A Heart for the City - Part Two

 Yesterday in part one of this message I addressed unresolved emotional issues.Today my hope is also to inspire you to walk in the fullness of your spiritual authority and to understand the keys God has given to each one of us. Keys are symbolic of authority and power, and we have been given these keys to enforce our Father’s purposes. Keys are used to turn and to either lock or unlock doors, as we make prophetic declarations and decrees.

As I read in Daniel chapter 9 verse 16, Daniel was praying prayers of identificational repentance and renouncing the sins of their fathers,  seeking a breakthrough over his city. Daniel’s prayer came as a result of him studying scripture. He realized that their time of captivity was almost at the end of the 70 year period that had been prophesied by the prophet Jeremiah, and there was a promise of restoration IF the people truly repented for their sins. Daniel was concerned that the people had not really cleansed their hearts in a way that would please God, and he did not want them to miss out on the blessing of restoration, so he got involved in corporate confession, where he accepted personal responsibility for the sins of his people. This is what intercessors do. Then in chapter 10, the angel Gabriel showed up and said he had come to give Daniel understanding of a vision he had been given. He said he would have arrived sooner but he was busy doing battle with a ruling territorial spirit that had been hindering answers to prayer. The heavens had been shut up. So what we understand from this portion of scripture is that ruling territorial spirits block both revelation and answers to prayer. We need angels to clear the heavens so that breakthrough can come.

Ungodly leaders and corrupt governmental systems are Satan’s strategy to stop the advancement of the gospel and hinder the kingdom of God on earth. There is always authentic godly authority and there is also a counterfeit authority established by the enemy. Our prayers, declarations and decrees are necessary to help bring breakthroughs in a multitude of ways. We need breakthroughs in our families, in our cities, and in our nation. I believe we can even help our military penetrate enemy territory and gain the advantage through our prayers and decrees. Prayers and decrees have turned the tide of many wars. 

Let me give you an example from history. In early December 1944, Gen. George Patton’s Third Army was poised for battle but the weather conditions posed a formidable problem. He called James O'Neill, the head chaplain of the Third Army, and asked if there was a good prayer for weather. O’Neill researched and found none, so he wrote his own prayer and submitted it to Patton. The prayer asked God to restrain the rain and grant them fair weather for battle. It also asked that the soldiers would be armed with God’s power and that He would help them advance from victory to victory, to crush the oppression and the wickedness of their enemies, and to establish God’s justice among men and among nations. Patton had 250,000 copies distributed and had every man in the Third Army pray that prayer. Let me read a quote by General Patton, from a conversation with Chaplain O’Neill. 

“Chaplain, I am a strong believer in Prayer,” said Patton. “There are three ways that men get what they want; by planning, by working, and by Praying. Any great military operation takes careful planning, or thinking. Then you must have well-trained troops to carry it out: that's working. But between the plan and the operation there is always an unknown. That unknown spells defeat or victory, success or failure. It is the reaction of the actors to the ordeal when it actually comes. Some people call that getting the breaks; I call it God. God has His part, or margin in everything. That's where prayer comes in.”

The day after the prayer was issued, the weather cleared and God helped them win the Battle of the Bulge, which proves that specially crafted prayer along with multiplied prayers in one accord can be quite effective. General Patton is quoted as saying, “Those who pray do more for the world than those who fight; and if the world goes from bad to worse, it is because there are more battles than prayers.”

We all know what prayer is, but let me clarify something about declarations. In biblical terminology, a "declaration" is a message or a word that makes known what is already true about something. The purpose of declarations is to make known the truth about who God is and what He has done. 

God’s word is his law, but a law in itself does not ensure it will be obeyed. Many people break the law all the time, including the enemy. So, it’s not only the law that is important; it’s the enforcement of the law that counts. When someone breaks the law, someone with authority has to enforce it or nothing happens. All of God’s laws have a binding legal authority that people under its jurisdiction are required to obey. Jesus told us in Mark 3:27 we must first “bind the strongman” before we could take away the spoils of the enemy. When we enforce God’s laws by restating what His word declares; the enemy MUST obey God’s word because it’s what has already defeated him. For the believer, when we declare God’s word, it means God's power is "standing by" – ready to unleash itself to bring about His preferred-will, through faith. That is why, every time we pray, we should return God’s word to Him because that is how we are enforcing HIS LAWS. By doing so, we also bind the enemy to the judgment of the law and force them to comply with the law of God.

1 Peter 2:9 says we are a royal priesthood and Rev. 1:6 tells us we are kings and priests. Priests intercede for others and reconcile sinners to the Lord. Kings exercise governmental authority. 

A King’s word is his decree. It is a royal order or a decision by virtue of a superior authority, given by a King or Queen and it has to be followed. This is how we meet with God and release HIS VOICE in the earth. The word of God is King Jesus. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God. and the word was God.  Speaking decrees is sending King Jesus and the angelic armies into the enemy’s camp, because JESUS IS THE WORD. 

Psalm 103:20 says, “Bless the Lord, ye His angels, that excel in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word.” The more we declare God’s word, the more we release angels into their assignments that will also release signs, wonders and breakthrough.

A decree is an example of us being given “all authority” over the enemy. (Luke 10:19) The words “all authority” found in Luke 10:19 speaks of delegated authority, being given jurisdiction and legal empowerment to act in accordance with faith towards God’s revealed word. (See Exousia, #1849 in the Strong’s Concordance). 

This word “exousia” is the Greek word for authority. This is the full definition from the Concordance:

A. power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases

B. leave or permission

C. Physical and mental power

D. The ability or strength with which one is endued, which he either possesses or exercises

E. The power of authority (influence) and of right or privilege

F. The power or rule of government; the power of Him whose will and commands must be submitted to by others and obeyed

G. Authority over mankind

H. The power of judicial decisions

I. Authority to manage domestic affairs

J.Jurisdiction

K. One who possesses authority

L. A ruler, a human magistrate

M. The sign of regal authority; a crown

Declarations and decrees partner in faith with God to enforce what He has already spoken and to ‘call those things that are not into existence’ (Romans 4:17). 

Many people today still don’t understand what is available to them. They feel timid about exercising their authority. Either they just haven’t been taught or they don’t know what to pray to utilize God’s word. I write decrees to help people articulate what is stated in God’s word, because a lot of people do not research or write prayers of their own. But, here is the main reason I do: the word of God is what has already defeated Satan. Whenever Jesus was face to face with the evil one, he always responded with what was written in the scripture. It’s the only thing that Satan is obligated to obey. We should all sound like Jesus when dealing with the enemy.

There is a scripture in Job 22:28 that you may be familiar with. It reads:

“You will decree a thing and it will be established for you; so light will shine on your ways.” 

We have often misinterpreted this scripture. The word decree in the Strong’s Concordance is the word gazar which actually means to cut, to cut down, to exclude, destroy or divide. If we consider that it actually means to cut, exclude, divide, separate or destroy, this is one way of using the word as a form of dividing the enemy’s house so that it can be conquered. It also means that when we speak scripture we bind the enemy to the law of God’s word.

The enemy always thinks, plots and plans strategically, but we don’t, and that's why it can feel like we’re not getting anywhere in prayer.James 3:15 tells us that the wisdom from this realm is sensual and influenced by the demonic. This is information censored and manipulated by the Prince of the Power of the Air. If we only pray what we see or hear in the natural, we will miss our mark in prayer because we are attacking issues with incomplete or erroneous information. We must proclaim what God's word has already stated because it never misses the mark. It works 100% of the time.

Perhaps it needs to be mentioned that prayer meetings are not a social gathering where it's appropriate to discuss every topic under the sun. Again, we cannot allow ourselves to be distracted by what we hear in the natural. It is not the place for conversations that one might share in a different environment or engage in discussions that veer off topic. Those can easily become distractions that create confusion and prevent people from coming into one accord, and they should be recognized as such. Spend some time fasting and praying in the Spirit to get the mind of the Lord. Prayer should be focused on the objectives at hand and have some sort of structure to keep people on track and in agreement as they pray. That is why I offer the document (see link at the end of the article or under the pages section) Strategic Prayers to Open the Heavens and Bring Revival. It can help offer some structure and guidance how to move through various topics and keep things on track.

When we use the word of God we become the sword of the Lord in His hand, and angels are released to carry out God’s purposes. Psalm 149 says the high praises of God shall be in our mouth and the two-edged sword in our hands brings judgment upon the enemy. The word bind in this scripture means to tie, bind and imprison. It speaks of absolute authority. We are to execute the written judgment upon the enemy. Decrees cut, divide, and separate the enemy’s forces as God directs the placement of our prayer strikes. Ephesians 6:17 tells us to take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God because, as we read in 2 Cor. 10:4, the word of God has divine power to demolish strongholds. This is what breaks open the stubborn hearts and begins to open the heavens. 

Allow me to talk to you for a minute about strategies of war.

One military strategy is known as the Blitzkrieg Strategy. It means “lightning war.” Blitzkrieg is a German word for an intense military campaign intended to bring about a swift victory. It means to overwhelm the resistance of the enemy with speed and suddenness. It basically catches your opponent off guard and disorients them. You strike hard and fast before your opponents have the opportunity to think or prepare a counter attack. It puts the enemy off his game and makes people prone to error. This strategy was very effective in the early years of WW2. The Blitzkrieg strategy was effective because it implemented a new strategy of war. At that time for the Germans, it was the tank. 

Then came General Patton, and he unleashed his own Blitzkrieg Strategy on them when he organized his troops to pray. Patton got all the third army praying in unison. He multiplied the prayer power and brought his men into agreement on what they needed to pray. One of the things they asked for in prayer was favor with God on land, in the air and in the sea. From whatever direction the enemy might strike, He petitioned God for favor and support, and God gave it to him. So, when they actually went to battle, angels were already there, ready to help the troops secure the victory. Patton implemented a spiritual strategy when he circulated the prayer and got his army praying in unity. Because of his ability to get his soldiers to pray in one accord, he obtained help in the unseen heavenly realm where the Germans had no ability to see or know where the strikes were coming from. Angels were directing the artillery strikes.

Job 36:32 says, “His hands are covered with lightning that he commands to strike his designated target.” 

The heavens are the place where spiritual battles are fought. Ephesians 6:12 tells us that. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

According to Ephesians 2:6, we are seated in heavenly realms next to Jesus. If we are seated next to Him then we are seated and surrounded by His glory. We breathe the air of heaven and we are in the place of victory where the privileges of the Kingdom of God are dispensed. In the Spirit, we are actually in the place where answers to prayer are dispersed. We rule in the midst of our enemies and declare the word of God to enforce the victory Jesus has already won for us. Angels are ministering spirits to come to give us assistance. 

Imagine every decree you speak launches a missile right into the enemy camp. The power of even one missile is great, but imagine if we organized prayer teams to launch a multitude of prayer missiles simultaneously. 

The power of the decree shakes up the enemy and the enemy doesn’t know where the prayer bombs are going to go off, so he has no ability to prepare. The enemy is completely vulnerable when God’s people come together to pray in one accord and release decrees. 

It is time to put team warfare into action. We all have a common enemy that has waged war against us. He has waged war against us personally, our families, the people in our cities and our nation, but we are an army of intercessors that understand how to get heaven to move on our behalf. Leviticus 26:8 says that 5 can chase 100 and 100 of us can put 10,000 to flight, and our enemies will fall by sword. We need an army of prayer warriors in one accord to take authority together, as we come together in Jesus’ name. We have multiplied power as we pray in unity.

Patton’s army had success because he circulated over 250,000 prayers to the entire third army and had everyone pray. They had multiplied prayer power because they were in one accord. When we pray in agreement we become an unstoppable force. Our survival, healing and ability to recover all is based on the success of our army as a whole. We are also tied into the success of our own military to hold the line of defense over our nation. I am telling you this as a call to action to circulate and pray the prayers and decrees that were specifically formulated to bring destruction to the enemy’s camp and set captives free. 

What we are seeing right now is God beginning to turn the tables on the enemy. Sometimes people think, oh, we’ve prayed for God to move and now He is, so it’s a done deal. We think revival has been prophesied and now it’s at the door, so we think we can let off the prayers. Do not give yourself over to a false sense of confidence. That would be a mistake. Remember the story of a certain King that failed to strike until the enemy was completely destroyed and only received a short lived victory.

I suggest that we take this to heart and build the momentum in prayer that will cause spiritual explosions to take down the enemies still in hiding. Remember, there is always a predictable pattern prior to revival, and it is consistent throught history. People would stray away from God and worship other gods. God would send His messengers to His backsliding people. They would be warned of impending curses and disasters if they did not turn back and genuinely repent. Many, many prophetic warnings have not only been spoken, but dreams and visions have been spoken of as letting people know what could potentially occur if they did not take God's warnings seriously. I also had a recent dream where I saw huge war planes bombing Philadelphia and the tower that housed the Liberty Bell as well as New York. I saw on the side of one of the planes the seal of our government. In the dream, people were shocked and afraid when these things happened. It is not my intention to cause fear. We know we have a responsibility to pray, but how and what we pray determines the outcome and severity of any event. Whether these dreams are intended to be interpreted literally or symbolically, the meaning is clear. We are at war with our own government as they attempt to steal our freedoms and eliminate our God-given liberties. The government feels they have the right to decide what liberties we should have and are playing god. They must be held accountable! The second part of the dream is where I saw myself in a secret meeting of ministers, which I will elaborate on a little further in this article. In that meeting, a person representing false authority spoke up and said that the harvest was dormant and would not come to pass in this valley. I knew he was speaking about Lake Elsinore and the Temecula Valley, but I believe it also extends much further than that. I started to speak up and say I knew that was not true because of what I had just witnessed with the planes dropping bombs. I knew in my heart that troubling times would be a cause for many people to turn back to the Lord.

Let me circle back to a point I was talking about in the beginning. Closed heavens. In 2 Chronicles 6:26-27, it references people coming to their senses, knowing the burden of their own heart, and grieving over their own sin. Then we go over to chapter 7 and again in verse 13 it talks about the heavens being shut up due to unconfessed sin. That is why, in verse 14 God says, "If my people, who are called by MY name, will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 

If God’s people would do three things, God would respond in three ways. They needed to become humble - that is, confess; they needed to pray, or repent; and they needed to turn and come back to Him. The Lord was asking his people to also intercede for others in their prayers, and if they would do that, it would usher in revival and healing of their land. This is always a pattern that precedes revival. There is no revival without repentance. The problem is, half hearted prayers without personal conviction and a genuine desire to please God won’t cut it. Sometimes I think people aren’t sure what to pray. That is why I write prayers, to help people understand how to connect with the heart of God.

I researched verses in Leviticus and Deuteronomy where it talked about the penalties for breaking God’s laws. There are so many things listed, you probably already know what most of them are. I looked at all the reasons outlined in Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 28 and 2 Chronicles 6 &7, then wrote a prayer incorporating all those main categories. These are prayers of repentance and renouncement that cover things people may not have thought about articulating to God. It’s going to take all our cooperation through prayer to unravel strongholds. 

A stronghold exists in people that do not realize they are entertaining lies; therefore they fail to repent and it short circuits their ability to receive the fullness of God’s goodness and restoration. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin where we may not think we have sin. Sins of presumption, comparing ourselves to others, judgments and retaining offenses are so common, and we may not even consider that we actually have those things in our heart. Ask Holy Spirit to reveal your own blind spots and to connect the dots in your understanding so that you can see your faults the way God sees those things. If we don’t, we can still fail to turn and repent from things that hinder our healing and restoration. Repentance weakens demonic authority structures.

There is a huge difference between brass heavens and an open heaven. When the heavens are locked up, it feels like prayers hit a ceiling and just get stuck. It’s hard to pray, hard to sense God’s presence or hear Him speak. People give up and feel defeated. They want to move to another area because they have no faith that things will get better. People are leaving California in droves because it is just incredibly difficult to survive.The enemy has tried to drive the righteous out of our cities to weaken our resolve and prayer power. This is another reason why people feel like there is no hope and evil seems to be winning. There are also words of unbelief that have come out of the mouths of other Christians that have bound the harvest in this region from coming to pass. Christians are God's rightful authority, but if they speak negativity then it authorizes the enemy to bring to pass what they speak. That is why we are warned to be careful of our words, because they carry the power of life or death! 

Let me give you two examples. The first is a recent dream, where I already mentioned the part about the war planes dropping bombs. In the second part of the dream, I observed a secret meeting of ministers. There were true prophets as well as false prophets represented in this meeting. The secret meeting was symbolic of things said in private that put the enemy on assignment and continued to be enforced. In the midst of this meeting a man, who reminded me of an actor and someone I knew represented false authority, stood up and said, “The harvest is dormant in this valley and will not come to pass.” 

Interesting little side note: The word hypocrite, by the way, comes from the Greek word “hypokrites,” which means an actor or a stage player. It’s made up of two Greek words that translate as ‘an interpreter from underneath.’ Actors in Greek theater wore large masks and they would interpret the story from behind their mask. It is actually a person that pretends to be someone they are not. I knew God showed me that because those words found a place of agreement (or at the very least were not challenged) and it was enforced in the spiritual realm. That needs to be broken. Another example is a local pastor that told us that when he moved to this region a few other ministers met with him and told him he had made a mistake. They reportedly told him that nothing ever changes in Lake Elsinore and it is where ministries come to die.” Think about the impact of those statements. Those are like the 10 spies that came back with a bad report and their unbelief disheartened the people of Israel so that they did not try to take their promised land. That is releasing a spirit of death over the city! One intercessor I know mentioned that when she drove through Lake Elsinore she saw a graveyard and began declaring God's resurrection life. When the Holy Spirit shows you something, you must take action and begin to pray! Unbelief continues to be a stronghold, and I believe we need to cancel out those word curses and proclaim the opposite. God wants to pour out His glory over Lake Elsinore and all of our cities!

The situation of this city is pleasant. It is a good land, in spite of its problems, but we need to shift the heavens in our favor. We must utilize a divide and conquer strategy and bring down the enemy’s house. An onslaught of offensive bombardment of decrees will do just that. It will cause the enemy’s house to come apart at the seams. It creates an ambush from every side, creating weakness, confusion and fear in the enemy’s camp. Angels are dispatched to rescue souls, administer justice for the oppressed, and clear the airwaves of enemy combatants. 

Please click on the following link to access a PDF document of Strategic Prayers to Open the Heavens and Bring Revival. There is also a link under the pages section.

A Heart for Your City - Part One

I would like to begin with a proclamation from Isaiah 61:1-10:

The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me

    because God anointed me.

He sent me to preach good news to the poor,

    heal the heartbroken,

Announce freedom to all captives,

    pardon all prisoners.

God sent me to announce the year of his grace—

    a celebration of God’s destruction of our enemies—

    and to comfort all who mourn,

To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion,

    give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes,

Messages of joy instead of news of doom,

    a praising heart instead of a languid spirit.

Rename them “Oaks of Righteousness”

    planted by God to display his glory.

They’ll rebuild the old ruins,

    raise a new city out of the wreckage.

They’ll start over on the ruined cities,

    take the rubble left behind and make it new.

You’ll hire outsiders to herd your flocks

    and foreigners to work your fields,

But you’ll have the title “Priests of God,”

    honored as ministers of our God.

You’ll feast on the bounty of nations,

    you’ll bask in their glory.

Because you got a double dose of trouble

    and more than your share of contempt,

Your inheritance in the land will be doubled

    and your joy will go on forever.

8-9 “Because I, God, love fair dealing

    and hate thievery and crime,

I’ll pay your wages on time and in full,

    and establish my eternal covenant with you.

Your descendants will become well-known all over.

    Your children in foreign countries

Will be recognized at once

    as the people I have blessed.”

We have been anointed to take the rubble of what exists in our cities, start over, and make it new. So, why should you be concerned with taking your city for Christ? What does that mean to you? We know that we are called to it because scripture tells us so, but unless it becomes personal we won’t feel a need to get in the fight. We may hear an inspiring message but then the enthusiasm fizzles out and we fail to follow through with the next steps of faith to make an impact. It’s not always about everyone in the city, but about the one that God wants to rescue and pull out of the pit.

I think about the story of Rahab in Joshua chapter 2, a prostitute from a poor family that  lived in the walled fortress city of Jericho. Women back then often had to resort to prostitution just to survive, so she knew the men of that town.When a couple of out-of-towners came into Jericho she knew they were spies. Rahab had heard of the God of the Israelites that fought their battles with them and made the Israelites a force to be reckoned with. There was an intense awareness of danger and panic, as word spread that the Israelites were on their way to conquer her city.  The fear of death and the feeling of dread permeated the atmosphere. This was a woman that was trapped in every way. Rahab was a poor woman with a bad reputation, trapped in a walled city that was marked for death and destruction. She was stuck. Does anyone know what it’s like to feel trapped in your circumstances and have no idea how to create the change that is needed to survive? Countless number of people live with a sense of hopelessness every day. Maybe you know of someone you care about that is stuck in a pit they can’t get out of.

I was that woman, looking for love in all the wrong places, prostituting myself with the world. I was the addict, overdosing on a regular basis because I hated who I was at the core of my being. I came so close to death many times and couldn’t appreciate  the fact that God had saved me from myself, over and over again. I was full of rebellion, bitterness, and anger because life was so disappointing and difficult. I was the one with emotional problems, often feeling suicidal and taking pills for depression, anxiety and could not find relief for my pain. I was the orphan, who did not know who I was, who I belonged to, and if there was anyone that could dare to love me. I didn’t even know who the real me was. I had never met her. I was covered in shame, bound by so many demonic forces -  I was stuck in a pit I could not get out of, and I lived behind fortified walls of fear, insecurity, defensiveness, rage and insecurity because I experienced all kinds of abuse and rejection. The devils in my life were hell bent on destroying me, but I was helpless because the chains of oppression had me bound. I was a slave in every sense of the word. I was the one that everyone gave up on and was told I was a loser, a bad mother, a nobody and no one wanted anything to do with me. People in my life, including other so-called Christians, told me I would die alone in a ditch somewhere. The contempt on their face when they said those words told me they didn’t believe I was worth saving, and neither did I. My first experience with people who identified as Christians wasn’t very positive. I believed those voices because I was so beat down I had no self respect or self esteem left. I didn’t know how to change. I didn’t think it was possible so I gave up on myself. I lived behind fortified walls, so I can identify with Rahab. I know her story because I’ve lived with that sense of hopelessness and despair, when you know that death is coming for you.

Rahab knew the Israelites were coming to make war with the people of her city. She was bound for certain death unless she took a radical step of faith, but she overcame her fear and pleaded for her life and the life of her family. She hung that scarlet cord in her window as a sign to the Israelite soldiers of which house to spare. She was shown mercy and became in the lineageof Christ. God knows those that are destined for salvation and a greater purpose, but he is looking for those that will partner with him to do great exploits. The battle of Jericho was never about saving the entire city. It was about the one. And we need to be about rescuing the ones God wants us to reach. Like Rahab, I had heard of a God that might be able to save me. I wasn’t sure if I could trust Him, but I called on His name. He knew I was destined for a greater purpose even though I could not see it for myself when I was lost. May the Lord open our eyes to see destinies instead of current realities and have compassion on those that we might be tempted to overlook.

My husband and I have gone through many trials. We have lost everything and had to start over more than once. We have experienced the fear, anxiety and stress of deep poverty and the shame of not being able to provide for our family. We have known spiritual abuse and the bondage of religion, and the rejection of being misunderstood, labeled, slandered and shunned. We know what it’s like for people to treat us as unimportant and expendable. We, too, have gone through such loneliness and isolation that we had to depend on God alone for our salvation and for Him to send help to rescue us from the pit of despair. Those that call on His name may endure weeping for a season, but God is faithful. Every test has an expiration date. Every person has an appointed time for deliverance if they just hold fast to the hope that can be found through Jesus Christ. The Lord can do amazing things with people that the rest of society doesn’t appreciate or value. But they have to hear about the faithfulness of God and His power to rescue the orphans, outcasts, the hurting and the helpless. That is why we must all have a heart for our cities. Because some of those that are lost are our sons and daughters, our grandkids and our children’s future spouses or other family members. We cannot afford to be negligent in our calling to exercise our authority in prayer to help unravel the spiritual strongholds that are a prevailing influence over our cities.

There are many people living behind walls. Proverbs 18:19 says, “An offended friend is harder to win back than a fortified city. Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with bars.” There are many, many people carrying offenses. Words have impact and are like an arrow that pierces the heart. Words spoken in a moment of carelessness can hurt, offend and wound others whether it is intentional or not, and some people may not even tell you about it, but they may harbor resentment and nurse a grudge. The enemy creates a wedge between people by whispering accusations and suspicions in people’s ears. 

Is there a sense of distance between you and someone else that needs to be resolved? Unforgiveness always comes with a sense of rejection, anger and resentment, and if left to fester long enough, it turns to bitterness. Bitterness becomes this impenetrable fortress. Many people have a root of bitterness that they have not dealt with, and it always brings a curse. 

When Joshua came to Jericho, he needed a new strategy. He surveyed the situation at hand and the weapons he had grown accustomed to, the weapons he was familiar with, were totally insufficient for what he faced at Jericho. When God brings you into a new season and you get ready to take the land, you’re going to need new strategies. Joshua had bows, arrows and slings but nothing sufficient that would break through a formidable stone wall. He couldn’t approach the problem like he had in the past. This battle required a strategy and a word from the Lord. Many of you are facing a similar situation. You need a clear word from the Lord, and it can be found in the presence of the Lord in worship.

The day I prepared this message there was a memory that popped up in my Facebook newsfeed from 5 years ago, and it was such a word of confirmation. This is what it said: We spend too much time looking at the problem. Stop looking at the walls in front of you. Stop focusing on the barriers and the obstacles - look up! There was no roof on Jericho! God showed me a pole vaulter going up and over and He said, “I always have a way in to every problem - I just need people to believe that I CAN do the impossible! He also showed me angels dropping little gifts inside the walls of a fortified city with little parachutes on them, and then rain that looked like seeds of light raining down on the city. Those were answers to prayer raining down on those we pray for. 

Psalm 97:11 in the Message Bible says, “Light seeds are planted in the souls of God’s people, Joy seeds are planted in good heart soil.” God knows how to reach hearts and turn them towards Him. He is in the miracle business. Every time we worship we seed the heavens with faith and answers to prayer. And that is also where we receive strategies to upgrade our faith. 

About a month ago during worship, the Lord started talking to me about obtaining breakthroughs over our cities. I am only one person. I only have a piece of all the strategies the Lord wants to release. Dealing with unresolved emotional issues is just one part of this message and one strategy to obtain breakthrough. God wants to give us each a strategy for the people he wants us to reach.

We need to ask for the keys God has given to each one of us. Keys are symbolic of authority and power, and we have been given these keys to enforce our Father’s purposes. Keys are used to turn and to either lock or unlock doors, as we make prophetic declarations and decrees. God has given you others keys you may not be thinking of; they are your stories, experiences and testmonies that will unlock the hearts of others. Those are keys to reach in and unlock their soul as you share how God met you in your moment of need. It is also our words and prayers in agreement with God’s word that releases His power. God has delegated His authority to us to enforce His will on earth, to either allow or disallow what He allows or disallows. We can release people from demonic bondage and set captives free. We have authority to see people healed, and release angels on their assignments throughout the earth, to bring answers to our prayers. The name of Jesus is THE KEY that unlocks the supernatural realm.

Let me take you now to 2 Kings 2:19-22, where men of a certain city came to the prophet Elisha and said, “Please notice, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees, but the water is bad and the ground barren.” And he said, “Bring me a new bowl and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. Then he went out to the source of the water, and cast in the salt there, and said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘I have healed this water; from it shall be no more death or barrenness.’ ” Elisha got a strategy from the Lord. That means we can too.

One thing Elisha did was go to the source of the defilement. He threw salt in, which is a purifying agent. We are to be the salt of the earth and bring healing and deliverance to others. We need to look to the source, too, because the source of defilement is in people. 

There is a root of bitterness in this nation, and it’s caused a ripple effect of self-pity, rebellion, entitlement and division. Bitterness creates a lot of problems. Bitterness causes churches, businesses and individuals to be barren, stuck and stagnant. Churches will leak members, because bitterness makes room for manipulation and control, legalism, and spiritual pride. A religious spirit begins to choke the flow of the spirit because it’s all about control. People may never tell you why they left but they can sense when something is wrong in the Spirit. You can’t birth anything new when there is a different spirit at work. God doesn’t birth through selfish ambition, and selfish ambition is a byproduct of the bitterness of rejection. Bitterness keeps offenses alive and fractures relationships. It is at the root of just about every addiction. Bitterness strips the anointing off of Christians and causes blessings to be lost. It is the root of rebellion, idolatry and witchcraft. 

We are in a season of war; we know that, but sometimes we don’t stop to think how that directly affects us or our families. We must stop rehearsing and reliving things from the past that cause us to doubt the goodness of God and allow unbelief to settle into our hearts. If you’re living in the past you’re not moving forward. You’re stuck. Repent for looking backward! It places us in agreement with the enemy and it makes excuses for why we let the enemy be in charge of our emotions. The Lord of hosts is coming to blow up those fortified walls of self preservation people try to hide behind. He is coming to blow up our excuses and compel us to bring it all to Him as an offering. He is coming with his angel armies to demolish strongholds and rescue the captives, but we must be willing to let go of some things that have choked the anointing in our lives. God will grant healing and deliverance to anyone that is truly repentant of their sin and comes humbly to the Lord. 

What has you bound? Is there something that has weakened you spiritually, an area of compromise that you have wrongfully justified? Is there something that has you tied up in your emotions? Something from which you need healing or freedom?

These are things that can put people in lockdown. Sometimes it’s a vow that needs to be broken, something spoken in a moment of great pain or disappointment. These things must be renounced and broken so the enemy can no longer block the breakthroughs to fulfilling your purpose. We all need to be aware of the words we speak and break any contracts or agreements that we’ve unconsciously made with spirits of darkness. If you want to stop repeating the same behaviors, and get free from this tug-of-war with the enemy, confess and condemn the careless words that have been spoken and break the power of them. Teach others to do the same. All these things cause people to become stuck and they can’t move forward. If you want a great resource to help you get unstuck, please consider getting my book, Wisdom to Defeat the Enemy. It is time to renounce any agreements you may have with the enemy that has given him legal grounds to hinder your spiritual progress. God has an army of people he wants to raise up and mobilize but too many are stuck until they deal with their own heart issues. The enemy works on all of us - daily - so there will always be something we need to bring to the Lord.

2 Cor. 4:2 reminds us to renounce the hidden works of shame. Hidden means it is possibly something unknown to you or something you have forgotten about that could be causing a blind spot. The enemy always looks for legal grounds to bring accusations against us and block answers to prayer. Ask Holy Spirit to reveal any blind spots so the enemy cannot take his stand against you and your family.Taking advantage of our blind spots is one of the enemy’s strategies of warfare.

Have you spoken something carelessly that has hurt or offended someone else? Are you struggling with an issue of the heart, perhaps the ability to forgive yourself or someone else? Bring it to the Lord in prayer and ask forgiveness. Stop waiting for someone else to do the right thing and do the right thing. Let go of those things that cause you to stumble. Let go of your right to be right or feel justified at delaying your obedience to God. In light of what Jesus did for you, enduring the beating, the rejection, the humiliation and the shame of your sin that nailed him to the cross, not one of us has a leg to stand on in our own defense. We deserved death and He gave us mercy. Put the blood of Jesus on whatever wants to rise up and defy the mercy of God! If you have an area of weakness that your flesh is struggling to overcome, bring it to Jesus and ask Him to give you grace and strength to overcome the temptation of the flesh. If you are struggling to love someone that is difficult to love, sometimes you just need to tell God you don’t have it in you and ask Him to give you His ability to love others the way He wants you to love them. We don’t have to do everything in our own strength. His is available.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Please forgive my sins, and also those in my generational line. We have not always honored you and served you wholeheartedly. I renounce all false gods and masters and ask You, Jesus, to come into my heart and be my Lord, Savior, Master and friend. 

Father, please forgive me, my ancestors and others in this city for harboring grudges, resentment and unforgiveness towards others. Help us all to let go of judgments and presumptions we have made about others.

Please forgive me and those in my family line for breaking the trust of others through broken covenants. Forgive us for creating fear, anger, resentment, jealousy and grief in others, and for the sorrow that our sins have caused. 

Forgive us for treating others with a lack of integrity, for failing to keep our word and for causing others to be disappointed in us.

Forgive us for tempting others to partake in the sin of evil speaking, gossip, and slandering the reputations of others, and speaking carelessly without considering how it would affect others.

Forgive us for not taking responsibility for our feelings and justifying unforgiveness. 

Forgive us for delaying our obedience and continuing to sit as a judge over others. 

Forgive us for keeping a record of wrongs when You do not treat us that way. I apologize, Lord. You alone are the just judge of all mankind. 

Forgive me for holding unforgiveness and self hatred toward myself.I choose to forgive myself and let go of regret, self rejection and self loathing. I choose to stop punishing myself.

I choose to forgive those that have hurt, disappointed or offended me. I ask You to bless them in every way You want them blessed. Let the blood of Jesus be applied to all our sins.

Forgive me and others in the body of Christ for treating people as though they are no longer family simply because they may no longer fellowship at the same local church. Forgive me for a lack of love towards others.

Father, forgive me, my ancestors and those in my city for areas where we have misled others and caused them to stumble and struggle with sin.

Forgive us for doing things in secret that resulted in injustice towards others. Forgive us for plotting mischief or evil towards others.

Forgive us for allowing jealousy, envy, covetousness, idolatry, judgmentalism and criticism towards others to tear them down and cause them to feel rejected, shamed or verbally abused. Put a guard against our lips, cleanse our hearts of wrong motives, and purify our speech so that it pleases You.

Forgive us for bearing false witness and causing others to see individuals through the lens of false judgment, thereby depriving people of a blessing, justice, promotions, and open doors to new opportunities.

Forgive us for not getting involved to correct social injustices and allowing injustice to further oppress people.

Father forgive me, those in my generational line, and those in my city of the sins of sexual immorality. Forgive us for adultery, pornography, and indulgences of lust.

Forgive us for sins of sexual abuse and rape, molestation and making victims of others. 

Forgive the sins of perversity, homosexuality, lesbianism and other sins you call abominations, but forgive me and the people of this city for our judgments and lack of love towards others that You love and want to rescue.

Forgive us for dishonesty and selfishness, using others for gratification without considering the emotional impact on others. Forgive us for creating brokenness in others and for betraying their trust.

Forgive us for how our actions have affected the relationships and marriages of others, by creating jealousy, distrust and a ripple effect of other broken relationships.

Forgive us for creating open doors into the lives of others for demonic attachments, leading to more and more bondage, sin and iniquities.

I repent for any vows, covenants and contracts that have put the enemy on assignment and bound me to the enemy, whether it was done by myself or one of my ancestors. 

I break those ungodly covenants and renounce any agreements between myself and spirits of darkness. Let the blood of Jesus void out those contracts and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. 

I forgive those that have hurt, offended or disappointed me, Father. Please bless them in every way you want them to be blessed. 

I release them (be specific) from any debt or judgment I have held against them. I ask Your Holy Spirit to come fill every dry, empty place and let Your river of living water flow out of me. Please bless me with my heavenly language and let it bubble up and out of my mouth so I can praise you, and worship you in spirit and in truth. 

Thank you, Father, for giving me the revelation of truly being adopted as Your child, and experiencing your love in such a way that I feel safe, secure and accepted in Christ, as Your child. Holy Spirit, show me any lies you want to heal in my belief system. Reveal the truth so I can be free. Please also show me where I have sin that I have justified or overlooked so that I can walk in confidence with you. In Jesus name, amen.

The Orphan Spirit, Offense and Spiritual Agreements

The Orphan Spirit, Offense and Spiritual Agreements

Let me begin by saying this is not intended to be a complete teaching on the orphan spirit, but to give a brief insight into some of the content included in my deliverance manual, “Wisdom to Defeat the Enemy,” (available on Amazon.com). 

The orphan spirit carries with it a feeling of unworthiness, a fear of rejection and abandonment, which causes the individual to feel driven to perfectionism or a need to prove to themselves or others they have a sense of value or importance. Selfish ambition is a spirit that becomes an internal driver of behavior because the person is trying to overcompensate for feelings of rejection, inadequacy, inferiority and insecurity. The struggle with foundational issues of identity and the dysfunction it creates often cause relationship problems because the person often has an unhealthy or unrealistic perspective on how their emotional needs should be met.It can also result in placing unrealistic demands for validation and affirmation of their identity upon others when in fact only God can meet that need. When a person looks to other people to meet their emotional needs, they make idols for themselves.

The heart of the orphan has deeply rooted feelings of rejection and insecurity, which often causes them to have feelings of competitiveness and jealousy towards others. They compare themselves to others in their relationship circles, whether it is family, friends, peers or professional relationships. They look for the praise and approval of others and often cannot bring themselves to genuinely celebrate or acknowledge other people’s success or blessings. The spirit of competition is opposed to brotherly love. It sees people as rivals, competitors and they harbor a fault-finding, critical attitude towards others.This orphan spirit causes people to want to expose people’s weaknesses rather than cover them in love. This spirit is also quick to bring accusations or harsh words against others. The person with an orphan spirit often operates under a religious spirit because acceptance, approval and love are always conditional upon performance rather than the love, acceptance and compassion that comes from the Spirit of Adoption. The person who struggles with an orphan spirit is not free. They desperately seek praise and recognition through self effort and their works because they feel a deep need to feel validated and affirmed.

One of the characteristics of an orphan spirit is a tendency towards holding onto offense and critical judgments towards oneself or others. The orphan spirit is a root cause for people feeling jealous, critical, bitter, or justifying unforgiveness. There are many signs of an orphan spirit, but here are some to consider:

1. Feelings of inadequacy. Needs approval and strives for praise and acceptance from others.

2. Jealous and competitive, has a difficult time being happy for other people’s success.

3. Has trouble trusting authority and difficulty submitting to God or other authority.

4.Closes their spirit to correction and discipline, defensive and easily offended.

5. Critical and judgemental towards others, quick to expose the weakness of others. Inwardly they feel they need to do this to make themselves look better. It is also a form of ‘cutthroat competition’ to try to eliminate anyone that makes them feel threatened or insecure. Prone to gossip, slander and character assasination. They destroy the reputations of others and feel justified in talebearing.

6. Feels like they are under bondage to performance in order to receive approval. Often feels as if God is difficult to please; feels like a slave, bound by a sense of duty and obligation.

7. Prone to using guilt, manipulation, controlling behaviors and toxic shame to try and force others into compliance. Will go to any length to get what they want; does not respect boundaries.

8. Seeks relief from counterfeit sources such as drinking, drugs, sex, shopping, video games and other escapes.

9. Repels mates, children and others due to toxic demands for validation and making others feel unimportant or unloved.

10. Leaders who have an orphan spirit seek to have others serve them and do not release others into their calling or gifting. They hold onto them due to their desire to build their own kingdom.

11.Compares their perceived righteousness through their works to the righteousness by faith imputed through the blood of Christ and often feels offended. They stumble over grace.

12.They focus on the faults of others, especially those with genuine spiritual authority.

13. Narcissistic and selfish; uses others for their own selfish purposes.Blames others and refuses to take responsibility for their own actions.

14. More concerned with ministry, work or other pursuits than the needs of family because they are trying to prove themselves.

15. Unbiblical view of what God thinks about us.

16.  Inability to have intimacy in relationships, difficulty in giving and receiving love, trust and acceptance with others.

Matthew 7:1 tells us we should not judge lest we be judged by the same standard as our own lack of love towards others. The person that judges others or resorts to some of the critical behavior listed above is now on a path to be judged, either by God or others as their own hypocrisy is revealed by their behavior. It allows others to see the insincerity towards the beliefs they profess but fail to model. When our conversation isn’t healthy, it’s because sin needs to be confessed and the tongue delivered from unrighteousness. Many times people do not realize that the power of their words and thoughts keep them from being healed because there is an agreement in the spirit realm that must be broken. Sometimes those agreements go all the way back to childhood or some traumatic event where we made a vow that binds us to the past. If those agreements are not broken it can end up affecting a person’s physical health, because the body ends up absorbing the emotional pain. Emotional pain=a lack of peace, or a lack of ease. Dis-ease. This is where a majority of disease and illnesses come from. These things must be driven out with prayer!

God designed us to gain our sense of identity and a sense of security from our parents and Him, but when parents fail to affirm a child in their identity, fail to nurture and protect them, a void is there that the enemy will gladly fill. These are legitimate needs that now become areas of a person’s identity that become shaped through lies and distorted beliefs from a false father - the father of lies. Our heavenly father longs to shatter the lies and replace them with truth about who He really created you to be. We receive this as revelation as we walk with Him. It is a truth that is received deep in our innermost being where our spirit bears witness with the Holy Spirit. This knowledge brings comfort, and as we are comforted, our souls settle down into rest. When our souls are at rest, it brings stability to our emotions, peace of mind, and stabilizes other areas of our life, too. Is that something you have longed for? You do not need to live as a slave to fear, insecurity, or feel like an outsider looking in. Ask Holy Spirit to reveal the heart of Your heavenly Father to you and flood your heart with the Spirit of Adoption.

Pray:

Holy Spirit, please forgive me for any agreements I have made that would prevent me from receiving the fullness of my Father’s love. I forgive my parents for not being able to meet my physical and emotional needs, and I forgive them for any ways they broke my trust and contributed to me feeling abandoned, unimportant or rejected. I renounce any lies I have believed that cause me to feel fear, anxiety, stress, rejection or other negative emotions. Let the blood of Jesus cover my sins as well as my parents. I renounce all spirits of rejection, disappointment, disapproval and dishonor that have been released into my life. I want nothing to do with these spirits and command them all to leave me now in Jesus’ name. Break every demonic chain in my life, Lord Jesus. Forgive me for believing lies about you that have kept me from developing a closer relationship. Please reveal yourself to me, in Jesus’ name, amen.

If you would like more teaching on inner healing and deliverance, please consider ordering the book, Wisdom to Defeat the Enemy, available on Amazon.com.