The Peace Of Deliverance

The Peace of Deliverance

They arrived at the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out from a cemetery to meet him. This man lived among the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with a chain. Whenever he was put into chains and shackles—as he often was—he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him.

Mark 5:1-4

I was praying for a friend’s brother the other day, a man unable to break his addiction to alcohol. As I prayed, this passage from Mark’s Gospel came to mind. It felt as though the Holy Spirit was highlighting it so I would know how to pray. The man I was praying for isn’t psychotic, nor is he living in a cemetery. But like the demon-possessed man described in Mark’s Gospel, he is incredibly isolated, having little contact with family or friends.

Instead of being alarmed by the story, I felt encouraged. Why? Because I know that what Jesus did for the man in the Bible can still happen today. It was precisely in a place of isolation, bondage, and death that Christ reached out and delivered a man no one else could help. The devil must have thought he had a lock on this guy’s life. But then Jesus showed up and changed everything.

As I prayed, I could almost hear the Spirit saying, “See what I am capable of! I can reach the most unreachable person, changing a place of death into a place of life.” That’s how I am praying for my friend’s brother.

Chances are you have a few hopeless cases on your own prayer list, people whose lives seem to be hurtling toward physical and spiritual death. If that is the case, read Mark 5:1-20 and let the Holy Spirit build your faith, shaping the way you pray.

Lord, come with your power. Come with your love. Drive out the darkness and bring your light—a light that the darkness cannot overcome.