1. How do you do soul care for someone after deliverance?

It entirely depends on how the person is doing post-deliverance. Some people lift their arms high and rejoice. If that happens, rejoice with them! Some people feel a bit of shame over the fact that they had a demonic influence in their life. If that happens, encourage them with their gospel identity and remind them that there is no shame or condemnation in Christ. Some people might be afraid that it could happen again. If that happens, remind them of the armor of God and help them walk by faith. So, there’s a myriad of ways to care for people. 

In general, I Immediately pray a prayer of blessing over them, reminding them of their identity in Christ and their security in Him. I celebrate with them that Jesus just brought freedom. I then try to encourage them towards any wise next steps, such as “let’s get rid of the Ouija board” or “let’s get you on a Bible reading plan.” Most people will need some discipleship to help change the way they’ve been thinking. 

2. What are your thoughts on being “slain in the spirit” and things like uncontrollable holy laughter?

This question can come with a lot of baggage. What most people mean by “slain in the spirit” is when a prayer leader lays hands on someone and there’s a significant physiological response–often referred to as the Holy Spirit falling on someone– and they fall down to the ground. Let me first begin by asking whether the Bible ever shows us a human being having a physiological response to the movement or presence of the Holy Spirit. 

At the inauguration of the tabernacle (Ex 40:34-35) Moses could not physically enter it because the presence of God somehow prevented him from walking in. At the dedication of Solomon’s temple, the Spirit of God came and knocked all the priests to the ground so that they could not stand (2 Chron 5:14, 7:1-2, 1 Kings 8:11). The glory of Lord filled the temple and Ezekiel fell to the ground (Ezek 44:4). At the account of the transfiguration of Jesus it says that the disciples both fell to the ground and fell asleep–which is probably a result of the glory they saw (Luke 9, Matt 17). When the angel Gabriel appears to Daniel, he falls to the ground and falls asleep (Daniel 8:17-18). And still there are numerous accounts of people falling on their faces before an angel or the Lord (Joshua 5:14, Gen 17:3, 1 Chron 21:16). So it seems to be clear from Scripture that sometimes God comes in such power that it physically knocks people to the ground. 

Now, when it comes to being “slain in the spirit” there are certainly lots of bad practices out there. Some people fall down because they’ve been told that’s what should happen, others fall down out of courtesy to the prayer minister, and still other ministers literally push people over and claim it’s the power of God. These are all silly and at times dangerous practices. Rather than trying to address every possible situation, let me say that it’s most likely that some instances of these things are legit and others are entirely fake. So is it possible for some people to be overcome by the power and presence of God that they fall down? I don’t see why we would say no to that being possible. But here’s the thing: the manifestation isn’t really what matters. What matters is the sanctification. Falling down doesn’t make you more holy. If God comes in power and knocks somebody down, the true evidence that it’s God will be the sanctification that follows that encounter.

3. What protocols/books do you use for casting out demons for training? How does someone become trained in deliverance?

There is a lot of bad content out there. A lot. I would not suggest googling “how to cast out demons” and clicking on the best looking link. In general, I think it is best to receive training alongside trusted church leaders who are showing the God-glorifying fruit of this kind of ministry. I believe this conference provided a lot of training and equipping for many in our church. May that continue! 

If you’re looking for a simple step-by-step guide to deliverance, I’d say it’s this. Repent, Renounce, Rebuke. Repent of the sin that caused the issue. Renounce the evil that was invited in. Rebuke the enemy in the name of Jesus and command it to flee. I have found this approach to be loving, helpful, and fruitful–mostly because it’s relying on the simple power of the gospel to turn from sin and cling to Christ.

In addition to that, here are a few trusted sources for some good content regarding deliverance: Jack Deere, Sam Storms, Remnant Radio podcast. I have a few other resources I might recommend to you if you want to connect privately. 

4. How do you know whether a person needs deliverance? Do we pray for everyone expecting deliverance even if it’s not a demon?

Well, not every problem in life is attached to a demon. But some things are. The only way to know is to pray for the Lord to reveal if there’s a demon, ask a lot of questions, listen to the Lord, and ask Him for discernment. The Lord will show you if and when deliverance is needed.

5. Are there cases where believers are allowed to be demonized for some testing of faith regardless of their prayers and resistance? Book of Job for example.

We do seem to have two examples where something like this is going on. One of which is Job and another the apostle Paul. Paul says, “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.” This seems to be indicating that God, in his sovereignty, allowed the enemy to harass Paul in order to accomplish a much higher spiritual good for him. So is it possible? Yeah it’s possible. But I worry that we hear that and then just throw our hands up and say, “Welp, if I’m being demonized I shouldn’t try to do anything about it b/c it’s probably just God’s will for my life.”The revealed will of God is for us to not give the enemy a foothold. So if he’s got one, the Scriptures tell us to resist him and get him to flee. Even Paul sought freedom from this thing until God clearly revealed to him that that wouldn’t be happening. And remember, Paul was given this because of the exceedingly great visions he was being given of the “third heaven.” So, this is most likely a pretty unique case. So, God’s clearly prescribed approach to demonic activity is to resist it, cast it out, and stand firm against it. Let’s follow what God calls us to do in His Word and not speculate about what He might secretly be up to.

6. How do you make sure demons don’t come back seven times stronger?

This concept comes from something Jesus taught in Matthew 12:43-45. Here Jesus is using an example of deliverance to describe the generation of unbelief –namely the Pharisees who are demanding a sign in order to believe in him. Jesus warns the Pharisees that their external behavior is not much of a safeguard against the enemy unless their hearts are also transformed. Or as Sam Storms describes it, “His point is that external reformation without internal regeneration is deceitfully dangerous.” He isn’t so much teaching Christians how to avoid being demonized. He’s more so warning the Pharisees that their “so called outward holiness” isn’t something to be trusted in for protection. What matters is that they turn their hearts to Christ and allow Him to dwell in their house through and through. He’s warning against the false security of outward religiosity. One of the phrases Michael Miller used that I really appreciated was, “sin the currency of demons.” An unredeemed heart is defined by sin and therefore quite vulnerable. A heart that’s been purchased by Christ and washed by His blood can find refuge in Christ. So for us Christians, the takeaway is to cling closely to Jesus and don’t open the door of your house to the enemy. Let Jesus dwell in every room, every corner, every nook and cranny.

7. Can you clarify what you meant yesterday about the difference between the gospel Jesus preached and the one we historically know?

Okay, I heard this too and I had a feeling it would be confusing. He was not saying that Jesus preaches a different gospel. What he was trying to say was something similar to what I preached in the sermon titled, The Kingdom of God is At Hand! In that sermon I mentioned that when we say “the gospel”, almost all of us immediately think about repentance and forgiveness of sin through the death and resurrection of Jesus. And rightly so, that is the gospel! But when Jesus came to earth “preaching the gospel of the kingdom” we have to ask, “what was he saying to the 1st century Jews?” No 1st century hearer would have thought what we think when we hear “gospel”. The word “gospel” wasn’t even a religious word at that point. It was a Roman word used to announce the “good news” of an invading Roman emperor in a new city. So 1st century hearers would have heard Jesus saying something along the lines of “a new king has come to rule and reign! A new authority is here! Come and follow Him!” Of course, the good news of Jesus’ coming kingship was that He was coming to rule and reign by dying for our sins and raising back to life. But original hearers wouldn’t have known that yet. Honestly, if this is confusing, just go listen to the sermon I preached on it. I think that will help.

8. Should a believer comb their mind and history of sin and ask for potential spirits to leave from every sin they can remember?

First off, we don’t need to go hunting for demons. One, because they aren’t under every rock. And two, because it’s not hard to find them if we know what we’re looking for. Here’s a few good places to start. 

• Do you have any habitual sins or habitual negative emotions? 

• Where does your sanctification feel extra difficult? 

• Are there areas of sin/struggle where you think, “This is just my personality. This is just the way I am. This is just my burden to bear in life.” That might be an indication that there’s some supernatural forces at work trying to energize your struggles and your sins. 

If you feel really burdened by this, ask the Lord to show you if you need deliverance. And don’t be afraid to ask one of your elders or MC leaders. We would happily pray with you and help discern.

9. What is the purpose of anointing oil in prayer? Why do some prayer teams use it while others don't? Can lay people use anointing oil?

Throughout the Bible, oil is used to symbolically represent someone being set apart or consecrated unto the Lord. It’s a way in which we confess our need and dependence upon God and say, “Lord this person belongs to you. We set them apart unto you for special care. Please see them and minister to them.” We are also called to do this in James 5:14-15 “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” Yes any Christian can anoint another with oil.

10. Is walking someone through deliverance and taking thoughts captive the same as the mortification of sin (Romans 8:13) or what’s called gospel fluency?

All the things you mentioned fall under the category of discipleship. But no, they aren’t exactly the same thing. Deliverance is a very specific tool. And anybody that works with tools knows that when you need a torx screwdriver, no other screwdriver will get the job done. In other words when deliverance is what you need, nothing else will do. It’s often said, you can’t cast out your flesh or crucify a demon. Instead we’re called to cast out demons and crucify our flesh. A gardening analogy might help (hopefully I don’t butcher this analogy). If I were trying to grow a healthy flower bed of roses, I would need to be mindful to do many things. Flowers need healthy soil, access to direct sunlight, and consistent watering. If I begin to spot invasive weeds in my flowerbed, no amount of new soil or fresh water will eliminate the presence of weeds. The weeds must be killed via pesticide or forcefully removed by hand. At the same time, if all I did was watch for weeds but never ensured that my roses got fresh water, they would suffer and wilt. So, all these things are needed to ensure healthy roses: watering, soil maintenance, sunlight, and weed removal. Each of those things are slightly different yet they are interwoven. Putting sin to death, taking my thoughts captive, growing in my understanding of the gospel are all vital parts of the Christian life. But when a demon has a foothold in my life, I have been given a very effective tool by Jesus–deliverance. So, I continue to take my thoughts captive, I continue to put sin to death, I continue to pursue gospel fluency, AND I call on brothers and sisters to drive this evil thing out.

11. Do you believe that you can pray for healing for every sickness, pain etc & it will go away at some point? What if healing just doesn't happen?

Good question. Can God heal every sickness and pain? Yes. Should we have faith that God will heal when we pray for every sickness and pain? Yes. Will He always heal every sickness and pain? No. We know that everybody is going to die, so obviously not all things get healed. 

But here’s what we often do with that reality. We stop praying. We may pray once or even twice, and if we don’t see God heal it we give up praying and just conclude that God doesn’t want to heal it. I would caution against that. There seem to be many reasons why the Lord hasn’t answered a prayer for healing. I would encourage you to read this article which outlines a few Biblical reasons why God doesn’t heal. https://www.samstorms.org/all-articles/post/why-god-doesnt-always-heal--2-cor--12:8-10-

But if you pray and don’t see healing. Keep praying! Jesus told us to pray persistently, which means that He intends to answer some prayers only if they are prayed persistently. In fact the parable of the persistent widow tells us that she is specifically answered BECAUSE she is persistent. And Luke tells us the very reason Jesus gave this parable is so that “they should always pray and not give up.” Keep praying until He heals or until He clearly tells you to stop praying. 

12. Does verbally saying out loud and acknowledging evil, sin or spirits or demonic things (that are affecting me personally) give those things power against me?

No. Talking about demons doesn’t give them any power in your life. Be careful to not over inflate the power of the enemy. If anything, bringing things into the light breaks their power.

13. Do you have to know the exact spirit’s name like anxiety in order for it to be delivered?

Not necessarily. I mean if you tried to cast out a spirit of fear, but really it’s a fear of anxiety–maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t. Those two things feel quite closely linked to one another. I don’t think you necessarily have to hit a direct bullseye. In truth, the evil spirit isn’t necessarily named by that sin. We’re more just looking for how it got in there and what sin it has attached itself to. But there certainly seems to be more effectiveness when you know specifically what you’re dealing with. 

Let me ask the same question but apply it towards repentance. Do you have to know the exact sin you committed in order to repent of it? Well, yeah I probably need to generally know what sinful act I’m repenting of–but does that mean I have to perfectly nail down every sinful motive in my heart when I committed that sin in order to truly be repentant? Probably not. But I should be in the right ballpark in order to properly repent.

With that said, the example of Jesus in Mark 5 is quite interesting. It records, “For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” This implies that Jesus was repeatedly trying to cast out demons from this man. The verb tense allows for this to mean either that 1) Jesus kept trying to cast out the demons but it wasn’t working right away or 2) Jesus kept casting demons out but not all of them were leaving. So, Jesus stops and asks the demon for its name. In the ancient world it was believed that if you knew someone’s name you had power over them. And it’s hard to argue with the results afterwards. Jesus secures the demon’s name and away it goes. This is just a personal opinion here, but I think securing the name essentially says, “I see you. You can’t hide. By the authority of Jesus I command you to leave.”

14. Can we bring the same confidence as Michael when casting out demons? Will they always come out?

Here’s a helpful principle. All demons must submit to the authority of Jesus. He has put them under his feet. However, this doesn’t mean that they won’t try to resist. The concept is not: command demons to flee and they will go. The concept is this: command demons to flee until they go. They will go and they must go when commanded in the name of Jesus. If we need to persist, we persist. Much like Jesus did in Mark 5.

As far as confidence, Yes. The power to drive out demons isn’t found in your experience, your knowledge, or your confidence. The power is found in the person and work of Jesus. If you are a Christian, you can minister powerfully in Christ’s authority. Want more confidence? Deepen your trust in what Jesus says is true about you and step out in faith and command things to leave–you’ll see Jesus’ power on display through you.