Have you ever wondered why you keep struggling with the same battles, even after you’ve prayed for deliverance?
While there are a number of reasons why deliverance is not immediately effective, I recently had a dream that revealed a powerful truth about deliverance warfare.
The Deliverance Dream Metaphor
IIn my dream, I found myself with a group of people on what should have been a successful journey. Instead, we were hijacked and taken captive by two strongmen who held us in their house.
When they weren’t watching, I discovered I still had my cell phone and frantically dialed 911. I whispered our desperate situation to the dispatcher and hung up, certain rescue would come quickly.
No one came.
I called again, but there weren’t enough officers to send to us. It dawned on me that no one was coming to rescue us, and we would have to free ourselves.
I rallied the others, and we found rope to bind one strongman and zip tie the other. Then I raced through the house, urgently telling everyone to grab their belongings and head to the waiting vehicles. “We’re leaving!” I shouted to them.
But something strange happened. The people hesitated. They lingered, chatting casually with each other and even with our captors.
When I checked on the first strongman, someone had removed the rope that bound his hands and replaced them with a loose bungee cord.
Several people surrounded him, asking if he was comfortable and apologizing for any discomfort. They treated this man—our captor—like an old friend.
I went to check on the second strongman, and on his hands were the remains of zip ties that had been cut twice. The people acted as if his freedom posed no threat.
They weren’t hurrying to escape. Instead, they were hanging out with this strongman. They seemed content to remain in bondage.
I woke up with a profound revelation burning in my spirit:
You can bind the strongman but still remain in bondage.
The Spiritual Truth Behind the Dream
Jesus taught us in Matthew 12:29 that we can bind the strongman and plunder his house.
Matthew 18:18 tells us that whatever we bind on earth is bound in heaven.
Whatever we allow or disallow on earth is allowed or disallowed in the kingdom of heaven.
God has given us authority over our lives and our sphere of influence from the very beginning.
But here’s what my dream emphasized:
We can bind those enemy strongholds that hold us captive, but if we remain in their house, if we continue to talk with them, entertain them, and treat them as friends, we will stay bound.
We have to get out!
In my work with people trapped in addictive lifestyles, I’ve seen this principle play out repeatedly.
I can bind and command the enemy to leave their lives, but if the people continue to welcome demonic influences through their actions and associations, those spirits return immediately.
Freedom requires a clean break.
Unfortunately, We All Put Up With Bondage
Each of our situations differs, yet we all face battles of various kinds. The sobering truth is that we often put up with things we don’t have to endure.
Sometimes, like the people in my dream, we fail to recognize when the enemy attacks us. We don’t realize our lives could be free from these strongmen!
Many times deliverance is not a one-time event. It’s a spiritual process of recognition, renunciation, and healing prayer with intentional action.
To help us realize areas in which we are being attacked, I want to share some common areas of struggle. Do any of these sound familiar?
The Battlefield of the Mind
Our minds represent the greatest battlefield which is more intense than any physical war zone. In our minds, emotions, and attitudes are where demonic spirits primarily attack.
Behind persistent negative emotions and attitudes often lurks a corresponding demon. Not every negative emotion indicates demonic harassment, but uncontrollable, persistent patterns may signal spiritual bondage.
For instance, you can feel anger without sinning. However, if anger controls you rather than you controlling it, demonic influence may be at work.
For any struggle you feel is not normal, satan is probably working to harass you.
Also, demons often operate in gangs. So, when one enters, it opens the door for others. Here are some common patterns and areas of concern:
Common Spiritual Enemies
- Pride: Rebellion, stubbornness, self-righteousness, arrogant, contentious, witchcraft (linked to rebellion; see 1 Samuel 15:23).
- Fear:(is not from God – 2 Timothy 1:7) nightmares, anxiety, fear, doubt, intimidation, insanity (often rooted in generational fear).
- Spirit of Rejection (common due to broken family relationships, especially absent father’s love): abandonment, resentment, unforgiveness, anger, hatred, violence. Inner Rejection: Disappointment, loneliness, misery (pining away).
- Spirit of Heaviness: Depression, insomnia, self-pity, suicidal thoughts, inner hurts, broken heart, excessive mourning, excessive sorrow/grief, self-destruction and suicidal thoughts.
- Lying Spirits: Compulsive lying, cursing, blasphemy, gossip and criticism (often called “church-going demons”), flattery, superstitions, religious bondages, accusations, slander.
- Unbelief (overcome through confession of faith), doubt, compromise, confusion, torment (lies, fears, doubts, denial of God’s Word).
- Perverse: (God created sex as good, but demons twist and pervert this gift.) Addiction and Lust: Often rooted in demonic influence and frustration. The root spirit of frustration drives people to seek comfort through various addictions. One person may turn to alcohol, another to food, but both stem from the same frustrated need for comfort. A perverse spirit can also be behind anything that is twisted, for example a truth that is twisted.
- Spirits of Infirmity: While not all sicknesses are demonic, some can be. Jesus frequently healed by casting out demons.
- Spirit of Death: Often connected to suicidal thoughts, despair, or chronic illness, multiple accidents.
I am attaching a list of the 16 Strongmen listed in the Bible for you to download. This little sheet has been super helpful for me, and I trust it is for you as well.
The Key to True Deliverance
Deliverance requires engaging your will, not just your emotions.
As Derek Prince wisely said, “God delivers us from our enemies, not from our friends.”
If you want freedom, you must make the strongman your enemy. A person who enjoys their sin cannot be delivered because they haven’t truly turned their will against it.
James 4:7 (NASB) says, “Submit therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
Let’s unpack that:
- To submit to God means to surrender your thoughts, actions, and desires fully to His lordship. It’s not passive, it’s a willing alignment with God’s truth and authority in every area of your life.
- To resist the devil means to reject his influence, close the doors you once opened to him, and say a firm, final goodbye to the strongmen. It requires cutting ties and walking away and not lingering in places you once felt bound.
When we dismantle the environments, behaviors, and mindsets that allowed those strongmen to stay, they have no choice but to flee. Light always drives out darkness.
Christian Deliverance Prayer Template
- Repent: Ask for forgiveness and forgive yourself. Set your will firmly against the strongman and turn your life and actions in the opposite direction from this problem.
- Apply Jesus’ Blood: Claim the forgiveness available through His sacrifice. “Jesus, I apply your blood to my life. Cover all my sins.”
- Bind The Things That Hinder: Say, “I bind _____. Leave my soul. Leave my life! And I loose peace, love, joy, etc. into my life.” Take a deep breath.
- Ask Jesus for Healing: “Jesus, I ask you to heal my mind, my heart, my soul, my body, my spirit.”
- Give Thanks: Don’t forget to express gratitude for your freedom.
Your Choice: Remain or Leave?
The people in my dream had the power to leave, but they chose to stay comfortable with their captors. They treated their bondage as familiar, even friendly.
What about you? What strongholds have you bound in prayer but continue to entertain? What captors have you made comfortable in your life?
True freedom doesn’t just require binding the strongman, it demands that you pack your bags and leave his house entirely.
The door is open. The choice is yours.
A Deliverance Prayer: Breaking Free Completely
Heavenly Father,
I come to You in the name of Jesus, my Savior and Deliverer. I thank You for the power of His blood, shed for my complete freedom. I confess any sin that has given the enemy access to my life, and I repent now fully and without excuse. I choose to turn away from every agreement I’ve made, knowingly or unknowingly, with darkness.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I bind every strongman that has held me captive, every spirit of fear, rejection, pride, heaviness, perversion, lying, and torment. I command you to leave me now. You no longer have any legal right to remain in my life. I close every open door, and I cancel every assignment against me by the blood of Jesus.
I choose to submit fully to God! I submit my thoughts, emotions, relationships, and behaviors. I resist the devil, and I declare that he must flee from me, just as Your Word promises (James 4:7).
Holy Spirit, I invite You to fill every place where darkness once lived. Fill me with Your peace, Your joy, and Your truth. Heal every wound. Restore every part of me that was broken or lost. Lead me out of the house of bondage and into the fullness of the freedom Jesus died to give me.
I declare today: I am free. I am whole. I am a child of God. I leave the house of the strongman, and I walk forward into Your light.
In Jesus’ mighty name,
Amen.
Thanks for reading and walking this deeper journey with me.
Cynthia Johnson
Deeper Walk Ministries, Inc.
Related Posts:
- 5 Keys for Winning the Warfare In Your Mind: Victory From the Inside Out: Find Encouragement , healing, & purpose from the inside out, even in a weary, overlooked season.
- Keys to Freedom and Deliverance in Christ: There is freedom and deliverance in Christ from all things that come against you! Use these keys to obtain the life you were meant to live!
- 7 Keys to Take Authority Over Your Thoughts for Spiritual Growth: Find freedom from negative thinking & take authority over your thoughts. Learn 7 practical keys to renew your mind for peace, love, & joy.
- Keeping the Snakes Away: Emotional Healing & Spiritual Growth: Emotional clutter provides fertile soil for the enemy to attack our lives. Learn practical steps for emotional healing and spiritual growth.
- 7 Things That Hinder Seeing Myself Like God Sees Me: How does God see you? Because we live in a sin-soaked world many things can hinder us from seeing ourselves as God sees us.
