Blog Archives
Emergency Rescue Prayer for Others
“Help! I need God to breakthrough for my family member NOW!”
How many of us have had that thought well up from deep in our heart – desperate to see someone we love set free from whatever binds them to trouble?
I have often pondered why some people just can’t seem to escape the trouble they experience in life. No matter how much they wish they could change, they don’t. Or you try talking to them and they won’t listen. Sound familiar?
So what can you do to help them?
We can pray. But not just regular prayer – though that always helps. I’m talking about a different kind of prayer that shatters strongholds and sets them free – without them evening knowing about it.
It’s called Identificational Repentance and it’s very, very powerful. I first learned about it from John Dawson in his book, Taking Our Cities for God. He applied it to cities and I was on prayer team who practiced the methods he recommended. We were amazed at the results!
A few years ago, the Lord began teaching me about this as it applied to individual people. I did not know it could be done that way but it made sense. And again, I was amazed at the results!
Basically instead of praying FOR the person, you talk to God as though you ARE the person.
For example, instead of praying, “Lord, please help Billy get off drugs. You know he’s already been to rehab, but he’s back at it again. He needs you, Lord. Please help him!” you pray this way instead, “Lord, I come to you now as Billy Jenkins. Please forgive me for using drugs instead of turning to You. I am sorry I don’t trust you. Please forgive me for believing the lie that I can do this on my own. I am weak and I need Your love to free me from this addiction. I can’t do this on my own. Please open my heart to Your love and show me how to live. Thank you.”
This is not easy to do – don’t take this lightly. You have to let go of your ego and lay aside your sense of self. You let go of judgment about Billy and what he’s doing. You come before God as thought you are Billy and you ask Holy Spirit to guide you as to what you need to say to God.
It is very powerful and very intimate. If you are trustworthy, God will show you what it is like to BE Billy. And it will probably surprise you. These are secrets you must keep – please don’t share them with anyone, not even Billy. These are between you and your Father.
Pray this way as often as you feel led for as long as you feel led to pray this way. You will see surprising results.
Why does it work?
Legal ground is established by our agreement with darkness – like a contract. We believe a lie (or a partial truth) and by agreeing with it, it has authority in our lives.
When we repent and come out of agreement with the lie, then its influence (or authority) over us is broken.
Sometimes someone is so deeply deceived that they don’t even realize they are in agreement with darkness. They can’t see the lie to come out of agreement with it. It is so deeply entrenched in their psyche that it seems impossible for them to recognize it. We all know people who have struggled for YEARS to overcome addiction. This is an example of an entrenched lie that is deeply hidden. No matter how they change their behavior, they are unable to overcome the lie that is hidden deeply in their hearts and minds. As a result, addiction still has a hold on them.
Here’s a secret: We are all “addicted” in some way or other. Some of us have obvious addictions like drugs or alcohol. Others have more “socially acceptable” addictions like worry, codependence or workaholism. These are all just evidence of our addiction to “self”. We all suffer from this “disease” (the more popular term for addiction now).
So, how do we get free? We turn to Jesus and repent of our false beliefs and come into agreement with His truth.
If someone is not able to do this on their own (because they can’t see the false beliefs), then an intercessor can start the process for them. The intercessor can take the place of the “addicted one” and repent before the Lord for whatever strongholds of agreement the Lord shows them to repent of. These are usually mindsets, patterns of thought or heart attitudes. It could be pride, independence, self-centeredness, fear, doubt, disbelief, etc.
We agree with HIM regarding what the truth is and come out of agreement with the lie – doing all of this as though we are the other person.
How does it work?
We become “one” with the person we are praying for, the one for whom we are repenting. Here are some examples from Scripture of the principle of being “one” with another person.
Husband and wife are one, according to Scripture. Genesis 2:22-24, Ephesians 5:31 and Matthew 19:4-6:
And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” Matthew 19:4-6
If we truly are one and that’s how God sees us, then that means I can “take the place” of my husband before God, if necessary. I can repent on his behalf – as though it was him talking to God, but the words are coming out of my mouth. I can’t change his heart, his mind or his will, but I can remove the stronghold of darkness that is exerting its influence on his heart, mind and will by repenting on his behalf.
All believers are one, according to Scripture. 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, Colossians 3:11, Galatians 3:28 and Ephesians 2:13-16:
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. Ephesians 2:13-16
How about unbelievers? Can we be “one” with them?
For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, 18-21
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. I John 2:2
What if they are unwilling?
What if they are unwilling? You can’t make anyone receive God’s love. From my experience, the only people I’ve ever met who were unwilling to receive God’s love and forgiveness were people who had a misconception either about God or about themselves. They believed a lie or partial truth that convinced them that either God didn’t really love them or that they were unworthy of being forgiven and loved by God.
There’s no logical reason for anyone to reject God’s love! The only time people reject it is when they believe a lie. We remove the power of the lie by breaking the agreement with it through repentance.
What an amazing masterful strategy from our God!
Once the power of agreement is broken, darkness no longer has any legal right to have such strong influence on their mind and heart. Then they can receive God’s love and forgiveness more easily!
Really – try it! It works! 🙂
I’ve seen it happen in “hard cases” – people who were not able to receive God’s love. Then someone prayed for them in Personal Identificational Repentance. Suddenly God’s love was accessible to them on a very deep level and they completely changed! Their hearts opened up like a flower bud and they blossomed with His Love! It’s an amazing miracle!
Spirit vs Soul, Surprising Power in Prayer
I LOVE to be in a prayer meeting where each person is listening to the Holy Spirit and only praying what they hear the Lord saying. There’s such freedom and power! It is incredibly encouraging as the Lord reveals His plans for the problems we see. By the end of the prayer time, we are so filled with joy and anticipation of what God is going to do!! I don’t enjoy as much the prayer meetings I have been in when people are praying from their souls. It can be moving to hear how much they care about an issue, but often it begins to feel almost like charismatic witchcraft – trying to get God to do what YOU want Him to do. It’s actually quite painful at times as you sense the lack of faith in God’s goodness – when you “pray the problem”, it tends to grow in your mind and weigh you down even more. Yuk! If you need help learning how to listen to the Holy Spirit, I created a short course to help with that. It only takes a few minutes to go through the material and then practice – I recommend 15 minutes each week for 4 weeks. The more you practice, the easier it gets! The course is called Developing A Close Relationship with God: A Simple Method.John said it like this, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” I John 5:14-15
Spiritual Protection from Dark Forces & Evil Spirits
Rating: Educational
When I was new to the idea of confronting spiritual darkness, I met a couple who seemed to have a little more experience in this area. The wife could discern whether an object had a curse on it by holding it in her hand. The husband could discern spiritual activity (angels & demons) – he said he saw them like comic book characters.
When I met them (nearly 20 years ago), they reported having some experience in helping people get free of oppression from dark forces. I had very little experience so I listened to what they had to say. They seemed balanced – not flaky like other Christians I had known. They taught me some things that I still use to this day.
One of the principles they learned (from experience) was spiritual protection. They reported having really bad experiences of “backlash” after a ministry appointment unless they specifically prayed for spiritual protection. I have incorporated the prayer they taught me with other prayers the Holy Spirit has impressed on me from time to time.
Whenever you directly confront darkness or dark forces through prayer, intercession or in a ministry setting (i.e. praying for someone who is oppressed by evil), afterwards it is a good idea to pray something like this:
“I bind all Retaliation, Revenge, Retribution and Jealousy from off of me and everything associated with me. I cancel all witchcraft and any soulish prayers prayed concerning me or my family. I close every open door to the enemy’s realm and I seal them with the blood of Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for your protection. In Jesus name, Amen.”
Obviously, there is no set formula – you can adapt or revise this prayer to suit your own needs. I have added some parts to it over the years based on my own experience. My friends used to call this “binding the three Rs”. Later they learned that they should add Jealousy. The 3 Rs is still a shortened way to refer to this. My husband and I have also found it helpful to pray this on a regular basis, regardless of what kind of ministry we have been doing lately.
Sometimes when we leave a specific location and are on the way home, I will feel impressed to “cancel any trailing or lingering spirits”. Sometimes I will get a specific impression to “cut off all communication devices of the enemy” and I may also cancel “any watchers or listeners”. A friend of mine has seen watchers and listeners – they are creepy. Just like in a real war in the natural, you might have these elements, right? So it makes sense to me that you might need to pray specifically against these in the spiritual war we are in.
Another couple I know have a habit of praying a “golden dome of protection”. This is particularly helpful if you are in a setting where you feel uncomfortable in your spirit, but you do not want to leave. I have prayed this at a restaurant, for instance. I ask God to fill this dome with His presence around our table and remove anything that does not come from Him. Immediately I feel at peace and I feel comfortable staying at the restaurant. It feels like a personal “force field”. I have found this very helpful and have used it when needed.
How about you? Have you found any specific prayers of protection that have been helpful? If so, please comment below. It is good for us to learn from each other – we all get stronger that way.
Many people are not aware of the importance of spiritual protection against “backlash” and they suffer from lack of knowledge – would you please share this post in your favorite social media as a way to bring awareness to this issue? Thank you! 🙂
Backlash and Bloodshed – Freaky!
Rating: Creepy
This memory keeps standing out in my mind so I guess I should share it next. It’s a little “out there” – it creeps me out whenever I think of it.
I was traveling for business. My brother happened to be in the same city, attending the wedding of an extended family member. He called me and said he was very worried about a certain sister’s safety. She had been at the event and then disappeared without telling anyone she was leaving. They later found out she had boarded a bus to go back to her home. This concerned him greatly because she had been telling him she was relieved to be away from home because she was in a very abusive relationship and the man had recently threatened to kill her. No one could understand why she suddenly left to return to him.
My brother is a man of prayer – when he is worried, his first defense is to intercede and ask God to intervene. He asked me to meet him to pray for this sister. We decided to go for a walk – there were too many people in the house and everyone was upset about the situation. We figured being outside would help us clear our heads and enable us to focus better in prayer.
As we walked, he did most of the praying. I just agreed. At one point, I “saw” this very, very large being above us. In comparison to its size, we looked like ants. I could see its legs like large columns going up and up. I sensed that it looked down at us, specifically at my brother, and it was annoyed at his prayers. The attitude conveyed was, “You think you have a right to pray for her safety? She’s mine!”
My brother interceded harder, asking God to save her life and protect her from the violence of the man she was going home to. He’s very bold when he prays. He prays with great authority and obviously he annoyed some very large being that was watching over this situation.
We finished praying. He walked me back to my car and I drove to my hotel. Even though we had closed out our time with prayers of protection and covering for ourselves, I had the uncanny feeling that this being was going to manifest in some way the next day at my job. I prayed about it several times that night, but I could not shake that feeling. I didn’t know what to expect. We had been praying against violence, bloodshed, the spirit of death, etc – anything that seemed related to the attack against this sister.
The next day at work, I was on the alert. I prayed on the way and I prayed when I arrived. I didn’t like knowing that somehow this spirit was going to show itself in my work day, but I was glad I had advance warning. I didn’t feel afraid – I just prayed for grace to know how to deal with it when it happened. For some reason, I didn’t feel I had the authority to block it from manifesting.
I was managing a small office of people. They needed an extra pair of hands to get a job done so the district manager had approved for a temporary labor office to send someone over. The man who arrived surprised me. He looked kind of like Santa Claus – he was older, overweight and had a white beard. The work assignment was physical labor. I explained this to him and asked if he felt he could do the work. I was a little concerned because he looked about ready for retirement, not a full 8 hours of physical labor in the sun of a very hot climate. He said he was fine and I sent him outside to be trained by one of our regular personnel.
About an hour and half later, he came walking into the office holding his left hand in his right hand and said, “Can someone help me please?” We all turned to see him – blood was dripping from his hands as he walked across the floor. I was shocked. Thankfully, the rest of the staff responded immediately. One of the office clerks had nurses training in her background and steered him toward the bathroom so she could see how bad the wound was and clean it up. Another staff member had training in blood borne illnesses and notified me that he knew how to clean up a blood spill correctly and proceeded to do so.
We had never had someone injured in this office before – at least not to my knowledge. We were all quite puzzled in how he could have hurt himself – and after only working for a little over an hour by himself. Thankfully, his wound was not serious. The office clerk got the bleeding stopped and bandaged him up from the first aid kit. I called the temporary labor office and our district manager for instructions on where to send him for treatment. I gave him the information and off he went.
As he left, I could not stop shaking my head. As soon as I ‘d seen the blood dripping on the floor, I’d known. This was a manifestation of that spirit of bloodshed and violence. I was very thankful it had been minor. That spirit seemed intent on intimidating me more than anything else – no real harm was done. The man would recover with a few minor stitches. I don’t know why this played out the way it did, but it made a definite impression on me.
Has anything this strange ever happened to you? What did you do? I’d love to hear stories from other people. I don’t often share these because most people have no frame of reference for something so odd.
Discernment of the Supernatural Realm 