2 Samuel 7:29, part3

This is the final part of a series of blogs picking up from yesterday.  We are discussing the prayer we invited people to declare over their own lives.  Many people are accustomed to the idea of praying for others but not themselves.  Then, a step farther, ministering to yourself.  So much of David's writings in the Psalms are examples of him dealing with himself spiritually.  Take for example the beginning of Psalm 103.  He opens with, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!"  He is giving commands to himself...ministering to himself...yes, talking to yourself is Biblical!

The next component of the prayer is breaking.  I was a wrestler in middle school and high school, albeit not a very good one but in looking back to those years, we find a meaningful illustration here.  When you are trying to break free from an opponent, it begins with an act of your will.  You have to resolve in your heart and mind that you will NOT be bound by this person.  That is the step of renouncing from yesterday's blog.  Now however, you must get free.  There is a moment when you separate, when you divide, when you are free.  I believe this is true with us spiritually.  So we prayed, "Father, I break any power this temptation has over me, all control this temptation has in my life!"  In a room where this is happening, you can literally see a change in the countenance of people in the room, beautiful!

Finally, there is a moment of declaration.  Just as in wrestling, once you are free, you have to be committed to not being entangled again in your former patterns of sin, patterns of yielding to certain kinds of temptation.  We won't always succeed but through this prayer and the wisdom of Scripture about accountability, confession, counseling, etc...we find a path forward to continue to battle...even returning to these sorts of prayer encounters when needed.  We prayed, "And I declare, that I am a child of the living God and that Holy Spirit living within me will be the loudest, most dominant influence in my life, living a life that is pleasing to my God!"  Have you ever helped someone move?  What if the friend that rents the fifth floor apartment...and you get the heaviest piece of furniture they own!  You finally get to the place where it is supposed to be placed and the feeling you have when you let go...you literally feel lighter.  So too with the entanglements of temptation and sin.  Freedom is His promise!

In Jesus' Name!

Pastor Fred