Honestly, I still don’t fully get what deliverance is supposed to look like. Is it actually mentioned in the Bible?
So my big question is whether there’s solid scriptural backing for it. A lot of it (if I’m being real) seems more rooted in tradition than anything I can pin to a specific passage. Which doesn’t automatically make it wrong, but it makes me cautious.
Yes, deliverance is in the Bible. Jesus casts out spirits throughout Mark, and Paul does it in Acts 16 and its in the Psalms too, where David asks God to deliver him from his enemies. It’s just something Jesus and the apostles did.
A lot of what gets called deliverance ministry today, like the long lists of generational curses and the shouting sessions, is just tradition built on top of a few passages but there’s no specific verse for quite a lot of it.
The biblical version is mostly just Jesus speaks and it’s done.
Yes. Deliverance is in the Bible and it shows up quite a lot. Jesus even has us pray “deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13). Paul asks who will deliver him from this body of death, then points to Jesus Christ (Romans 7:24-25).
Yes, it’s 
% biblical.
The Exodus is God rescuing his people from slavery and Colossians 1:13 says Christ delivers us from the domain of darkness and brings us into his kingdom. So in the Bible, deliverance can mean rescue from sin, judgment, danger or spiritual oppression. Casting out demons is one piece of a bigger picture. With any ‘deliverance ministry’ I’d ask the same things.
Mark has a few spots where it takes more than one command. In Mark 5 he asks the spirit its name, and then there’s a whole back-and-forth about the pigs. And in Mark 9 he says that ‘this kind can come out only by prayer’ which sounds like some cases took longer.
Acts 16 has Paul putting up with the slave girl for ‘many days’ before he finally turns and addresses the spirit.
Also separate David asking for deliverance from his enemies in the Psalms from casting out spirits. Two different uses of the same English word.
Deliverance in the Bible covers more than casting out demons. It includes being rescued from evil and, in the end, from sin and death. The wording in Matthew can also be read as ‘the evil one,’ so there’s a real spiritual enemy in view in Jesus’ prayer.
Paul’s answer in Romans is Jesus Christ himself. Romans 8 then goes on to freedom from condemnation and life through the Spirit.
After I was delivered, the nightmares stopped. I’d had them almost every night my whole life, and in every single one people were trying to kill me.
Something physical happened too. My husband had his hand on my head when something bit him (his words), hard enough that he yanked it away for a second… But he put it back and finished.
Try calling on the Lord for help with another believer.
I was dealing with anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, porn addiction, the whole mess. Even reading my Bible or sitting in church wore me out… And I’ve always believed in Jesus. Lukewarm maybe (I’ll admit that).
But something came out of me that day. Haven’t struggled with any of it since.