involves the meditating on certain Bible passages
and verses on a daily bases. Doing
this is vital to the tearing down of strongholds.
For example, if a person suffers from
low self esteem, then it would be beneficial for
them to study the Bible passages
which speak about the person whom God has made
in us, how much He loves us,
and how we were created in His image. If a person
has been seeing God has a cruel
and distant taskmaster, then he or she needs to
meditate on scriptures which speak
of the loving nature of God, how Jesus loved us
even while we were sinners, the
parable of the prodigal son (see Luke 15), etc.
The devil builds strongholds by
feeding us lies on regular bases, so we must tear
down those strongholds (believed
lies) through feeding our minds on God's Word
on a regular bases.
I also believe that they should be serious enough
about their relationship with Jesus,
that they can set aside a reasonable amount of
time to spend with God on a daily
bases. Ministering to individuals who are not
established in the Word can be more
time consuming and burdensome. Much of the overall
deliverance process involves
the renewing of their minds according to the Word
of God, and therefore there needs
to be a continual washing of the Word (see Ephesians
5:26-27) on regular bases. It
is a lot easier to effectively minister to an
individual who is built up spiritually
through a continual relationship with Jesus Christ.
However, in some cases, having
this luxury is not possible, as by the time many
desperate individuals come through
our doors, there is no time to build themselves
up and they need immediate
attention.
Understanding the basic elements of bondage
I have broken the common areas of bondage into
four basic groups, and when you
are working with individuals in the deliverance
ministry, you will often encounter one
or more of these four areas in any given bondage.
1. Strongholds play a vital role in a vast array
of bondages. Tearing down
strongholds is essential as demons rely on them
to strength and power in that
person's mind. A stronghold is basically an incorrect
thinking pattern that has been
burned into the person's mind. The enemy often
works to build these in our minds
through continually injecting thoughts into our
minds which are not in sync with
God's Word, and therefore gets us to habitually
think along those lines. Other
strongholds are often formed in our minds as we
are raised up in a certain
environment, such as a child who feels that all
father's are mean, because he was
raised by a cruel and cold father. Strongholds,
regardless if they are demonically
inspired or naturally learned, they must be torn
down through the renewing of our
minds according to the Word of God.
2. Unresolved hurts must be brought out in the
open and healed. A person who has
been hurt through abuse for example, must recognize
their unresolved hurt feelings,
and be willing to place them in Jesus' hands so
that He can heal them. Holding on to
hurt feelings can hinder the Holy Spirit from
being able to effectively minister to that
area of their life. They must also realize the
provision that God has for their wounds,
such as how part of Jesus' ministry (which is
still alive and well today through the
work of the Holy Spirit) was to heal the brokenhearted
(see Luke 4:18). The
individual must allow themself to release the
hurt in their heart, and allow the Lord
comfort and heal their wounds.
3. Legal grounds must be cleaned up, as demons
can use them as an excuse to
remain. If a person has invited a demonic spirit
into their life through sin, then that
sin will remain a legal right for the demon to
hang around until the person has
repented and turned from their sin. Sometimes
breaking up legal grounds involves
more than simple repentance, such as the breaking
of soul ties, renouncing vows
made to Satan, and so fourth. It is important
to figure out what the legal grounds
are, so they can be broken. Otherwise, the demon
can either put up a fight when
you're trying to cast it out, or if you do cast
it out, they can freely return at a later
time.
4. Indwelling demons must be driven out in many
cases before the person can
experience a breakthrough in their situation.
Why did Jesus cast demons out?
Because otherwise they wouldn't have left the
person. While it is possible for demons
to leave once their legal grounds are removed,
I would not count on it. Some
demons are more stubborn than others, and require
the minister to take the
offensive step of casting them out before they
will go.
Uncovering the areas of bondage
Uncovering the roots of the person's bondage is
perhaps the most important part of
any deliverance session. If you don't address
the root of the problem, the chances of
that person experiencing lasting freedom is remote.
This is a very important key in
the overall deliverance process and must not be
overlooked.
The best way to go about this is to use a good
questionnaire, and ask them specific
questions about their background, their bondage,
when it started and so fourth. The
goal here is to get an idea of what the entry
point might be, what strongholds can be
found, if there are any unresolved wounds that
must be healed and what demons
you are up against. I have two questionnaires
that I use, and you are welcome to
use these as well. The first is a very brief miniature
questionnaire, where the goal is
to take a basic bondage and find the root quickly.
The second is an extensive and
detailed questionnaire that does a great job at
digging deep into the person's past to
uncover a wide variety of bondages. I am not going
to claim that even my extensive
questionnaire is complete and covers every situation
you will encounter, but it is a
great place to start. The Holy Spirit is amazing
for uncovering areas of bondage that
we don't think about, so it is always a good idea
to welcome the Holy Spirit to speak
to you about their bondage and reveal anything
that you might be missing or
overlooking.
Click below to access these questionnaires:
When trying to locate the source or root of a
bondage, these top ten questions can
be very helpful and save a lot of time. Think
of this as a miniature deliverance
questionnaire.
1. What kind of bondage are you facing? (Fears,
depression, voices in your mind,
mental illness, physical illness, mental torment,
spiritual torment, etc.)
It's always important to clearly identify the
problem, so you know exactly what you
are dealing with.
2. Do you remember when the bondage started? What
was happening around the
time this bondage started?
Many bondages can be easily traced back to a particular
experience in one's life. If
you can get the person to remember when exactly
their bondage started, they will
likely remember what happened that 'triggered'
the problem in the first place.
3. Can you see any 'open doors' where the bondage
may have entered through?
Give the person you are ministering to a chance
to see if they can come up with
anything. They may not be able to come up with
anything, or they may be
completely wrong, but it's definitely worth a
try.
4. Have you or your ancestors been involved in
the occult or any false religions?
Including secret societies such as Freemasonry
and also seeking occult power or
knowledge from others, such as having a fortune
told, etc.
Countless bondages are rooted in some sort of
occult involvement, either by the
person or by their ancestors. False religions
are a red flag as well. Freemasonry is
well known for bringing people under demonic bondage.
5. Do you have ancestors or family members who
have suffered from a similar kind
of bondage?
This is a good way to begin looking into the possibility
of a spirit being handed down
through a generational curse or iniquity.
6. How do you see yourself? (Do you feel guilty,
low self-esteem, confident, etc.)
This can help reveal problems with guilt, strongholds,
rejection, self-rejection, etc.
7. Is there anything in your life that has been
or is currently troubling you?
This is a great conversation starter to help them
open up about what's on their mind,
and can be a great way to reveal the struggles
they are facing mentally and
spiritually.
8. Do you feel truly loved by God for who you
are? (Be honest!)
This is a great way to identify a very common
stronghold. Many people don't see God
as a loving Father, and it hinders them from feeling
God's love in their life, which
gives the devil a lot of room to play havoc.
9. What things have negatively impacted your life?
(Traumatic experiences, deeper
sins, bad relationships, etc.)
Finding out what things have negatively affected
a person's life can reveal many
doors that the devil has gained into their lives.
Bad relationships can cause
bitterness and cause people to become emotionally
built up inside. Unforgiveness is
a known way for a person to become defiled, which
is an open door to the devil.
Deeper sins may or may not have been put to rest
in the person's mind. If the
person still continues to beat themselves up for
it, then they would do good to
confess the sin, forsake it, and receive God's
forgiveness of it, as well as forgive
themselves for it. A clean conscience is important
to a person's spiritual freedom, but
if a person is unwilling to forgive themselves,
they hinder their conscience from
being cleansed.
10. What was your relationship with your parents
like when you were growing up?
Many bondages begin in childhood, because a child
is much more sensitive and easily
damaged than adults. If a person has had a rough
upbringing, it can result in a lot of
unresolved problems later on in life. Any hurt
feelings towards ones parents must be
brought out into the open, confessed, then forgiven.
Uncovering open doors to the demonic in a Christian's
life
This questionnaire is meant to be used by a knowledgeable
deliverance pastor or
minister, because the reasons for each of these
questions is not explained in this
questionnaire. A knowledgeable deliverance minister
should know the reasons behind
each of these questions, and should be able to
discern obvious bondages that these
questions will reveal.
Each and every question does not necessarily indicate
a bondage, but will help give a
bigger picture to the person ministering deliverance,
and can be helpful in locating
obvious bondages in a person's life. These questions
can reveal strongholds, demonic
bondages and legal grounds that may need to be
addressed.
Part I: The bondage
1. When did this bondage start?
2. Was there any unusual things that took place
(or you did) when this bondage
started?
3. If this bondage started when you were a child:
Do you have ancestors who have
suffered from a similar kind of bondage?
4. What kind of bondage are you facing? (Fears,
depression, voices in your mind,
mental illness, physical illness, mental torment,
spiritual torment, etc.. Please be as
detailed as possible.)
5. What are all the things that have impacted
your life? (Parent's death, trauma, a
certain situation that changed your life, anything
that 'changed' you.)
Part II: Your ancestor's background
1. Do you have ancestors who have struggled with
similar problems or bondages?
2. Did your bondage start as a child and appear
to have no reason to be there?
3. Do you have siblings who suffer from similar
bondages or oppression?
Part III: Soul ties
1. Have you been involved with extramarital sex?
Are you attracted to an ex-lover?
Is he or she a good/godly influence for you?
2. Have you been divorced?
3. Do you feel an unusual attraction to a past
boyfriend, girlfriend or lover (who is
obviously not right for you)?
4. Do you let anybody dominate, control, or make
your choices you?
5. Have you ever formed a blood covenant with
another person? (Blood brothers,
etc.)
6. Have you ever made vows or agreements with
somebody in effort to strengthen
the relationship or commit yourself to each other?
7. Do you see any ungodly relationships in your
past where gifts were exchanged?
(Are you holding onto something that was given
to you from somebody you had an
adultery with, etc.)
8. Have you ever had ungodly relations with an
animal?
9. Do you have any pictures in your possession
of somebody whom you may have an
ungodly soul tie with? (A picture of you with
somebody you had an adultery with,
etc.)
Part IV: Relationship with parents
1. What do you think of your parents?
2. How would you explain your childhood?
3. Where you close to your parents while growing
up? If not, why?
4. How would you explain your relationship with
your parents? Was it good, bad or
very cold?
5. Did you feel rejection from your parents?
6. Was either of your parents overly passive or
controlling?
7. Has either of your parents been divorced? Remarried?
Are your parents divorced?
8. How would you describe your relationship with
your siblings growing up?
Part V: Rejection and abuse
1. Were your parents married when you were conceived?
Were you the right sex?
Did your parents not want you, or want you to
be different (gender, etc.) in any
way? If so, explain.
2. Did you feel rejected as a child? As an adult?
If so, by whom? Explain.
3. Did you face abuse? What kind (emotional, physical,
sexual, etc.) and by whom?
4. Have you faced rejection from your peers, classmates,
friends or those around
you?
5. Have you ever been put down, belittled, or
made fun of? If so, by whom? Explain.
6. If you have faced rejection or abuse, how did
you respond? Do you feel you are
still paying a price for it? If so, how?
7. How do you respond to rejection right now?
8. Do you reject yourself (self-rejection)? If
so, why and in what ways?
Part VI: Unforgiveness or bitterness
1. Is there anybody you feel edgy around? (Don't
like them, feel anything in your
heart against them, etc.)
2. Do you have anything against anybody? In other
words, is there anybody that you
have a hard time demonstrating the love of Christ
to?
3. Has anybody wronged you that you haven't forgiven
from your heart (thoughts,
feelings, emotions, etc.)?
4. How do your view your siblings, parents, coworkers,
etc.? Do you have any hard
feelings against them?
5. Do you make a habit of blaming yourself for
everything? Do you obsess over your
mistakes and feel unusually guilty for them?
6. Do you deeply regret things that you've done
in your past? Could you kick yourself
over something you've done in your past? If so,
explain.
Part VII: Personality
1. Are you a very positive or negative person?
2. Do you feel confident in yourself? If so, why?
3. Do you have a low self esteem? If so, why?
4. Are you domineering or controlling? If so,
to whom, and in what ways? Why?
5. Are you an achiever? (A go-getter) If so, in
what ways?
6. Do you feel that you are always right and that
if everybody did everything your
way, this world would be a better place to live?
7. How do you treat your children? Husband? Are
you controlling, passive, etc.?
8. Do you like people to 'look at you' (as in
receive attention)?
Part VIII: Emotional health
1. Do you strive to feel accepted? If so, how
does this affect your lifestyle? By whom
do you want to feel accepted?
2. Are you always stressed out? If so, why?
3. Do you feel hurt? If so, by whom/what and why?
4. Do you feel good about yourself? If not, why?
5. Do you feel depressed? If so, why? When did
it start? Did your parents or
grandparents struggle with depression? If so,
then do you know when it started and
why? Do you have siblings who are also struggling?
Do you feel your depression is
rational or irrational?
6. Do you struggle with fears? If so, what is
it that you fear? (Fear of heights, dying,
being hopeless, failure, never marrying, etc.)
7. Do you worry about things? What things do you
worry about? Why?
8. Do you struggle with anger? Do you have a short
temper?
9. Do you have any insecurities? If so, explain.
10. Do you feel any self-pity or feel sorry for
yourself? Have you ever felt this? If so,
why?
11. Do you find it easy to hate people? If so,
over what kinds of things would a
person have to do to make you hate them?
12. Do you have any irrational feelings? If so,
what are they?
13. Do you feel like something is wrong with you?
14. Do you feel excessively guilty over anything?
Is this a continual problem?
15. Are you very confused and forgetful? (Beyond
the normal)
16. Are you aware of any emotional wounds that
have affected you?
17. Have you ever been deeply embarrassed over
something? What was it?
18. Have you been in or are currently experiencing
very difficult (depressing)
circumstances which may cause you to feel hopeless
or depressed?
Part IX: Who are you in Christ? And how do you
see God?
1. How do you explain your relationship with God?
2. Do you feel you aren't good enough to meet
His standards?
3. Do you see Him as a loving father, or a dictator?
4. Do you believe that it's only by the Blood
of Jesus that your sins are forgiven? Or
do you feel you need to earn your forgiveness
in any way?
5. Do you feel God's love in your life?
6. Do you feel like your sins are forgiven? Or
do you feel guilty?
7. Do you feel excessively guilty in everyday
life?
8. Do you feel that doing good things, you earn
God's love and acceptance?
9. Do you feel that God is angry or upset with
you?
Part X: Spoken curses, vows & oaths
1. Have you ever spoken something negative about
yourself that has came to past?
For example: "I'm sick and tired..." or "If I
don't quit typing, I'm going to get
arthritis!"
2. Has your parents, or those in authority over
you spoken out a curse over you? For
example: "You'll never amount to anything!" or
"You'll never get out of debt" or
"You're so dumb"
3. Have you ever made a vow out of anger? If so,
what? For example: "I'll never let
anybody push me around again!" or "I'm never going
to be hurt again!"
4. Have you ever wished to die? Have you ever
said it?
5. If you have made any vows or oaths, what are
they?
Part XI: Relationships
1. Do you have many friends? What kind of people
are they?
2. Do you have a hard time trying to meet new
people or make friends?
3. Are you socially outgoing or shy? If so, why?
4. How would you define your relationship with
your spouse?
Part XII: Sexuality
1. Have you ever had unholy sex? What kind? (Fornication,
adultery, sodomy,
bestiality, with a child, etc.)
2. Have you struggled with lust, fantasy or unholy
sexual thoughts? If so, what kind?
3. Have you been attracted to pornography?
4. Do you have homosexual thoughts and desires?
If so, have you acted upon those
feelings?
5. How do you feel about your sexuality? (Do you
feel dirty about it, or do you feel
it's a wonderful blessing that God's given you?)
6. Do you withhold sex from your spouse or are
you fidgety? Do you enjoy a healthy
relationship with your spouse sexually? How does
he or she react?
7. Have you ever been raped or sexually abused?
8. Have you ever woke up and felt a sexual presence
with you? There are demons
that imitate male and female functions, and stimulate
their host (a person) sexually
(beyond the normal 'wet dream').
9. Do you struggle or have you struggled with
masturbation?
10. Do you struggle or have you struggled with
any other sexual related thoughts,
desires, or bondages?
11. Is there anything sexually that you are ashamed
of?
Part XIII: Addictions
1. Do you have any addictions? If so, what kind?
(Drugs, alcohol, smoking, eating,
sex, TV, etc.) When did they start?
2. Did anybody else in your family (siblings,
ancestors, etc.) have a struggle with
any addictions? If so, what? Who?
3. Have you ever had, or currently have any sort
of obsession over anything? If so,
what?
Part XIV: False religions
Examples of false religions: Buddhism, Hindu,
Jehovah Witness, Mormonism,
Christian Scientists, eastern religions, etc.
1. Have you ever been involved with any false
religions? If so, why, when and how
long? How do you feel about those beliefs now?
2. Have you ever been involved in any secret societies
such as Freemasonry? If so,
how deep were you involved?
Part XV: The occult & Satanism
1. Have you ever shown interest in the occult?
If so, in what ways? (Read up on it,
dabbled in it, etc.)
2. Do you still feel drawn or attracted to the
occult?
3. Have you had any interest in horror or thriller
style movies or novels? Are you still
attracted to these things?
4. Have you ever made a vow with the devil? If
so, what?
5. Married Satan?
6. Worshipped a demon or Satan?
7. Have you ever put a curse or spell on somebody?
8. Are you aware of any curses or spells placed
on you? If so, what? Who did it?
9. Dabbled with an Ouija board? If so, why?
10. Ever been a member of a coven (group of 13
witches)? Explain.
11. Communicated with the dead? Explain.
12. Told somebody's fortune or went to see a fortune
teller? Explain.
13. Ever read your horoscope?
14. Watched or been involved in a séance? Explain.
15. Been involved or a victim of Satanic Ritual
Abuse (SRA)? Explain.
16. Been baptized into a false religion or any
other evil baptism? If so, what were
you baptized into? When?
17. Have you ever had a spirit guide?
18. Have you ever been involved with meditation,
yoga, karate, or related activities?
19. Were you or anybody in your family superstitious?
If so, who?
20. Ever been involved in astral travel? (Out
of body)
21. If you have made any vows or oaths, what are
they? Were there any sacrifices or
rituals that was accompanied with them?
22. Have you ever made a blood pact before? If
so, with whom (including persons,
demons and Satan) and for what purpose?
23. Have you ever partaken in automatic writing,
automatic drawing or automatic
painting?
24. Have you ever been involved in Yoga, transcendental
meditation, or similar
activities?
25. Have you ever sought healing from a spiritual
source other than Jesus Christ?
(New age healing, energy healing, etc.)
26. Any other involvement in the occult? Explain.
Part XVI: Un-confessed sins
1. Are there any un-confessed sins that you have
not repented of? (Usually
something you've done, that you know is wrong,
but won't admit to it. An abortion,
stealing, etc. are some examples.)
2. Is there anything you've been hiding inside
that you haven't confessed?
3. Do you feel excessively guilty over some thing(s)
you've done in the past? If so,
what?
Part XVII: Cursed objects
1. Do you have any idols, occult rings, or anything
that could hold evil spiritual value
in your home? If so, what? Any objects that hold
evil spiritual value must be
destroyed.
2. Do you have any gifts saved from sinful relationships?
If so, explain. For example,
if a man gives a woman a personal gift during
an adultery, that needs to be sold or
destroyed.
Part XVIII: Severe trauma, abuse & disassociation
1. Have you ever been exposed to extreme abuse
or a traumatic experience? Did it
have a drastic effect on your emotional or mental
system? If so, what happen? How
did it affect you?
2. Have you ever disassociated or been diagnosed
with Dissociative Identity Disorder
(DID) or Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD)?
3. Are you aware of any alters (other personalities)
that you may have? (If so, tell
me about them)
4. Do you have a memory gap where you cannot remember
a certain time of your
life?
5. Do you have false memories of things that really
didn't take place?
6. Have you ever been in a car accident or other
traumatic situation? Have you ever
witnessed a tragedy in real life?
Part XIX: Weaknesses
1. Do you struggle with any habitual sins? If
so, what? Do you want to break those
bad habits?
2. Do you struggle with any weaknesses such as
lust, anger, hate, etc.? If so, what?
Do you know where they came from or how they got
started? Do you want to break
free from those weaknesses?
Part XX: Pregnancy issues
1. Have you ever said something along the lines
of, "I will never have children"?
2. Have you ever had an abortion or attempted
one?
3. Have you ever had incest or ungodly sexual
relations with somebody related to
you? (See Leviticus 20:19-21, as this can cause
a curse to land upon you which
needs to be broken)
Part XXI: Other things to look for
1. Have you ever tried drugs? If so, how much,
and how did it affect you? Why did
you try drugs?
2. Have you ever thought about or attempted suicide?
3. Do you have any physical or mental disabilities,
diseases or illnesses? Explain.
4. Do you want, and are willing to be delivered?
Are you willing to give up those
demon spirits and maybe make some lifestyle changes
in order to keep your
deliverance?
5. Do you experience unusual confusion settle
upon you as you try to pray and read
the Bible?
6. What kind of music do you like? (Please list
all styles of music you currently enjoy,
and give examples in each category you list, such
as some names of artists and
songs)
7. Have you previously enjoyed hard rock, metal,
acid, alternative, rap, new age, or
any other kind of worldly music? (Please provide
some examples of artists and songs
from each genre (type/style) of music you list)
8. Have you had any nightmares or weird experiences
at night while supposedly
sleeping?
9. Have you ever been in a trance or had an out
of body experience?
10. Have you ever noticed time slipped right out
from under you? For example, you
look at your watch and it's 7:00pm, then you look
again what seemed like 15
minutes later and it's 2:00am. This is a sign
of a trance.
11. Have you ever touched or kissed a dead body?
If so, explain whom and why and
what happened afterwards.
12. Do you feel that you somehow have to earn
your forgiveness? Do you 'wonder' if
your sins are truly forgiven -- all of them? Are
you aware of any signs of legalism or
religious spirits operating in your mind?
13. Do you have any physical infirmities, sickness
or diseases? If so, please list
them.
14. Are you on any medications? If so, please
explain.
15. Have you ever had any other kind of weird
encounter with the spiritual realm?
Addressing strongholds
First of all, what exactly is a stronghold? A
stronghold is not demonic (although
demons are often found actively trying to build
them), but rather an incorrect
thinking pattern in our mind. The subject of where
strongholds comes from is beyond
the scope of this teaching, but let's try to group
the various sources into two
categories:
1. Natural development based on circumstances
and lack of knowledge. An example
of this type of stronghold is when a person grows
up having a cruel father, then as a
result, they view all other fathers the same way.
This thinking pattern is often
transferred to the way which they perceive their
heavenly Father, which is a very
destructive stronghold.
2. Demonically inspired and developed strongholds.
These are usually found along
side demonic bondages. What happens is that the
person has an unclean spirit which
is actively whispering in their thought life (injecting
thoughts into their mind), and
eventually the person begins to believe what the
enemy is telling them. Once a
person begins to believe what the enemy is telling
them, they begin to imagine it in
their mind (vain imagination) and a stronghold
is formed.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5, "For though we walk in the
flesh, we do not war after the
flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not
carnal, but mighty through God to the
pulling down of strongholds;) Casting down imaginations,
and every high thing that
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God,
and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ."
We are never told to cast out strongholds, but
we are told to tear them down, be
transformed by the renewing of our mind and cast
down vain imaginations. This is
how we deal with strongholds. If the enemy builds
them through continually
reminding us of his lies, then we need to go in
the opposite direction to un-do his
web of bondage. We need to start meditating on
God's Word on a daily bases, so
that the truth will sink into our minds and begin
to change he way we think.
Romans 12:2, "And be not conformed to this world:
but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what
is that good, and acceptable, and
perfect, will of God."
Another factor to keep in mind is that if there
is a spirit which is actively working to
build strongholds in a person's mind, not only
is it important for them to tear down
that stronghold(s), but it is equally important
to cast out the spirit that is at work
here... otherwise, they will spend the rest of
their lives waging war against that
stronghold as the demon continues to work on them
to rebuild it. The minute they
give up, the stronghold is quickly rebuild. That
is why you really cannot separate the
work of casting out demons and tearing down strongholds...
they often go hand in
hand.
The bottom line is that strongholds are based
on incorrect information that has been
programmed into our minds, so naturally the cure
is to re-program our minds with
the truth in God's Word. Meditating on specific
scriptures that come up against the
stronghold we are facing is an important step
to tearing down that stronghold. We
must also make a choice to cast down the vain
imaginations that the enemy has
planted in our minds, and then accept what God's
Word has to say instead.
Additional reading:
- How to tear down strongholds
- Identifying strongholds
- Dealing with guilt
- The power of your thoughts
- Strongholds
- Spiritual warfare and strongholds
- Most popular strongholds (Part 1 of 2)
- Most popular strongholds (Part 2 of 2)
- Defeating guilt and shame
Healing unresolved wounds
In this type of ministry, you will encounter individuals
who have been wounded or
hurt in the past, yet their wounds have never
been healed. When we have a physical
wound, one of the best things we can do to speed
up the healing process is to clean
out the wound, then let the air get to it. This
same principal is true with emotional
wounds; one of the biggest mistakes we can make
is to keep a wound from being
healed by keeping it to ourselves and hold on
to our pain. That is a sure-fire way to
prevent healing from taking place. It's as if
we treasure our wound when we hold it
close to us and refuse to let it go! Don't be
fooled, it is simply the devil's trick to
keep our wounds from healing. Why? Because a wounded
spirit is vulnerable to
infection if it does not receive proper healing!
We are never to suppress or even try to forget
about our wounds, we are to seek
healing for them. Unresolved hurts must be brought
out in the open and healing
must be received. Jesus is waiting to heal the
wounds, but the person must be ready
to receive (or allow) that healing to take place.
A person who has been hurt through
abuse for example, must recognize their unresolved
hurt feelings, and be willing to
place them in Jesus' hands so that He can heal
them. Holding on to hurt feelings can
hinder the Holy Spirit from being able to effectively
minister to that area of their life.
They must also realize the provision that God
has for their emotional healing, such
as how part of Jesus' ministry (which is still
alive and well today through the work of
the Holy Spirit) was to heal the brokenhearted
(see Luke 4:18). The individual must
release the hurt in their heart, and allow the
Lord to comfort and heal their wounds.
God's Word tells us to cast our cares upon Him,
for He cares for us:
1 Peter 5:7, "Casting all your care upon him;
for he careth for you."
God's Word is also clear that one of the things
that Jesus did for us was carry our
sorrows, which literally translates to afflictions,
meaning grief, pain and sorrow. To
be afflicted basically means that you have been
injured and have pain, and since the
literal translation here also includes grief and
sorrow, this is clearly speaking of
emotional damage. Just think about it, if Jesus
shed His blood just for our physical
healing (Isaiah 53:5), would He not also make
provision for our emotional healing as
well? Of course He did!
Isaiah 53:4, "Surely he hath borne our griefs,
and carried our sorrows (affliction -
grief, pain & sorrow): yet we did esteem him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted."
Throughout the healing process, it is very beneficial
for the person receiving
emotional healing to seek intimacy with God. If
they have a hard time drawing close
to God, for example, if they are afraid of Him,
then there may be strongholds
present that need to be torn down. Many are afraid
of God to the point where they
are unable to draw near to Him, and this serves
as a wall of division to keep them
from knowing their Father's love intimately.
Additional reading:
- How to forgive even the worse offenses
- Keys to a thankful heart (3 part series)
- A love relationship with Jesus
Addressing legal grounds
Properly breaking up legal ground also plays a
vital role in this type of ministry.
Sometimes, even if a demon is present, they can
leave once their legal grounds have
been broken up. However, I would never count on
it... while it happens every now
and then, if it happened all the time, there would
be no point in casting out demons!
A legal ground is something in our lives that
has given an unclean spirit the
permission or right to involve itself in our life,
body or mind (soul). A good example
of how a legal grounds works is found in Matthew
18:23-35, where Jesus talks about
unforgiveness. Jesus wraps up the story by saying
that if we are unforgiving,
tormenters are allowed access to us:
Matthew 18:34-35, "And his lord was wroth, and
delivered him to the tormentors, till
he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise
shall my heavenly Father do
also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive
not every one his brother their
trespasses."
Unforgiveness, which gives birth to bitterness,
is known in the Bible to spiritually
defile a person:
Hebrews 12:15, "Looking diligently lest any man
fail of the grace of God; lest any
root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and
thereby many be defiled."
Things such as unforgiveness, unrepented sin,
ungodly soul ties, foolish spoken
vows, curses, and so fourth can give unclean spirits
the right to hang around and
influence us. These things must be cleaned up
in order for the person to experience
lasting genuine freedom. Legal grounds can be
cleaned up through repentance,
renunciation, breaking soul ties, etc. Even physical
possessions can give demons
rights into our homes (Deuteronomy 7:26), so it
is also important to destroy and
remove any cursed or ungodly items from our homes
as well. Here is a brief look at
some of the most common means for spiritual defilement
and how to break the legal
grounds:
1. Unrepented sins must be repented of and turned
from. No if's and's or but's about
it. Trying to minister freedom to somebody who
is not ready to give up that sin in
their life is not ready to be delivered.
2. Ungodly soul ties are formed when a person
has an ungodly relationship with
another person or makes a foolish covenant with
them. Becoming a blood brother
with somebody will create a strong soul tie that
must be renounced and broken.
Ungodly sexual relationships will surely create
soul ties that must be broken. The key
to breaking an ungodly soul tie is to first repent
of any sins committed in the
development of that soul tie, and then the soul
tie must be renounced by the person
receiving ministry, and then broken in Jesus'
name. If gifts or physical items were
involved in that relationship, then it may be
necessary to destroy, give away or
throw them out as well. Gifts between a man and
woman involved in an adultery
should be sold, given away or thrown out as they
can symbolize that relationship.
3. Foolish vows are known to bind the soul, and
must be repented of, verbally taken
back (renounced) and broken in Jesus' name.
4. Cursed possessions, such as occult books, Satanic
symbols, etc. must be thrown
out. For God's Word is clear that bringing a cursed
item into your home can bring a
curse upon yourself: Deuteronomy 7:26, "Neither
shalt thou bring an abomination
into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing
like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it,
and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed
thing."
5. Spoken curses, such as, "I'll never get out
of debt!" must be renounced (taken
back verbally) and broken in Jesus' name.
These are a few examples of how you would go about
breaking up legal grounds. It
is often helpful to stop and ask the demon if
it has a right to be there, as they may
reveal something to you that the person either
forgot about, or has not told you.
Additional reading:
- Demonic legal rights
- The root of bitterness
- Breaking our hedge (Defilement explained)
- Soul ties
- Generational curses
- How to break ungodly soul ties
Casting out demons
Casting out demons is a very simple process. It
is a matter of knowing and
exercising your authority through Christ in faith,
and commanding the demons to
come out of the person. You may command them by
name, or more generally such
as, "I command the demonic spirit behind this
bondage to come out in Jesus' name!"
If you know the demon's name, then I would recommend
using it as they seem to
respond and take instructions better than if you
address them by name. Jesus cast
out demons both by name, and by simply calling
out the unclean spirit:
Mark 9:25, "When Jesus saw that the people came
running together, he rebuked the
foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf
spirit, I charge thee, come out of
him, and enter no more into him."
Mark 5:8, "For he said unto him, Come out of the
man, thou unclean spirit."
And then there was a time when a demon was manifesting
and Jesus commanded it
to come out, without even referring to it as an
unclean spirit... Jesus simply talked to
it just as one person would talk to another:
Luke 4:33-35, "And in the synagogue there was
a man, which had a spirit of an
unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,
Saying, Let us alone; what have we to
do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou
come to destroy us? I know thee who
thou art; the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked
him, saying, Hold thy peace, and
come out of him. And when the devil had thrown
him in the midst, he came out of
him, and hurt him not."
The actual principal of casting out demons is
very simple and strait forward. The
basic requirement is that you are a Christian,
you know the authority you have in
Christ over those spirits, and that you are prepared
to exercise your authority
through faith. It's that simple!
Demon groupings are also something to keep an
eye out for, as in most cases of
deliverance there are more than one spirit that
must be addressed. For example, a
person may have a spirit of anger, but also spirits
of hate and rage that are also in
that person. Be on guard for the doorkeeper, or
the spirit that may have let the
other ones in. For example, a person may have
been angered one time, which
opened them up to a spirit of anger, then that
spirit worked the person up to hate
somebody (which welcomed a spirit of hate), then
the person began to think of how
they can get revenge on that person (thus welcoming
a spirit of rage). It is
important to be on guard for related spirits when
doing deliverance. For example, if I
found a spirit of murder, I would also keep an
eye out for spirits of anger, hate and
rage.
Additional reading:
- Casting out demons
- Why cast out demons?
- Who can cast out demons?
- Using Jesus' name
- Keys to Biblical faith
- Symbolic Representations (Powerful Biblical
tools!)
- Your spiritual authority
- Binding and loosing
- Preaching the FULL gospel
Maintaining their deliverance
After a person has received deliverance and freedom
from various bondages in their
life, it is important for them to take precautionary
steps to ensure that they maintain
or hold their freedom. I am not fearful of demons
coming back every time we turn
around, but it is always a good idea to be on
guard in case they try to make an
attempt to re-enter.
One of the ways a demon may attempt to re-enter
is to re-gain it's legal grounds in
that person's life. In such as case, the spirit
may work at tempting the person to reopen
the door to them again, which will allow them
to freely take up residence again.
This is where the person needs to be firmly rooted
and grounded in God's Word and
have a daily relationship with Him so that they
will recognize this tactic and be on
guard for it. It is important for a person not
to receive deliverance only to turn
around and go back to the way they were living
before (fall right back into their old
sins). When this happens, they can basically re-open
that door all over again, and
you can bet that the demons would love to take
advantage of this opportunity to reenter
that person.
Another way which they may try to re-enter is
through fear. Let's say a woman is
delivered from a spirit of infirmity, which caused
some sort of physical discomfort...
then after her deliverance (where she is completely
healed), suddenly that pain
seems to have come back. While it is possible
that she wasn't truly delivered in the
first place, usually the case is that the demon
is attempting to make her believe that
either it's simply returned, or that she was never
delivered in the first place. Once
the person accepts this lie, the demon makes himself
to home... all based on the fact
that he deceived the person into believing that
it just came back on them. So how do
we prevent this? First, we educate the person
on their authority as a believer, and
instruct them to rebuke the demon and command
it to depart from them the minute
it tries to re-appear. If the legal grounds have
been broken, then there's no need to
go back through that process all over again, so
now the goal is simply to exercise our
authority against it and command it to leave.
It's a shame for a believer to just let
the demon back in without standing against it,
after all that Jesus went through so
that we could be set free and have authority over
them!
One important key is to look back at how the demon
entered the person in the first
place. Was it through emotional wounds or pain?
Was it through anger? Then it is
important to be on guard for that demon to attempt
to tempt them in these same
areas again after their deliverance. The demon
may setup a circumstance for that
person to become angry again, so that their door
is re-opened all over again. The
demon may try to get the person to think about
how so and so abused them, and
remind them of the old wound (which was supposed
to be given over to Jesus). It is
important that we be on guard especially in the
areas which originally opened the
doors in the first place.
Perhaps one of the most vital things a person
can do once they are delivered, is to
cultivate a daily relationship with the Holy Spirit,
for this will fill up the gap or
emptiness that those demons left in them. I also
recommend getting the person
baptized in the Holy Spirit once they are delivered,
which will set them ablaze for
Jesus!
Reverend Father Martin McGuire
1104 Jackson St
West Plains, MO
65775
