Challenges We See in Deliverance

Discerning Wisely: The Real Challenges We Face When People with Mental Health Diagnoses Come for Deliverance

Discerning Wisely: The Real Challenges We Face When People Seek Deliverance

The Lord has brought many precious souls across my path. I've seen genuine freedom and transformation when people come hungry for a breakthrough. Yet one of the most consistent patterns I encounter involves those struggling with what the world labels as schizophrenia, dissociative disorders, anxiety disorders, and depressive disorders.

These cases demand deep humility, prolonged prayer, and sharp spiritual discernment. A minister with a solid reputation does not chase dramatic displays or promise instant fixes. We listen carefully to the Holy Spirit, test every spirit (1 John 4:1), and address the root issues with wisdom and compassion.

Schizophrenia: Voices, Visions, and Spiritual Strongholds

Many who come for deliverance describe hearing voices, seeing entities, or battling intrusive thoughts and paranoia. 

What I commonly observe:

• The voices frequently behave like unclean spirits—mocking, blaspheming, commanding self-harm, or speaking lies that torment the person day and night.
• There is often a history of occult involvement, sin, or deep trauma that opened doors to demonic influence.
• Some individuals have been heavily medicated for years, yet the spiritual torment continues because the demonic root has never been confronted directly.

My approach: We do not treat this lightly. Through persistent prayer and commanding spirits to leave in Jesus' name, I have seen many set free from the voices and delusions. The key is identifying and renouncing the specific legal grounds—unforgiveness, occult ties, or soul ties—and closing those doors completely. Freedom often comes in layers, requiring follow-up ministry and strong discipleship to maintain it.

Dissociative Disorders: Fragmented Souls and Hidden Strongmen

Dissociation, including what some call multiple personalities or alters, is another area where spiritual realities are clearly at work. People describe losing time, switching between different "parts," or feeling detached from their own body and reality.

My approach: We work gently but authoritatively. The Holy Spirit helps us identify the core trauma and the demonic strongmen attached to each part. We invite Jesus into those wounded places, break soul ties and covenants, and see the fragments integrate under the lordship of Christ. This is delicate inner healing combined with deliverance. When done with patience and love, Remarkable restoration of the whole person is possible.

Anxiety and Depressive Disorders: Spirits of Fear and Heaviness

These are the most frequent issues brought to deliverance rooms. Panic attacks, constant worry, overwhelming sadness, suicidal thoughts, and emotional numbness often feel like a dark cloud that will not lift.

What I regularly encounter:

• A spirit of fear or heaviness that operates like a python, squeezing the life and joy out of the person.
• Deep roots in unforgiveness, occult exposure, generational patterns of depression, or words spoken over the individual that became curses.
• Many have been in cycles of counseling or medication with only partial relief because the spiritual dimension was never addressed.

My approach: We go after the spirits directly. Through repentance, renunciation, and commanding the spirits of fear, anxiety, depression, and death to leave, people often experience immediate and lasting relief. We also break word curses, heal soul wounds, and teach the person how to walk in their authority in Christ. Maintaining freedom requires renewing the mind with Scripture and resisting the enemy when he tries to return.

Key Challenges in Ministering to These Cases

1. Layers Upon Layers
   These conditions rarely have a single root. Deliverance often unfolds over multiple sessions as deeper issues surface.
2. Expectation Management
   Some arrive believing one prayer line will fix everything. True freedom usually involves commitment to the process, ongoing prayer life, and obedience to God.
3. Discernment is Everything
   Not every thought or emotion is demonic, but when torment is present and persistent, we must confront the spiritual realm boldly. A good minister knows when to press in and when to wait on the Lord.
4. The Battle for Maintenance
   After deliverance, the enemy often tries to return with seven more spirits (Matthew 12:43-45). Strong biblical grounding, accountability, and continued warfare are essential.

The Heart of This Ministry

People with these struggles are not "crazy" or hopeless. They are often under heavy demonic attack, and the Church has a responsibility to bring the full power of the Gospel to set them free. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), and that includes every spirit causing torment in the mind and emotions.

Those who have come through deliverance will need to renew their minds and continue to tear down the things in their lives that exalt themselves against Christ. My book Battleground of the Mind is available here for free, and it can help guide you as you renew your mind.

If you are struggling in these areas, know that genuine freedom is possible through the name and blood of Jesus Christ. It requires faith, perseverance, and total surrender to Him."The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor… to set at liberty those who are oppressed." — Luke 4:18