How to Use Your God-Given Authority over Demons

In this post I will first examine the methods described in the Bible for dealing with demons. After that I will give some personal examples.

I want to state up front that the basic principle you are about to read is very simple and straightforward. It is not complex, and you do not need an engineering degree to understand it. And while I agree that there are many facets and nuances and things to be aware of, I still say that in its essence, this is a simple principle that anyone could understand in just a few minutes.

How Did Jesus Cast Out Demons

How did Jesus cast out demons?

Simply put, He told them to leave. He gave orders to the demon(s) by faith, telling them to leave the person they were oppressing. He gave the orders relying on the Holy Spirit (Mat 12:28) to enforce what He said because it was God’s will (Acts 10:38).

Some scenarios that Jesus encountered required additional tactics, but this is the main principle. He cast them out by using His authority and giving orders to them.

Here are a few examples.

But Jesus rebuked [the demon], saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him.

See full passage at Luke 4:31-37

Notice that Jesus does not pray or go through any sort of religious ritual. He speaks directly and forcefully to the demon that was oppressing the victim. He told the demon what to do.

After the command was given, it appears that the demon had some sort of temper tantrum, but it still left the man just as Jesus told him to.

This is the “normal” scenario. A demon is discovered, and Jesus orders it to leave using His authority. The demon obeys, and the victim is liberated.

Here is an example where there was more of a resistance on the part of the demons, and some additional tactics were employed.

When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.”
For [Jesus] said to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” Then He asked him, “What is your name?”
And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country.
Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. So all the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us to the swine, that we may enter them.” And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.

See full passage at Mark 5:1-20

Jesus began with the same principle. He gave an order to the demons saying “Come out of the man!” In this example, however, the demons seemed to put up more resistance than the other examples in scripture. Jesus took a little more time and gathered more information, but you can clearly see that He is still the one with the authority in the situation. The demons bargained with Him, but they eventually obeyed His command.

Here is another example that brings out another point that is very helpful.

And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.

See full passage Matthew 17:14-21

In this example, the disciples attempted to liberate the victim but were unsuccessful. Jesus then rebukes the disciples because they failed to deliver the child. This shows us that Jesus expected the disciples to be able to cast out demons, including this one.

After this, Jesus gives an authoritative rebuke and the demon obeys Him and leaves the child.

Later in that same story, the disciples ask Jesus the reason for their failure. They said “why couldn’t we cast it out?” Jesus told them point blank that they failed because of their unbelief (Mat 17:20). The failure was not due to God’s timing or God’s will. God had already provided everything necessary for the disciples to be able to do it. The failure was due to the unbelief of the disciples.

The disciples did not doubt that Jesus could cast out the demon. That was not the problem. The disciples doubted that THEY could do it. That was their own personal unbelief. Jesus went on to tell them that they could overcome this personal unbelief through prayer and fasting (Mat 17:20-21).

The implication is that if the disciples had believed in their authority, it would have worked and the boy would have been set free. And since they had already been doing this for some time (see Mat 10:1), it makes sense that Jesus would expect them to be able to do the job.

How Did the Disciples Cast Out Demons

Although it is clear from scripture that all the followers of Jesus were expected to cast out demons, we only really have one example where we are given any details as to how this was done.

But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.

See full passage at Acts 16:16-19

Paul was confronted with demonic activity that was operating through a slave girl. Paul follows the principle that Jesus set before all of His disciples. By faith he gave a direct order to the demon, using his God-given authority, and the demon obeyed. The girl was liberated, and Paul successfully represented Jesus to everyone present.

So, from this we can see that the way Jesus cast out demons is the same for all of His followers. We are to follow His pattern. Give orders to the demon using our authority, trusting the Holy Spirit to enforce it because it is God’s will.

Examples from Personal Experience

I have taken these principles that I have learned from Jesus in the Bible, and by faith I have stepped out into this arena of setting people free from demons. I never went out specifically looking for demons, but I have never shied away from an opportunity to set a captive free either. And although I am still growing in my understanding, I can say that the authority Jesus provided for us is very effective as long as we believe it.

I will state again that while there are many factors involved, the single most important principle is that you need to believe that Jesus has given you authority (Luke 10:19). And you need to believe that this authority is effective. If you don’t believe that, then you are going to run into some unnecessary troubles. The main tactic of the enemy is intimidation, so you have to be confident in the authority of Jesus.

Cold Symptoms

My very first encounter with a demon was very short. I was ministering to a lady that was suffering from some cold symptoms. I was commanding the symptoms to leave saying something like “In Jesus name, every symptom leave!” I said that a few times, and then a deep gruff voice responded out of the woman and said “NO!”

The woman was very shocked at what just came out of her mouth. I could tell that even though it was her vocal chords, she was not the author of what was being said. It was a demon.

And I was just as surprised as she was. This was very unexpected. I wasn’t looking for it, it just happened. The hair on the back of my neck stood up and I was trying not to show any fear or intimidation.

I responded back saying “Yes you will come out!” The demon said “NO!” again. This happened maybe three or four more times, but my confidence was growing as we continued. Then without any fanfare, the demon departed and the woman knew it because she felt it leave her.

My God-given authority over demons has been cemented in my beliefs ever since.

13 Demons

My second encounter happened a few weeks later, and it was a bit more dramatic.

We were at a large Bible study, and we were listening to some worship music as the evening was wrapping up. My wife came over to me and told me that I needed to come help someone.

I walked over and there was a lady lying in the floor and it sounded like she growling under her breath. This lady had been in the Bible study all evening without any problems, so this was really strange. I knelt down and I it became very obvious that there was demonic activity taking place.

I began to forcefully command the demon to come out of her. At first there was very little response, but then the lady started moving around and her face started contorting, and then out of her mouth came a low and gruff “NO!”. So I said “Yes you will come out of her right now in the name of Jesus!” As we went back and forth a few times and some people decided it was time to leave the room. But a few other ladies knelt down and joined me by interceding.

My wife stood back and was praying in the spirit. As she prayed, the Holy Spirit revealed to her the actual name of the demon that I was battling. I do not remember for sure (this was many years ago), but I believe the name of the first one was “fear.” When my wife got this information, she came and told me, and I started saying “You spirit of fear come out of her right now in the name of Jesus.”

Having the Holy Spirit reveal the name of the demon increased my confidence that the power of God was present to set the lady free.

After maybe a minute, the demon came out and the woman stopped moving and just relaxed. We kept praying, and then she started moving and growling again. I started telling the next demon to come out, and it started arguing again just like the last one did. This one was actually saying things like “I HATE YOU!” in that same deep, gruff and creepy voice. I would respond by saying something “Good, I hate you too. Now get out!”

My wife once again had received revelation from the Holy Spirit regarding the name of the demon, so she came and told me and I commanded it to leave. And just like the last one it departed. The woman once again seemed to relax a bit. And then it started again.

We repeated this process as each demon began to manifest. All in all, I believe there was a total of 13 demons that came out of her, and the Holy Spirit was faithful to reveal the name of each one. They had some names like “hate,” “anger,” and etc. And one of them was named “lethargy.” I definitely remember that one because it seemed so very strange. I don’t recall the rest.

Obviously, I was not expecting any of this because I had never seen anything like this before in person. But once it was over, I was more convinced than ever that the authority Jesus gave us is powerful and effective.

I don’t know that I did everything right, or that everything we did was necessary. But in the heat of the battle, you have to act on what you believe, and what I believed was that Jesus gave His followers authority over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19).

Roaring

A few years later, after dozens and dozens of demonic encounters, we had another notable occurrence. A young lady came to our home for prayer and counseling. As we talked I noticed something odd going on, and I asked if I could pray as if her problem was spiritual in nature. She agreed.

I began to come against any evil spirit that was harassing her. As I spoke, she leaned her body forward, leaned her head back, and then she let out this very loud roar, like some kind of large beast or monster. And then right after that, she slumped over and the oppressing spirit had gone from her.

We have dealt with several other ones that behaved like this over the years. We command them to leave in the name of Jesus. Then they seem to want to shout or yell as they are coming out of their victim.

There are many other strange events that I have witnessed. Sometimes it is quite bizarre, and it can be rather unsettling. Other times it can be quick and uneventful. But in every case it is very invigorating to see the authority of Jesus in effect to rescue one of His sons or daughters from the power of the enemy.

Final Thoughts

I took what I learned about Jesus and the authority He provides, and I began to act on it. I have lost count of how many times I have been involved in these situations, but I would guess it is well over 100 by now.

The vast majority of them are over very quickly, without much drama. The person will immediately experience a weight or burden lifting off of them, or their pain or other symptoms disappear, or their mind will become clear and their senses will return, or a variety of other experiences will take place. This the case most of the time, and it only takes a few minutes of acting on your authority to set them free.

However, I do not want to give the impression that everything always ends all neat and tidy. There have been several unfortunate cases where we did not succeed in setting the person free. Sometimes we learned that this was due to the fact that the person did not actually want to be free. But sometimes we had no explanation and we were just baffled.

I am not God, so I do not know everything, and I do not have all the answers. I am still learning and growing.

But I can say this with absolute certainty: If you are a Christian, then Jesus has given you authority over every demon that exists. And your job is to believe that and act on it. And the simplest way to act on it when you encounter a demon is to give orders in the name of Jesus that are consistent with God’s will.