Observations from various scriptures about Exorcism
Consider flies – they exist, and we must resist their diseases, but we don’t live for them or seek them (Don’t chase them, just get rid of them if they come around. Seek to know God and glorify His Son.)
Warning – The seven sons of Sceva Acts 19:13-17 Be careful, and be sure you are a child of God. The demons attacked the seven men who were casting out demons, because they weren’t real believers in Christ. The men left the house naked and bleeding.
Confidence – James 4:7-8 7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (A double minded person is someone who won’t decide if evil is wrong.)
Preparation
Pray and fast to increase faith.
Some demons only come out by prayer and fasting.
Matthew 17:14-21 14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” 17 Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
Get prayer support. Have a prayer team of believers praying.
Pray and confess any known sin.
Psalm 66:18 18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.
Examine your motives and pursue God’s goals
Jude 5-22 9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
Thank God for what He has done in the past.
Pray for wisdom in how and when to approach the person and how God wants to be glorified.
Do not have scoffing Christians observing during the exorcism
Psalm 1:1-2 1 Blessed is the man, Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.
Reflect on how Jesus cast out demons
Luke 8:26-37 26 Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!” 29 For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.
30 Jesus asked him, saying, “What is your name?”
And he said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.
32 Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them. 33 Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.
34 When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 36 They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed. 37 Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. And Jesus got into the boat and returned to Galilee.
Observations:
- Demons cause destruction in their host. Be merciful on the person.
- Glorifying God torments demons.
- Demons know they are going to their eternal doom at the appointed time.
- Sometimes the demons do not come out, when first told.
- Get the leader’s name.
- Don’t negotiate. Demons may try to negotiate that they are really doing something good or are willing to do something “good.” (Jews weren’t supposed to be eating pigs.)
- People who don’t want to believe in Christ will try to push you away.
Reflect on how Paul cast out demons
Acts 16:16-24
16 Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” 18 And this she did for many days.
But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour. 19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.
Observations:
- Paul did not cast the demon out, when he first met the girl.
- The demon was interfering with the ministry.
- Paul commanded the demon to leave in the name of Christ. He did not use his own authority.
- Those who profit from the work of the demon tried to drive Paul out.
- God has bigger plans for His glory than our comfort. Paul is beaten and thrown in prison. Later God sends an earthquake to set Paul free and causes the town to fear God.
- Some people will be afraid to fight Satan for fear of retaliation. But do not fear, because of God’s promise in 1 John 4:4 4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.