A friend asked me recently how I would deal with a person who was demonized and I said (this isn't nearly the only method but likely the most shocking and unexpected), if you can't find an adult who has confidence in their anointing and authority, then find some Spirit filled children to deal with it. Demons (like animals because of their beast nature) respond to fear. Just like an animal can smell fear and will attack, the demonic does as well and will find a place to attach where fear has gained a foothold. Children who are filled with the Holy Spirit can do such damage to the demonic because often they have no fear. I've seen youngsters cast out demons that would make adults stop, analyze, rationalize, and partner with a spirit of fear rendering them powerless in the moment. Strange but true.

My friend, Will, called me a few weeks ago saying that he had an assignment to deal with a person who was demonized. Will felt this overwhelming joy come over him and he just started laughing and the more he laughed the more angry the demon got until finally the man was delivered. Will got the revelation that the demonic is offended by joy. So here's the equation. Joy is the manifestation of liberty for where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty and in the Presence there is fullness of joy and pleasure forevermore. Demonic fear based religious systems take all of the fun out of, well, everything. Control kills liberty which is the soil in which joy grows. God is love and perfect love casts out fear so when we're in the presence we can choose to partner with love or fear. If we partner with fear it will manifest as control and abusive religious systems. If we partner with love it will manifest as empowerment and freedom and joy will flow. In that place, the demonic is automatically displaced. Demons don't care for a Holy Ghost party. As you recall, there wasn't a single demon that could crash the Acts 2 party.

So what happens when a church begins to see demonic manifestations? If the spirit of fear has a foothold, it may be that the demonic is drawn to and will manifest more often because it's got an initial platform of fear from which to operate. The initial method churches use is to try to ignore the problem hoping it will go away. That doesn't work, so they will have to train and equip people to deal with it. This starts an endless cycle of training and dealing, training and dealing, and that breeds people who can't remember the last time they experience the joy of the Lord. It's just flat exhausting. Police officers train to use weapons they hope they never will have to employ. They hope that their presence as a force in itself will be enough for the enemy to stand down. Everyone needs to be equipped, no doubt, but a police force assigned to an area will see that area overrun by crime if they are crippled by fear. The training Jesus gave the disciples in dealing with the demonic was very simple. Cast them out. How that end is reached is where the methods come in handy. However, the greater your anointing, the easier it becomes. Jesus just said, "Go." That would be the goal.

To clarify, the demonic is not to be ignored, but neither is it to be held as a force to be impressed with. Dealing with it doesn't need to be complicated if you have confidence in your anointing and authority. But in religious systems people lack the confidence in their anointing and authority because they've been told they "can't" over and over again. This is why empowering people (all ages, races, genders, etc...) is SUCH A BIG DEAL!!!