I continue to be surprised at the lack of ministries dedicated to healing and freedom that we find among churches – even charismatic churches who believe in the full ministry of the Holy Spirit and who believe in the concept of spiritual warfare. You would think that Paul’s famous declaration, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12) would be enough to prompt churches to take spiritual warfare seriously. However, the great majority of churches apparently dismiss Paul’s words as simply a call to prayer only or as words meant only for the first century church.
In many of the churches who do take spiritual warfare seriously, you will find one or two veteran couples who will pray with people and minister deliverance to them. I am thankful for those who have ventured into those realms. However, many times these couples or individuals function as “specialists” and do not train others to help people find the freedom and healing that Jesus has purchased for them. Because of that there are still relatively few believers who can minister healing or deliverance or who receive it when they need it.
Over the past 6-8 years, our Free Indeed ministry at Mid-Cities has taken 1500-2000 believers through the fundamentals of healing and freedom and over 90% have reported experiencing a significant level of healing and deliverance through the process. That means that a great number of believers are in need of such ministry. The typical group of participants that go through our eight-week study are adults of all ages with about 30% attending from other churches in our community – mostly Baptist. As a non-denominational community church we have people from all faith backgrounds and from no background at all but the majority have attended church for years. Yet, they come to Free Indeed with a clear sense that there must be more to their faith than just the forgiveness of sins and that something within is broken and keeping them from experiencing the abundant life Jesus promised. They leave having experienced the power of the kingdom of Heaven in ways they have never known before and leave equipped to minister to others the healing and freedom they themselves have received. I believe that every church should have some kind of intentional process through which they minister freedom and deliverance and through which they equip their people to do the same for others.
Some people shy away from deliverance ministries because they think that those involved must have special spiritual gifts or that such ministries ultimately become weird and divisive in churches. Even pastors of charismatic churches tend to shy away from such ministries. They are comfortable with prophetic words, praying for physical healing, and even tongues but show little interest in equipping the saints for spiritual battle in the trenches. As a result, tens of thousands of Christians in American churches continue to try to live for Jesus while walking in tremendous brokenness and bondage. How strong and vibrant could the church be if every believer was set free from his/her past traumas and set free from demonic affliction?
I do not believe those who minister deliverance have to have some specialized gift from the Spirit. There are certain some gifts that facilitate the process like words of knowledge and spiritual discernment, but deliverance is more of an exercise in authority than in giftedness. Not all of us have the gift of evangelism but all of us have the capacity to lead someone to Jesus. Deliverance is much the same. In addition, I do believe that the Spirit will dispense more gifts when we begin to step out in ministries where those gifts are needed. All of that is to say that deliverance ministry should not be reserved for a few specialists but should be taught to the average believer in the same way that we teach evangelism or prayer.
Regarding the concern that deliverance ministries get weird and so create division, I have not seen that to be the case when teams are trained and operate under Biblical principles. Paul’s directive that all things should be done decently and in order pertain to deliverance ministries as well. When believers run into what is undeniably demonic or begin to experience something personally that they believe is demonic, they will eventually turn somewhere for help. If their church has not taught principles and realities of spiritual warfare and if their church does not have someone who can minister in that area with balance and wisdom, they will go outside the church and then may encounter the very weird a pastor fears.
Not teaching on biblical issues and realities in every area of spiritual life will create a situation in which church members are forced to go somewhere else for ministry or training and will either then leave the church or bring those teachings and experiences back to their church. That is what most often creates division. When there is a well thought out theology and process for healing, inner healing, and deliverance that is taught to a team who then ministers to others and teaches those they minister to as well, the church will become a greenhouse of spiritual health and freedom that will bless marriages, families, and the community.
Our ministry consists of eight weeks of study in a small group setting formed around tables in a larger class with two trained table leaders and six to eight participants. The eight-week study of essential discipleship and spiritual warfare principles are followed by an all day event on a Saturday in which we activate inner healing and deliverance. The eight weeks of “table time” and homework builds trust in the leaders and the process and lays foundations for experiencing healing and freedom. It also enables those who have received healing and freedom to maintain that healing and freedom. As the saying goes, The first battle is to get free. The second battle is to stay free.” Shortcuts to healing and deliverance that don’t lay adequate foundations often fall short in the long run as people lose their healing and freedom within a few weeks of receiving them.
Freedom Ministries that are intentional, consistent, theologically sound, and that equip leaders can bear tremendous fruit over a period of a few years. A choice not to develop such a ministry leaves a tremendous number of God’s children in brokenness and bondage. If you know anyone who wants to develop such a ministry at his/her church, we are more than glad to help facilitate that effort and to share our resources. Paul declared, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor.3:17). Freedom for every believer is the expectation of heaven. It is not automatic but it is available as part of every believers birthright. I hope that wherever you are, if your spiritual family does not have such a ministry that you will pray for that to happen and , perhaps, share this with your pastor. Like loaves and fishes, you will be amazed with what God will do when we just step out in faith with the little that we have.
