Driving Out Devils
Wrestling with the spirit of death
“Did you hear that she was found dead under a bridge in town?”
“He took his own life last week.”
These words are so difficult to hear and it’s especially hard to look into the eyes of the staff in the shelters who say it. There’s a deep sense of hopelessness that lays behind the composure helpers are supposedly expected to maintain. But the eyes of the soul betray the helplessness of such moments as the realities of human choices choke you.
“Since 2010, suicide rates have risen 91 percent for American boys and 167 percent for girls, while emergency room visits for self-harm have risen 48 percent for boys and 188 percent for girls.” -Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
A spirit of death stalks us.
Earlier this month as LeeElla and I were talking before the men’s chapel service at Union Gospel Mission she told me she had strongly sensed that there was a spirit of death at work in someone’s life at chapel. She isn’t one for overly dramatic pronouncements, so I knew she was attuned to a particular spiritual battle.
She worshiped in her usual Davidic manner: full of the Holy Spirit skill and the zeal of the Lord. We ended that evening grateful for lives touched by the love, truth and power of Jesus but keenly aware that this is war. Victories do not mean vanquished enemies.
“Whenever God allowed the evil spirit to afflict Saul, David would play the harp, Saul would be relieved of his torment, and the evil spirit would depart.” -1 Samuel 16:23
What God allows in a series of events in someone’s life is a gordian knot that I cannot and will not try to understand. I simply trust in the way and words of Jesus as the response I’m told to follow.
Matthew 8:16-17 “When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.”
Luke 10:36-37 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Jesus is the way and his disciples followed.
Acts 8:6-8 “When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city.”
I have witnessed this type of deliverance in our ministry. This is war and the enemy is like a roaring lion roaming about seeking whom he can devour (1 Peter 5:8).
Death stalks us.
Hebrews 2:14-15 “Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.”
The joy God wants to bring to our cities is real too. His people need to be equipped to fight these battles. But the war is fought hand to hand. Prayer prepares you to face the enemies of God, but proclamation confronts evil. We must go to the battle lines.
All are called to this kingdom work. Maybe you won’t be the proclaimer, but you can pray for men and women who respond. Almost every night of outreach people leave chapel without someone praying with them because we do not have enough folks with us to attend to all the needs in the room. I am so grateful for those who do show up but I know there are weapons of war yet to be fully released in this brutal battle.
“Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”-Jesus(Matt. 9:37-38
I ask myself if the two individuals who are dead now didn’t get prayer and counsel the night we were there? Did I pray enough? Do I pray earnestly? Did I hesitate to follow an impression to pursue that person sitting there too afraid to come forward, but obviously wrestling with the weight on their soul?
Matthew 26:40-41 “Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!””
Pray with me:
Oh God our flesh is weak, let the willing spirit deep within us prevail in these easily distracted and delusional times. Help us to tarry with You in the work, to not give up or give in to the multitude of sins, excuses and compromises that weaken our resolve. Hold us to our commitments when we forget why you saved us and why you’ve sent us. Rally the workers, convict the watchers and rebuke the entertainers for the sake of the souls of those in desperate need of Jesus. Forgive us for our negligence, cleanse our hands and hearts of anything that deadens or deafens us to the call of Christ and the cry of the suffering. In Jesus name, amen.
“Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.” -2 Corinthians 8:11
All endeavors start whth “eager willingness” but the real commitment is the faithful completion of it. “According to our means” is the grace given to all works because life happens, etc, but too many times we start with fire than fizzle out when the initial newness wears off and the real work demands duty be married to desire.
We are blessed with many faithful workers but we need more. Praying God will activate more workers and also send us more that are God-motivated to put their shoulder to the plows.
We need people who want to disciple others. People who want to reach new people and help them integrate into our life together. We need people who want to transport the transformed to church. We need workers who understand recovery and healing who will lead my plans for a “Living Free” aftercare, recovery ministry in our church.
"Victories do not mean vanquished enemies." Well said.
And these are grim statistics - Since 2010, suicide rates have risen 91 percent for American boys and 167 percent for girls, while emergency room visits for self-harm have risen 48 percent for boys and 188 percent for girls.” As sad as that is, this is saddest of all - "Almost every night of outreach people leave chapel without someone praying with them because we do not have enough folks with us to attend to all the needs in the room."