Pitfall to avoid in the ministry of deliverance
Magical mentality
In the exercise of the ministry of deliverance, it is important to guard against a magical mentality, which consists in attributing an exaggerated efficacy to a particular gesture, to a particular prayer, to a way of pronouncing the name of Jesus, to the number of times one recites a prayer, etc. Such a mentality is closer to magic than to genuine faith, and ends up aggravating the evil it claims to heal.
One must also be careful not to let ourselves be invaded by this magical mentality in the use of sacramentals: holy water, medals, incense, images, etc. The sacramentals act because they are bearers of the grace of Christ.
Excerpt from: the ministry of liberation and deliverance, Service of the Charismatic Renewal, Québec 1981.