Invisible Enemies

by Jim Croft

  Healing and deliverance from evil spirits is made available to believers on the basis of the New Covenant in Jesus’ body and blood. The first Passover meal of the Israelites typified the future celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The Jews were most likely suffering from all kinds of ailments and maladies—whether diverse diseases commonly found in Egypt, birth defects, the ill effects of old age, injuries building Egyptian monuments. Whatever the problem, these persons could well have been healed as they were partaking of the Passover meal.

  On the deliverance side, that Passover meal may well have driven out numerous evil spirits from the Jews. Two major types would have been spirits of infirmity that carried many of the sicknesses of Egypt, and emotion-influencing demons that gained entrance through the stresses of slavery. It is my conviction that the Paschal meal brought about both healing and deliverance for God’s people, and I believe Communion in our times carries the same blessed qualities many times over.

  Whenever I conduct a Communion service, I urge people to believe God for miracles of healing and deliverance from bondages. The following report from a Cuban pastor who is an associate of mine is an example of what can happen during the Lord’s Supper to deliver people of evil spirits.

  My friend of many years, Seby Matacena, invited me to hold a deliverance seminar at his church in Miami, Florida. In Seby’s church was a young Nicaraguan couple who were in training for ministry. The young woman’s father detested Seby and his church. He would often blaspheme them with terrible denouncements. One night, the father showed up at the church with a look of defiance. Little did he know that he was to have a surprising appointment with God.

  In the course of the service that evening, Seby spontaneously decided to serve the Lord’s Supper. To everyone’s shock, the father came forward to receive it. As he swallowed the bread, it lodged in his throat and he began to choke. He fell to the floor and turned blue. Someone tried the Heimlich maneuver on him, but to no avail. The man passed out from asphyxiation, and a frantic call was made to the paramedics. But while the paramedics were on their way to the church, the father suddenly recovered, stood up and began to hug Seby and the couple.

  “I was choking to death,” he explained. “Jesus appeared to me. He told me that I would surely die on the spot if I did not repent and renounce my blaspheming against Seby and the church. I did exactly as the Lord commanded and the bread passed into my stomach.”

  All of the people involved in that church know that the father was delivered of a hostile spirit that despised the anointing of Jesus Christ on God’s servants. In light of this story, I urge you to look upon Communion as a vital portion of the children’s bread of deliverance. Bear that fact in mind whenever you are a recipient of the Lord’s Supper. Exercise your faith that any stubborn sicknesses or latent evil spirits may well depart from you as you partake of this holy sacrament.

  Water Baptism

  From earliest times in the Church, adults who were baptized renounced Satan and all of his works prior to their immersions. The Roman Catholic Church and some Protestant denominations have a similar confession for those who were baptized as infants and are receiving confirmation into the Church, as well as for those reaffirming their baptisms. Deliverance as part of this sacrament is a powerful means of liberation.

  Some years ago I took part in a ministry conference in Baltimore, Maryland, in which it was my responsibility to concentrate my efforts on casting out demons from those who were considered “difficult cases.”

  During the conference, a middle-aged man and his wife came to me for help. The husband was suffering from erectile dysfunction problems for which there were no medical explanations. The couple said the Lord had revealed to them that the source of the problem was demonic.

  One of the first questions I asked the husband was whether or not he had a complete understanding of the full purpose of baptism. He admitted he did not, as he had been baptized as an infant by his parents in a mainline denomination. His parents’ understanding of baptism was merely ceremonial and lacked a full understanding of the impact of the baptismal vows they were making for him.

  I asked him directly, “Are you willing to undergo water baptism by immersion as a means of deliverance?”

  “Yes,” the husband replied.

  “I am going to fill up a bathtub here in the hotel and immerse you in it. You are a tall man and the bathtub is short. I’ll immerse your upper torso and head first, then immerse your lower body. It will be reminiscent of your denomination’s baptism, but you are going to get a lot wetter. I’ll lay you down in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Then I will command the troubling demon to leave you just before immersing your lower half. Do you both agree to this remedy?”

  Both husband and wife nodded in agreement, and I proceeded to baptize the man in the manner that I had described. Nothing perceptible took place for them, but we all knew that he had obeyed the Lord’s directive for him for deliverance.

  The following morning the couple greeted me in the lobby of the hotel with huge grins and a mutual gesture of thumbs-up. Apparently the baptism had been the missing factor in the man’s healing, and the problem had been taken care of.

  At that same conference, I met a United States army colonel who flew in from the base where he was stationed in Germany to seek deliverance. The officer was of Lutheran background, and he told me that he had suffered from deep depression all of his life. He had been married twice and was about to enter a third marriage.

  When he heard about deliverance, he became convinced that it was what he needed in order to be set free before the depression had a chance to ruin his current relationship. I chose to minister deliverance to him in the waters of baptism.

  I explained that the impending doom the Israelites felt from the pursuit of Pharaoh’s wicked forces ended when those Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea. I proclaimed that it would be the same with his depression. This time, the plan was to baptize him in the hotel’s indoor swimming pool.

  As we were about to enter the pool, I explained to the officer: “Baptism is a burial of your old man, and it can be viewed as your separation from any attached evil spirits. Your baptism will leave all depression behind, buried in the waters of baptism.”

  The colonel followed me into the pool, and just before I submersed him, I issued this order: “I command the spirit of gloomy darkness to leave you in the name of Jesus of Nazareth.” Then I leaned him back into the waters of the pool and baptized him.

  After getting out of the water, he kept staring back into the pool. The next day he came to meet me for a follow-up session.

  “How are you doing?” I asked him.

  “I’ve never felt better in my life,” the officer replied.

  “Do you have any need of deliverance from any other problems that might be demonic?” I inquired further.

  “I’m all clear, Jim,” the colonel stated. “Yesterday after my baptism, I looked back into the swimming pool and saw the old me floating there, face-down like a bloated corpse. I’m a new creation in Christ Jesus. Any evil spirits that I hosted have been through the pool’s filtering system several times by now. They most definitely are not in me.”

  As I have mentioned, I believe that a huge revival is on the way. As people stream into the Kingdom of God in response to the moving of the Holy Spirit in the days ahead, hundreds of thousands will be baptized. I am thoroughly convinced that if pastors could come to unity about the effectual purposes of water baptism in relation to deliverance, the need for personal deliverances would be greatly diminished. If we could approach baptism as this colonel did, the demons inhabiting many would be left in the waters of baptism, commanded and compelled to leave their hosts.

  Laying On of Hands

  Laying hands on people is one of six foundational doctrines of Christianity noted in Hebrews 6:1–3. Jesus laid His hands on the sick and the demonized to bring about cures. The disciples laid hands on people to transmit blessings and spiritual
gifts. This legacy has been passed to us.

  I sometimes choose to lay my hands on people as a means of quieting various types of aggravating spirits at work in them. It is effective with believers and unbelievers alike. I do so in an informal way without announcing what I am doing. With a contentious person, I put forth my right hand to shake his and grasp his elbow with my left hand. Verbally I say something cordial. Inwardly, I am binding the hostile spirit and commanding it to be silent. I have silenced more than a few argumentative demons in that manner. It is certainly better than allowing tempers to get out of hand.

  I also look for appropriate opportunities to pick up whiny and fearful children. While holding my hands to their backs, I come against whatever spirits I believe might be troubling them. The tactic has earned me a reputation for being exceptionally good with kids.

  Some people have expressed concern about laying hands on someone in a deliverance situation, fearing that it might be possible for evil spirits to transfer from the individual to them in the process. I do not believe that this is anything we need to worry about. Remember that Jesus laid His hands on the woman with a crippling spirit.

  Evil spirits regard their hosts as their homes. Malicious powers do not welcome transfers from one domicile to another; usually they must be evicted forcefully. We can have every assurance that the blood of the Lamb is capable of protecting a believer who is engaged in prayers of blessings or deliverance.

  Part of the misperception about this comes from those who use 1 Timothy 5:22 as a proof text for the possibility of picking up an evil spirit by laying hands on someone in deliverance. The verse says: “Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins.”

  I do not believe this verse is making reference to the transference of demons. The wording pertains to laying hands on people too hastily in ordaining them to spiritual ministry. The implication is that officials are responsible for the conduct of those whom they endorse by the laying on of hands. The New Living Translation gives a helpful rendering of 1 Timothy 5:22 in this regard: “Never be in a hurry about appointing an elder. Do not participate in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.”

  We see quite clearly in the life of Jesus that the laying on of hands can be a powerful tool in the healing and deliverance process. In addition, it is a wonderful tool in the process of imparting blessing and gifting to people who are being set free to serve the Lord.

  Prayer Cloths

  The practice of sending anointed prayer cloths has raised more than one eyebrow over the years as it has been reduced to a means for fund-raising. That use does not fall within scriptural parameters. The originator of the practice of sending prayer cloths was the apostle Paul. He did so because he was exceptionally busy during his two years of ministry at Ephesus.

  Throughout Asia Minor people were getting saved, healed and delivered of evil spirits. Paul could not travel to every location that needed the resident power of the Holy Spirit that flowed through him.

  Handkerchiefs that he had touched and aprons he had worn were sent to the sick and to the demonized who were not able to travel to him. Scripture attests in Acts 19:11–12 that “unusual miracles” were brought about by the practice. Those who were physically ill were restored to health, and demons fled from those who came into contact with these pieces of cloth. The implication of his actions is that the anointing of the Holy Spirit has tangibility: It can be transferred to and through inanimate objects.

  Early in my ministry, I found it beneficial for items that I had prayed over to be sent to those who were sick and tormented by demons. I call it God’s secret weapon of deliverance. Here is why.

  There are occasions when people ask me to help relatives who are resistant to spiritual matters. I ask them to bring me a favorite item of clothing that the person wears or to purchase an article they would wear. I place the item under me as I sleep. (The pieces Paul sent were most likely from his leather work aprons. I think that it was the fabric’s long-term exposure to his body’s sweat and oils that brought on the deposits of the anointing. Sleeping on articles is a close representation of what happened in Acts.)

  When I lie down to sleep, I bind the spirits that are suspected of inhabiting the person. Then when I return the cloth to the concerned relatives, I instruct them to give the cloth items to the afflicted without saying anything about what has transpired. I tell them to watch patiently and see what the Lord does. I have received many reports of complete reversals of attitude and behavior in the lives of the recipients.

  A Presbyterian clergyman had a parishioner whose teenage son had been institutionalized with a religious fixation: The young man claimed to be Jesus. To approach him about deliverance would have only made matters worse. The pastor brought me a T-shirt that the teen liked. I prayed over it, slept on it and returned it to the pastor, who then gave the shirt back to the boy’s mother. The day after the boy got the shirt back and started wearing it in the mental institution, the teen was discharged. The pastor told me the young man had been completely restored to his right mind.

  The daughter and son-in-law of an excessively manipulative woman came to Derek Prince for help. He instructed them to get an article of her clothing and pray over it, binding the spirits of witchcraft that operated in the woman. After they had prayed, the daughter took the item to her mother, who happened to be washing clothes at the time. The mother grabbed the article and threw it directly into the washer.

  The daughter later admitted to Derek that her heart sank when her mother tossed the garment into the washer. She incorrectly assumed the anointing would be “washed away.” But just a little while later, she had the opportunity to testify to God’s greatness. As it turned out, there was not even a need for the woman to wear the garment. Simply touching it as she put the item in the wash was enough to subdue the spirits of witchcraft. Shortly after throwing the item into the washer, the manipulative behavior of the mother ceased. The couple said that her behavior had become entirely amiable and agreeable.

  This part offers advanced techniques, bringing light to areas of deliverance that often escape attention. We will begin with the important area of pulling down behavior-influencing strongholds in our memories. Then we will learn to discern whether or not we are living under the consequences of breaking a vow; Jesus said that we should not make vows and yet many of us utter them in our daily conversations. Next we will delve into the manipulative influences of soul ties with bygone loves and current control freaks.

  In chapters that follow we will see why discomforts about certain sexual practices are nudges from God. We will look at a new approach to banish chronic physical pains. We will definitely find a way to brighten the atmosphere of our homes.

  Most importantly we will be given the assurance that we are well equipped to meet and to conquer whatever the enemy dishes out. No one of any generation is better suited for what is coming down the pike than this one. According to Psalm 139:16, God recorded the days of our lives in His book before we physically existed.

  The deliverance methods that we discover in Part 3 will equip us to face the most difficult scenarios. Remember: We were created to triumph.

  The insights in this chapter came to me in bits and pieces over a period of more than thirty years. The method I describe has been distilled from a mixture of my own insights, ministry experience and observation of other valid ministries. In this chapter, we will focus on pulling down demonic strongholds in our minds that have come out of painful memories. Through this ministry, we can more easily cultivate the mind of Christ and come into freedom from demonic torment (see 1 Corinthians 2:16; 2 Corinthians 10:4–5).

  Over the years, much helpful teaching has emerged on the topic of pulling down mental strongholds set against the knowledge of God. Believers have been encouraged to attack citadels of misinformation in their minds through the spiritual disciplines of prayer, Bible study and by purposely replacing worldly perspectives with biblical perspectives. Those pursuits are tested and t
rue and a vital part of the Christian life.

  The application I describe in this chapter, however, employs a power stronger than the disciplines of man. In addition, this mode of deliverance predates all those other forms. It replicates the ministry of Jesus as seen in the biblical record where people were set free merely by Jesus speaking His Word.

  During His earthly sojourn, Jesus spoke from without—that is, He employed each individual’s physical sense of hearing. In this model of ministry, He speaks from within. The results are the same. This method is distinctive in that the on-site minister is Jesus Christ Himself. At the invitation of the victimized seeker, the Risen Lord speaks words of deliverance from within, obliterating the grip that painful memories have on our minds.

  Satan’s Armor

  In Luke 11:20–26, Jesus spoke about deliverance and the process by which demons leave the person they are troubling. We learn from this passage that one of the reasons an evil spirit is forced to vacate its host is because the armor in which the demon trusted has been taken away. Jesus ripped away the trusted armor of demons by His gentle but authoritative words. And what is that armor? Often it is the stronghold Satan has established in a person’s memories connected with the events of life.

  Demons frame their strongholds around memories of incidents where a person may be at fault, or those incidents where others wittingly or unwittingly perpetrated some kind of injury upon that person. In those cases, the devil, who is the father of lies, implants deceitful misinformation that maligns God and depicts the person himself as inept and unreliable.

  Spiritual warfare is much like natural warfare. In actual warfare, enemy agents often infiltrate centers of influence in a nation targeted for takeover. They circulate various forms of misinformation within the society that is designed to discourage and to intimidate. That misinformation leaves its victims in a vulnerable condition, saddled with fear or insecurity.