How to Cast Out Demons: A Spirit-Filled Guide to Spiritual Authority and Deliverance

Demons are sneaky creatures. Remember, they are territorial, and they do not want to give up their human hosts.

They enjoy their evil behavior, so they are adept at making evil look very good.

That is why every believer needs to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. We must be filled with the Spirit and emptied of ourselves. Jesus said, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth…” (John 16:13 NKJV).

One of the most important gifts in dealing with demons is the discerning of spirits. With this gift, the Holy Spirit gives us the supernatural ability to discern if a person is operating with the human spirit, God’s Spirit, or a demonic spirit.

The discerning of spirits keeps us from operating under the “gift of suspicion.” The discerning of spirits guards against believing or generating gossip or saying something false against a brother or sister.

When the Spirit shows us demonic strongholds in another person, it is for one of two reasons: to warn us of deception or to cast it out.

In Acts 16:17 (NKJV), the apostle Paul was accosted by a slave girl with a spirit of divination. She was used to make money for her owner by telling fortunes. This girl began to follow Paul everywhere he preached, crying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.”

She may have been shouting the right thing. In many Pentecostal or Charismatic churches throughout the world, she would be welcomed to shout that very thing. But she was using her true words to disrupt the preaching of the gospel and distract the listeners from hearing the truth. The spirit behind the shout was demonic.

Let’s take a look at a medical case in Scripture—a case caused by deaf and dumb spirits:

Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid (Mark 9:17-18 NLT).

This evil spirit caused the young boy all kinds of torment and pain, but when Jesus cast the devil out, He called it a “deaf and dumb” spirit. It was violent; it was evil—but it identified as a deaf and dumb spirit.

This same spirit was said to have caused the boy seizures, causing many to believe the demon caused epilepsy (Matthew 17:14-18).

As we study this one case, we find that many of the behaviors we see in our world may be caused by demon spirits who have claimed human bodies as their homes. This one passage describes seizures, deafness, muteness, violent, self-harming behaviors, and foaming at the mouth.

Often, sad souls are misdiagnosed by the medical profession and are given medication to mask the symptoms without dealing with the root causes, which may or may not be demon spirits.

That’s why Jesus strongly upbraided His disciples. If they were going to preach His message of Truth and deliverance, they would need to be able to discern and cast out devils. He went on to say that this very important skill would be birthed out of their own times of prayer and fasting.

I started on my journey in this lesson during my first assignment in ministry in the Bronx. Not only was I the administrator of the Christian school, but because the staff was limited, the pastor asked me to also serve on the pastoral team. Those duties were auxiliary to the pastor, but the congregation became quite familiar with me. My last name was immediately recognized by many in the congregation.

One day, I was invited to one of those parishioners’ homes for dinner. Upon my arrival, the hostess told me at the front door, “There is a demon-possessed woman sitting in the living room. Since you are a Schambach, would you please cast it out before we eat supper?”

My face was incredulous. I believe I saw my hostess smile a little out of the corner of her mouth. It felt like a test—it most definitely was a test—and I failed miserably.

One thing about Schambachs, if you give us a challenge, we most likely will not back down. We must at least try. So, into the living room I went.

There, sitting on the sofa, was an island woman. She was well over 6 feet tall, and her weight was every bit of 300 pounds. This giant woman had a blank stare and a very dark look in her eyes.

I started with, “Hello, how are you?” No answer.

“My name is Donna.” Still no answer.

“I’ve come to pray with you today. Is that alright?”

She sat on that couch like a giant monolith. I turned toward the kitchen, thinking, well, at least I tried, but the look returned to me by my hostess said, “You’d better not be giving up so easily!”

I have to admit, I was so wet behind the ears they were dripping with sweat. I had seen A.A. Allen do it as a child. Many times, I watched my own father do it—but I knew nothing about casting out devils. I didn’t know the devil’s name; I didn’t know how many there were; all I knew was this woman certainly looked the part.

My novice mind thought, well, if she looks the part of a demon-possessed person, I will look the part of a deliverance minister!

So, I became serious. Saying something like, “Satan, in the name of Jesus, I take authority over you.” (I had heard similar addresses coming from my dad, but I had no idea my theology was quite off the mark.)

That devil wasn’t impressed. I used every phrase I had heard from those I knew. “You foul spirit. I adjure you by Jesus. You are coming out today!”

It was as if the woman and the devils that possessed her were deaf. No reaction, no budging, no movement—certainly, no deliverance.

I then got physical. I went from laying my hand on her shoulder, to her head—trying to shake the devil out.

Nothing.

Then I went a little Pentecostal crazy—I patted her on the back like I was burping a baby and put my hand on her face, trying to squeeze the devil out.

Well, of course, nothing moved. Nothing left. The only change was my overwhelming feeling of defeat and embarrassment. I felt just like those disciples in Matthew 17 must have felt! Every cell of my spirit was screaming, why couldn’t I cast that devil out?

I learned an important lesson that day: devils don’t respond to our words; they respond to the authority in our voices.

The Lord gave me another experience with deliverance about six months after that. I was preparing for midweek service and was in prayer when the Spirit of God overwhelmed me with a spirit of intercession. I knew I was praying for someone, but I didn’t know who.

When I arrived at church, I was a little late, so I sat in the back row. The pastor had already started with the service. That night, he called for people who needed prayer before he taught.

I noticed a woman on the far side of the room who was unusually loud. Her spirit was crying out to God for deliverance. When I looked up, the pastor was motioning me to go pray with her.

As I approached her, I very quietly put my arm around her shoulder. The Spirit of God spoke through me in a whisper, directly into her ear: “In the name of Jesus, I command you lying spirit to come out and turn her loose.”

No sooner had I uttered those words than she screamed and fell directly back onto the concrete floor. That thing instantly left—she stood up a few minutes later with a broad smile on her face—she was completely free.

Oh, praise God! It was not the volume of my voice. It was not a premeditated phrase. It was the Spirit of the Living God who had prepared my spirit all afternoon, and He hit the target that night in the church service. He knew it was a lying spirit that was bringing that woman torment.

The Holy Spirit is the One who takes the cloak off every demon hiding in human beings. The more we work with Him, the more we will begin to recognize those terrorizing imps—and quickly command them to leave.

In my book, I reveal the myriad personalities demons can take on—not to give them undue time—but to continue to pull back the curtain and expose them, once and for all.