Deliverance should be a big part of a Christian’s life. Not only do we need it for ourselves, but we should also be ministering it to others as well. Considering the fact that the majority of Jesus’ ministry was healing and deliverance, I think it’s safe to say that this belief is justified. Jesus also said that we would do greater works than He did (John 14:12); that’s possible because He is living in us, and He intercedes on our behalf to our Father! Isn’t that exciting news?

Many have discussed whether or not demons can affect a Christian’s life or not, and I’m going to clarify this debate for you: they can and they do! Anytime you get near their territory (participation in the occult, sinning, unforgiveness, etc.) you are opening yourself up for them to take hold of your life. You actually give them legal rights to certain areas of your life!

They affect us in all different ways, but the main thing I have learned is that they are very deceitful. Many people assume that our personalities are the way they are, and whatever kind of behavior we display is just a result of that. For instance, I used to have a wicked sense of humor. A lot of the times, I would laugh at things that shouldn’t be laughed at. I used to turn everything into a joke! I thought that was just the way I was born, and that’s who I was. Well, during a deliverance one time, I started laughing uncontrollably. My friend was able to discern that it wasn’t me laughing, but that it was a spirit. She commanded it to reveal its name, and I said, “Joker”. She asked what right it had in my life, and I remembered when I was very young through the time I was in high school that people would tell me I looked like the joker when I laughed. I hadn’t thought about it in years, but it suddenly came to my mind. I told her what I was thinking, and she told me to renounce all of these spoken curses over my life, and then she commanded the spirit to leave in the name of Jesus. Immediately, the need to laugh was gone, and my sense of humor has never been the same. That’s a good thing!

As I said, demons are deceitful, and one of the challenges I have faced in deliverance is that they usually don’t want to go. In the case of the “joking spirit”, there was apart of me that was afraid people wouldn’t find me funny anymore, and I felt like that was a big part of my character that I was giving up. The important thing to remember is that if it’s a demon, it has to go! I still make people laugh, but it’s good-mannered humor, and it doesn’t come with a price. Don’t be afraid of letting something go that you know is bad. Trust me, that’s the demon talking!

Another thing to know about deliverance is that the demons can come back. Actually, they bring seven more demons with them (Matthew 12:45)! Many people say that this can be avoided by saying, “you can never come back” or “fill the empty space with the Holy Spirit”, but I believe there is much more to it than that. Obviously, we want the Holy Spirit to fill up the empty space, and I believe this is what Jesus means when He says, “it finds the place unoccupied”. However, just saying those words isn’t going to cut it. I believe it’s important to walk the deliverance through. Afterwards, there will be some tribulations, and you will feel the demon trying to return. It takes dying to self, and walking in the Spirit to make it past that stage. The Bible says “resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7), and this is confirmed when Jesus resists the temptations during His 40 days in the desert, and the devil flees. However, the devil also decides that he will try and come back at a more opportune time (Luke 4:13).

It’s important to know that as long as we are on this earth, we are subjected to the demonic realm. Luckily we are seated with Jesus Christ, and have been given the power of His name to deal with these issues. I’m not encouraging demon chasing, but when you feel like there’s something in you that is going against God, you do have the right to kick it out!