"Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." (Matthew 17.20-21, NKJV)I've know this verse by heart for years, because fasting has always been one of the hang-ups in my discipline, and I know that as a healer, I must make peace with that and have seasons where I practice it. For those of you who well enough know your Bible, and are not familiar with the last sentence, it might be because it has actually been removed from many translations. Some versions even go so far as to jump from verse 20 to 22. I only realized this upon preparing to cite the scripture, and I thought I was losing my mind when I could not find it! Not the NIV, NLT, MSG, or ESV - all my favourite Bibles - had it. So, I went to the king of Bibles, pun intended. The King James Version is my general go-to translation when I am confused about a passage. I cannot emphasize the relief I felt when I finally found verse 21. This is a huge recognition that I must process now, and that will be for another day.
In the meantime, the purpose of this piece to to help those who are preparing to perform, or have performed, an exorcism. My priest is an exorcist, and he told me that what they show in the movies is nothing compared to what happens in real life. I would like to note here that anyone can perform exorcisms in the name of Jesus Christ, just as anyone can baptize new believers in the formula of the Trinity. That said, there are perimeters that ought to be understood, because there are consequences to telling a spirit where to go.
Upon some light research and reaching out to those who know more than me, I made some discoveries. Once I got some second-hand information which matched up to my own experiences, the purpose became a bit more clear. This is a means to provide help to those who are considering performing an exorcism and are afraid of the side-effects, or those who have performed one and need a bit of consolation and affirmation of character now. The one thing that I needed the most after preforming my first exorcism was being told that I am still a good person, because the first response of the enemy will be to attack the integrity of the person.
The problem is that the symptoms cannot be pinpointed; it will just look like you're having a bad day or feeling a little moody. Once I reached out and connected with people, I realized that my character was being assaulted as a desperate attempt to bring me down and in knowing that, it no longer had power over me. Below are some symptoms that might be experienced, and my goal here is to show: a) There is nothing to be afraid of, and, b) Once identified, it is easy to over-throw. So here they are:
- Depression
- Frustration
- Exhaustion
- Physical glitches
- Aversion to Christ and the Bible
These are the symptoms that I experienced, and are quite clever weapons of the devil because it does two things: a) Makes us believe it is not worth it and to give up, and, b) Are disguised as just everyday moods that anyone can experience so the point of inception is easy to miss. But once it is understood that the practitioner cannot actually be hurt, there comes a relief:
- Confidence with identity in Christ
- Connection to others
- Exhaustion become safe relaxation time
- Physical reparation through diet or supplements
- Strong witnessing of the Gospel
Please note that the points that I have mentioned are from a passive exorcism. Not much prep time went into it and I would not attempt a formal procedure without the preparation of fasting and prayer. I am not qualified to write on standard exorcism, which I consider guerrilla warfare to be left for the mercenaries and professionals.
What we take on during an exorcism cannot affect us the way we might fear. With the proper information, we can in fact do what the apostles did, and help transform communities through this method of spiritual warfare. Please note that we perform these rituals out of love and compassion, not out of duty. Exorcisms are not the go-to for loving thy neighbour, there are other ways to do that. There must be a strength in the practitioner that this is worth it. And that is how we will stay safe afterward.
What we take on during an exorcism cannot affect us the way we might fear. With the proper information, we can in fact do what the apostles did, and help transform communities through this method of spiritual warfare. Please note that we perform these rituals out of love and compassion, not out of duty. Exorcisms are not the go-to for loving thy neighbour, there are other ways to do that. There must be a strength in the practitioner that this is worth it. And that is how we will stay safe afterward.
During moments of uncertainty in what step to take, I have learnt that sometimes just being a person's friend is the best form of healing that we can provide. And remember, if something is taking us away from God, we are not in our right mind and there is something much more devious happening than a bad day.
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