How To Do Deliverance (15 Minutes)

by Richard Kinney

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Today’s class is prompted by hearing about some of the difficulties people have when they come into a deliverance situation.

I’ve been lucky enough to have had a great deal of experience in this area. For one, at age 21—which was a very long time ago, 54 years ago—I cast out my first demon. I didn’t cast that many out in those early years, but I did get training in the group I was in for 20 years on how to do it.

Later in life, when I became a counselor—and I’ve been doing that for the last 30 years—there’s rarely a week that goes by when I don’t have some interaction with a demon. The people I counsel aren’t always a terrible mess, but usually, there’s something in their history where a demon has slipped in.

Demons are more like bugs. They’re not like Dracula taking you over, but they cause serious problems—kind of like a Lyme disease tick.

A lot of the ways people approach deliverance, particularly in groups, are not only ineffective but extremely embarrassing and hurtful to the person receiving that deliverance. Imagine having 30 people yell at you and point at you. Meanwhile, the demon is tying up 30 of God’s people—eating up their time, energy, and focus. They actually feed off that. It makes them stronger.

All in all, the person ends up more hurt than helped. Even if you manage to cast out the demon for a moment, that person is likely to carry great shame from making a complete fool of themselves in front of 30 people.

So, I want to talk about what to do—especially in a group setting—if someone starts to manifest or even just says, “Gee, I have a terrible headache that won’t go away. My stomach is sick all the time. I’m having awful thoughts.”

Nancy and I both do deliverance in a very relaxed, calm setting. It’s very rare for us to raise our voices or get stressed. A lot of people say we have the power of Christ, which is preeminent—but it doesn’t always look that way in practice.

So first, let me tell you some ways not to do deliverance.

Demons love attention. They love chaos and loud noise. So praying at them in loud voices actually makes them happy. I’ve even seen people read the Bible to them. They like that. They like any kind of attention. They’re not afraid of the Bible. Satan knows the Bible backwards and forwards.

So first: Calm down. We’ve got this. It’s going to be okay.

When someone starts to manifest, take them aside—away from the group. Why? Because authority is what casts out demons, not noise or group energy. In fact, group energy dilutes authority.

Remember when the demons said to the Sons of Sceva as they were trying to do deliverance, “Who are you?” They said, “Jesus we know, and Paul we know—but who are you?” Authority often gets watered down by group activity.

Here’s another important point: Never touch the person during deliverance. Laying on of hands is for imparting something to someone. But during deliverance, we’re casting something out. So we don’t touch them. It needlessly exposes you to demonic presence moving in on you. This is not super dangerous but should be avoided.

Demons respect clear authority. Ideally, you should have one person leading the deliverance, maybe with one backup. If you don’t know the person, it’s wise to have two people—maybe a man and a woman, or two men. But not a crowd. And definitely not a room full of people praying in tongues and jumping around. That’s not helping.

Treat the person with care. They’re still a person. They may be acting strangely, but they still have feelings. Get them settled. Then say something like this to the demons:

“I bind you in the name of Jesus Christ. Be quiet.”

Some people want to have conversations with demons. To me, that’s like having conversations with cockroaches—asking them about their home life and what they do for a living.

I don’t want to talk to demons. For one thing, they lie—almost constantly. I’ve had a few humorous conversations with them, but not because I wanted to.

One time, I saw a demon in a vision. About six weeks later, I saw the same demon in one of my counselees. I said, “Oh, I saw you six weeks ago.” He replied, “Oh yes, I saw you back there.” We chatted for a moment, and I said, “Well, I’m going to cast you out now.” He said, “Wait—we’re friends.” I said, “No, we’re not.” And I cast him out.

By and large, though, stop chatting with demons. They won’t help you. Knowing their name doesn’t give you power, and they’re likely to lie about it anyway.

They love drama. And we need to be careful as Christians not to love the drama of deliverance more than we love helping the person who is suffering.

Remember—I’ve been doing this for 30 years. If I got excited every time I did a deliverance, I’d be living in a very unhealthy kind of excitement.

Okay, so Nancy’s agreed to help me demonstrate.

I’ll pretend Nancy is the one needing deliverance. I’ll ask her to say a few simple things. This will help you a lot.

Just get the person calmed down, away from the group, with a witness—never alone. Then say:

“Nancy, will you say, ‘I repent from cooperating with anything evil that’s hurting me’?”

I repent from cooperating with anything evil that’s hurting me.

What this does is remove the demon’s right to be there. And that right is usually pretty tenuous. Sometimes the person hasn’t done anything wrong—they may have been abused as a child, or been in a traumatic accident. Demons often come in through trauma, not just sin.

Still, there’s usually some level of agreement—even subtle. Like, “If you let me live here, I’ll help you.” That happens with kids a lot.

Agreements with demons can also come through drugs, drunkenness, unhealthy sex, and inherited issues. But if the person says that one line of repentance, it helps tremendously.

And remember—demons rarely come alone. They travel in groups, like bugs, with a leader.

So the next step is:

“Jesus, appoint a new order and authority, and let what happens to the head demon happen to all the rest.”

This flips the demonic structure. The strongest demon—the one in charge—gets demoted. The weakest one goes on top. That destabilizes them.

My trusty assistant Nancy reminded me to say, Jesus appoint the new order. And that’s important. When I do deliverance, Jesus and I are usually very much in sync. But it’s good to say it clearly:

“Jesus, appoint a new order and authority. And let what happens to the head demon happen to all the rest.”

Then:

“In the name of Jesus Christ, I command these demons to leave this person. And send them to the feet of Christ.”

And one final step we often add:

“Send them to the feet of Christ.”

Let me explain that. I’m glad Nancy reminded me.

I don’t feel qualified to send a demon to eternal torment. That’s above my pay grade. So I say:

“Send these demons to the feet of Christ.”

I don’t know what happens next—but I do hear them scream. So it’s not fun for them. They don’t come back. Maybe they go to demon jail. Maybe they go to hell. I don’t know. I just know they’re gone.

Some of us can see demons. Some can feel them. Most people can, if they try. The person being delivered often knows something is going on—sometimes even hears voices.

If you follow this method, you’ll get better results—and you’ll avoid unnecessary drama.

Now invite the Holy Spirit to fill that space within the person you are helping:

“Let there be joy, and an infilling of grace and God’s presence in this area. Bring complete healing to this person.”

Then offer a word of encouragement:

“God loves you. He enjoys you. It’s been good to be with you.”

Here’s one last thing:

If two people take someone aside for deliverance, let the rest of the meeting continue. Don’t let a little pipsqueak demon derail the entire gathering. Don’t give him two hours of glory. Let the Spirit move among the rest of the group. It also helps the person being delivered—not to feel like the weirdest person alive.