To Heaven and Back Again: Redefining the Deliverance Ministry

Freeing people from demonic attacks is commonly referred to as a “deliverance ministry.” The techniques for removing the enemies presence were developed in the “Jesus Movement” of the 70s. These have been used for the last 40+ years with varying degrees of success. I have heard it said by some famous evangelist (forgive me, I don’t remember which book or TV program this came from) that the deliverance movement ended because man developed a “formula” for casting-out, rebuking, and binding demons. This created a domino effect:

We we stopped consulting the Holy Spirit
He withdrew
The power left.

During the Awakening, which began in 2018, God will be remodeling and fine-tuning this ministry as His people begin to take their rightful place in the Courts of Heaven. Recently, the Holy Spirit has revealed the truth of this in some miraculous ways.

My step-dad has been very active in the deliverance ministry since it began. Because of this, I am very accustomed to enforcing my authority: casting out and binding demons. When I began taking others to the Courts of Heaven, the Holy Spirit began speaking to me about the change that is taking place.

It started with a dream. I won’t give all the details, but once interpreted it said that I had been releasing captives by going to the Holy Spirit for each person. Now, if I wanted a large mass of people to be free, I needed to be married to the Holy Spirit. Most of us know we are the Bride of Christ, but marry the Holy Spirit? It took me several weeks to understand what He was saying.

In the meantime, I went to the courts on a special mission concerning Autism. (Read that post here) There were two women who I had recently come into contact with who had sons that suffered from symptoms of Autism. Seeing how this affected not only the kids, but the entire family clearly revealed that this was an attack of the enemy upon humanity. My work as a substitute teacher brought the enormity of the attack into view: more than ten percent of all kids entering our school system are diagnosed with some form of Autism. (http://www.sacbee.com/site-services/databases/article90300877.html)

Urged by the Holy Spirit, I entered the Courts of Heaven and asked for all cases that had “symptoms of Autism” be dismissed and overruled. The verdict was given: they were “overruled” to display the mercy and love of God. In fact, God equipped me to break the bonds of Autism when I prayed for people. With this knowledge in hand, I acted presumptuously. Using the “formula” of binding and rebuking, I came against the spirit of Autism. Nothing happened. If anything, the symptoms got worse.

This failure was the beginning of understanding. I was so accustomed to using the “formula” of casting out, binding, and rebuking, it never occured to me that there might be a different way to go about things. I pondered this defeat for a couple of weeks, then something else happened.

A woman, let’s call her Simone, began training with us for the Courts of Heaven. Like me, Simone was very used to her authority over the enemy. A woman whom we shall refer to as, Rhoda, had contacted our group, calling without invitation. Simone had believed God was calling her to start up a prayer line so Rhoda was referred to Simone.

Rhoda declared that there was witchcraft involved and that her church couldn’t help her - she said she was desperate. Simone was on her way to a meeting so she tried to make an appointment for Rhoda to call back in three hours.

The woman began screeching like only the possessed can. Though Simone felt a check in her spirit, an urging to hang up on this call, instead she began rebuking and commanding the demon to come out. Rhoda started making retching noises - a common side-effect of an exorcism. The demon didn’t come out of the woman before the call had to be ended. Simone came under a heavy spiritual attack directly after this experience. (All those associated with me and the Courts of Heaven group are now under strict orders not to accept any calls that come without our invitation.)

There are several factors to look at:

Simone was making regular trips to the Courts of Heaven.
She had a very quiet “check” a hesitation about diving into deliverance.
The enemy remained victorious.

Once you begin moving as a mature son or daughter of God in the Courts of Heaven, you are held to the knowledge you have. You now know that the enemy can gain authority to act and it must be removed in the Courts. Most people know the King James Version of this verse:

“Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 18:18

The verb tense in these verses was not given in this translation. The Amplified version shows it more clearly:

Truly I tell you, whatever you forbid and declare to be improper and unlawful on earth must be what is already forbidden in Heaven, and whatever you permit and declare proper and lawful on earth must be what is already permitted in Heaven.

Before you take authority on Earth, you must check and make sure it has been cleared in Heaven. The Holy Spirit knows what has been done and what hasn’t yet been cleared from the courts. In the case of Simone, the Holy Spirit had given her a warning - the was something that needed to be cleared first. When she didn’t heed this and attacked without the backing of God, the enemy was allowed to retaliate.

This means we need a good relationship and communication with the Holy Spirit so we know what to do. Deliverance shouldn’t only be about rebuking and binding; it is about enforcing God’s Kingdom here on Earth. I now realize that I acted presumptuously. I didn’t have a clue as to what God wanted me to do, so I just did what I had always done - I resorted to man’s formula.

When we spot the enemy in our territory - the Earth - if we don’t bind, rebuke and cast out, what do we do? Hold on! I didn’t say to throw-out the binding and rebuking. However, it shouldn’t be an automatic response unless fueled by the Holy Spirit. Still, my whole world was in an uproar. What I was sure I knew was now in question.

It had been three weeks since my first dream and two weeks since my failure when I cried out to God asking what I had done wrong and what to do next. He brought another dream. This was not a good one:

In the dream, it clearly showed me aligning with the Holy Spirit so that cases could be won in the Courts. Then our Guide approved of what I was doing, my ministry. Finally He took me as His bride. Sounds great, right… It is impossible to show what happened next without sharing the horrible, graphic, embarrassing details of the dream:

We were in the “Honeymoon Suite.” Losing our clothes seems very inappropriate, however in a dream it means “fully revealed to one another.” We laid on the bed, side by side, barely touching, talking, laughing, sharing and at times singing. I grew impatient. I began stroking his upper arm saying, “We are married, this is what everyone does. It is how we are supposed to act.” (an arm is a place of strength that work comes from)

After a few minutes, He became very agitated. He got up and I was ushered from the room in disgrace. I went back home and waited to hear something. It was three weeks before the Holy Spirit called me back into His into the big town, into the room we shared. I fell to my knees, weeping, saying “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I will do it your way from now on.”

The timing of this dream was no coincidence. God was answering my request, showing me what I had done wrong and how to correct the situation. I had tried to force the Holy Spirit to do what had always been done. He didn’t like that and would not put up with it.

Thanks to the grace and mercy of God, I now knew where I had gone wrong. This is what the dream meant about taking the Holy Spirit as my husband:

A husband is our most intimate partner on this Earth, physically speaking. The Holy Spirit wants to be one with our spirit, not just someone we run to for help, but someone we know is by us each and every moment.

The husband is the leader of the house. The Holy Spirit should be our leader: we need to let the Holy Spirit show us what needs to be done, not rely on what has happened before.

I brought up this revelation with two women who had been doing deliverance and prayer intercession for decades. Both agreed that this was what they had been hearing. One said, “God told me more than a year ago to get rid of the formula. He said we needed a new wineskin for this season. It looks like this is that wineskin!”

Though it was news to me, it seemed I was late to the party, so to speak! I meditated the next few days, enjoying the fullness of the presence of the Holy Spirit once more. He began opening up my mind to ways other than binding, rebuking and casting out. One scripture leapt out at me. When Jesus sent out the 70 to prepare the villages where He would going they returned saying:

“Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”

And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:17-20)

I asked the Lord about this verse and the answer came. Do you remember the story about John and Silas who sojourned. The Holy Spirit kept them from spreading the Gospel in some areas; the threat against Christians was great. When they entered Thyatira a slave woman who was possessed with a spirit of divination followed them around proclaiming, “These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.” This may sound like a good thing, but remember, Christians were being crucified for spreading God’s word. The woman did this for many days and finally it said Paul was grieved and cast the demon out. (Acts 16)

Do you see the difference between these two things:

The 70 said demons are subject to us in you name and only one had to come to Jesus because they couldn’t cast it out.
Paul and Silas waited three days to deal with a demon possessed woman who was troubling them.

The Holy Spirit showed me why this was. We need to look at what was happening in God’s timeline. The 70 were preparing the way for the coming of Jesus to the towns. Paul and Silas were operating in things after Jesus had left. Could it be that they were waiting on confirmation from the Holy Spirit to act? Could the Holy Spirit have been waiting for things to be addressed in the Courts of Heaven?

Whatever the case. Paul didn’t cast out the demon as soon as it was spotted, even when they were being harassed by it. This is what the Holy Spirit pointed out about the difference in how authority was wielded:

There were hundreds following Jesus, but 70 faithful were chosen to prepare the way for the coming of the Savior.
When Jesus’ arrival wasn’t imminent, Christians were guided by the Holy Spirit where to go and when to cast out demons.

Right now, this is the Awakening. Jesus is readying the Bride to flow in the Outpouring of the Glory that is on the way. Therefore, we must develop a relationship with the Holy Spirit and let Him guide us in what and when we should do something.

During the Outpouring, those who have been growing and developing a relationship with the Holy Spirit will walk as the 70 did where ALL spirits are cast out and ALL are healed in His name. This is preparing the way for His second coming!

I still don’t have a full grasp on what exactly I am supposed to do to break the chains of Autism. The Holy Spirit has set me on to studying about “the justice of God.” Until God brings the finances for me to be in full-time ministry, it is much slower going than I’d like, but He knows that. Look for an upcoming post… You will know as soon as I do how God is going to release His creation from the curse of Autism. Until then, spend time with the One God has Sent, our Friend, our Guide, our Comforter, and so much more!