Identifying and Closing Open Doors
When ministering deliverance, begin the interview process with questions about relationships, specifically about the person’s mother and father, and continue from there. Look for areas where forgiveness may be necessary, where repentance may help break bondage. Look for hurts, sins, feelings of rejection or fear. Any hurts that are revealed will need to be acknowledged and forgiven. Consider whether a curse is involved if the person has persistent difficulty in an area of life. Also, remember that fear is an entry point for many different spirits and an underlying problem in many illnesses.
Look for open doors stemming from areas such as sex, trauma, addiction, curses, emotions, illness or the occult. Do not hurry this process; be patient, looking for demonic manifestations and the open doors they are coming through.
When you feel that the Holy Spirit has revealed everything, you are ready to begin closing the open doors. If possible during the interview process, have someone keep notes of all the doors that need to be closed. Remember, only one person should minister deliverance. All other team members should pray silently.
The process of closing doors always begins with forgiveness. Rather than asking the person who they need to forgive, ask them what hurts they have. Start by having the person forgive all those who have hurt them. It is important to be specific. Because it can often be painful to relive past hurts, provide comfort, hope, protection and love.
After all hurts have been revealed and forgiven, have the person release to God each and every person who has hurt them. If the person you are praying for is unable to forgive, do not proceed with deliverance; forgiveness must be given in order to be received. Bondage can be broken only when forgiveness is given.
If the person is able to forgive others, then they are ready to take the next step, which is to seek forgiveness for their own sins. They will receive forgiveness through this process of confession and repentance.
Have the person renounce in the name of Jesus all sins or spirits involved. This is the time when they must renounce all sex partners outside of marriage; and any inner vows, pacts or curses must be renounced and broken. Renunciation must be audible and spoken firmly; renunciation is not a prayer to God but a command spoken to an enemy.
Remain persistent and patient as you close all doors that could lead to future bondage. The person ministering deliverance should break the yoke of bondage and the power of any spirit. This closes the door. Declare, for example: “In the name of Jesus, I break the power of the spirits(s) of [name the spirit(s)] over [name] so that when they are cast out, they will not come back.”
Praying for deliverance is something that must be done with encouragement, acceptance and love. To deliver someone, demons must be driven away and access doors closed to prevent the return of the evil spirits. Access doors can be opened by hurts, sins and unforgiveness, and access doors will remain open if these feelings are not dealt with in a hopeful, loving way. Here are a few steps to guide believers through the deliverance process:
