Threefold Cord & Fasting

Greetings,

                We have been in a series on the threefold cord of prayer, giving, and fasting because according to the Bible a threefold cord is not quickly broken. If we want to be numbered among those that are not quickly broken, it is important we incorporate these three essentials into our walk with Jesus.

“And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:12)

Fasting is the third element of the threefold cord. It is unfortunate that many people are unfamiliar with the idea that fasting is an essential part of the faith. Part of the reason for this is that the importance and relevance of fasting is rarely taught. As a matter of fact, there are some churches that never teach on the power and purpose of fasting. This is truly unfortunate.

I’m going to spend this letter introducing you to some of the clear object lessons and promises in Scripture regarding fasting. As you will see, even though fasting is not fun, it is well worth it.

“But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.” (Psalm 35:13)

In this passage the psalmist explains that he humbled his soul with fasting. Fasting is a humbling experience. It makes us aware of just how weak our flesh really is. It increases our awareness of God and His activity in and around us. Humility is a very important quality that all Christians should embrace. In God’s kingdom, it is the humble that are exalted in due time—not the prideful and arrogant.

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6)

Another important characteristic of fasting is its role in breakthrough. As we walk out our faith there are times when we hit walls even though we are praying regularly. In these moments, it is often fasting that activates the breakthrough. In the book of Esther we read about a breakthrough fast.

The story goes that there was a plot to commit genocide against the Jews. This took place during the Medo-Persian Empire. Esther had been chosen as queen by Ahasuerus (the king) due to her beauty. What the king didn’t know was that she was Jewish. When she learned of the plot to destroy her people,  she knew that something drastic would have to be done. She would have to appeal to the king, knowing that it could cost her life. She needed a breakthrough and so she called for a fast.

“[Esther said] Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16

                In order to activate a breakthrough, Esther called for a corporate fast. This particular fast she called for is known as a total fast (since neither food nor water is consumed). The results were magnificent. At the end of the fast she barged into the king’s royal court which was against the law for her (Esther 5:1). Instead of ordering her death, the king extended his scepter to her and gave her favor (Esther 5:2). After treating the king and a man named Haman to several banquets she revealed the plot against her people (Esther 7:4-6). The king left the meal in anger, returning after a brief moment of consideration to put the plot to an end (Esther 7:7). He began by having Haman, the instigator of the plot, committed to death (Esther 7:8-10). This was true breakthrough not only for Esther but also for the entire nation of Israel.

                Another illustration of the importance of fasting comes from the book of Daniel. The prophet went on a three week fast eating “no pleasant bread, neither flesh nor wine (Daniel 10:3).” While this isn’t a total fast, it is clearly a biblical way of fasting. For those of you that are interested in more information about this particular fast I recommend that you visit this blog.

                This fast caused the answer to Daniel’s prayers to be answered in the form of a heavenly visitation. The heavenly being  explained to Daniel that he had come for “the prophets words” but that he was withheld 21 days by the prince (or ruling fallen angel) of the kingdom of Persia. As a result of Daniel’s fast, a breakthrough occurred when Michael (an archangel) showed up to help. This allowed the heavenly messenger to arrive with answers to Daniel’s intensive seeking.

                “Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.” (Daniel 10:12-14)

                There are many other fasts in the Old Testament but due to time and space I cannot possibly go through all of them here. Instead we are going to transition into the New Testament. Our object lesson comes from a situation during which the disciples could not cast out a particular spirit. In this case we learn from Jesus that fasting is important in spiritual warfare.

“And I brought him [my son] to thy disciples, and they could not cure him…And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 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. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew  17:16, 18-21)

Jesus clearly says that driving out certain kinds of spirits will require prayer and fasting. This means that fasting is important when it comes to spiritual warfare in the new covenant. What we must realize is that fasting and prayer is the solution to a lack of faith—or as the King James Version puts it: unbelief. The disciples weren’t able to cast the devil out because of unbelief. Therefore, we learn that fasting and prayer is an effective way to increase our faith. Living a fasted lifestyle will leave us empowered to deal with powerful spirits upon encountering them. Jesus is not saying that every time we encounter a powerful spirit we will need to go on a three day fast—notice that Jesus (who had formerly gone on a forty day fast) drove the spirit out on the spot with no problem. He is saying that when we incorporate fasting and prayer into our lifestyle we will be able to handle powerful spirits when we encounter them.

This is one of the reasons why the apostle Paul clearly modeled a fasted lifestyle. In his own words:

“But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings” (2 Corinthians 6:4-5)

“Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft… In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.” (2 Corinthians 11:23, 27)

Fasting was an essential part of Paul’s lifestyle. He understood that Jesus expected that His followers would fast, and he also understood that he was tapping into spiritual benefits by fasting. If Paul found it necessary to live a fasted lifestyle, we should too. As Jesus puts it:

“And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.” (Matthew 9:15)

What is a Sheep Nation?

This link is to an audio teaching discussing what a sheep nation will be. Due to technical difficulties no written teaching was sent out this week.

Threefold Cord & Giving

Greetings,

                Last week we began discussing the threefold cord of prayer, giving and fasting. When we combine these three essentials of the Christian faith it makes us stronger as believers. As the Bible says, a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

“And though a man might prevail against him who is alone, two will withstand him. A threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12)

It is my humble opinion that only a fool would argue against the biblical principle of giving. Giving money is essential in order to finance the advance of the kingdom of God on earth. It is also essential in order to activate the promises of God’s provision for us. Consider the following passage.

“Give, and [gifts] will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will they pour into [the pouch formed by] the bosom [of your robe and used as a bag]. For with the measure you deal out [with the measure you use when you confer benefits on others], it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:38 AMP)

We all want gifts. There is not a person I know that would not receive a gift of one million dollars if it were offered to them with no strings attached. When we look at what the Bible says about receiving, we find that there is a straightforward principle involved. The Bible clearly says: GIVE. It really couldn’t be any more straightforward. Some Christians think that they can look to God for provision and ignore His clear way of doing things. Unfortunately they only deceive themselves. We must give.

The Bible goes on to say that with the measure we give it will be measured back to us. I like to think about hot chocolate. If I only have one ounce of hot chocolate mix I can only make about one cup of decent hot chocolate. If I try to make more hot chocolate, it comes out watered down and gross. Who likes to drink watered down hot chocolate? Hot chocolate is best when water is limited to the amount of hot chocolate mix that has been added. When it is, the hot chocolate comes out rich and delicious.

God wants to give us the best quality. His gifts and provision are truly rich and delicious. However, what He can give to us is determined by what we measure out. It is kind of like Him providing the water for our hot chocolate mix. If I measure out one ounce of hot chocolate mix, I can receive enough water to make about one cup of excellent hot chocolate. If I measure out 100 ounces of hot chocolate mix, I can receive enough water to make a whole bunch of hot chocolate! Not only will I have more than enough to satisfy all of my desires, but I will have an abundance of hot chocolate to share with those in need.

God does not want you to have watered down hot chocolate! Therefore, there is a principle that limits what is measured to us by what we measure out. If you only give a little of your increase (and by little I mean relative the amount that you take in) God will only have a little given back to you. If you give a lot of your increase, God will give a lot back to you, and you will have more than enough to satisfy all of your desires and an abundance to share with those in need!

Consider this next verse on giving.

“But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6)

Giving is like sowing seed. If I sow one seed, I will be able to harvest one crop. If I plant many seeds, I will be able to harvest many crops. Even if I plan to only feed myself, it would be unwise to plant only one seed. The principle is clear. The more we sow, the more we will be able to reap. The more we measure out, the more will be measured back to us.

This is why when Jesus speaks about giving He does not speak to it as a possibility. Who in their right mind wouldn’t want to receive the rich and delicious blessings of God? This is what Jesus says.

“Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.” (Matthew 6:2-4)

Notice that Jesus says, “When you do your alms (or giving).” He does not say “if”. As He goes on He addresses how not to go about giving. He says don’t sound a trumpet before you. In other words, you are giving to God; you are not giving so that people get impressed by how often or how much you give. God is not impressed by our giving when it is done to impress or earn the approval of men. This type of giving is done in hypocrisy. Therefore Jesus says don’t give this way.

He also makes the comment that we should not let our left hand know what our right hand is doing. What does this mean? The idea is that we are not to publish or publicize our giving and make it an act of pride. Instead we are to give cheerfully as an act of surrender and devotion to God.

“So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7)

When it comes to just how much we should consistently give, it becomes a point of dissention between some Christians. Tithing, which is defined as the giving of 10% of our increase, is something that some Christians will argue against until they are blue in the face. The argument is usually that they “can’t find” tithing taught in the New Testament—that it was only part of the Law of Moses. Since Jesus fulfilled the law for us we should not be required to give 10%. The fact of the matter is that the first recorded tithe was performed by Abraham, who gave a tenth of his increase to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18-20). This act predated the law, meaning tithing is not limited to the law.

Furthermore, most of the people that argue against tithing have financial problems. Sure some may be relatively well off. However, these individuals often lose a lot of money to frivolous things like unexpected expenses, missed opportunities, and other unfortunate circumstances. In short, they are not receiving God’s best for their lives. Conversely, most of the people that tithe faithfully always have everything they need, and in time wind up with abundance if they remain faithful.

As a quick testimony, when I moved from Tulsa to Chicago I did so by faith. I moved without a job opportunity into a terrible job market with orders from God to not look for a job. God simply told me He’d give my wife a job and that it would supply for our needs while I entered a season of prayer, study, fasting, and writing. We quit our jobs in Tulsa by faith and moved to Chicago. When we arrived on November 1, we purchased nearly $5,000 worth of new furniture. Then we took a vacation to Cleveland for Thanksgiving. We also purchased over $1000 of Christmas presents that year and Gloria didn’t even receive her first paycheck until the very end of December. This is not to mention our other mandatory expenses such as our car payment, car insurance, and so forth.

After a two month period of with no pay checks coming in I began the process of publishing my first book Noah’s Ark and the End of Days. This project cost me nearly $10,000. I printed the book without acquiring any debt. Prior to moving to Chicago, our combined salaries totaled $23/hour. The question is how was this possible? The answer: tithing. I gave no matter what, and I refused to quit. Thus, God made the impossible possible and I walked in His financial blessings. Had I not tithed, the numbers would have spoken for themselves.

In closing I challenge you to put the Lord to the test—prove Him. If you are not giving, or if you have been giving but not tithing, I challenge you to start by faith. According to the following verse, this is exactly what God challenges His people to do. Furthermore, we need to realize that when we rob God of our tithes and offerings, we really do leave our finances unprotected against the attack of the enemy. This means that giving is an important aspect of spiritual warfare.

“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:8-10)

Threefold Cord & Prayer

Greetings,

                During my teenage years I had this ridiculous saying that I can only groan at in remembrance. I actually used to say, “I don’t get hit by cars, cars get hit by me.” This was in reference to the thought that my muscles were so great, not even a car could hurt me. Can you imagine? What I have learned is that I can be quickly broken. However, there is something that is not quickly broken—a threefold cord.

“Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:11-12)

What does this have to do with spiritual warfare? Over the next three weeks I am going to present to you the threefold cord of prayer, fasting, and giving. Put together, these three elements of our faith produce a work in our lives that is not quickly broken. They are all necessary elements of our faith, yet many people utilize only one or two. Some so-called Christians do not practice any of these essentials. It’s no wonder that people have some of the problems that they do.

 Let me be very clear here. Praying, fasting and giving are not optional when it comes to the Christian faith. Sure, you may exercise your right of choice and refrain from these activities. However, when you weaken the “cord” by removing strands, it’s much easier for the cord to break.

I like to think about floss. Healthy gums and healthy teeth require regular flossing. Any dentist will tell you that brushing is not enough. If your gums bleed when you floss, your gums are not in good shape. In any case, not all floss is created equal. I once purchased discount floss, which initially turned out to be brutal. It felt like tree bark. As a matter of fact, it was so horrible my wife started to get concerned when I would floss. Why didn’t I stop using it? Who knows? The benefit was that it never broke while I was cleaning my teeth. Although it was initially uncomfortable, it proved itself to be solid and powerful.

On another occasion I bought some classier floss. Sure it felt great as it easily glided through my teeth. Unfortunately, it would constantly break. As I made my way through my mouth the floss would get shorter and shorter. When I arrived at the end of my flossing I would literally be pinching the ends of the floss because so much had broken off. It would be too short to wrap around my fingers.

Some of you may have a walk with Christ that resembles crumbling floss. It just never seems to stay together. You find yourself holding on for dear life, always wondering why things just keep falling apart. What you may need to realize is that you’ve been taking the “easy” road of the faith and exercising your right of choice. Instead of choosing life, you’ve been choosing death.

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19)

Choosing life is always a harder road. It’s kind of like flossing with terrible generic floss. Sure it feels like tree bark, but man does it get the job done. The fact of the matter is that eventually, I got used to it. Now, my gums have the strength of a thousand elephants (just kidding). Seriously though, when you ponder on your walk with Christ, would others comment that it displays power and intimacy? If not, maybe it’s time to incorporate another strand to your faith.

The difference between strong floss and the weak floss is the amount of reinforcement that the floss has. The strong floss is thick and made out of coarse material. The weak floss is thin and flimsy. Spiritually, Christians that don’t incorporate prayer, fasting, and giving into their walk with Christ tend to be flimsy. Christians that do incorporate all of these things are stronger, reinforced, and maintain greater intimacy and relationship with God. They also reap the spiritual benefits.

                In Matthew chapter 6 Jesus is in the midst of the Sermon on the Mount. Notice how he phrases some of His wisdom.

1.       “Therefore when thou doest thine alms…” (Matthew 6:2)

2.       “And when thou prayest…” (Matthew 6:5)

3.       “Moreover when ye fast…” (Matthew 6:16)

                Notice how Jesus presents these concepts. He does not present them as possibilities. He does not use the word “if.” He uses the word “when.” The assumption is being made that Christians WILL do these things. Therefore, Jesus is giving instruction so that when we do these things, we will do them with wisdom and understanding. This is extremely important to understand.

                This week we are going to focus in on prayer. Since so much of spiritual warfare has to do with prayer techniques, I am not going to go into as much detail in this letter. Specifically regarding prayer, this is what Jesus says:

                “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words” (Matthew 6:5-7)

                The first thing that we need to take away from this is that prayer is not an option, it is a requirement. Two, we should not pray like hypocrites. Unfortunately, some have taken this passage to mean that anyone that prays in public is automatically a hypocrite. This is not true. Jesus is speaking to this because that’s what the Pharisees and Sadducees (the hypocrites) did in that time. The drive behind their public prayers was pride and arrogance, therefore Jesus said don’t be like them.

Three, we should take away the understanding that the Father is in the “secret place”. This is not a physical location in your bedroom. This is a spiritual location that we must enter into in spirit. When we enter this place, we will openly receive the rewards of God. Dwelling in the secret place of God most certainly has its benefits.

                “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” (Psalm 91:1-4)

                Four, we should not use vain repetitions. Repetitive prayers do not invoke relationship and intimacy with God. Instead, they root us in tradition and keep us away from true relationship. God desperately desires deep and intimate relationship with us. Therefore, Jesus says to toss the vain repetitions out in favor of heartfelt prayers. God wants us to come boldly before His throne of grace.

                “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16)

                Next week we are going to resume our discussion on the threefold cord of prayer, fasting, and giving. I am firmly convinced (as one who practices all three) that Christians who incorporate all of these elements into their walk with Christ will not be easily broken. This is what I want for you.

Have a blessed Resurrection Sunday!

Generational Curses

Greetings,

                Have you ever heard the phrase, “like father like son”? Of course you have. The reason: oftentimes children will imitate aspects of their parents. Granted, no child is an exact duplicate of either one of their parents, but he or she will inevitably have some of their characteristics. More often than not there is no rhyme or reason to which characteristics a particular child may take away. It’s always a mixed bag of good traits and bad traits. Why?

                There are several answers to this question. One involves the concept of modeled behavior. Life is way too complicated to figure out everything. A parent is to model necessary behaviors so that their children will not have to figure certain things out on their own. For instance, parents actually model language and communication. The child will learn how to communicate by observing their parents from birth. No child has ever grown up in a family that speaks mandarin Chinese and invented a Spanish dialect as their preferred mode of communication prior to speaking their first words. This would be ridiculous. Children learn modeled behavior.

                However, there is another level to this that goes even deeper. Have you ever seen someone do something and say, “It’s in their blood”? Take musical families for example. Why is it that in some families everyone can sing well? In other families, everyone sings horribly. As a matter of fact, some families are so bad—the birthday song can be a moment of embarrassment. If this is your family, just remember that there is no condemnation in Christ. My point is that there are traits that seem to be more genetic in nature. While modeled behavior is one aspect that gets passed down through the generations of a particular family, genetics is another.

                Then there is sin. I truly wish this were not the case but it often is. Keep in mind that when Jesus became a curse for us by being nailed to the cross (Galatians 3:13), His death and resurrection only purchased the potential for us to be completely free. It is our responsibility to claim freedom from curses by faith. Everything in Christianity comes by faith as an act of our free will. If we don’t ask Jesus to do something, He won’t force his goodness upon us. The Bible says that whatever we ask, believing that we receive it, we will have it (Matthew 21:22). It doesn’t matter whether or not Jesus CAN do something for us. What matters is that we BELIEVE He can do it for us, and then ask. This is when we begin to have the things that He wants for us, which is life and life more abundantly (John 10:10).

                With this being said, there are curses that are often with us for no fault of our own. These are called generational curses. These are the result of sins that were committed by those in our family line. The consequences for these sins, which were not repented of, were passed from one generation to the next like a form of spiritual DNA. The reason is found in the following verse.

                “And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6-7)

                It is a spiritual law that the sins of the parents will come down upon the heads of their children. Most sins seem to have a lifespan of three to four generations within a family line, however, some may span as many as ten (Deuteronomy 23:2). Just like genetics, this does not mean that every possible curse that a parent could be operating under will be passed to their children. There will be some curses passed to one child and others passed to another. Regardless of which curses are passed down, or how many one particular child might be operating under, the solution is Jesus who has all power in heaven and on earth.

                “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” (Matthew 28:18)

                “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:19)

                What are some examples of possible generational curses? Here is a list which by no means is all inclusive: abortion, rejection, isolation, bad marriage, divorce, can’t marry, greed, prostitution, fornication, adultery, alcoholism, anger, rage, depression, anxiety, sore loser, bully, impatient, lust, pornography, arguments, laziness, suicide, not teachable, always quits, foolishness, failure, poverty, witchcraft, gambling, rebellion, disrespectful, cowardly, etc.

                As you can see, just about anything negative can come upon someone’s head as a curse. The key to identifying generational curses are patterns. Just because a destructive pattern or sin is present in someone’s life does not mean it is a generational curse. We must look at the destructive activity that is manifesting across generations. Do alcoholic tendencies run through the family? Are there a lot of children being born out of wedlock? Is drug abuse something that seems to repeat itself from one generation to the next? Is everyone divorced?

Patterns are a great indicator of potential generational curses. However, there are certain generational curses that seem to skip an entire generation and reemerge. Whatever the case, the solution is always the same. The curse must be broken by the power of Jesus Christ.

In order to break generational curses it is necessary to repent of the sins of our forefathers. We can learn a lesson here from Nehemiah.

“And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.” (Nehemiah 1:5-7)

                Notice how Nehemiah not only repents of his personal sins, but also the sins of his forefathers. In doing this he was breaking the power of generational curses. Today, we can break generational curses in the same way. You may be wondering how you can repent of sins you don’t know about. When dealing with generational sins, it is much less necessary to be specific than when we are repenting of our personal sins. God gives grace, and there are inevitably going to be things your ancestors have done that you will never have knowledge of. A prayer like the following is good for breaking generational curses.

                “Father, I thank you that if we confess our sins, you are faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I repent of the sins of my forefathers coming down through both my mother’s lineage and my father’s lineage going back ten generations. I specifically repent for (name sins you know have been committed by your ancestors). I receive your cleansing from these sins. Right now, according to the power of the blood of Jesus, I break the power of all generational curses and I declare that both I and my offspring are free from the generational curses of our family tree. I specifically declare that the generational curses of (name specific generational curses you have identified) are no longer permitted to operate in my life. I make this declaration in the precious name of Jesus. Jesus became a curse for me and I receive His promise of life and life more abundantly. Thank you Father for setting me free, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Repentance and Renunciation

Greetings,

                Repentance is a huge part of spiritual warfare. As a matter of fact, its importance cannot be overstated. Before we get into its applicability for spiritual warfare, I must first address a misconception. It is a true statement that Jesus died to forgive us of our sins. Not only does His death pay for the sins that we committed before we came to Him, but it is sufficient to pay for those sins that we commit after coming to Him. Therefore, some have erroneously concluded that we are cleansed of every sin we commit as a Christian even before we commit it. Let’s take a look at the following verse.

                “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8-10)

                Notice the “we” and “us” language that the apostle uses here. This passage is clearly not intended to be applied only to when we initially repent of our sins and acknowledge Jesus as Lord. This passage is relevant throughout our walk as Christians. We are certainly cleansed when we initially repent, but we will all fall short of the mark again. For those of you that don’t know, sin literally means to miss the mark.

                When we miss the mark we need cleansing. This is why we repent. Our repentance allows God to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This means that although we are Christian, when we do unrighteous things—that unrighteousness follows us. Think about garbage. What does garbage attract? It attracts flies, vermin, rodents and other undesirables. Plus it stinks! What does unrighteousness attract? It attracts the activity of the kingdom of darkness to you in the same way garbage attracts flies and vermin.

                To solve the problem of flies and vermin our first step is to remove the garbage that attracted them in the first place. Once the garbage is no longer available they have nothing to stick around for. Just as one might imagine, they will leave in search of garbage and filth somewhere else. It is similar when we begin to repent. When we repent God cleanses us of all that unrighteousness that was attracting the activity of the kingdom of darkness. When the sin is removed from our lives, the emissaries of the kingdom of darkness have little to continually attract them. Sure they may be sent on assignment to attack us from time to time, but the difference is that they are no longer being attracted by our sin.

                Theologically speaking, repent simply means to change our mind. It means to do a complete turnaround; to stop doing what you were doing and to start doing what you weren’t doing. It’s much more than a mental assent. True repentance means that we not only acknowledge that what we are doing is wrong, but that we are ready to let God change us. Once God cleanses us of unrighteousness, we need to stay cleansed. If we continue to go back to the same filth, we will keep attracting the same activity. We must change our mind about our sin and follow through with the change that God introduces into our lives.

                If repentance is not a normal part of your relationship with God, something is wrong. Soberly ask yourself the following question: When was the last time I made repentance a part of my prayer time? If you can’t remember you’re in bad shape. Don’t waste any time, why don’t you repent of the dirt you’ve been doing right now!

                With that taken care of, we will now move on to discuss how repentance is vitally important to spiritual warfare. On a personal level, certain types of sin will open the door to very real demonic activity in our lives. The activity will not stop until we repent.  Even if someone drives the demonic activity out, should we fail to repent the activity will resume after a short amount of time. As it is written:

                “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.” (Matthew 12:43-45)

                I will now share a brief example of how repentance leads to deliverance from demonic oppression. The following example will be taken from my own life. Before I start, I understand that there are people that teach that a Christian cannot have a demon. They will base this lie on passages like Galatians 3:13 (which states that Christ became a curse for us) and argue that if Christ became a curse for us it is impossible for us to be cursed now (or have any kind of demon). I know from personal experience that this notion is flat out wrong. Just like we are healed by the stripes of Jesus (1 Peter 2:24) yet we can still get sick; Jesus became a curse for us but we can still be cursed. The provision purchased for us by Jesus must be activated by faith…it is not an automatic.

                When I was in college and backsliding in my faith, I was in an ungodly relationship. I was involved with a girl who had a family history racked with witchcraft. She actually had a cousin (whom I never met) that would disappear and reappear at times, being taken to places by spirits. The child was only five or six.

In any case, after we started having sex I developed a twitch. It wasn’t something that affected my life during the daytime, but only when I tried to sleep. As my body would relax it was very difficult for me to stay still. At times my arm or leg would simply jut out violently. I had no explanation for the activity. If I was sleeping next to her, the violent spasms always seemed to be directed towards her. Yes, there were some punches and kicks that happened in my sleep.

As time went on it became more difficult to control and I still didn’t know what was going on. All I knew was that something wasn’t right spiritually. I finally solved the problem one weekend when I was home from school. It was night time and I had lain down to go to sleep in my parent’s house. I was convicted of my fornication and I decided to repent at this time. When I did, I realized (by divine revelation) why the spasms were occurring. A demon had entered me because of fornication! After I repented I commanded the spirit to leave in the name of Jesus.

What happened next was pretty crazy. Right there in that bed my back arched involuntarily. As it arched I felt the spirit leave. It actually came right out of my chest! How do I know the spirit left? From that point forward, the spasms left and never returned. The physical manifestation was completely demonic in origin. Only by repentance was I able to be set free from that oppression.

Some of you reading this are suffering from demonic oppression that is directly tied to the sin that you refuse to part with. Some of you have sin from your past that you have never repented of. Sins like abortion, Ouija board, séances, fornication, adultery, envy, drunkenness, rape, strife, and other sins can all lead to direct demonic oppression in your life. Repent of specific sins, not only from here on forward, but also from those things in your past that you have never specifically repented of.

As a last note, renouncing often goes along with repentance. To renounce simply means to negate the involvement you had with something. It’s almost like rewinding time and allowing the redeeming power of God to make it as if you had never “had that involvement” or “done that thing”. Renouncing is done by simply saying the words, “I renounce all involvement and activity with (or regarding)…” Below you will find a sample prayer that incorporates both repentance and renunciation. As usual, it is just a blueprint so allow the Holy Spirit to cater the prayer to your specific situation.

“Father I repent of (list the specific sins). I renounce all involvement with (list specific activities). I thank you that your word says that if I repent you are faithful to forgive me of my sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I thank you for cleansing me with the precious blood of Jesus. Now all spirits associated with (specific sin) I command you to leave me now and never return in the name of Jesus. I command every door to be closed and sealed by the power of your Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Loosing

Greetings,

                Imagine this. It’s a cool dark night. The clouds are scattered across the sky in dark and eerie formations. Their appearance is but a mirror of your hearts intent. You stand outside of a giant estate, one that you’ve observed for some time, ever since it was assigned to you. Your job: break in and steal as much stuff as possible.

                Your agility is commendable. The fence guarding the property proves to be more of an inconvenience than a boundary. After you scale it, you creep through the trees and head for the side entrance. Everything is going so perfectly. These unfortunate people are going to be robbed blind, and you are going to be promoted by your boss. You are gloating so loudly inside of your head that you fail to notice one last obstacle.

                You make a break for the door, but as you round the corner of the mansion you find that there is a large man. He is standing at the door with four gigantic snarling dogs. They look like wolves with their grandiose fangs and they all begin to bark in your direction. As you prepare for the worst you realize that they are all on leashes. The man is holding them and he is not letting go. How strange!?

                You regain your composure and begin to creep towards the door again. As you close your proximity you realize that the man has no intention of letting go of the dogs. He is just looking at you and crying. You walk right around the dogs in plain sight, pick the lock, and walk in the house according to plan. You rummage through the various rooms and steal the most valuable things you can find. Once your sack is full, you exit by the same door you came in.  You walk past the dogs that are now practically foaming at the mouth. The man just won’t let them go.  You can’t help but hear His cry over your laughter.  “God, why do you destroy my life and take away everything that is valuable to me!” It dawns on you that he may not have even realized he had dogs on a leash to let go of…

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                The purpose of this short story is to illustrate reality for many Christians. The thief is intended to represent the devil’s cohorts that are sent on assignment to destroy our lives. The house represents our life. The things in the house represent the various elements of our lives. The house is surrounded by a fence because although there is protection from God, it does not prevent us from coming under attack. The man represents the Christian and his dogs represent God’s defensive provision. The dogs are on a leash to illustrate the principle of this letter—loosing. Until the man let’s go of those dogs (hence loosing them) there is nothing that they can do to destroy the works of the enemy.

                Last week we discussed binding. Binding is akin to tying up spirits so that they cannot conduct their wicked activity. We also discussed that binding is only one side of a two-sided coin. The other side of that coin is loosing. They go hand-in-hand. Notice how Jesus speaks of both of them in the same breath.

                “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19)

                This scripture, which deals with binding and loosing, also includes a third element: the keys of the kingdom of heaven. What are these keys? We have to keep in mind that whenever we attempt to deal with something involving “the kingdom,” we are dealing with truths that relate to the dimension where God is King. In other words, we are speaking about realities that find their source from outside of the earth realm. In essence, the keys of the kingdom are the promises of God that can be spoken over things in this world to conform them to heavenly realities. Put simply, they are scriptures. As we begin to engage life by speaking scripture over ourselves and the situations around us, we are also given the ability to bind and loose. We bind from heaven to earth, and we loose from heaven to earth. These operations allow us to enforce the will of God in this world.
                While binding stops certain spiritual activity from taking place, loosing causes certain spiritual activity to start taking place. How is this useful? We don’t just want to stop negative activity; we want to promote positive activity. In other words, good has to replace evil. We bind the wickedness and loose the good so that no gaps are left unfilled.

                When we are engaged in spiritual warfare we are to bind and loose. In a Bible study for example, not only do I want to bind distraction and arguments, I want to loose brotherhood, acceptance, peace, and joy. Basically, whatever things, attitudes or activities that are “of God” in Scripture are things we can pray for to be loosed. We can loose the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). We can loose the spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of council, the spirit of might, the spirit of knowledge, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2). When this type of activity is at work in our lives it is a great benefit to us!

                Moreover, we can also loose angelic activity. In spite of what some people have said, it is possible to loose angels to war in the spirit realm. Some people say, “Why do we need angels when we have Jesus?” Well, if that were a valid question then let me ask you this: why does God bother having an angelic army (2 Kings 6:17, Isaiah 66:15, Revelation 12:7-9)? Why do you think He is called the Lord of Hosts? Do you think they are just there to stand around and play harps! This is what the Bible says of their ministry.

                “But to which of the angels has He ever said: “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool?” Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:13-14)

                They minister to us. Part of their ministry is to fight battles on our behalf in the spirit realm. Think back to our story in the beginning of this letter. Many of you reading this are like that poor man that just stands there and cries at God. The thief goes in your house, takes your stuff, leaves, laughs at you, and gets promoted. You on the other hand are literally standing there with access to an army that can be loosed! What can we expect when we begin to loose the ministry of angels to destroy the works of the wicked one? We can expect that the foolish thief will take his nasty self out of your stuff so quick he won’t ever want to go back. He’ll probably get hurt pretty bad in the process of escaping too!

                So let’s get practical. How do we loose? I’ve typed out some prayers below that can be used as examples. Tailor them to the leading of the Spirit for your particular situation and watch God’s kingdom begin to go to work for you like you’ve never imagined. Just like binding, this is not theory—this is a proven art of war.

                “Father, right now I loose joy in this place (house, workplace, church, etc.). I thank you that your kingdom is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, and I declare this place is kingdom territory in Jesus’ name, amen.”

                “Father, right now I loose a spirit of might in my friend (person you are praying for). Just like the spirit of might rested upon Jesus, I thank you that a spirit of might now rests upon my friend. You have not given us a spirit of fear but of power. Thank you for your empowerment in Jesus’ name, amen.”

                “Father, right now I loose warring angels to destroy the works of witchcraft in my neighborhood. I declare that darkness can no longer prevail and the glorious light of Jesus Christ will break through in Jesus’ name, amen.”

                “Father, right now I loose angels of deliverance to break every demonic cord and bondage that the enemy is using to hold my friend captive such as (name specific areas of oppression in the friends life) in Jesus’ name, amen.”

                As you can see, loosing has a wide range of applicability. The trick is not to memorize these prayers, but to see them as a guide. During your prayer times, be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Allow Him to lead you into binding and loosing and you will find that the power of your prayer life will be ramped up by a whole order of magnitude.