Deliverance Prayer

[Chrysostom]

You speak of witchcraft and spells, of binding and rebuking, as though the battle were waged against flesh and blood and the outward devices of a woman. But the Apostle teaches that the works of the flesh, adultery, fornication, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, proceed not from another's craft but from a depraved moral choice. Wherefore he says, "They which practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Do not then imagine that the evil lies only in her seductions or the children she bears; rather, look first to the soil of your own soul, that you may not bring forth briars of resentment and malice dressed by the enemy.

You ask that all spells be canceled and that the yoke of the devil be removed. Yet what stronger spell is there than a heart consumed with bitterness, rehearsing another's sins day and night? That one you name has done wickedly, and none can excuse her breaking of a marriage; but you are commanded to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Do you pray for her conversion or for her ruin? The Lord permits thorns to grow not so that we might curse them, but that by bearing them we might be crowned.
Let your prayer be rather that God grant her repentance, that the eyes of her understanding be opened to the shame of her deeds. For as the Apostle writes, deliverance from evil and adoption as sons come through Christ alone, who took our curse. He did not decline the agony of death, though His soul was troubled, because He saw the profit. In like manner, if you truly lay hold of the promise, you will find in this trial not a cause for endless warfare but an occasion to despise the world’s comforts and cleave to God.

You speak of heaviness and harassment. I say to you: why mourn as one without hope? God is jealous for your love, and often He removes earthly props, peace, reputation, even a home, so that you may learn to place no safety in mortals. If you wail for the injustice, you wail because your hope was set on men, not on the One who blesses the earth and commands it to bring forth fruit. The farmer does not stir the soil; it is God who gives the increase. Likewise, He alone heals the wounds of the wronged, and He does so when we entrust vengeance to Him. Do not make your mouth a sewer by rehearsing the woman’s crimes, for that makes you no different from a demoniac, lost to shame.

Set yourself to the offices that become a disciple: feeding the hungry, protecting the injured, showing mercy to the fatherless. Let your speech be seasoned with grace, not with binding and rebuking as though you wielded power over demons by your own word. The blood of Christ cleanses your conscience from dead works, not to be used as a weapon against those who wrong you. Resist the devil, yes, by submitting to God in humility, by casting out the envy and wrath that defile you. Then, even if the provocation remains, you will stand above the storm, set on high by Him who has overcome the world.

Cease then from enumeration of evils and from standing on verses as though they were charms. Receive instead the blessing that comes from God alone: the peace that passes understanding, the healing that restores the years the locusts have eaten. And if she persists in her sin, leave her to the judgment of the Lord, who renders to each according to his works. Your part is to forgive, to cleanse your heart, and to pray, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." In this you will find deliverance far greater than any you have yet sought.

 

[Silas]

You have brought a heavy and tangled situation before the Lord, and it is right to bring it to him rather than to carry it alone. Broken marriage vows, a pregnancy through adultery, and children caught in the middle are not small sorrows. God sees it all, and nothing is hidden from him.

But let me help you pray with clean hands. The passages you have gathered are not formulas for controlling another person. They are invitations to trust the Judge of all the earth. You can ask for conviction and correction, but then leave room for God's justice and his mercy. Vengeance belongs to him.

Remember David. He was called a man after God's own heart, yet he was far from perfect. What set him apart was not that he had no enemies or no sin. It was that he kept turning his heart back to God. Do the same. Ask the Lord to search your own heart. Prolonged exposure to this kind of betrayal can plant bitterness, fear, and a desire to see the other person destroyed. Those become strongholds just as real as any other. The battle is not against flesh and blood, and the first stronghold to pull down may be the one growing in you.

Pray for the woman's repentance, not only for her ruin. Jesus's ministry was always restoration: restoring bodies wrecked by illness and lives wrecked by sin. That restoration begins with conviction, but it aims at salvation. Pray that she would see the error of her way and turn. Pray for the man as well, because he is not merely a victim. He broke covenant. The children are not weapons. They are children, and they need truth and stability, not to be named as agents of harm in your prayers.

Set firm boundaries. Do not keep tracking her, rehearsing the offense, or attempting to bind her as if you have spiritual authority over her. You have authority to submit to God, resist the devil, and ask for protection. Let those requests be simple and surrendered. Pray for your own healing and peace, and for every person harmed, including those children.

The Bible describes turning from the Lord as spiritual adultery. In this season, be careful that the offense does not become so large that it takes the place of God in your imagination. Your devotion, your thoughts, your waking hours can be consumed by another person's sin, and that is its own kind of drifting. Take earnest heed to the things you have heard, and do not let this sorrow carry you away from the simplicity of trusting Christ.

Jesus offered prayers with strong crying and tears to the one able to save him from death, and he was heard. Bring your tears to him. He is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, not after a system of retribution. He intercedes for you, and he is able to restore what has been broken.

May the Lord guard your heart, give you wisdom to separate from what is evil, and fill you with his peace rather than a spirit of war.