The Jesus Deliverance Method
In this post, I want to go through some things we can learn from Jesus in the area of dealing with demons.
As I pointed out in other another post, there are two important facts we should keep in mind about Jesus and demons:
- Jesus spent a lot of time and energy setting people free from demonic influence
- Jesus always told all of his representatives to set people free from demons as a part of their mission.
Because of these two facts, I believe that any follower of Jesus should at least know the basics of how to exercise authority over demons. I find it unfortunate that such a major aspect of the ministry of Jesus is so often ignored. The children of God should be winning the spiritual battles that come against them, but so many times the people are either unprepared or completely ignorant of what is going on.
Though I do not consider myself an expert, I do feel like I have learned a lot of things that can be helpful. I have done my share of research, and I have acted on the things I have learned.
I have seen my share of bizarre and amazing things, both good and bad. During times of ministering to people, I have seen demons leave with little fanfare. At other times, I’ve had demons threaten me through the voices of people I was ministering to…growling, yelling, mocking, threatening me, and trying other silly things to intimidate me. I have seen demons cause people to writhe in the floor, scream, spit, kick, attempt to harm themselves, and so on. There are lots of examples and lots of stories I could tell, but the point I am making is that I am not writing these articles from a place of theory, or from a place of book knowledge only.
My method in learning about demons is the same as my method for learning about healing, or the gifts of the Spirit, or salvation by grace, etc. I invite the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit. Then I read the Bible. Sometimes I will also research specific topics further through sources that I trust. Then I exert effort in convincing myself to believe what I am reading. Then I begin acting as if the information is true, expecting to see the results promised in the scriptures.
In my studies, I have found that there are a lot of different opinions, a lot of traditions, and a lot of different “experts” when it comes to the subject of spiritual warfare and casting out demons. I have come to this conclusion: Jesus is the top expert in deliverance. He is the leading and final authority on spiritual warfare. And although he is God, he was doing these works as a “man” that was full of the Holy Spirit. Because of that, he is the example for me to follow.
If Jesus consistently did things a certain way, then I want to do things that same way. Whatever principles he was acting on, I want to find out what those were and act on them myself. He is the teacher, and I am the student. He is the rabbi, I am the disciple.
Here is a list of things Jesus would always do when it came to demons:
- He would operate in the power of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:28)
- He would rebuke the demons, but rescue their victim
- He would speak and give orders to the demons and they would obey him
- He would exercise absolute authority over every demon
- He had a 100% success rate for any person that wanted to be free
Here is a list of things Jesus would sometimes do when it came to demons:
- He would sometimes have brief conversations with the demons to gather information before casting them out
- He would sometimes have brief conversations with the afflicted person or a family member to gather information
- He would sometimes compel the demon(s) to identify themselves.
Here are a list of things Jesus never did:
- He never prayed for God the Father to make the demons leave
- He never told his followers to “pray” for God the Father or Jesus to drive out the demons (he told them to cast them out, not pray about it – Mat 10:8, Luke 10:17-19, Mark 16:17)
- He never backed down, retreated, or gave up
- He never rebuked the person that was being harassed by demons, or made them feel guilt, shame, or condemnation
- He never had counseling sessions where he dug up the person’s past
- He never mentioned anything about generational curses, soul ties, etc
- He never forced, controlled, or overrode the free will of anyone
The way Jesus did things seems so simple, so uncomplicated. Here is the basic breakdown of the “Jesus Deliverance Method”
- Identify the problem by revelation from the Holy Spirit, by observation, or through brief conversation
- Evict the demon(s) by using His authority
When we look at what his followers and disciples did in the New Testament, we can clearly see that they continued this aspect of his ministry by casting demons out of people (Acts 5:16, Acts 8:7, etc). Below is one account in Acts where we get to see some level of detail.
Acts 16:16-18
Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling.
This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” And this she did for many days.
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.
Paul was using the same method that Jesus used over and over.
- Identify the problem by revelation from the Holy Spirit, by observation, or through brief conversation
- Evict the demon by using His authority
Notice that Paul did not have lengthy counseling sessions with her, nor did he pray for her. Once he realized what was going on, gave orders to the demon. He spoke to the demon, rather than praying for God to do something. God had already done something…He gave authority to His children. Paul was a child of God, filled with the Holy Spirit. All children of God have absolute, complete, unconditional authority over every demon on the universe (see my post on authority for more on this). They way you exercise your God-given authority over demons is to give them orders in the name of Jesus.
There is no need to make things complicated. Keep it simple. Do what Jesus did, and do it the way he did it. Learn how to use your God-given authority. It is a process that you grow in. Just like any other subject, you will gain experience and wisdom over time. I am still growing in this. I do not have the same 100% success rate that Jesus had, but I have seen many many people get free from demonic oppression…and so will you if you choose to believe and begin stepping out in faith.
Awesome — for the truth is known and in the Bible for all to see… I pray that others find these simple truths before investing in something other than what is given to a believer.
I have wrestled with the very things you’re talking about. I watched a pastor give repeated commands several times to someone I love (well, to the demons) to come out. I was like, wait? Jesus didn’t give repeated commands. Jesus didn’t have to pray for soul ties to be broken or have repeated sessions. Even in my own experience, I’ve had to give usually 3 commands. #1 command– response is a threat(s), #2–is usually a plea from them for me to stop saying Jesus name. #3 command is usually me in boldness through the Holy Spirit saying you have your commands I will not repeat, now leave. Kinda like dealing with my kids. Am I able to get into contact with you? I don’t agree with much of the deliverance ministry mindset. I don’t think one needs to bind this, break that etc…
Nate
There was one example where the demons resisted Jesus at first, but they eventually gave up and left the man. In Mark 5, there is the man that had the “legion” of demons in him. Jesus gave the command to come out (Mark 5:8), but the demons attempted to resist (Mark 5:7). In the end, Jesus won as always.
I’ve never read that as them resisting, more like a ” Wait wait wait, we are going but can we go there?”. I’ve learned this much, the power they have must be derived thru human authority. They are pretty powerless without human cooperation.
Agreed. Demons need human cooperation or permission (whether knowingly or through deceit/intimidation/etc) in order to have much effect on anything. As to your other point…..for other examples of demons attempting (unsuccessfully) to resist Jesus…you can look at the various times where they (demons) spoke up and tried to do something (like Luke 4:33-34), but Jesus would tell them to be silent and leave. Jesus always won every time, but the demons do appear to make the unwise choice of attempting to resist. To me, those stories definitely read like they were confrontations.
Yes, I see what you are saying, but there was no confrontation or resistance when aprons and napkins that Paul had touched were sent to those in Ephesus, healing them and driving out demons, neither did those items have a 2 hour session of dredging up the past.
I was exposed to the deliverance of nowadays about a year ago, in my wife. During the process I had a deep tug in my heart that I was to help people with demonic issues as well, but that isn’t my focus. My focus is on telling others about Christ and with that, im having a lot of manifestations happen. From the beginning though I questioned many things as I didn’t see examples of what is done now vs. how it was done in more ancient recorded times. I think it simply comes down to how much if God’s power is released through the person based on their faith and belief.
The last year has certainly been a learning experience, especially in the area of texting to deliver someone. Being a deputy sheriff there is no shortage of people I deal with either.
God bless.
I agree with everything you are saying, and that is kinda the point of this article, so I appreciate the feedback and comments. My goal in this article was to simplify things from being complicated, down/back to the Jesus method as best as I can explain it. His method was simple and quick. But in that process, I wanted to point out that occasionally there appeared to be some kind of a confrontation involved. Sometimes demons will talk back to you…as you well know if you have been doing this.
Like you, the focus of my “ministry” is not on deliverance…but deliverance occurs as a byproduct. My first experience with deliverance was as an observer, and it went down very much like the accounts of Jesus in the Bible, and it only lasted a few minutes. The first few times I was personally involved as the person ministering, it went very much the same way. Then, early on, there was someone that had many demons (I think it was like 12 or 13 of them), and that one took a little longer. But for the most part, a “normal case” doesn’t last all that long.
However, every now and then, there are times where the outcome has not been positive. It goes on and on, and as far as I can tell, there was no apparent change in the situation. These experiences make me go back to the Bible and to the Lord in prayer to ask for wisdom about what I am missing…”what am I not seeing?”
I do not subscribe to the notion that you have to go through the person’s past, dig up old wounds, sever soul-ties, fill out personal assessments, and so on. Jesus never did that. The apostles didn’t do it either. And I don’t do it. So I know it is not necessary.
However, I am not against anyone that gets people free from demons…like Jesus said in Luke 9:49-50 “Do not stop him, for whoever is not against you is for you.” Maybe that stuff has been helpful to some people, but I don’t think that is the standard we should aim it. I think Jesus sets the standard, which I believe is what you are saying as well.
Thank you again for your comments.
Neal
Good word!
Thank you!
May I contact you more privately as I want to share some experiences with you and get your take on something? I’ve commented previously as well.
Hi I would like to add something. I have tried casting demons out numerous times and it was a struggle to get them to leave. Then one night as i was laying in bed, the Holy Spirit told me a specific name of a demon to cast out and boom, it came out easily and I saw it leave. I had been to years of “deliverance ministry” where it was this whole long process and I never got free of anything. When Jesus stepped in and gave me the unction to do it….. boom it came out easily. Jesus timing is perfect……
TL this is awesome. You are right – Jesus is always on time!
This is exactly what I needed today. I just prayed and asked God how deliverance should really work. He said “Look at what Jesus did.” Then I found this site!
In 2018 I went to a “deliverance ministry” and had to recite, break things off, bind, etc. It seemed like I was drudging up more issues. I didn’t really feel relief. Most of my “deliverance” since then has been through spending time with God and knowing my own authority. There have been a few things that have “lingered” for me and yesterdayi began researching ideas for help. As I looked through a certain website, I had the same feeling again that people have complicated this. I started feeling almost worse as I read about all the things you had to do before going through this ministry.
Thank you for writing this. I agree with everything you said! Jesus is our best teacher. Making up extra stuff seems like it can turn into “works” and defeats the purpose. The enemy is defeated. We just have to know our God-Given authority and use it.
Thank you for your comment. In my opinion, the more complicated it is, the less biblical it is likely to be.
God bless you!
We are complex creatures. therefore it is NOT wrong to talk so someone to get to the root of their issues so that they themselves can understand what their issues are in which gave the enemy acsess to them in the first place. Often times a person can be set free once these things are understood, through the power of Christ, without anyone operating in “deliverance” concerning them. Yes I believe in deliverance whole heartedly, however we are not Jesus incartnite, but we do operate in his Spirit. therefore, we may not get instant results like Jesus did; especially depending on the severity of the case. Even
with Paul, the scripture said the Spirit came out that very hour, not instantaneously. Furthermore, lets be honest. how may of us are doing what it takes to operate in the level of spiritual strength or anoninting that Paul or Jesus did? Food for thought……
Thank you for your comments. I am in favor of getting people free from the enemy. If anyone is doing that successfully, then they have my gratitude.
I believe in and participate in counseling, discipleship, mentoring, and many other things that can help people live healthy lives. I agree it can be very helpful to get to the root of issues that are holding us back.
The point of this article was not to say that there is something wrong with counseling. The point is to show what the Bible says about the way Jesus drove out demons. I believe that should be the standard that we aspire to when a helping someone that is demonized.
I know this is an old thread now but I want to support this idea. There’s still whatever was going on when the disciples failed that time for Jesus to have to tell them there “this kind only come out by prayer and fasting,” so it’s not always that simple. There’s also the entire idea of strongholds. I just want us to be well balanced in this as well (because our enemy LITERALLY is seeking whom he may destroy in this). The Bible does support its usually quite simple though. Flee at the mention of the name that’s above all other names. I can get with that!
Maybe when the counseling mentioned is really less extensive “tell me all about your childhood” and more just uncovering strongholds from sin like unforgiveness or even from agreements entered into with the enemy whether on purpose or by living in unrepented sin or exposure to new age in ignorance (yoga still blows my mind)…it makes a lot of sense and is quite biblically sound if that added bit is uncovering where one might have given the devil the foothold Paul mentions in Ephesians.
Thank you for your comment Shayla. I agree that counseling can be extremely helpful. I have been on both sides of it, and I am in no way against it. I am in favor of it.
I personally believe in fighting the enemy with every weapon you have. If counseling or digging into someone’s past helps someone get free, then go for it and I will celebrate the victory.
I am not the judge or the deliverance police. I am far too aware of my own lack of wisdom to put myself in that position.
In my article, I am simply pointing out that there is no mention of Jesus ever doing that sort of thing, and therefore I believe it cannot be a requirement or prerequisite. If it were required, then I believe it would have been modeled for us at least once. I personally don’t like it when someone’s preferences are presented as if they are requirements. I come across some of that as I learn about casting out demons from various books and other sources. I hope that this article will help eliminate some confusion for people.
So again I will say that I support you if you are getting people free from demonic influence. And if counseling is one of the tools you use for this good work, then more power to you. Keep going and may God bless you as you help his children walk in freedom.
Again thank you for the simplicity of the methodology Jesus used for deliverance. Men always like to complicate stuff. We need to Keep it simple, and follow exactly what Jesus did . I am yet to start this training with my church and I appreciate this articles and all the comments. Blessing to you Neal.
Yes, I agree. It is best to keep it simple. It should not be complicated. In my opinion, the more complicated you make things, the farther you get from the truths that Jesus taught. His teachings are profound and deep, and at the same time they are simple. That is one of the things that is so amazing to me about our God.
Thank you again for your comments. Be blessed!