Deliverance ministry is the driving out of demons. Where should the deliverance minister send demons? Should they tell them to go somewhere or just leave it up to Jesus? Does it matter?
We have discussed in other articles how there are few standard practices in the realm of deliverance ministry.
The ministry of driving out demons in Christ’s church operates more like a “mom and pop” grocery store than a big time franchise, which means that different techniques and procedures abound.
When demons are called out during deliverance, we have heard or seen directives from the man or woman of God that generally fall into one of the categories below:
- No instructions
- Sends them to hell
- Sends them to dry and uninhabited places
- Sends them to wherever Jesus tells them to go
We rely on two scripture verses to give us direction at Above & Beyond. In Matthew 12:43 and Luke 11:24, Jesus said that when a spirit comes out of a man, it goes to dry places (NIV). Other translations use words like arid, desert and waterless.
There is no specific recording in Scripture where Jesus commands this after deliverance, but this is the direction we give to the demons. We also add “and uninhabited” to the command also, which I will explain later.
We also invoke a Jesus Christ-bloodline around the person for protection and will frequently ask that surrounding angels escort that spirit to that location.
We do not send them to hell because not all demons are in hell and we do not presume to consign them before their time. The timing and disposition are up to Christ alone. We have been given authority to drive out demons only.
Some ask the demons to get their direction from Jesus. In other words, ask Him where He wants them to go and then obey! We have no problem with those who adopt this approach but do not see it as a necessary step and there is no supporting passage in Scripture.
We also rely on Mark 16:17, with great comfort, in knowing that Christ has given believers the power and authority to drive out demon spirits.
We Send Spirits to Dry and Uninhabited Places
Let me explain why we send the spirits to dry and uninhabited places.
Let’s address a fundamental question: where are those dry, arid, desert locations that the demons go to? Africa? The Middle East? Nevada? Texas?
What about the people that might live there? Are we exporting torment to them?
These questions are difficult to answer and our response comes back to the scriptures we have referenced. We choose to trust Jesus for how it all works out without engaging in mental mind exercises that can lead to “paralysis by analysis”. That is why, quite simply, we add the words “and uninhabited” to our instructions so that other people are not likely to be in proximity!
We have no idea whether this has any practical benefit, but it makes us feel better. Seriously. We do not know how long demon spirits remain in that dry, isolated location but at least they are not tormenting the host where they used to reside!
At Above & Beyond, we consider that proper teaching and preparation is vital to prepare the delivered person for when the spirits try to return to the house as the bible warns in Matthew 12:44 and Luke 11:24). That topic is addressed in other posts and I will not revisit that here.
In conclusion, we do not hold our approach as superior nor criticize deliverance ministers who have a different method for dispatching demons. When we get to heaven, I doubt that we will be critiqued on whatever tactic we employed!
Christ is going to be more concerned about whether we completed His call on our life. Did we share the gospel in our world? Did we perform the works he had before us? Did we lay hands on the sick and see them healed? Did we drive out demons? Let’s be faithful in carrying out that work!
