Over recent years, many in the body of Christ are hearing more and more about deliverance ministry, inner healing, and strongholds. We are hearing a rumbling of conversations about demons, unclean spirits, spiritual warfare, and effective prayer strategies. And guess what? I am all for it! I believe that long gone are the days where ignorance can be a strategy for war against the real challenges facing our families and nations.
The Lord is doing a mighty work in regards to teaching His Sons and Daughters to wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against authorities in the unseen realm. (See Ephesians 6:10-12).
There is a group of Believers who are hungry for the deeper things of the faith, wanting more, seeking to have a deep encounter with the Holy Spirit, and to truly live a life of freedom, hope, and joy in all areas. For those Believers, the Lord is beginning to reveal more and more about Himself and about effective warfare. And for those Believers, I believe He's going to meet you in power, as you continue to pray and seek Him for your family.
Although I have taught a great deal on spiritual warfare, deliverance, and inner healing ministry, I wanted to provide some additional clarification for single moms who desire to understand these subjects. To be clear, I could write pages and pages on each of the aforementioned areas independently, but I wanted to give a brief overview for those seeking clarity.
First, nothing happens apart from the Cross. This is critical for you to understand. Salvation in Christ is the foundation of all ministry. Jesus Christ paid the ultimate sacrifice that you (and I) may be saved, restored to the Father, healed, and free. His suffering provided for our redemption. Acceptance of this truth, recognizing our desperate need for a Savior, and truly repenting and turning is the foundation of a life in Christ. Deliverance, inner healing, spiritual warfare…none of these subjects matter apart from Christ crucified. If you have not confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believed upon Him in your heart, then nothing else I’m about to say matters. (See Romans 10:9-10).
Deliverance and inner healing ministry are NOT everything. They are simply something. Be careful with becoming hyper-focused on deliverance or inner healing strategies. While spiritual warfare strategies matter, it is important to always remember our primary focus is on the Lord. Jesus is everything. Allow me to explain. Many people will say to me, “I think I need deliverance,” or “My children need deliverance.” But my first question is always, "Do you (or they) truly know Jesus as Savior?" Any deliverance ministry jumping into sessions to command demons to go or heal heart wounds that hasn’t effectively investigated the state of the recipient’s relationship with Christ has missed the mark. Deliverance is not a first step in your life. It can be a next step – a step down the road – once you have surrendered fully to the King of Kings.
Salvation, inner healing, deliverance, tearing down strongholds, and killing your flesh are all parts of the Christian experience. Salvation first. Inner Healing. Deliverance. Tearing down strongholds (renewing the mind). Killing your flesh. To be clear, you cannot heal a stronghold. You cannot tear down a demon. You cannot cast out a heart wound. Heart wounds are healed. Demons are cast out. Strongholds are torn down. This is freedom in Christ, but it only happens at the foot of the Cross with Salvation. In other words, heart wound healing, deliverance, and stronghold freedom is only promised to the Believer. It is your right as a Daughter of the King. (See Luke 4:18-19).
Salvation comes first. One must accept Jesus as Lord, repent, and then live a life that births fruit. What is your life currently producing? Is its fruit obviously yielded from a life rooted in Christ? The life of a Daughter produces fruit from her Father. Fruits include things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. (See. Galatians 5:22-23). But it also includes selflessness, servanthood to others, surrender, worship to the Father, obedience to God's teachings, and time in His presence. These are the litmus tests of a walk with the Lord. (See John 3:16, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 10:9-10, Matt 7;15-20, Gal. 5;22-23). Salvation does NOT come by upholding rerituals, such as baptism, church attendance, the Lord's supper, etc.
Now, let's talk about killing your flesh. The Bible says we must resist the enemy so that He will flee. (James 4:7). What are you doing to resist the enemy? You cannot be in bed with the enemy and then expect him to flee. He flees when you resist him. How do you resist? You kill your flesh. (See Romans 8:13, Galatians 5:24, and Colossians 3:5). This means you don't do what you want to do. You don't fulfill the desires of your that contradict God’s Word. You don't always go where you want to go. You go where the Spirit leads. You surrender your will, your mind, and your life to the Lord.
Before we can talk about deliverance ministry, we must understand freedom first comes through obedience. Are you following Jesus’ teaching? Are you tormented with overwhelming grief, anxiety, depression, fear, bitterness, or otherwise, because you have not followed God's commandments? Have you spoken word curses over your life by not guarding your tongue? Have you failed to adhere to your spiritual disciplines, feasting on the Word, leaving yourself vulnerable to the enemy? These things matter. If you are not living a holy life for Christ, there is no reason to attempt deliverance.
So, now let's talk demons. Demons are interchangeable with the word unclean spirits in Scripture. You see them referred to both ways in Scripture. They are personalities without a body who are sent on assignment by the Devil to torment. When someone was tormented in Scripture the word was daimonizomai, translated demonized. Yes, Christians can indeed be demonized. I have spent a great deal of time writing and teaching on this subject. Because it is so complex, I do not have time to debrief on all of it here, but I highly recommend you get my latest book, Unstuck. I give substantial scriptural evidence for this truth. There is an overwhelming number of Believers bound by tormenting fear, anxiety, depression, lust, controlling behaviors, and more, and it is absolutely demonic. The great news is that Christ already paid for freedom from such torment. The bottom line – if you do have a demon tormenting you, it must be addressed, after you have accepted Christ and killed your flesh.
But let's talk about inner healing. God is the Great Physician. He is our Healer. He is near to the broken-hearted. He bottles tears and binds the wounds. Jesus can heal you. Inner healing is the process of intentionally inviting the Holy Spirit into space with you to listen, wait upon Him, and receive healing. It is very different from counseling. Counseling sessions can be valuable to strategize life next steps, confess sin, or glean wisdom from another Christian. However, inner heart wound healing sessions allow the Holy Spirit to do all the ministering, and they are powerful. It is important to understand that deliverance ministry (the casting out of demons) and heart-wound healing sessions (the mending of broken hearts by the Holy Spirit) can be powerful, effective, and quite useful to ministries and churches in helping unlock freedom for Believers.
To recap, salvation comes first, including repentance, surrender, and killing one’s flesh. Then, deliverance from unclean spirits may be necessary, as well as inner heart wound healing from trauma or grief. But even after those things, there is still another necessary component of the Christian journey – the renewing of the mind. Christ paid that you may have the mind of Christ – not one heavily racing with tormenting thoughts. In 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, the word "stronghold" is used to describe arguments, opinions, or thoughts that could prevent someone from obeying Christ. In other words, tearing down strongholds is renewing the mind to have the mind of Christ. (Romans 12:2). Strongholds are not demons. Think of demons are rats living in the attic and strongholds as the nest they build. Rats are killed but nests must be intentionally removed.
“Why am you teaching on deliverance, inner healing, and spiritual warfare to single moms?” some have asked. Because too many single moms think their problems will be solved with more money, a husband, and 8 parenting tips. And while those things may bring relief, it is important that as mothers, we understand the complexities of the spirit realm, the wars we are actually fighting for our children, and how the Lord Jesus has a plan for our lives to be impactful for the Kingdom.
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The Life of a Single Mom is a national, faith-based, nonprofit that exists to see that no single mom walks alone. To date, the organization has worked with hundreds of churches to start a single mom’s support group in cities throughout the U.S. and beyond, as well as having served hundreds of thousands of single mothers with a variety of programs. Offering a large array of books, curriculum, training materials, online instructional videos, podcasts, newsletters, life skills education, and more, TLSM is one of the largest single mom organizations in the U.S. The robust selection of single mom programs focus on empowering single moms to grow spiritually, emotionally, financially, and parentally through Single Mom University, Single Moms Across America, the National TLSM Single Moms Conference, boot camps, and a variety of other programs. For more information, visit www.thelifeofasinglemom.com.
