Page updated 18 Dec 2015

Page Suggestions: Bible Facts, Hell is Real, Satan, Spiritual Warfare

What does the BIBLE say about Demons

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Prayers of Deliverance

After making a verbal confession of our faith in Jesus Christ (the only name that brings deliverance), we need to confess the sin that gave the devil access to our life. This is where we need to acknowledge any cult or occult involvement. Next, we should break Satan's legal right to our lives by renouncing each sin and its effect upon our lives as a lie of the devil, and then claim the truth of God's Word in that area. To be free from deception we must recognize Satan's lies and replace them with the truth. After these steps, we then can out loud command the demons to go in the name of Jesus. When oppression or possession is severe it is helpful to have other believers pray with you. The prayer of deliverance should be made only by "born again," Spirit-filled believers. In Acts 19:13-16(verse 13) Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.

(verse 14) And there were seven sons of [one] Sceva, a Jew, [and] chief of the priests, which did so.

(verse 15) And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?

(verse 16) And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.Acts 19 verses 13-16, the unbelieving seven sons of Sceva experimented with deliverance and met with disastrous results. "Born again" believers have nothing to fear. Jesus overcame Satan for us. Casting out demons lodged in others is not risky but requires faith. Should you lack the faith and boldness to cast out demons, ask the Lord to lead you to the person or persons who can pray the prayer of faith and set people free.

We need to discuss here some guidelines for "casting out demons." The lack of teaching in this area has led people to devise many means by which they attempt deliverance. These methods are varied and include wrestling and holding people down during deliverance, carrying on conversations with demons to discern the names of the spirits (which is futile as Satan is a liar and wouldn't tell the truth anyway. Discerning of spirits is the gift given to aid in deliverance). Also calling out endless lists of demons, and many other methods which we shall not name here. These methods will work if done in the name of Jesus, however when they are carried to extremes the enemy wastes a lot of time and energy. These methods are usually not necessary, but God honors them many times because the practitioners are unsure of the proper procedures, and perhaps this is the only teaching to which they have been exposed. God sees their hearts and He knows they are trying to help people get free, so He delivers them in spite of the techniques.

Faith Delivers

The Biblical method for casting out demons would be to pray as the Holy Spirit directs. Usually this would be a prayer similar to this:

Should the Holy Spirit give you specific names of demons, these most generally would be for the benefit of the person who is receiving the deliverance as they may need to be aware of the nature of the demon that has held them in bondage, so as to resist him in the future (For instance, a demon of lust or anger). The most important thing is to listen to the Holy Spirit's direction regarding individual cases. Faith is the key to getting people free of demons. We must have faith when we pray that the demons will leave. If we believe they will leave instantly, then that will happen; if we believe we are in for a real battle, then we will end up fighting it out with the devil. Or we can even lose the battle if we don't stand firm in our faith and trust in Jesus. Some deliverance does require a prayer battle as little or no intercession as been previously done for the person bound.

Jesus' disciples had a problem with not being able to cast out a demon from a child because they lacked faith. When they asked Jesus why they couldn't do it, He answered in Mark 9:19, 23, 26, 28, and 29:

The message Jesus was trying to get across to his disciples was that their faith was not sufficient for the job, and that the way their faith would be increased was by fasting and praying. He didn't mean for them to go fast and pray to get the demons out. Jesus was immediately able to cast them out because He was always praying, and He stayed close to the Father, thereby having faith and power over the devil at all times.

Jesus is our example. If we are not in close communion with the Father, how will we be able to hear His instructions when discerning and praying for deliverance? We need to fast and pray if we find our faith and closeness with God being attacked, then we will be able to exercise our faith when praying for others and see them set free in the name of Jesus.