Done Properly and In An Orderly Manner

During a conference in Texas I was having a freedom appointment with a young lady. A doctor’s wife was my prayer partner. It was a very difficult case, and I had to be very careful not to lose control of the session. The inquirer was constantly being distracted, but I was able help her focus on what we were doing and she left the appointment gloriously free.

The doctor’s wife was so blessed, because she had experienced a “power encounter” herself in the past. She had requested some time with a visiting evangelist to her church. She ended up with her back to the wall with him shouting at demons to come out of her. She said, I was petrified, and I wondered why he wasn’t talking to me. How you helped this young lady today makes so much more sense, and the process isn’t traumatic, like it was for me.

When I was teaching at Talbot School of Theology, I heard of a school teacher who was dismissed for trying to help a student who was under demonic oppression. The school was threatened with a law suit by the parents. I realized that the classic power encounter approach was not going to be embraced by any professional counselor, and by most ministries. Some are fearful, and others are afraid of losing control, or being sued. So I pursued a means to resolve personal and spiritual conflicts in such a way that was wholistic, that included God, didn’t bypass the inquirer, and maintained control through the whole process.

The devil will seek to work covertly. He wants to do his work without anyone knowing it. As soon as he is exposed, he reverts to a pretense of power, and it becomes “show time.” The goal is to frighten the encourager who then responds in the flesh. Encouragers can avoid all this if they abide in Christ. In the midst of spiritual confusion, the Apostle Paul wrote, “But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner” (1 Cor. 14:40).

Dr. Neil

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