The Deliverance Team

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Jesus established the pattern of team work for His 
disciples. When He sent the twelve out in ministry He 
sent them two by two. When He commissioned the 
seventy He also sent them out two by two. Other 
ministry teams are found in the book of Acts. On the 
first missionary journey there were Paul, Barnabas and 
John Mark. Later there were Paul and Silas. Barnabas 
chose John Mark. Aquilla and Priscilla were a husband 
and wife team. Team ministry is a principle of 
scripture. It is especially suitable and effective in 
deliverance ministry. 

Size And Composition 

How many should ideally compose a deliverance team? 
This cannot be answered arbitrarily. The situations for 
deliverance vary. For ministry to an individual a team 
consisting of from two to six persons is usually 
appropriate. The team should be composed of both men 
and women. 

Because of the unusual facets to this ministry, a man 
should not minister alone to a woman or a woman to a 
man. The best combination is for husbands and wives 
to minister as a team whenever possible. Since the 
"laying on of hands" may be used during the ministry, it 



is best to have both sexes on the team. Men and women 
should not lay hands on the opposite sex 
indiscriminately. Also, the person being ministered to 
sometimes must be physically restrained. Though we 
do not war against flesh and blood, the demons might 
demonstrate themselves violently at times, so that the 
person experiencing deliverance must be restrained 
from injuring himself or others. 

Team Unity 

Unity is absolutely essential for a deliverance team. 
Satan will capitalize on any disunity. He will seek to 
create disunity by devious methods. Be on constant 
guard against this tactic. This is well illustrated by an 
experience in my second involvement in a deliverance 
ministry. Six or seven of us in a prayer group became 
involved in an attempt to deliver a woman from demon 
oppression. Upon being challenged, the demons began 
to speak readily through the woman. One demon said, 
“Only one of you is really following the Lord; the rest 
are just tagging along.” The purpose of this statement 
was to break our unity - and it did. Each of us 
immediately began to think that he was the only one 
following the Lord and became suspicious of the 
dedication of others. Consequently we lost sight of the 
enemy and each one’s attention was centered on 
himself, and on the others. 

Any group that works together must learn to flow in the 
Spirit anti have confidence in one another. When you 
are in the heat of battle with the demon powers it is no 



time to settle differences between yourselves. 

If there is a discerning of spirits by one of the team 
members it should bear witness in the spirit of the 
others. However, it is better to go ahead and challenge a 
spirit discerned than to hold a discussion on the 
accuracy of the discernment. An occasional mistake 
will probably be made in discernment, but this will not 
defeat the overall ministry. 

Functions of Team Members 

It must be emphasized that no hard and fast rules can 
be laid down Each member of the team must be 
sensitive and obedient to tin leading of the Spirit. It is 
usually best for only one or two persons to hr 
commanding the spirits. The others will be in prayer, 
reading scriptures, praising or singing. Songs 
emphasizing the blood of Jesus are especially effective 
and appropriate. It is not unusual for the “lead” to 
change i several times, especially if the ministry 
extends to an hour or more. This transition in 
leadership can be accomplished very smoothly. 

It may be difficult for one person to remain in the 
position of leadership over a long period of time. Have 
you ever watched a wedge of geese in flight? Then you 
have a picture of how the leadership responsibility can 
change from one to another. The lead bird will buffet 
the wind for a few minutes and then he will drop back 
in the formation to “rest” while another moves into the 
lead position to take his place. The deliverance team 
can cooperate in similar fashion. The aim is to set the captive free and give the glory to Jesus, so it should 
make no difference who is leading the warfare. Each 
position on the team is important.