Once Delivered, Always Delivered?
Usually, we run into Christians who completely reject the idea of demons, much less demons actually inhabiting their bodies and souls. But lately, we’ve been running into Christians who have actually “been through” deliverance, and what they reject is going through it again.
We feel that people need to understand that deliverance is actually a life-long process. As long as your breathe, demons can and will be in the vicinity. Why? Because we have a sin nature that causes us to sin, and we live in a sin-filled world that affects us in ways we may not realize.
Let’s look at some examples:
Have you ever been to the doctor? Did you ever go back? Yes, you have probably been to the doctor dozens of time in your life. Why? Because you get something fixed, and something else crops up. You wouldn’t say, “Well, I went to the doctor when I was third grade, so I never need to go again.” Doctors treat your body. A deliverance minister is a like a doctor for your soul.
What about daily activity? What about the guy who got angry at you because you were driving too slow because you were talking on the phone? You could tell from your rear view mirror that he was spewing profanities and curses on you. If you’ve studied anything about curses, you know they are real. Do you want all the curses that some foul-mouthed stranger spewed all over your soul to stick with you? Who knows what he said or what he wished would happen to you? If you have someone pray deliverance prayers over you from time to time, you can cover that.
Usually the first few times someone goes through deliverance, there are some pretty heart-wrenching memories and situations to ask the Lord to deal with, many rooted in childhood. Yes, it can be a tough, but it’s worth it to receive Jesus’ healing and put things behind you. It will help you grow in the Lord. Then typically afterwards, deliverance is “maintenance”. Maybe some soul ties with people you have conflicts with need to be broken, or maybe you are having some fears about something that need to be dealt with, or maybe some medical issues that we could cast demons out of. Could be anything that you need to seek the Lord about. If you’re sensitive to the Holy Spirit, He will tell you.
In the meantime, I feel sorry for folks who CLEARLY are dealing with horrible issues in their lives of physical health or emotional well-being, and they don’t want any help because they’ve “been through” deliverance. They want your prayers, but they don’t want deliverance prayers. Of course, the Lord delights in ANY prayers He hears from His children (Prov. 15:8), but since Jesus spent 1/4 to 1/3 of His ministry casting out demons–which many times actually physically healed a person–it seems logical that we should spend an equal amount of time in spiritual warfare.
