Contending for Healing

 Sometimes it seems we pray for an extended time and the answer to prayer seems like it's taking a long time to show up. Don't lose heart! Delay doesn't mean denied; it just means God is stretching your faith to contend for what's yours.

When answers seem out of reach, we naturally go through a process of getting tired, discouraged and a bit frustrated -  but, as we overcome each of these predictable stages, we regain our momentum iin prayer like a runner who has just gotten their second wind. We keep running the race. 

There are times when we can get help from others in the body of Christ, but my personal experience is that God always seems to stretch my faith and it becomes this wrestling match between God, myself and the promise. There have even been times when I have asked for prayer and felt the touch of the Holy Spirit as others laid hands on me, yet healing didn't manifest. I wondered why, but I think God just wants me to get whatever revelation He is trying to impart through each particular situation. Sometimes it's about receiving from others, at other times it's about contending. When God wants to increase our faith, He allows us to encounter a problem. 

A few days ago, I prayed a simple prayer. I asked Holy Spirit to help me see Jesus clearly, and to understand who I was in Christ, and who He was in me. A couple hours later as I was worshiping and thanking God for my healing, I realized that the issue was battling was very similar in nature to something I had dealt with in the past. Years ago, when I was believing for a miracle to have a healthy pregnancy, it was due to a lack of the right hormones. We prayed and God reversed the situation, but I had to overcome grief, anger and disappointment at having had a miscarriage. I needed to confess scripture out of my mouth in order to regain my confidence towards God, because "faith comes by hearing, and hearing the word of God." Romans 10:17. When my confidence came back, my faith was activated and my words declared the reality of healing. It changed my physical situation because I no longer waivered between doubt and faith. God requires us to make up our mind what we really believe! When we have faith and don't doubt, we can speak to the mountain that stands between us and our promise and tell it to go cast itself into the sea, and it must obey us. 

Jesus replied to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, if you have faith [personal trust and confidence in Me] and do not doubt or allow yourself to be drawn in two directions, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen [if God wills it]. Matthew 21:21 AMP

See, there is another thing we need to be aware of as we are believing for the answer to show up. The enemy tries very hard to wear us down. He sends doubt, discouragement, strife, or even interrupts our sleep so that we are physically tired and don't feel like contending much in prayer. Take notice when you feel unusually tired, emotionally depleated or discouraged, because the enemy will use those things to wear people out.These may be things we would ordinarily be tempted to dismiss as coming from a natural cause, but often it is the enemy's form of spiritual warfare.

If you have trouble staying focused or like you're lost in a mental fog of confusion, feel a wave of forgetfulness, feel down in the dumps for no apparent reason, worn out and just want to take a nap or disengage from reality for a while - those are signs of a witchcraft attack. If you feel tempted to go backwards in your walk with God and indulge the flesh, forgetting who you are in Christ, that is also an indicator you're being influenced by demonic spirits. It's time to shake it off and resist the enemy.

When we have unhealed soul wounds, the enemy will stir up our emotions to magnify negative emotions to keep people in a state of spiritual weakness. When our soul is in pain, our spirit is not healthy. The more we dwell on toxic, unbelieving thoughts and feelings, the weaker our spirit becomes. That is why inner healing and deliverance are so important. The enemy looks for a place of agreement to carry out his assignment. This is often how a spirit of infirmity gains entrance into a person's life. When our soul is fighting for health, our body is in a weakened state. A spirit of infirmity (prolonged sickness and disease) takes root and causes physical weakness in the body. It's your spirit man that withstands sickness and infirmity, not your body. 

"A man's spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?" Prov. 18:14

"Beloved, I pray that in every way you may succeed and prosper and be in good health [physically], just as [I know] your soul prospers [spiritually]."3 John 2 AMP

God wants us to prosper in every way but it must first start with the condition of our soul. Friend, how is your soul today? 

James 4:6,7 reminds us that if we submit first to God then resist the enemy, he must leave us. Let us examine our hearts to see if we are entertaining any doubt or discouragement that could place us (unknowingly) in agreement with unbelief rather than faith. If so, repent, submit yourself to the authority of the Holy Spirit, and encourage your spirit man to resist the enemy! There is power in your confession of thanksgiving! There is power in declaring the word of God! There is power in your worship!

The joy of the Lord is our strength, and scripture tells us that in His presence is fullness of joy. 

"You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore." Psalm 16:11 AMP

God's word is a light unto our path. If we linger in His presence, he will bless us with revelation. It's the anointing that breaks the yoke. Whatever the enemy has put on you to slow you down, hinder, halt or stop you, the Lord will break the power of it! God is increasing the anointing in your life with every prayer, every bit of revelation. Your spirit man grows and the anointing increases. It's preparing to break the yoke of sickness and infirmity that's been in your life! 

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing." Is. 10:27 KJV

We draw joy from doing the will of the Father. We draw joy from the living water inside of us, being filled with the Holy Spirit. Speaking in our heavenly language not only edifies our spirit man and renew our inner man with strength, it also releases the joy of the Spirit.

May your soul prosper and be in health! May your spirit be encouraged and strengthened today! Ask the Lord if there is any place where the enemy is trying to forge an assignment against you. Bind his assignment in the name and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and command it to leave. 

Remember that we contend from a place of already having won the victory, because Jesus secured it for us upon His death and resurrection.Jehovah Nissi our Lord and Victor declared "it is finished!" Whatever comes against you is already defeated, but Jesus always asks us to view our challenges in light of the question, "But who do you say I am?" What we believe will always come out of our mouth.

A good friend of mine recently made a comment that I thought was so profound in reminding us of the power of our words. 

"Words have wings," she said. 

Where do your words fly off to when they leave your mouth? Do they land in the enemy's camp, or do the angels take words of faith back to the Father?

What assignment will your words activate?

Eccl. 10:20 reminds us that a bird of the air (or a spirit) carries our words to a new destination and can even be repeated. Speak faith! We each have a history we can look back on and remember the goodness and faithfulness of God, and how He showed up for us at different times. The miraculous, supernatural realm lives within us because the Holy Spirit lives within us. It is our faith and confidence towards God that releases supernatural power to bring forth answered prayer.

Prayer to Defeat the Spirit of Self-Sabotage

Learning to overcome our fears and insecurities is a big hurdle for just about everyone. We all deal with fear in some form, but it's how we respond to those thoughts, beliefs and emotions that determines our success. Just because something triggers an uncomfortable feeling doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. It just means that there is an emotional barrier trying to prevent us from getting to something worth attaining on the other side of that awkward, uncomfortable feeling. In order to overcome fear, we have to come face to face with it and decide it's not going to be the deciding factor in whether or not we accomplish our goals, or make our dreams and aspirations come true. Good things are on the other side of our own unbelief, so we can't allow fear, insecurities and feelings of inferiority about ourselves sabotage our ability to fulfill our potential and discover how capable we really are! 

There are many ways the spirit of sabotage can operate against people. Sometimes it is in the workplace or other social environment, fueled by jealousy, selfish ambition or competition among rivals. There are signs of course, such as a coworker that tries to take credit for work you have done, deliberately leaving you out of important need-to-know communications, or gossip and slander intended to ruin your reputation among your peers. It’s intended to hinder, halt or sabotage a person’s ability to make progress, achieve success or attain promotion. It’s easy enough to recognize the sneaky, underhanded behavior of a competitor that covets another person’s accomplishments, but the question is whether or not you can recognize a spirit of sabotage when it has your cooperation and agreement to ruin your own success. It takes discernment. For the purposes of this article, the content is focused primarily on the aspect of self-sabotage. It's what we do to ourselves through our own participation that comes from a negative, critical mindset.

No one would purposely, consciously try to destroy their own future, right? Wrong! Many people do it all the time, but fail to realize the root of the issue or how to correct it. So, what allows these destructive tendencies to occur? A spirit of sabotage gains a foothold in a person’s life through their agreement. Feelings such as unworthiness, insecurity, inferiority, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of abandonment, fear of rejection and all sorts of other fears give the enemy legal grounds to sabotage and abort the individual’s progress when people come into agreement with those lies. 

Do you constantly show up to work late, make lame excuses for leaving tasks unfinished, or display certain behaviors that are a turn off to others? 

Do you find yourself making excuses as to why you don't need to learn certain things necessary for the betterment of your life? 

Have you made excuses to resist personal or spiritual growth? 

Have you refused to take responsibility for your life? 

Have you forced others to take on your responsibilities out of fear of failure and a reluctance to put yourself out there to see what you are actually capable of?  

Do you find yourself saying and doing things you later regret that end up hurting relationships? 

Does all your progress seem to halt prematurely and you feel stuck? 

Do you find yourself paralyzed by indecision and feel anxious and overwhelmed by life?

Self-sabotage becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts, as the individual's fears turn into reality. It’s not that they are unworthy or defective in some manner as they tend to believe, but the fact that the individual has placed their agreement with the lies the enemy has told them about themselves and their ability to be successful. They don’t believe they deserve it, so they inevitably do things that cause problems in relationships, mistakes in the workplace and other foolish decisions that undermine their goals and desires, and they end up ruining their hopes and dreams. The person is bound by indecision, confusion, unbelief, fear, an orphan spirit, and a false identity. These self-defeating attitudes and beliefs often show up through fear of losing what little progress they have made. The negative experiences only serve to underwrite the person’s belief system in unbelief and self-rejection more and more until they eventually succumb to the belief that they are resigned to a certain fate.

What the person may not understand at first is that these behaviors are actually directed towards themselves because the spiritual enemies working in their lives are working to reinforce a curse. The enemy has allies - various other spirits - that conspire together to bring a person down and work to oppress them. The individual begins to direct their anger and disappointment towards themselves in self-hatred. A person that believes they are unworthy of happiness and despises themself can’t imagine a blessed future where they are able to achieve true success in relationships, education, employment, family, ministry or other opportunities. Sabotage comes from a root system of unworthiness and a lack of self esteem. They begin to reject truth, reject wisdom and others as they also reject themselves. Their spirit becomes shut down and resists the love of God because inwardly they don't believe He wants to talk to them or loves them. They don't feel loveable but it's because an unloving spirit is attached to them. They try to earn love, approval and acceptance from others often as a replacement for God's love and acceptance. It is an erosion of self-confidence that sets a person up for failure. The father of lies attempts to cement their future in failure. It also covers the person in shame. 

Self-sabotage is inwardly driven by a person’s inner critic and rehearsing negative thoughts about themselves. The individual often feels angry, insecure, jealous, guilty and frustrated with themselves but can turn those feelings into accusations or suspicions towards others. It can also give them tendencies towards controlling others through manipulation or just shutting down and withdrawing into themselves. These behaviors end up hurting their relationships, which perpetuates the negative cycles and reinforces their thoughts that they are defective and incapable of holding on to loving relationships. All of these things working together against the individual and causes an enormous amount of debilitating anxiety, stress and worry about their life and their future. Fear can actually become paralyzing and hinder the individual’s ability to make good decisions. It is the assignment of the enemy to stop, hinder, and halt the individual’s personal growth, which includes emotional and spiritual growth. This is known as Arrested Development. Demons strategize together to accomplish this objective. Self-sabotage is a strongman spirit that is kept in place through negative agreements with the enemy and is a curse in the life of the individual that must be broken.

The spirit of sabotage wants a person’s destiny and the enemy wants to claim that individual’s soul as a trophy for himself. It is gained by unbelief in God’s promises and a rejection of His truth, a rejection of the person of Jesus Christ who comes to us to declare the love of God and the yoke breaking power of the anointing. The person must make a choice if they will continue to entertain the lies of the enemy or completely reject the lies (taking a step of faith) to believe what God has said about them and their future. It takes visualizing a different future and choosing not only different actions and responses, but believing God has assigned value to our lives and He has good plans for our success. Choose to believe this is His truth over all His children's lives! 

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

" Once your mindset changes, everything on the outside will change along with it." Steve Mariboli, FearlessMotivation.com

While it is important to understand the thoughts that lead people into toxic, self-defeating behaviors so that the individual can learn to make different choices, it is equally important to recognize that all of these things are directly tied into a belief system forged by the enemy. It is a spiritually rooted problem that requires a spiritual solution, and that remedy comes through prayer. 

Prayer:

Father, in the name and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, I declare the spirit of sabotage is bound and rendered paralyzed, impotent and silenced over myself, my family members and specifically (insert name of person you are praying for). I command all demons working together to achieve the assignment of sabotage, ruin, false identity, arrested development and oppression over my loved ones is broken now in Jesus’ name.

I bind the strongmen at work and I take authority over the spirits of fear, insecurity, inferiority, shame, self-rejection and self-hatred, the orphan spirit, rebellion, confusion, indecision, unbelief, suspicion, jealousy, sabotage, false identity and unworthiness and I say, “May all your works of witchcraft and evil be bound in the name of Jesus Christ.”  I declare your assignments are canceled now and you must leave ________ immediately in Jesus name.

Father, wherever the original door to sin and iniquity came open, let the blood of Jesus cover these sins, even back through our family’s ancestry. Forgive us for rejection of truth, and for rejection of You as a person and our Savior, Lord Jesus, and Your Holy Spirit. Forgive us for not believing what Your word has to say about us and our future. I break any agreements that were made with spirits of darkness. I renounce all lying spirits, unbelief, fear, insecurity, inferiority, shame, self-rejection, self-hatred, the spirit of heaviness and discouragement, the orphan spirit, confusion, indecision, suspicion, jealousy, resentment, sabotage, false identity and unworthiness that has affected me, my family members and (insert the name of the person you are praying for). I declare these spirits must leave me, my family and loved ones now in Jesus’ name, and no evil spirit is allowed to torment them anymore. Father, please put a hedge of protection around my family and loved ones now in Jesus’ name. I declare no weapon formed against us shall prosper according to Isaiah 54:17. 

I declare me, my family members and (insert name of person you are praying for) will no longer feed on lies. I declare the father of lies is cast down at the feet of Jesus. 

I declare truth and discernment has returned to us so that we recognize the lies and cast them down, verbally declaring that we will not agree with those thoughts any more. 

I declare we have overcome all the power of the enemy through the blood of Christ and the word of our testimony. 

I declare that Jesus Christ has washed us from our sins in His own blood according to Revelation 1:5, and through Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, according to Ephesians 1:7 

Let the belief system and all the thought processes, the neurotransmitters and the brain’s messenger system in myself, my family members and (insert name) be rewired in truth, in faith and by revelation from the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, please unravel every lie that has held me and my loved ones in captivity. I declare we have an "all things are possible with God" mentality and we let faith have the last word.

Let every ungodly yoke break off now in Jesus’ name. Clothe us in garments of praise so that the joy of the Lord becomes our strength. Anoint our heads with the oil of gladness. Lord, put your yoke on us and hold us close to your heart. Hold us close to your side so that we can hear Your voice. Let our loving Shepherd guide us into paths of peace and righteousness and give us rest for our soul according to Psalm 23. Holy Spirit, guide us into more and more truth that will set us free. I praise You and thank You for our deliverance in the name above every other name, Jesus Christ the risen Son of God, amen.

Additional scriptures to declare for deliverance from one's enemies:

The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. Psalm 18:2

He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. Psalm 18:17

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood...Revelation 1:5

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. Acts 16:31

With man this is impossible but with God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26

I can do evrything through Christ who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:24