In general, most deliverance ministry and spiritual warfare prayers fall short of what we need to bind, restrict, clean up and clear up the spiritual atmosphere. People stay in bondage because we don’t go deep enough and far enough in using our authority and casting out demons. We get bored and stagnant in our prayer time and don’t partner with the Holy Spirit to listen to what He says needs to be prayed out. I remember a mother who kept trying to take charge of her child’s health by praying in her mind, “I rebuke you, Satan.” I told her she must speak out and decree into the situation, but she persisted that rebuking the devil in her mind was enough.
There are two issues with her way of thinking:
1. The first is that the devil cannot hear what we think or pray to God silently. Therefore, the demon attacking the child was neither hearing nor heeding the mother’s authority.
2. The second is a misunderstanding of the meaning of the word “rebuke.” “Rebuke” means to take authority over something. When we rebuke something, we need to take authority over it and then give it a follow-up command.
In the Scriptures, when Jesus rebuked, He gave a follow-up command. A good example is when He was in the middle of a storm and He rebuked the wind and then spoke to the sea. The Bible says, “He rose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!’ Then the wind ceased and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:39).
Jesus rebuked the wind, which was disrupting the sea. After He rebuked the wind and took authority over it, He spoke to the sea with a follow-up command to be still. Notice that the wind ceased first, as He began with a rebuke, the starting point of authority. The wind and the sea—both things He took authority over—had to react for the stillness to come forth. It was twofold: rebuking and speaking a follow-up command.
Another example is when Jesus delivered a man who was deaf and dumb from a demon. “When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the foul spirit, saying to it, ‘You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and enter him no more'” (Mark 9:25).
Jesus took authority over the foul spirit, addressing it by name and commanding it to depart and not reenter. He rebuked and then followed up by commanding it to leave and enter no more. He was taking care of the immediate situation and preventing future movement.
When searching through the Scriptures for spiritual warfare techniques, we must pay attention to words such as “saying,” “said,” and “call.” We must look for action words in the Scripture. Look again at what Jesus said in Mark 9:25: “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and enter him no more.” Jesus not only cast out the demon but also took authority, told it to depart and then sealed the person’s deliverance by commanding the demon to enter him no more. He rebuked and took complete authority over every part of the demonic stronghold.
We must follow Jesus’ example. Direct the demonic realm through commanding. Decree and take authority to demolish attacks. I recommend that you use a variety of words in prayer. This practice can help you avoid praying ineffective and legalistic prayers. When you pray out loud, the enemy can hear your prayers, and he can tell when you are being legalistic and praying routinely instead of being inspired by the Holy Spirit and releasing your authority.
Allow the Spirit to Lead
Jesus was not traditional or legalistic. He did not repeatedly minister the same way. The Spirit of God led Him. It is essential to be led by the Holy Spirit in warfare, releasing prayer and receiving discernment. I like to say, “Deliverance is not a cookie-cutter ministry. It is not one-size-fits-all.” What works for one person doesn’t necessarily fit for another.
Jesus delivered in different ways. He conducted warfare through His own prayers, not through another person’s prayers. It seems that in the body of Christ we want others to fight our battles more than we want to fight them ourselves. We need to learn to pray as Jesus did. Spiritual warfare, being prophetic and releasing the ministry of deliverance are the most unusual and unique ministries. We can’t expect to follow a pattern or formula. We must allow our spirit man to be Spirit-led and instruct us how to release the ministry for each particular situation we encounter.
In addition to following the Spirit’s leading, we must follow Jesus’ example in Scripture. When Jesus dealt with demons, He told them to be quiet (Mark 1:25) and forbade them to speak (Mark 1:34). He did not need to consult with a demon to evict it. Rebuke is taking authority over a demon, not bargaining, arguing or consulting with it. Your words are prophetically assigned to hit a target. Demons must bow to the name of Jesus and the authority you exude.
This has been excerpted from Chapter 11 of Prophetic Spiritual Warfare (Charisma House) by Kathy DeGraw.{eoa}
Kathy DeGraw is a prophetic deliverance minister. She is the founder of Kathy DeGraw Ministries and K Advancement LLC. Kathy hosts a podcast show called Prophetic Spiritual Warfare. She is the author of several books; Prophetic Spiritual Warfare, Speak Out, Discerning and Destroying the Works of Satan, and Unshackled. She is empowering people and setting the captives free through her many e-courses at charismacourses.com. You can connect with Kathy on Facebook at facebook.com/kathydegraw or visit kathydegrawministries.org.
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