Sometimes God will deliver people with a snap of his fingers. In my experience with demonic oppression, victories happened little by little. I’ve learned this is more common as most people gain freedom by hanging onto Jesus, staying committed, trusting, and praying. Little by little they get free.
In my opinion, deliverance happens like this because it builds relationship, and creates intimacy. If we don’t need Jesus, then we might not cling to Him and in the end, clinging to Him is the safest place we can be.
“If you continue in my word, then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free…and if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:31-32
For a long time, I did not know any better than to live in defeat. I yielded to the evil spirits and got along as best I could with the fears and trials. I was playing right into the enemy’s plans. But, as God began showing me what was going on, I began to resist. I learned how to speak God’s word out loud and confess God’s plan for my life. I held tightly to this scripture:
“Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7
As I began to take authority over these evil spirits, they lost their hold. They disconnected and fell away. God brought me into a new place of fruitfulness and abundant life.
Many people give up or refuse to engage in spiritual warfare because they do not want to look at something that makes them afraid, but this simply gives demons more freedom to plat against them. That area you dread facing might be the most crucial area you need to fight. Satan wants you to cower from demonic torment. But, as you realize by now, if you fail to look at thoughts that come from demons, there can be no positive outcome. Self-Deliverance is a process of walking in the revelation and light that the Holy Spirit continues to give us. We get freer and stronger as we put God’s truth and principles into practice in our lives.
“I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land.” Exodus 23:30
When the disciples were having problems casting out particularly stubborn spirits out of a man, Jesus instructed them these could only come out through prayer and fasting. Sometimes God wants us to rely even more on Him.
In my experience, every individual circumstance has called me into a different kind of fast so be sure to ask the Holy Spirit which is best for your situation. Fasting can take many forms. Please check out my video on Fasting if you want more information on how or what kind of fast to do.
I’m going to share Rabbi Schneider’s encounter with God. After praying for about a year for an increase his peace, he had an encounter with God in his sleep. In his dream, he found himself is a lush forest, every spot around him overflowing with thick, green plants. Boulders seem to cocoon this scared place and plants were covering them as well. As the Rabbi stood in the richness, he began to experience billows of God’s peace rolling over his soul. They were like great waves pouring over him. Truly supernatural and unlike anything he had experienced before.
Then he sensed the Spirit of God leading him into the heart of the forest, where there was a simple wooden picnic table. The rabbi knew this table represented a place of even greater experience with the Holy Spirit. It represented union with Him. Suddenly, something unexpected entered the picture. A slice of pizza appeared about two inches from the rabbi’s nose. He was instantly captivated by this pizza as it was the most aromatic delight he had ever smelled in his life. The streaming melted cheese and herbs were tantalizing.
At this point, the rabbi became double-minded. On the one hand, he wanted to yield to the Spirit of God and be drawn to His table deeper in the forest. He knew if he did, he would experience more of God’s supernatural presence and peace. Yet, on the other hand, the pizza aroused his flesh. He was ravenous for it. The rabbi knew it was one or the other. He could yield to the Spirit of God or satisfy his own flesh. But then he had the thought that maybe he could strike a deal. Maybe it would be all right to have some pizza and then go enjoy the rich, deep presence of the Spirit of God.
As soon as he had that thought, the encounter with the Lord ended. The rabbi woke instantly, got on his knees begging God to forgive him. He had been longing and pray8ing for a year for God’s peace and right when it was offered, he traded it for the pleasure of the flesh.
The rabbi believes the lesson he received from this encounter was: when we choose not to follow the easy path of giving in to the flesh but deny ourselves in order to receive more of Him, we will be nourished by the Sprit and built up in our faith in Jesus.
We must be serious about getting free. If we are iffy about staying in the battle and not committed to winning it, we will not move into our full inheritance. This is not intended to put condemnation onto us but to help us understand persistence and the need to get tough. We must be live a life of prayer, which is constant communication with God.
One of the roughest areas for most people to get through in warfare is staying close to God when seeing things happen which we don’t understand. It is easy to trust God when all is going well; it is more likely that we doubt God’s provision and care when we see bad things happening to good people.
There was a time in my life when I looked around and saw good people facing hard battles. It was getting difficult to see evidence of God’s goodness in the lives of faithful people who served Him with loving hearts. I grew more and more discouraged. Everywhere I turned I saw pain, heartache and failure. I would read the words of Psalm 91 and think, ‘Lord, where are you in the person’s life? Where are Your promises? Why are things going so wrong for this one?’
After praying and pondering this, he felt The Lord speak to his heart:
“The reason you are seeing My people fail and fall is because they are not trusting in Me.”
He felt the urgency of clinging to God, living a lifestyle of fasting and prayer as we must aggressively press forward in the things we are believing God for.
*This article was taken almost directly from K.A. Schneider’s book, Self-Deliverance.
