Deliverance versus Exorcism

By Evangelist Stephen Piersall
God's Preservation Ministry, sfprs.org

First thing to identify is exorcism is Catholic based, and non-Catholics do deliverance sessions. Both provide the same result in removing demons from people’s lives, by the name of Jesus Christ our LORD and Savior. Deliverance has more focus on the inner healing, starting with Salvation, and ending with Christian counseling with follow-up of how your life is revolving around God.

An exorcism occurs by following the “Ritual Rite of Exorcism – 1999." Turn 1999 upside down and you can see 666. Things that make you go Hmmmmm?

Approval is required at the highest level of the Catholic chain of command before this procedure is accomplished. An exorcism is a specific ritual and is already composed so that the Priest and his assistants can follow in the systematic process.

Only one case has transpired that a person has died during this procedure. Most often referred to as “The Exorcism of Emily Rose," which is the true story of Anneliese Michel from the mid 1970’s. Because her exorcism was heavily indwelled with many top demons, many Priests had been involved over the years, and unfortunately, she eventually died of malnutrition and pneumonia.

Sometimes with difficult cases like this, the Bible tells us, we must pray and fast for a period, until God gives us the wisdom and discernment of how to proceed. Here is a partial list of common symptoms of diabolical possession contrary to psychological sickness; Ineffectiveness of medicine, opposition to what is sacred, susceptibility to holy water and blessings, violent, furious and aggressive reactions.

If a psychiatrist is taking too much time to heal the mentally sick and his medicines seem to be ineffective, it is better for the psychologist to recommend the patient to see an exorcist. Sometimes, demons can impair an individual, which creates a mental illness. The only other option, which is rarely used, is to seek out a Priest.

Since involving yours truly with Deliverance ministry since 2010 and have accomplished many cases since, that evidence bears out that often cases are different from another. Deliverance ministry gets into the root of how it started. With God’s Preservation Ministry (sfprs.org/), we believe in research first. We have every potential client complete a consent form to protect us legally and a lengthy questionnaire of their past. This gives us a solid foundation to start to commence. Often there are hidden issues that are deeply buried within the client and do not appear until the Deliverance session.

Today, because of Satan’s influence with the media: TV, movies, music, literature, video games, etc. We endanger ourselves to evil and on many levels, and you can get your five minutes of fame by becoming one of many Para-celebrities. Which in 1984, the movie “Ghostbusters” came out and everybody wanted to do ghost hunting despite Deuteronomy 18:9-15 showing us it is sinful.

Because of all that, “we” have to be careful and have some certainty with clients coming forward asking for help. Are they seeking fame? Are they mentally ill? Are they really possessed or oppressed? Thus, the in-depth research we do with every single case. Most importantly, we must be right with God, and prepare ourselves with prayer, fasting, and using all of our senses and working with a minimum of two people at all times.

Demonic spirits are all around us every day looking for an opportunity to start trouble. The most common method is they have a “Legal Right” to be within a person. This is a direct violation of the laws of scripture. This “entry point” is because the person is emotionally or spiritually weak. In the case of a person not being a Christian, they are large targets for the demonic to possess them. Christians can only suffer from oppression by evil because of their sins.

If the person decides they need deliverance, they will have to make some lifestyle changes. Daily habits of praying, reading the Bible, forgiving others, doing the best they can at their stage of a relationship with Jesus, try to be Christ like, etc. The person must deal with these areas of sin by closing these entryways, and receive inner healing from God before we can perform a deliverance session.

God loves us, and wants us to demonstrate adulation to him too. Completing the deliverance session and continuing the pursuit of a Christian lifestyle will bring about life changes in our attitude, spiritually, mentally in life. The rewards are many for those who walk the straight and narrow. The main goal of deliverance, or any healing ministry, is not simply to experience the power of Jesus or even to fight against and defeat evil. It is to minister the love of God. Jesus used his power to show his love as illustrated in the four Gospels. Jesus is a great role model for us on how we should conform.