Things have certainly shifted in the past eight years since God launched me into spiritual warfare ministry. Back then ministry clients would rarely divulge that they heard internal voices. Getting someone to admit they heard voices in a ministry session was no easy task. Admitting you heard voices was associated with a mental disorder rather than something spiritual. That was then, and this is now. Every email I receive currently seems to open with the tagline, “I hear demons, and I need an exorcism. Please contact me as soon as you can.”What changed in the past couple of years? Why is everyone suddenly divulging they hear demons? I believe the upswing in this a trend is a directly related to deliverance ministry labeling schizophrenia and other mental disorders of hearing internal voices as being purely demonic in nature. This blank check covering of these disorders by deliverance ministers is harmful to the prayer recipient. I have witnessed some souls get miraculously healed from schizophrenia in my own travels in deliverance ministry. Only because in these cases were demonic activity actually involved. I have worked on numerous cases as a Christian counselor where deliverance wasn't an option because the human mind was physically sick or the human soul was broken and needed healing. In these cases, 100% of the prayer recipients reported they heard demonic spirits internally. Only 1% actually had demonic spirits involved.
In fact, some of these cases, the internal voices spoke during sessions and identified themselves as evil spirits. I remember one incident where my colleague brought me in to one of her sessions to evaluate a client as being a demoniac. The problem was, my colleague had dead on discernment like mine, and she couldn't feel the presence of demon as it commonly manifested during her client’s sessions. I was asked to sit in and observe as this individual acted out like the Gerasene demoniac in our office session. They even bit their own tongue and drew blood! Why didn't I believe them? Because of the Holy Spirit and spiritual discernment. Both my colleague and I work on a daily basis with survivors of the occult. Her discernment aligned with mine, no demon. The irony was at the end of the session, the human part that acted like a demon wanted know why they didn't
fool us with the fake magic show. I work and live in the supernatural. What we witnessed, although convincing to the human eye, was not a true demonic manifestation. Neither of us counselors could feel the presence of anything demonic while all the craziness was going down right before our eyes. During intense sessions I can discern the manifestation of demonic spirits or the summoning of occult powers.Nothing was happening at this time. Nada!
I have had to sit through far too many sessions were I had to tell people what they're hearing is not demonic spirits, but angry, fractured pieces of themselves. Some fractured pieces are so angry they believe themselves to be demons. And can torment a soul just like a real demon! Through my own discernment and testing the spirit I am able to make an evaluation. The prayer recipient is usually distraught and then informs me of the long list of big deliverance ministries that cast this demon and that demon out of them. I am also encountering a lot more people who know ‘how to be delivered’. They act out coughing, shaking, and even false manifestations. People want to hold onto deliverance ministry as a magic bullet for healing. If they can just get the right demon cast out of them they will be fully healed. This is nonsense. They're not addressing the white elephant in the room - the schizophrenia. Again, I have seen healing in this area, but 95% of the time the healing came through the compassion of Jesus Christ and Him walking the fractured soul through its healing. This healing tends to be a VERY long walk, hand in hand, with Jesus Christ. I want to add too that the cases where we see healing involving people who not just desire to be healed but are willing to tackle whatever is thrown at them in life to get healed! That is a big game changer.
Also keep in mind, there also times, where a person who schizophrenic will require medication to stabilize their life enough so they can seek and pursue ministry and counseling help. Healing requires a community and a team. There are no short cuts when it comes to this.The ship must be turned directly into the storm. There are times when I wish I had Peter's anointing of having my shadow heal the sick. But for now, this is where we're at. Baby steps in healing.
A deliverance minister needs to have the maturity and understanding that when it comes to schizophrenia, you are dealing with a fractured soul trapped in a cycle of trauma. These souls obsess over every spoken spiritual word given to them. If you tell this soul there are demons present, it is very difficult for this soul to shake. My biggest headache in ministry is when the corporate deliverance ministries come through town, and tell people with a fractured soul they have a demon. Then they pull their tent stakes up the next day and leave town. Counselors are left with mopping up the mess. Never tell a person with Schizophrenia they have a demon, unless you intend to hold their hand for the next couple of months.
In ministry, I am encountering a lot of souls with very deep traumatic wounds. Many well minded people are involved in deliverance and healing ministries (such as sozo) where i believe problems we’re seeing are far above the common ministers pay grade. I know in healing ministry God is bigger than the problem. But what happens when healing ministry is the problem? An immature minister will fall back on knowledge and the soul (i.e. Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil) rather than resorting to long term intercession and possibly even fasting. If you’re in the miracle ministry you must have complete trust that Jesus Christ is doing something about the situation, and He doesn’t owe us an explanation of what He is doing! These are long term battles and we must have the faith that Jesus is bringing healing.
As ministers we must have the maturity to discern and provide spiritual direction in cases where people claim they hear demonic voices. As spiritual beings we have, normally, two internal voices, our own, and that of the indwelling God. As spiritual beings, we can hear from three internal sources, our own heart and soul, God, and from other spirits. It's the latter, we must be very careful in discerning. Other spirits include demonic spirits. Don't just take the individuals word for it that what they're going through is demonic. Because many times it isn't. Injured minds, either physically, or emotionally, can easily run with putting on the whole demon show. This is where the inexperienced, untrained minister gets sucked in and causes more damage than had there been demons there to begin with. This minister isn't using discernment and they are not hearing from God (again tapping into the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil).
When you get a case like this, bring them into a counseling session and discern what is going on. You may not get an answer from God right away. But that's okay too. It's the sign of a mature minister. As for me, I rarely do deliverance ministry on an individual whom I believe to be schizophrenic, unless I can I discern a demon is present and the soul requires liberation prayer ministry. But this should be the rule of thumb for any deliverance ministry practice. Hear from God what is going on!!!!
If you have questions on curse breaking, or curse breaking prayers, I cover these in my book, A Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare.
If you have questions on dealing with manifestations, I cover these in my book, A Field Guide to Advanced Spiritual Warfare.
Get your copy today! Available on Amazon in:
Kindle - A Field Guide to Advanced Spiritual Warfare - Deliverance, Exorcism, Healing the Effects of Ritual Abuse. (eBook)
Get your very own copy of the ORIGINAL - A Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare!
A Field Guide to Spiritual Warfare - the Power to PULL the IMPOSSIBLE from the HEAVENLY REALMS
Well, that's enough for now. Hope this was beneficial.
Blessings
Rev. Mike
How do I contact you,your email address is not on your website.
ReplyDeleteHi I'm aamother of five children struggling with emotional issues and believe in God it's very complicated and mst say I should write a book !!but I really agree with what you wrote do u work with people who are struggling
ReplyDeleteIf so please let us know how t conntact y thank you this email address is not right our number is 7158915061 thank you God bless