1. The Spirit of
Deaf and Dumb

2. Matthew 17:14-21
14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came
to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick,
and sore vexed: for often times he falleth into the fire,
and often into the water.
16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not
cure him.
17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse
generation, how long shall I be with you? H
How long shall
I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

3. Characteristics 2 Corinthians 4:4
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Matt. 13:14
Seeing they do no see, hearing they do
not hear and do not understand
This spirit blocks understanding,
and make people unwilling
to accept the truth.

4. Spiritual effects of a deaf and dumb spirit?
1. Cannot hear
Deaf: unwilling or refusing
to listen.
Heedless - “ deaf to our warnings
of imminent danger” –
“ Turns a deaf ear” - Not capable of being effected.
2. Cannot speak
No power to speak, unwilling to speak, silent – lacking intelligence, stupid.
Both of these symptoms are dangerous in the body of Christ and also in our personal relationship with God.

5. What is the physical signs of possession with this spirit.
20 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.
21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
22 And often times 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.
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
25 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.
26 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.

6. Physically controls a person
straightway the spirit tare him;
and he fell on the ground,
and wallowed
foaming.
This spirit will take control over someone so that it is very difficult to get through to him/her

7. Can it be Epilepsy ? Epilepsy comes up when this spirit is mentioned
When is epilepsy caused by this spirit and not?
If Epilepsy is caused by this spirit the person will be cured immediately if this spirit is cast out.
BUT epilepsy can also be caused by an accident that causes damage to the brain and many more situations that are not always spiritual
It takes spiritual discernment to identify if the person is possessed or needs prayer for physical healing.

8. It wants to destroy the person spiritually and physically “ And often times it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him”
It causes spiritual destruction in that person and hinders the spiritual growth of the people around him
Ever learning, but never coming to the truth.
Someone under the control of this spirit will always stay spiritually immature and look for ways to question or challenge all teachings and will not get an understanding no matter how hard or well you try to explain.

9. Effects on the people around them
In Worship they have to be prompted to worship God.
an indication of this being in effect is
the people have to be pulled or prodded
to move into worship or into
the things of the Spirit.
And even then it won’t go over into true worship.
Anyone who has been in a true worship situation will immediately recognise this atmosphere.
This can cause extreme tiredness on the
leaders because of the drain
on them in the spirit.

10. Matthew 17 verse 19,20 The ruling power over unbelief
is the deaf and dumb spirit.
We find that unbelief causes the heavens to be brass, closed, the glory comes through an open heaven.
The greatest closed heaven is in your head.
Unbelief creates an atmosphere that hinders God and the anointing for deliverance.
This also stops any works of power from the Holy Spirit.

11. The deaf and dumb spirit makes us dull to hearing, seeing and understanding.
This spirit affects our learning ability, concentration, memory and probably more.
In the service we become “Sleepy” and then we go home and become “Dopey”.
We say we believe but we still have unbelief in our heart of hearts.
Faith makes everything possible - Unbelief makes everything impossible.

12. How do we overcome this spirit
What did Yahshua do?
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
First the people that is helping this person have to believe in Yahshua.
24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
 We have to ask Yahshua to help us with what unbelief is left in our hearts.
25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit,
Don’t give this demon attention, this demon likes to be in the spotlight .
saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
He called the spirit by name. Come out you deaf and dumb spirit, A shotgun prayer will not get the job done
26 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.

13. 21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
The failure of the disciples was a lack of fasting and prayer in their life.
This also caused unbelief to hang around in their hearts.
A lifestyle of prayer and fasting (giving up what is important to us ) will strengthen our faith.
And building our relationship in prayer will build our faith.