Spiritual Warfare Ministries Online
What Approach Should Be Used When Ministering?
by Don Rogers
When I first began to minister to the demonized over 40 years ago, all I knew to do for the people I was ministering to was to pray for their bondage to be broken. At the time this was a new type of ministry for me and I had no training to equip me for it. There was very little literature available and what was available was not always good.
As I relied on prayer, the cases usually took a long time before we got breakthroughs. During this time I was asking God for wisdom and guidance, so that I could be more effective in serving Him. As time went on, I learned that some in deliverance were interrogating demons to provide the information needed to deal with them effectively. I remembered that Jesus had asked the Gadarene demoniac his name and he said it was "Legion."
So for a few years I began to interrogate demons. As I did so, their manifestations became more prominent. Often they would come to the surface and I could see their individual characters in the eyes and facial expressions of the victims. They were often vehement, spewing forth intimidating and profane language directed against me and my family. There was also considerable violent behavior. During this time, there was something very unsettling in my spirit about what was happening. God had given me grace not to yield to fear, but still I believed that something was wrong. I knew that demons were liars by nature and that they served the father of lies (Jn 8:44). Even though I was growing in my understanding as to how to exercise Christ's authority against them, I knew in my heart often the best I was going to get out of them were "half-truths" which are more misleading than overt lies. I also began to realize that when Jesus asked for the Gadarene demoniac's name, it was for our benefit in understanding the magnitude of some demonizations. Jesus did not have to ask for his name in order to deal with him. The Holy Spirit guided Him in all things.
I began to ask God a lot of questions. I wanted to know how to be a better servant. I desire to be more effective against the enemy, not giving him even an inch. I was concerned about how other deliverance ministries seemed to be focused on demonic manifestations and seemed to relish in them in order to receive peoples' validation concerning what they were doing.
My background was formed in conservative evangelicalism. I was taught that many of the sign gifts were not for today. I didn't realize it at the time, but what I was really being taught was that God had changed! There was a strong appreciation to rely upon the word of God, but often man's theology got in the way. I began to see a number of people to whom I was ministering have their spiritual gifts released and made operational. Many would even assist in their own deliverance, telling me what the enemy was doing to resist me. The sessions became more powerful in the Lord than ever before. I went back to the word of God with new insights and came to the realization that what I had been taught was in error. So, I asked a couple of very gifted people, who apparently were called to ministry, to assist me. Immediately, the effectiveness of the ministry was raised. Over the years, in my association with gifted people, my own gifts have come to the forefront and been enhanced as well.
When spiritual gifts began to be used in our ministry, I ceased to interrogate demons any longer. When I took this step of faith, the Lord began to show me why He had directed me in this manner. Unknowingly, when I had relied upon interrogation of the enemy, I was giving the enemy more power to resist me. By commanding them to communicate with me, I was giving them control of parts of the victims' brains, especially the speech center. I was giving the enemy the opportunity to demonstrate his vileness and provided him with the opportunity to deceive and resist.
I believe in a confrontational ministry, but only to the point that I confront them in the power of the Lord. I made a covenant with the Lord. I told him that I wanted to be the best that I could be in serving Him and bringing credibility to this type of ministry. I did not believe that continuous and regular demonic manifestations during ministry was honoring to Him or to a ministry that serves Him. I asked Him to shut down this type of activity or enable us to do so. I desired that this ministry have the witness of the Holy Spirit behind it, not the witness of demons and their activity. I didn't need the approval of people, only the Lord.
Immediately, the spiritual atmosphere of our ministry changed. It was transformed into a very calm and gentle ministry, but very powerful. Any demonic manifestations were quickly shut down. Demons were immediately silenced. Not only were deliverances enhanced, they were done more quickly and healing of the demonic destruction became more prominent. Needless to say, as soon as we started to rely completely on the Holy Spirit, the enemy counter-attacked with vengeance. My own church asked me to leave, because I was using spiritual gifts in my ministry. Other churches and Christian friends began to slander me and black-ball me and treat me like a heretic. When I visited church elder boards to explain the biblical basis for our change of ministry, they did not want to examine the Bible with me, because I was already in conflict with their theology. What does a person do when there is an unjustified, widespread activity to discredit them? Letters were being sent to other churches to inform them of the error in which I had become involved. There is only one thing you can do; trust the Lord. I said to the Lord, that He knew my heart. I was relying upon Him to be my protector. There was no other means that I could protect myself, without relying upon the flesh. So, I trust in Him to take me through the fire and today our ministry is widely respected. We are even in a referral network of Christian psychologists and psychiatrists. Isn't our God great!!
I mentioned that healing became more prominent in our ministry. I came to realize that deliverance and healing were inseparable. God wants to heal and restore what the enemy has sort to destroy. I count it a privilege to see God do miracles constantly before my eyes. Often God starts working upon the individual even before I start to minister. When people enter our ministry office, they sense the presence of the Lord. Many have seen, with their spiritual gifts, the two angels that God has assigned to me as I lay hands on the victims and minister deliverance and healing. Sometimes I sense their presence, but I have never seen them. They are there to assist me and to provide protection. I often call upon God to send in angels to assist me when I run into stiff resistance. They not only serve God's people, but the are harvesters of that which is evil. Upon occasion there has been a visible manifestation of the tug of war between these two forces.
I find that God is using our ministry to give people breakthroughs and an opportunity for a new start in life. Much of what is accomplished happens after they leave us. God is not interested in glorifying us. He wants to strengthen and enhance their intimacy with Him. They should not continue to depend upon us. In the weeks that follow, new freedoms are introduced into their lives as they are ready to receive them. They are accountable to be obedient to what God show them and asks of them. We challenge them to fortify their minds with the word of God, especially His promises. We have stacks of letters recounting the dramatic changes that take place in the 4 - 6 weeks that follow. Healing continues and sometimes a measure of deliverance continues.
Our ministry is not meant to be a magic wand that relieves people of their problems, so that they can go back and lead their lives as usual. As we initially screen the people that come to us, their motivation for seeking help is an important consideration. God has called us to challenge them to become disciples of the Lord, to be accountable for their lives before Him. There can be no compromise with the world or with the enemy. No one can serve two masters. They have to be honest with themselves, with others and with the Lord. Those who have been set free will remain free as long as they trust and obey the Lord. If they choose to consistently yield to the enemy or the world and rebel against God, they will in all likelihood go back into bondage. The choice is theirs.
Copyright 1998 Spiritual Warfare Ministries, Inc.
