Jesus: Your Deliverer

Fast and Pray

Jesus loves the broken-hearted when nobody else loves them, and He's the One who can help them.

A person can go so far, the devil can get such a hold on him, that he can't get help from people unless they fast and pray. You might say, "But, Brother Norvel, they go to church."

Well, it's fine to go to church; you are supposed to go to church. But when someone gets desperate, unless we fast and pray, we can't help him.

You have to fast and pray to get God's power. Fast and pray. I tell you that some teenagers I've met were so messed up, if they hadn't found somebody to love them and to fast and pray, they would still be messed up. You can't have a godly home unless you pray. You have to pray.

I tell teens who go to college campuses and give out Christian books to students, You can't stay out there unless you pray." God gave me a plan for them: Pray thirty minutes a day, and study the Bible all the time. Never let your eyes depart from the Word of God.

In any kind of mission work—I don't care if it is just passing out tracts—you can't stay in mission work unless you pray. You have to pray before God so you can have the power to do the job.

Look at the disciples. They couldn't get the job done either in certain cases. Why couldn't they? Jesus said, "Because you haven't been fasting and praying enough."

And when he [Jesus] came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.

And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him, saluted him,

And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?

And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;

And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: [the spirit teareth the son] and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not

Mark 9:14-18

Take Authority

You can't cast devils out just because you want to. Some devils don't go so easily. You have to fast and pray to take authority over some of them. You say, "Brother Norvel, can you cast all of them out?"

No. Why? Because I don't fast and pray enough. I cast some of them out. If I would fast and pray for ten, twelve, or fifteen days before I prayed for some of them, then I could break them loose more quickly.

You see, devils can have a hold on your body, they are to be broken loose in Jesus' name. And some of them that have been in a body for a long time (which is the case with some people in wheelchairs who have had their legs twisted for a long time) don't turn loose so easily.

In fact, all the pastors in town couldn't make those devils turn loose if the pastors haven't been fasting and praying. You had better believe that. If you don't, you will believe it if you ever start working with some of those devils.

The man said, "I spoke to thy disciples that they should cast them out; and they could not." It didn't say they would not; the Bible says they could not.

Oh, yeah, if I fasted and prayed enough and stayed with the case, I believe I could cast any devil out. I prayed with a mental patient one time who had lost his mind. It took six and a half hours to get that one out.

O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me," [Jesus said].

Mark 9:19

Jesus called His disciples a "faithless generation." But if you get faith, you can cast the devil out.

And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.

Mark 9:20

Oh, those devils make a person do all kinds of things. They roll on the floor. I've had them to crawl over to the corner, roll on the floor and cry out, and foam at the mouth.

Prayer and Strength

Once I was invited to give my life story at Radio City. So I went there, and I cast the devil out of the first person I prayed for. She danced all over the place.

When the people saw this, they got in line. The line was so long, I couldn't even see the end of it. I prayed for people for four hours and lost all my natural strength. I went over to a corner, bowed down before God, and said, "God, You see all those people out there who still want to be prayed for? I don't have any natural strength left, but You do."

"If you'll give me some of Your power, Jesus, I'll get up and go over there and pray for the rest. Jesus, look at them with sad faces and broken hearts. You can set them free. Help me, Lord."

Then I got up off my knees by faith and went over to pray for them by faith. And as soon as I started praying, God's power hit me. I think I was stronger when I quit than when I started!

First Action, Then Manifestation

You have to have action, and then you get the manifestation. I just walked back over there as if I had all kinds of power, and started praying for them again. I had to fight devils with that bunch, though. They were all messed up in their minds.

I'm telling you, where demons and devils take over places, you have to watch yourself. They will do anything they can to you. Devils will pull every trick in the book to get to you. You can't trust any of them.

Remember, Jesus said,

Oh, faithless generation, how long shall I be with you, how long shall I suffer you? Bring him to me.

And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.

And he [Jesus] asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him." And he said, Of a child.

And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.

And Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

Mark 9:19-23

All Things Are Possible to Him That Believeth

Jesus said, "All things are possible to him that believeth." All things. That means everybody could be cured and be healed and the devil would leave everybody if we would only believe.

Let me teach you a little bit here. There might be some things that come up in your life where you say, "Well, I guess I don't believe." If you say that, then it's not possible for you. You can't have it. Jesus said all things are possible to him that believeth, not to him that doubteth.

He even said to his disciples, "You faithless generation of people." You have to show faith in God, people.

If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord,

I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.

And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.

But Jesus took him by the hand, lifted him up; and he arose.

Mark 9:23-27

This boy fell out as if he were dead, and the people thought he was dead.

Jesus Wants You To Come

I was in Logans Point, Indiana, speaking in some meetings along with Dr. Lester Sumrall. A pastor came to the services and watched people getting healed and some of them falling out under God's power. One Saturday toward the end of the meeting he and I ate together.

The pastor said, "Mr. Hayes, the Lord has dealt with me about something."

I said, "Yes?"

He said, "Yeah, He dealt with me about you. Jesus wants you to come and speak in my church both Sunday morning and Sunday night. But I don't believe in falling out."

I said, "Well, why do you want me to come and speak? People don't fall out and get healed in every service I go to. Sometimes I teach on something else. I don't have any power to make them fall out."

He said, "Well, I like your ministry, and Jesus spoke to me. Jesus wants you to come. It does make kind of an embarrassing situation, though, because I don't believe in falling out."

"What do you want me to do?"

He said, "I want you to come."

It's usually true that things you don't believe in, you don't get much of. So I went in his office on Sunday morning, and I prayed for him. He was having financial trouble, and I prayed for his body.

I spoke in the sanctuary that morning. At the church they have the speaker speak from ten fifteen to eleven o'clock, and then they have Sunday school from eleven to twelve o'clock. So in the morning service, the minister doesn 't get any chance to minister.

The pastor had told me, "When you get through speaking, turn it directly over to me. Then I'll send all the people to their Sunday school classes."

I said, "Okay. Fine."

He said, "That's the way we do things here."

The Lord let me know a long time ago when you go to a church, just stay under the pastor's authority. You don't go there to cause confusion; you go there to present God's Word.

I stay under the pastor when I go to a church until I get in the pulpit. Then I read the Bible to them. When I open up this Book, I'm obligated to God.

But you have to make sure you stick close to the Word and don't get off in goofed-up doctrine, because then the pastor has a right to say, "Hey, man. I don't believe the kind of stuff that you're saying."

I believe every pastor ought to do that. If I were a pastor, I wouldn't let anybody come to my church and start teaching a bunch of stuff that wasn't in the Bible or give a whole string of ideas of what they think about the Bible. Dear Lord, I'm not interested in what anybody thinks about anything.

Can You Read?'

My parents taught me to respect pastors and preachers and evangelists. So when I was growing up, whatever a preacher said, I believed it.

Then Jesus asked me one day if I could read. I said, "Yes, Lord, I can read." He said, "Why don't you read the Bible and believe what you read then?" I said, "All right, I'll start doing that from now on." Since I started reading the Bible and started believing what I read in the Bible, I hardly believe what anybody tells me now—especially if they don't have chapter and verse.

God wants you to have chapter and verse for what you believe. God doesn't want you believing a bunch of stuff because somebody told you it was right or because some guy has a name or a title. Man makes mistakes, but God doesn't. You can stand on the Bible.

With Signs Following

A lot of people have asked me, "Brother Norvel, why does God manifest Himself so strongly in your services? I've never been to a service where you were real dull and dead."

I said, "Jesus told me, 'Son, if you'll believe the Bible and teach the Bible, I'll go with you all the time confirming the Word with signs following.' He confirms the Word. He doesn't confirm anything else." God might not have had anything to do with one half of the gospel services you have been in. You were there. What did He do? If He didn't do anything, He may not have anything to do with it.

Keep Your Eyes On Me

Jesus told me one time, "You don't have to judge people or services or anything else. You just go in and listen and watch, and when they get through, watch what I do."

So when you're standing behind the pulpit or when you're dealing with human beings' lives, you have to be really strict. You had better stick to the Bible and read it to people. You can't believe what somebody has told you or what you think.

God doesn't confirm what Norvel Hayes thinks. He confirms the Bible. If I can talk you into believing the Bible and demanding chapter and verse for everything you believe, God will just come and give it to you.

Jesus said, "If you'll do it, if you'll have faith and you won't be in that faithless generation, then all things are possible to him that believeth." God is a faith God.

So that night I spoke in the fellow's church. He wanted me to minister to the people, so the people came up and nobody fell out in the healing line. I just prayed for them anyway, falling out or not.

Some nights God puts an anointing on my hands and some nights He doesn't. I can't make God do that. Some nights He puts an anointing on my hands so strong that I can hardly stand it myself.

But when it was all over, I was standing there around the pulpit, and a woman sitting near the front just walked up and said, "I want you to pray for me, Brother Hayes." I said, "Okay," and laid my hands on her and started praying for her. And God met her on the floor.

Guess who it was? The preacher's wife! You mean right in her church? Oh, yeah. God just let the pastor's wife fall out. Now if it had been Mrs. Smith down the street, the pastor may have thought Mrs. Smith got carried away. But it was his own wife. Now he has a battle. Let him tell her it's not real. She cooks his food!

Only By Prayer and Fasting

Let's look at the account of the demon-possessed boy in Mark 9.

But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up: and he arose.

And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?

And Jesus said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

Mark 9:27-29

Jesus said, "This kind....” You see, there are different kinds of demons. This is a rough, mean one; this one has been in there for a long time, ever since the boy was a little child. "This kind can come forth by nothing...."

You say, "Oh, I could cast it out." No you can't. "Why?"

Because Jesus said this kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting. Now some devils you can cast out, but this kind can come forth by nothing. In other words, there won't be anything that will make them come out except prayer and fasting.

Fasting makes you more in tune; it makes your spirit more in tune. It gives you more spiritual power. It puts your body under subjection and gives more life and power to your spirit. When you speak out, the evil spirits listen to you. You have more power over them.

Why?

Because your spirit on the inside of you is stronger so that when you speak out to the devil, you don't have to back away and you're not weak. Your spirit is sharp and strong. You can say with authority, "In Jesus' name, come out!" You don't have to fool around. It scares devils when you rebuke and resist them. James says, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). That's right. He will flee from you. Glory be to God forevermore.

Jesus Ought To Sue the Church'

We are supposed to have the kind of power that Jesus had in the church.

We aren't supposed to change Jesus.

One time I was witnessing on the street to a young fellow who was a dope pusher, and he said, "What do you mean? You talk like Jesus can just do anything."

I said, "I believe Jesus will do anything for anybody that will trust Him. He said, 'All things are possible for him that believeth.'"

He said, "Are you trying to tell me this Jesus you know will give me a new life—me, a dope pusher?"

"Oh, yeah, Jesus loves you; He'll change your life on the inside and change you into another man. The Bible says that 'old things pass away and all things become new' (2 Corinthians 5:17). God's power will change your life completely, heal the cripples, and make the blind eyes open."

"Oh, now come on. You mean this Jesus will heal crippled people today? I have been to church before, you know. You tell me now that with Jesus it's possible for a blind man's eyes to pop open and suddenly he can see in this modern jet age?"

"Absolutely, it's possible. God's power is available for you."

"If Jesus does business like that now, if He's the kind of Jesus you say He is, I have just one thing to say to you, Mister. Jesus ought to sue the church." And then he ran off.

Even a dope pusher could recognize it. I have been to some services that Jesus would have a good legal case to sue them, because He doesn't do business the way they act like He does. The sick walk in and the sick walk out, still sick. That's not God's will. God wants sick people to walk into the church because the devil has attacked them. But then He wants you to obey the Bible and let them go home healed. God wants His Word glorified.

Worship God and Glorify His Word

For three or four years, God has been dealing with me strongly about the church not spending enough time worshipping Him and about people and the church not glorifying His Word enough. Some Christians, even Charismatics, glorify Jesus' name pretty well. But Jesus wants His Word glorified also. And if you'll do it, God's power will work for you, anyplace. You don't have to back away from the devil.

A Difficult Case

A girl came to me one time. She had tried to kill her parents and her relatives. They called and said, "Do you think you could help her, Norvel?" I said, "No, I don't think I can. I know I can." I said, "Meet me in the sanctuary about six o'clock." The service started at seven o'clock. I thought I'd deal with her for one hour. She was fifteen or sixteen.

I walked in, and this girl looked like Miss Teenage America. She was a sharp, young girl with long, straight hair. She was as cute as she could possibly be. You wouldn't think she could ever do any harm at all.

An Encounter With the Devil

They introduced me, and she looked at me and said, "I'll kill you."

"You won't kill me; I don't die easy," I said. "You want me to pray for you?"

She said, "Pray for me? No! I don't want you to pray for me. What's wrong with you? I don't need anybody to pray for me."

I said, "Okay." This was a case where I had to trick the devil. So I just walked around her; I got pretty close to her, acting like I was not going to pray for her. All of a sudden, I pulled her face close to mine and I said, "Jesus says, Come out! COME OUT! COME OUT! COME OUT! COME OUT! Come out of her!" Her body went limp and she whimpered. She started sinking to the floor; then all of a sudden she went "Ahhhhh, owwwwwww." She said, "What did you do that for? Don't do that to me."

Let Me Lead You, Son

So the Lord said, "You'd better let Me lead you, Son." Two fellows and a lady had brought her. I said to the lady, "You stay in here with her." Out in the hall, I said to the men, "I want to tell you something. The Lord showed me that this thing is not going to turn loose of her easily."

This girl's mother was a prostitute, and her father belonged to the Hell's Angels. They used to lock her up in a closet because her father liked to hear people scream. He was so full of the devil that he would let her scream until she passed out while he stood outside and laughed. Devils.

She hated men because she had seen them come to the house all the time. Her mother was absolutely beautiful. The girl showed me a picture of her mother. She looked like a movie star. She said, "I hate men. No man has ever touched me, and no man is ever going to touch me. I hate 'em, I hate 'em, I hate ’em!" She said, "I fight 'em."

God Wants To Set Her Free

I told the woman, "Listen, that thing is not going to come out of her easily. God wants to set her free, but we're going to have to get the mind of the Lord on this situation." You have to "let the Spirit of God lead you, in these situations.

About that time, service started. One man said, "Maybe we ought to go to service and then work with her afterwards."

Tell Him To Stop Reading!'

"Well, fine." So we walked in and sat down on the front bench in one of the Sunday school rooms on the side. The pastor was reading the Bible. That made the girl so mad, she couldn't stand it.

She was sitting by me and said, "Tell him to stop saying that. That's not true." I said, "He's reading the Bible." She said, "It's not true, though. Tell him to stop reading it." I said, "I'm not telling him anything. Be quiet." Then the pastor introduced a young evangelist from Florida. And the first thing the evangelist did was start reading the Bible.

The girl went nuts again. I never saw anybody hate the Bible so much as that evil thing in her.

She said, "What's he's doing? That's not true, either. I'm screaming, I tell you, if he doesn't stop reading it. It's not true!"

I said, "Will you be quiet? People are looking at you."

Then she said, "I'm thirsty. I want a drink."

Devils always want water. I said, "Want a drink? We just got in here."

She said, "I'm thirsty, I'm thirsty, I'm thirsty."

I said, "Okay, we'll go down and get a drink. Go out this side door."

I just closed the door and started down the steps and she said, "I don't want you to go with me."

She Wanted To Roam

Now she hadn't slept in her bed at night for three months. She roamed the woods at night and danced in the dark. She would come back in about daylight like a werewolf or something then sleep in her bed during the day. But at night she wanted to roam. And she had tried to kill her aunt with a knife the day before they brought her to me. If a person's back was turned, she'd try to kill him.

I told the men, "We're going to have to work with her and get the mind of the Lord." The lady who stayed with her later told me, "Do you know what she said? She said, 'Do you know what happened to me? Something happened to me. You know when he grabbed me by the head and said, "In Jesus' name, come out of her, come out of her"? There was something; I felt myself fainting to the floor.

'"You know what I saw? There was a great big, tall, black thing; it looked like a big, black figure. It was horrible- looking, about as big as two men, standing out there in front of me. He had jumped out of me, and then when I looked up like this, he went, "Oeowwww," and jumped back in me.'"

That's when the girl had risen and had gone, "Owwwwwwww, don't do that to me anymore." But I'll tell you, there's nothing as powerful as God's Word. Do you understand that? Glory be to God forevermore.

So during that service, I said, "I'm not going to let you go by yourself to get a drink of water. I'm going to go with you."

She said, "I don't want you to go. Don't you understand me?"

I said, "I don't care what you want; I'm going to go anyway."

So we went down to the water fountain, and I wanted to be nice. (You can't be nice to devils, I'll guarantee you. Just forget about being nice to devils.) I said, "Go ahead, young lady, get you a drink, and then I'll get one."

The Chase

She got a drink, and then I bent over to get one. I heard somebody running. I raised up and she was running like a turkey, as hard as she could, as fast as she could. I took out after her. They said that sometimes she would run off and stay in the woods for hours.

I took out after her, and she made a wrong turn and hit a dead end. I got hold of her, but then she got away from me again. Then I got hold of her by the wrist; I was just going to lead her by the wrist. She started fighting me, and it was all I could do to hold her and get her in that room.

After I got her in the room, there was nobody in there but her and me. The service had just started, and I didn't dare take her back out of there again, because she would fight and try to get away.

There was a picture on the wall. She went over there; her back was to me, and she was looking at the picture. She said, "I'll bet you think the devil is in me, don't you?"

I said, "Well, what do you think?" I heard her say, sighing, "If he is, I wish you would leave me alone."

He had taken her over. She would get so tired, yielding herself to the devil. But she said, "If he is, I wish you'd leave me alone."

I said, "Thank You, Jesus, glory be to God." You see, she was the one who called and asked these people for help, but they didn't know she was so demon-possessed. So I stayed and talked to her. The service was over, and the other people came in. We were standing there, and I said, "Do you want me to pray for you now?"

She said, "No, I don't want you to pray for me ever. Why do you keep asking me if I want you to pray for me now? I don't want you to pray for me ever. I don't want you to ever pray for me. There's not anything wrong with me that I know of, so why should you pray for me?"

'If It's the Devil'

She didn't even know anything was wrong with her. She said, "If it's the devil.... "

You see, that devil would take her over really quick like when you came against it, and she wouldn't even know what she was saying. But when he wasn't manifesting himself, she would get so tired of doing the things she did; she didn't want to do them. But she wouldn't let me pray for her.

So I just grabbed her a few minutes later. I walked around her, and I pulled her face up close to mine. Then I began to take authority over that devil. I commanded that devil in Jesus' name to come out of her: "Come out, come out, come out, in Jesus' name, COME OUT!"

And the Word of the Lord Came

After about three or four minutes of that, I just turned her loose and when I did, she went over in a corner like this and panted and whimpered. That young evangelist from Florida got through preaching; the service was over, and he walked in with his Bible. All of a sudden, the Word of the Lord came unto me saying, "Read the Bible to her. Read the Bible to her."

I said, "Open up your Bible, young man, and read the Bible to her." He said;" "Huh?" I said, "Jesus said to open up the Bible and read the Bible to her." So he started reading the Bible to her. He would read two or three verses and begin to stop, and I would say, "No, no, don't stop. Keep on and on reading it."

The Bible Set Her Free!

So the evangelist kept on reading for about five minutes and was going to stop, but I said, "No, God said to read the Bible to her. He said, 'I've sent my Word to set you free!'"

So he kept on reading the Bible right in her face, just loud and strong and with authority. And she was over in the corner whimpering.

All of a sudden, I saw a teardrop trickling down her cheek. The young man kept on reading the Bible, and I saw another one coming. Then I saw two or three coming. Then two or three more trickled down, and then she began to sob. Then her body began to tremble. I said, "Keep on reading it."

The girl trembled. Inch by inch, God melted her to the floor right there in the corner. And she sobbed and sobbed and cried and cried. I guess that girl cried for ten minutes just as hard as she could cry. Then all of a sudden, she just stopped. She raised her head up, and her hair was down all over her face, and her face looked like someone had thrown a bucket of water on it.

She looked up at me, and she looked just like an angel. She looked up at me and said, "I'm free. I'm free." She came over to where I was, put her arms around me, and just held onto me.

The Spirit of God was on that girl so strongly. She said, "I'm free. Free, free, free." How? Reading the Bible to her. Reading the Bible to her.

Jesus is the only One who can heal the brokenhearted. He is the only One who can set the desperate soul free. And if you will follow His leading and stick close to His Word, He will use you to help deliver those who are overpowered by the devil by the power of His Word!

JESUS,

YOUR DELIVERER

Novel Hayes teaches on the truth of Mark 9:17-29, sharing from his own experiences of ministering to those in desperate need of deliverance.

Norvel presents keys for delivering those who are desperate such as:

•    Maintaining strong faith in God

•    Praying and Fasting

•    Sticking close to the Word

•    Being led by the Holy Spirit

•    Being bold against the devil

Always, the love of God leads and the power of the Word brings victory.

* * * * * *

NORVEL HAYES, a successful businessman, has learned through personal experience that God’s Word works for anyone who will believe and apply it. He shares with a bold simplicity that captures the heart of the reader and shines new light on hidden treasures.

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