him free.
3. Lastly and most importantly of all, make sure you are truly hearing from the True Holy Spirit before you cast out demons.
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.”
1 Jn. 4:1 says
This scripture is not only referring to false prophets but can include any and all spirits that masquerade as the Holy Spirit in order to influence us. Because I was led by my “feelings,” the enemy was able to take advantage of my lack of discernment. He used my good intentions to deceive me in believing that the spirit tugging on my heart strings prompting me to help that individual was the Holy Spirit.
Please undertsand:
“Discernment is the ‘result of’ intimacy and fellowship with the Holy Spirit. It takes a yielded heart, disciplined effort, consistent prayer and daily renewing of the mind to clearly and directly hear from God.”
With that being said, proceed with caution, not fear, when being urged to minister deliverance. Unfortunately, many social media videos are sensationalizing the casting out of demons. This is making deliverance more trendy and popular. It is vital to keep in mind that just because Christians can cast out demons, in the name of Jesus, doesn’t mean they should. (Please read the story in Acts 19 regarding the seven sons of Sceva). Doing so without any knowledge or understanding of the spiritual realm can be extremely dangerous and can ultimately lead to casualties of war(fare).
God knows that we all have a sincere and earnest desire to help others, but He also knows our level of spiritual growth and maturity. He will never put us in a situation that can harm us in order to equip us just as a parent wouldn’t throw their child off of a boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in order to teach them to swim.
Even when we do make some rookie mistakes, like throwing our own selves into the deep end before we are ready, a good and loving Father will always provide us a life-jacket and life boat.
The key is to make sure we learn from our mistakes so that we continue to “go on” in order to continue to “go up” the learning curve. Eventually, the ultimate goal is learning how to heed the perfect will of God and not our own free will which can use even our good intentions against us.
Lastly, we must never, ever fear attacks from the enemy. The Word of God reassures us that greater is He who is in us than he who is in the entire world, or at the local coffee shop.” We simply trust God’s perfect promise and plan for our life as we continue to grow in our ministry gifts and callings.
This is where Mountain Movers Ministry comes in. Our goal is to help you experience freedom so that you can then help others experience freedom as well. If this sounds awesome, then your very first step is to join us live every week via zoom for highly anointed teaching and corporate deliverance. (click here). We have incredible testimonies from women just like you who took the plunge and experienced the power of God the very first time they joined us. You will also absolutely love the amazing community of strong, like-minded women who will literally have your back when you need it most. As Nike says: “Just Do It!” Your life will never be the same!