I once attended a seminar on the deliverance ministry conducted by the author and psychiatrist Kenneth McCall.
During the questions and answers three rather excitable women told Dr McCall that there was a witches coven meeting in their town and they wondered how to get rid of it.
Dr McCall was a very softly spoken man with a deep spirituality. He said quietly, “In my experience, in most cases, all that is necessary to rid a place of evil is for a small group of committed Christians to gather and pray silently together and then repeat the Lord’s Prayer together concentrating on the phrase, “Deliver Us From Evil.” He smile, “That usually works. Any further questions?”
I think the ladies were a bit disappointed. Perhaps they wanted a dramatic exorcism complete with spinning heads, levitations, holy water and amazing signs and wonders.
I have remembered Dr McCall’s answer and use the Lord’s Prayer as a weapon against evil. I also teach others to do the same.
Sometimes an exorcism is needed. In which case only a trained exorcist can perform the rite with the bishop’s permission.
However, all baptized Christians are called to be soldiers in the spiritual battle, and a conscious use of the Lord’s Prayer for deliverance is a practical, down to earth way to defeat evil.
We sometimes forget that a major dimension to the Lord’s ministry was his battle with Satan. From the moment of his baptism he is thrust out into the desert to confront the Father of Lies. Immediately we see him casting out demons, healing the sick of body, mind and spirit and finally through his cross and resurrection he tramples down the ancient foe once and for all.
He has given us the “Our Father” or “Paternoster” as a weapon in the war.
There are three phrases on which to concentrate. The first is “Forgive us our trespasses”. First we ask for forgiveness of our sins, and this is linked with our action of forgiveness directed towards others. As we say “as we forgive those who trespass against us” we are conductors for God’s forgiveness which flows through us to others. In this double phrase we accept forgiveness and so become channels of God’s forgiveness. This is the important first step and praying the Paternoster this first time slowly brings a focus on that phrase. When this is combined with a good examination of conscience the sins are forgiven and we become the vessels for forgiveness so God can work through us.
In this way the Lord’s Prayer becomes a sincere act of contrition. It should go without saying that if we are aware of mortal sin in our lives, then this act of contrition built into the Lord’s Prayer should be supplemented with the sacrament of reconciliation.
How does the rest of the Lord’s Prayer work as a weapon of spiritual warfare? Continue Reading