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Weekly Prayer Strategy

(13th March – 20 March 2017)

This week’s prayer strategy is based on the sermon, The Biblical Basis for Freedom by Paul Nyamuda.

Introduction

Prayer point 1 Pray that God protects us from reacting negatively to the pain we have experienced in our lives. Pray that we use the negative experiences as a platform for ministry. What the enemy meant for harm God can use for good. Life happens and we all respond differently to what’s happened in our lives. How we respond will determine the degree to which we experience true freedom. What has happened to you? Divorce, abuse, abandonment? The enemy loves to us wounded because he knows that more often than not our reaction to pain will give him access. Pain seeks pleasure and often that pleasure is illicit and opens doors for darkness to enter. Gal 5:11 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Freedom is central to salvation. You are saved from certain things and you are saved into new things. We need to be clear about what we are saved from and to so that we walk in these things. If the world is to truly see Christ in His fullness then Christians need to be freed so Christ manifests in and through them in fullness.

The Webster definition of bondage is:

• The state of being under control of a force or influence • The state of one who is bound as in captivity or slavery

Are you bringing freedom to the people around you? Do they feel in bondage when around you? God loves you so much and His heart for you is that you be free. Despite every oppression you might be facing He still loves you. This is an important foundation to have, if you are going to be walking in freedom. The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit and anything short of this is some degree of bondage. (Rom 14:17).

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Prayer Point 2 • Pray that God helps you to be so secure in His love • Pray for the dissolving and disarming of ideas that move you away from the knowledge of His love.

Romans 8:38 – 39 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Isaiah 42:6-­8 I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you, And I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations, 7To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison. 8"I am the LORD, that is My name;; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.… Your deliverance is part of the covenant for those under Christ’s Lordship.

Prayer Point 3 Pray that God helps us to walk fully in the blessing of Isaiah 61. Pray each dimension of this passage over yourself. Isaiah 61:1-­7 shows us God’s heart for our freedom

61 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated;; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. 5 Strangers will shepherd your flocks;; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.6 And you will be called priests of the LORD, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.7 Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.

This passage shows us various levels of freedom that God would have us walk in. We see

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healing from emotional wounding and depression. Renewed prosperity and healing from generational patterns, deliverance from shame, restoration of leadership and ministry, grief issues and freedom from demonic strongholds. At a national level foreigners are welcome to come and find jobs. It’s a sign of a blessed nation.

Crisis? What crisis? The enemy’s strategy is to get you to think your bondage is normal. I am a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come. It sounds humble but its really false humility when we become comfortable in bondage. When you are in bondage it doesn’t glorify God. The fruit is never God-­honouring. Some don’t know God, others are saved but have no intimacy, others have intimacy but no service because of bondage. Why is this a project? I want to see whether personal freedom will result in breakthrough in marriages and breakthrough in church growth and breakthrough in business. If there is personal deliverance what will the outcome be on a larger scale. Its also a project for you because it will require adherence to a homework programme. You cannot separate deliverance from discipleship. We will use this material as pre-­reading or pre-­listening when people come for counselling. I. What is the biblical basis for ministering freedom to believers? 1. It’s possible to be a Christian but still walk in bondage Ephesians 4:27 says “do not give the devil a foothold” (NIV) The New American Standard (Eph. 4:27) puts it like this: “do not give the devil an opportunity” Eph 4:26-­27 26 “In your anger do not sin”[a]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.

Victory must be enforced. You can be on the winning side of a war but not know it. In Zim there were many people who had lost their minds and were stuck in the bush years after the Bush war thinking the war was still on. Or the Japanese soldier who continued for 29 years after the Japanese had already surrendered. James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Gal 6:7 is in the New Testament

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. There are many Christians today who have not surrendered parts of their lives.

Areas of bondage that may affect believers

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• Guardian Lies (often stemming from your wounds) • Unforgiveness and the root of bitterness • Bitter root judgements and Inner Vows • The root of rejection and abandonment • Sexual immorality, pornography and sexual addiction • Addictions and substance abuse • The impact of occult influences • False religion and syncretism • Broken marriages and their impact • Generational influences • Verbal abuse • Anger and violence • Emotional abuse and its impact • Trauma and wounded hearts • Father and Mother wounds • The Religious spirit • Spiritual abuse and its impact • Anxiety disorders • Territorial spirits and their impact • Spirits that resist local churches

How many of these are in your life right now?

Prayer Point 4 • Ask the Lord to reveal to you any foothold that the enemy has in your life. • Renounce and repent of anything that comes to mind, from the list above or revealed by the Holy Spirit.

• Pray for the church to walk in deeper levels of freedom in these areas.