“He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.” Psalm 107:20

I have not written about deliverance prior to this day. I existed in an environment for many years where even the mention of the word would get people all up in arms. It made people jittery. Why did I pursue deliverance?

I think I came to the realization at some point in my life that deliverance was still for today. At a conference I saw demons manifest and my wife and I just looked at each other and she said, “Is that demonic?” Yep, it was.

When I pursued training in healing and deliverance, I was already thoroughly convinced that it was both biblical and necessary, not for every single person, mind you. I could see how some problems had a spiritual root that could not simply be counseled away. Then what to do?

Training was a way of “how to.” Even the Roman Catholic church recognizes the rite of exorcism, although seldom used. There is no single method or formula. When I examined the different ways people practice deliverance, I found plenty of commonality, just variations in approach. Some spoke to demons, some used formulaic assertions and some had their own unique way of doing it.

Although I was trained a certain way, I no longer do it that way because it made certain people uncomfortable. Not everyone is comfortable having a demon speak through them. Nor is it necessary. I found word of knowledge quite effective in casting out what was there. Then I eventually moved to simply laying hands on people.

What about setting people free through the word of God? After all, the Bible says that the truth shall set you free. Can we set people free simply through the word? A word fitly spoken can set people free in a myriad of ways.

Sometimes we can do more through speaking the prophetic destiny over people’s lives than trying to figure out what is wrong with them and getting them delivered from that.

Some time ago I had a pastor approach my team for inner healing. He thought he had fallen short, needed to confess and receiving cleansing. Instead the Spirit of the Lord took over and I started prophesying life into him, much to the surprise of myself and the team. The Lord had a different agenda for him.

By Ralph Veenstra