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Our co-hosts, Karrilee & Lori, believe that all of us are made to pray! They are both passionate about prayer and believe it is a lifestyle & it should be our first response, not our last resort! In this podcast, they will talk about prayer, and then they'll actually pray! Sometimes it will be just the two of them, but sometimes they will invite a special guest to the podcast to share a teaching or testimony as well as to join in with them in prayer! So whether you are an intercessor and are passionate about prayer already - or just curious about what prayer looks and sounds like and how to start a conversation with God... we invite you to come along with us on this journey of prayer! Listen, Lean In, and Pray Along!
Karrilee (00:01)
Hey friends, you have found the Made Pray podcast where we talk a little and then we pray. I'm your co-host, Caroline. And Lori. We're happy to have you back. β we hope you guys listened to last week's episode on the celebration of disciplines. I know it sounds so fun. But I hope you listen to the whole thing. β we also put β like a PDF in the show notes for you to kind of click on and download. Gave you a little
β resource to dig a little deeper. β you know, we don't pay attention to numbers or things. So I don't know if any of you did that, but β I I printed it out and I'm kind of going through it and I I I'm finding it helpful myself. So hopefully you were able to do that. β
We mentioned last week at the beginning that I had two things on my mind to talk about. One of them was celebration of discipline, which we did last week, and one of them was just this tiny little topic about breaking the power of agreement. β if you've been a listener for any amount of time to this podcast, you know that this is something, a phrase that the Lord has been teaching me on and
revealing to me β the power of agreement and how it's β it it's so important and we don't pay a lot of attention to it. And β so he's just been teaching me for the last few years about the power of what we come into agreement with and how it gives legal access and how it sets us up for success or
It can hold us back if we are coming into agreement with our own flesh, our own fears, with the enemy, with lies, you know, fill in the blank, right? There's so many things that we can come into agreement with out of self-protection, out of insecurity, out of fear of man. so many things, so many reasons that we
come into agreement, come into alignment with something that is not in align with what God says or what God has planned for us. So β I just I know we've talked about being in agreement with what the Lord says. We've talked about coming into agreement with things on purpose. We've talked about β the power of declaration and the power of life and death in our words. β we've talked about the
Positive side of it, like it's how it sets us up for success, how when we're in agreement with with the word of God and with what God speaks over us, and we declare that, how that there's power behind that and that opens doors. β but we hadn't really talked about the power of breaking agreements, of renouncing lies that we've believed. I mean, we talk
about it a little bit when we had Kathy Brussel on talking about listening prayer. And you know, we ask we ask the Lord to reveal a lie that we've believed. We ask him to replace that lie with truth and we β we speak the truth and declare the truth and come into agreement or come into alignment with that. But really the thought of
The thought of breaking agreements in all honesty sounds exhausting and hard and like really, really big. Because there's a lot of things that because we do it unaware, right? That's that's the hard part. Like are are we shooting ourselves in the foot because we're s we're saying these things that we think are true, that we want to be true, that we're feeling our faith statements.
But then, you know, β the next conversation we have, we're undoing everything we just said because we're, you know, speaking things that don't come into alignment with what we're hoping for. And so β my background as a Christian is unapologetically like word faith girl. Like I believe in declaration, I believe in speaking positive. You guys know me a little Pollyanna-ish.
I believe in the power of β expecting the best, hoping for the best, believing for the best. β
And yes, and I also know that there is religion that comes in and makes that feel like a real heavy burden and that gives you a list of things to do and don't do. And that is not my heart or the heart of God. β and so we want to approach this topic carefully and
give you some direction on how to pray and how to break off some lies that you've believed in a way that is not heavy and wearisome, but that is encouraging and that will lead you into freedom.
Key who the sunsets free is indeed free. Amen. Mark six Hurchung six thirty eight. Want me to say it for you. Say it from the back, Lori. From the back. From the balcony. That is the word of the Lord to us. It is the scripture that I'm standing on this year, and man. Whew. Yeah.
Who knew freedom was a fight? You know, okay, so let that just preach for a minute. But β we're in midterms. Right. We're fighting for freedom in our nation. We're fighting for freedom in our families, we're fighting for freedom in our faith. Yes.
And freedom costs us something.
And I mean I think β the other thing when you were talking but I was thinking about this like
There's war stories, right? There's a story that comes after the battle. And I heard somebody say, I think it was even yesterday, 'cause when Karri I'm like Karri when Karri I knew I knew that she had said something and she was out of town. I'm like, remind me. And then when she said it, I was like, β yeah, that. That β that β
The b the greatest battle is at the breakthrough, right? β before the breakthrough. And Karri's one of Karri's favorite line is the enemy's real good at his job. Unfortunately. Unfortunately, I don't like that line, but sh she'll say it, you know, the enemy's really good at his job. But but God is greater at his. Is that how we say it? Yes. β but I was just thinking about that, β
And off mic again talking with Karri a little bit, but β you know what when soldiers are battle weary, what do they do? Do we know? I mean, they rally the troops, they step up and let the soldier take a rest, whether it's propping them up by a tree, you know. Like and I just think about that of β
the power of agreement 'cause Karri and I have been talking a lot about β we're coming out of agreement with the lies, but on the on the other side of that says if two or three agree as touching anything. Yes. And I was telling Karri also a story that came to my mind is that, β
β there was a point in our when our daughter was at college and she was
Mm, playing ball and actually I've been doing but doing really well, but they switched coaches and this coach β came and really honestly was just really destructive with words really fast. Yeah. And I was just thinking, you know, here like she had this played this game she loved since she was like five.
And done well at it. Right. You know, the Lord have blessed her to be able to play the game. But at the end of her time, those negative words took a root in her heart. Yeah. And derailed so much of the good. And I'm like, and I'll say, like, it takes ten positives to erase a negative, right? And you just think about these realms and you think.
That's the power like when the enemy's gonna drop because he can cause one dagger.
To harpoon you. Really? Yeah. And then to get rid of it or to heal the scar, it's like an intense battle. Mm-hmm. I'm like, why is that? Like I've been asking the Lord, why is that? Maybe you felt like that. Or you think that you've dealt with something. And then you go a season of time and then it's like a trigger. Right. And you're like, but Lord, I thought that this was healed. You know, like I
I thought that I put it and so I think these are the realms that β when Karri and I are talking, β to come out of agreement with the stronghold of the enemy and to believe that when God does bring us freedom, that when it arises again it's just a testimony of a β a war of a war story,
This is what happened and I came through it and this is the victory. And I think like when we're talking about this, I think that that's what people are so hungry for. Yeah. To be able to testify. And we've talked about the testimony in that scripture just keeps going in my mind that the β the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Is that how it goes? Yeah. Yeah. Is the testimony of Jesus? Is that when we testify of Jesus, like in how many times
When someone has gotten a prophetic word in their life that came at a moment, you know, of desperation or hopelessness and the Lord use somebody to speak to you, you know, that and then God answers it, right? The I mean there's nothing like it. Yeah. Whenever you encounter like
like a prophetic word or something that speaks into a realm that nobody could have known or you know, is answered in a way that it could never been answered. But I think that it just comes into that in my mind in these places is that when we come out of agreement
With the lies of the enemy that seems so loud. Yeah. And there's agreement in who God is and what he can do and that he will do it, then there's a freedom that comes. And I think that people are so hungry for that. Right. Well, and like I was telling Lori off mic earlier, I think that
There will come a time when we are able to look back over our life and I think that we are going to see how many times we were close to the breakthrough and we came into agreement with something lesser. β and and
the the Lord is so patient and kind and willing to wait, you know, for us to wake up to this. But I think so often, β you know, like I've said time and time again, we don't even it's not even it's not even that we're intentionally agreeing, obviously, with the enemy or intentionally agreeing with the lie. It's that it's repeated so much
in our minds and in our thoughts that it begins to feel like truth and it begins to appear like truth and it just begins to be a matter of fact statement. You know, β I was listening to I can't remember his name. I'll try to link his book. I haven't I don't know anything about him. Always makes Lori feel nervous when I say that. I don't know anything about him and I haven't read his book.
But there's a guy I was listening to on YouTube this morning as I was kind of praying about this topic and he was talking about he was talking about changing your mind, right? Changing your thoughts. And of course we've talked about Joyce Meyer talks about that, the battlefield of your mind. We've talked about taking every thought captive, we talk. But he was saying, you know, that you you could change your life β by eliminating three words from your vocabulary.
Right. One of those nice easy three point sermons, right? Easily, easily put into practice, right? β remove can't, remove never, and remove always. And you just think of those statements that you think to yourself, that you speak over yourself. I always fill in the blank, right? Like whatever you say. I it's I always get sick when it the weather turns, or I always have
You know, or I'm I'm never able to do this thing. I I've tried many times, I can't get it. β whatever your your s statements are that you think over and over. And he was just saying, if you could remove those three words from your vocabulary and your inner thought life, your life could be radically transformed because we put limitations on ourselves.
This is me talking and paraphrasing what he was saying, but we put the limitations on ourselves by coming into agreement with the enemy who says you'll never be able to do that. You always fail at that. You can't do that because what you know. β and I there's just so much to our thought life and how it manifests into our actual living out of our days.
And I think that we would be surprised, most of us, to find how much power we had to change our lives at our fingertips, or more accurately, the tip of our tongue. β you know, we know in Proverbs it says the power of life and death is in the tongue. And in James it talks about, he talks about how just the small thing.
steers the whole ship or turns the horse, you know, it's like β the power of our words are crazy. And and I don't think that we've tapped into that. And I think like I was telling Lori, the only hesitancy I have with even diving into this topic is I don't want to make us paranoid about everything we think or say.
And I don't want to put a heavy burden and all of the blame on us, right? There is an enemy of our soul who is actively, consistently spewing lies and twisting truth and telling us who we are. And the battle is is an onslaught and it can be exhausting. And I don't want to add pressure or weightiness to what you're already fighting.
And the reality is, most of us don't really pay attention to our thoughts, or they feel like truth because we've thought them for so long. We've had this thought pattern, we've had this belief, we've had this limitation for so long, we can't imagine it being different. And I think that is what the Holy Spirit is trying to say. If you would break
the agreements you've made that have given the enemy legal access to your life. If you could break these agreements and replace them with the truth that I have to say about you, you would experience the breakthrough you're longing for. And so, you know, there's no
Easy way to do that. It's it is work. And I think like Lori was saying, we're all weary and tired of waiting for the victory to come. And sometimes it's you know, I mean it's it's never all on us. It's not β most of the things that we're battling, we can't do on our own. We need him, right? We've talked about that the last several episodes. Like, okay, we realize it. We can't do it by ourselves. We need you, Holy Spirit. And Holy Spirit is here, and Holy Spirit is.
wanting to reveal these things to us. β and so I think my prayer as we go into this topic today is that not that you would expect or even look for all the ways that you're coming to an agreement with the enemy or that you're believing lies about yourself or your abilities or your future or what God says about you or what God thinks about you or what God feels about you.
Or what his plans are for you, not that you would get caught up in every possible thing that you've been believing that's not true. But that the Holy Spirit would highlight one or two things that at the major root of it will undo a lot of those agreements just in one fell swoop. And so that's kind of my prayer as we go forward that we can get to the the root of the issue.
And it will undo many agreements. β instead of trying to take them one by one and being overwhelmed that, my gosh, I believe so many lies. β
So I will I will give an example of probably why the Lord is telling me β about this. I so
How much do I want to share? β well you guys all know if you've listened to this podcast for a while, my sister passed away in February and β she had battle cancer. We don't really know for how long she'd had a official diagnosis in October or November of last year, and then she passed away in February of this year. So it was fairly quick, but the battle had been longer. β and like I said.
We were saved into word of faith and we believed in supernatural healing and miracles and we were praying and we were declaring scripture. β and she also at the same time had believed for her whole life that she was gonna die from cancer. journaled about it when she was in her early twenties, when she was in her thirties, when she was in her four you know, it was just a belief that she had come into agreement with.
that she just kind of felt like was gonna happen. β and she was very fearful. And so I didn't realize to that extent until after she had passed. But β but one of the reasons one of the things that came from her being fearful and being she just always assumed that she was going to get a bad diagnosis. So she didn't go to the doctor ever. Like ever.
β and so for years being sick and battling things, she did all the natural things she could think of when she was a researcher and was very smart about that stuff and on the cutting edge and did all the cutting edge things. β but by the time we got her to a doctor, it was it it was it was it was fully advanced. β and so like processing all of that and grief and all the things has been a struggle.
But I feel like I've got a good handle on things, you know, as much as I can. But fast forward to this last month, I had a dental procedure and I was having pain for like longer than I should. And I felt like, okay, I went back in and had it checked out, and they said it was f it, you know, it looked like it was fine. It might just take a little while to heal. Well, I
was realizing in the midst of having some pain and with some of the thoughts that I kept thinking and things that I kept saying, I was like, Lord, if this is related, I like I'm willing to go back again and go back to the doctor or to the dentist and have things checked out. β but I felt like I I had sensed him say, you know, give me a scripture and and make a statement.
on how it was already finished, like he had already taken care of it. So I was like, okay, I'm gonna stand on that. And, you know, every once in a while, every couple of days, the enemy would like the pain I'd have pain and the enemy would try to tell me all these things that are wrong with me. And I was like so tormented in my mind that like I kept thinking the thought, I don't want to be like my sister and not go if I should go.
But I also feel like you gave me a word that said you've already dealt with it. And so like I don't really know what to do. And he would graciously like on my phone, I would get a text, or I would get I've got like a Bible app on my phone that puts scriptures on my screen. I would get a scri a scripture that was like the exact scripture he gave me, or a scripture about healing. And I would when I would come into agreement with that, the pain would go away. And so I'm like
Okay. Thank you, Lord. β and and so but he also revealed things that I kept saying out loud over and over, and then wondering why I keep having this problem. And it's like, it's the fruit of my tongue that I keep eating. Okay, so breaking the power of agreement it is huge in how we
communicate with the Lord and how we deal with our fears and how we β move forward like we want to move in wisdom. We want to, you know, as a people of faith, we want to stand on the word and declare it out loud and to believe it.
And then β sometimes it feels like wisdom is more than that, right? It involves more than that. And so I think we're just in a season in our world right now where there's so much, like we've talked about, there's so much noise, there's so much distractions, and what we really are wanting is to make sure that we are in alignment with God and what God is telling us. We need to find
a secret place, find a quiet place to commune with him in a way that β if he wants us to do something, he will tell us. β and we will, you know, I mean, I'm sure the same is true for you for you listeners. When we get a word from God and we know it's from God, like, okay, you can't talk me out of it now. Like Lori talks about all the time, like your testimony is stronger than an argument. Like, you know, I
And I would go back to that. Like I if the pain came back, I would be like, Lord, I was gonna I was I was gonna make the call. I was gonna and you gave me the scripture. β and it would go and it would go away again. And so I just think
There's wisdom in asking him for discernment and asking him, okay, Lord, what are the things that I keep repeating, whether speaking them out loud or even just in my thoughts, aligning them as truths that are actually holding me back and and asking him to show us, you know, like I said, not 15 or 20 things or
40 things or however many things there may be. But like, Lord, you prioritize them. And the the the one or two that are gonna bring me the most freedom, that are gonna break the most amount of agreements that I've come into alignment with that are not your will, let's let's deal with that. Like let's deal with the biggest thing and find the most freedom. β so that we can deal with the smaller things as they come. β so that's kind of how
I want to pray today. β I had written down a few notes just as I was praying β about β about breaking agreements. β
So the steps to breaking agreements is number one, like I just said, pray and ask for discernment. Test the spirit and identify the source. where did that thought come from? Where did when did it form? Like why do you think that? Why do you believe that thing that you keep repeating, that you keep β holding on to? β and
Once you've identified the source, once you've once he's highlighted a phrase or something that you keep saying that you know probably is not something that God would say or that lines up with the word, β nullify it, like speak it out loud and confess and repent. Like Lord, I don't want to come into agreement with this. If this is not true about you, about me, about the plans that you have for us, like if this isn't the truth, I don't want to.
Give it power. I don't want to give it the time of day. I don't want it to be all consuming in my thought life. Like I need to be free of it. I repent for coming into agreement with it. Even if I did it unaware, even if I wasn't consciously choosing this lie over your truth. Like I I want to be free from it. So I repent from it. And and then, you know, like we've talked about through listening prayer, like, and Lord help me.
Replace this lie with the truth. Speak truth to me over this over this lie that I've been believing. Give me something to stand on, a scripture or a phrase or a revelation of who you are or who you made me to be, so that I can meditate on that and battle when those things come back to mind, I can go, nope, God told me this was the truth, and I'm gonna I'm gonna declare this as true and believe this in place of
of the lie that I've been believing. I think that those are β th those are heavy steps, but they're they're doable one at a time, right? β and then once we once we are able to get to that place, β we just have to know that we're gonna have to stand our ground. The enemy's not gonna just let it go. β
Like like I do say all the time, he is good at his job and he is more consistent than we are a lot of the times. And so we will have to take every thought captive. We will have to ask the Holy Spirit to put a flag on that statement so that when I think it again, I'm gonna go, β wait a minute, that's not right. β we're gonna have to break agreement with those things, which means we have to face our fears. I know. Sorry guys.
We're gonna have to actually like deal with the things that are β
That are unholy, the things that are not of God that stir us up to anxious thoughts, β feeling unsafe, feeling unloved, feeling isolated, all of those things are fears that we may be unaware of that we're battling. We're gonna need to lean into forgiveness.
For ourselves, for others. β we're gonna need to ask God for a bigger perspective. And I think that is the biggest key for me when I have gone through and broken off these agreements in my own life personally. it's like Lord, I only see in part. I e I believe I've been given the gift of discernment in a lot of areas.
But even in those areas, I only see in part. But Lord, you have the best point of view. You know the beginning and the end and everything in between. And I need to have a bigger picture perspective so that I can offer forgiveness, so that I can face the fear, so that I can name the lie, so that I can change my thinking. Like I need your perspective on things.
that will help me overcome. And β most of that perspective, honestly, is like, Well, you are God and I am not. Cause I think we forget that. You know? Yeah.
Well, I think because we're taught to save ourselves. Right. And I was thinking I had written down the scripture in Matthew fifteen, thirteen. And and it made me think of when you were talking about β coming out of agreement, but it says, But he answered and said to him, Every plant which my heavenly father has not planted will be uprooted. Yeah. And I was just thinking, like, every
lie the enemy is planted.
Which my heavenly father has not planted would be uprooted. Right. And you know, we we talk about analogies and stuff, and you know, I think that so much a lot of the times in the word about trees and plants and soil, β but it says he answered and said β to him. So it's like he's saying to us, you know, every plant which the Lord did not plant
will be uprooted. Like every and we just think about how powerful a root is. And I'm thinking, I'm laughing because I just β
β
uprooted my plants that needed to go for the for the summer, you know. And I had planted a tomato vine plant in a pot. But there was a huge potato in the bottom of it. I had no idea. Like I just thought that the long stringy, you know, green vines. Right. But there was actually like a red I think it was like a red potato. But
So I'm thinking all summer I'm watering this plant, looking at the the vines that are growing over the side of it because that's what I planted it for to have droopy leaves, but there was a potato taking root in the soil that I couldn't see. Right. And β taking up space and nutrients. Yeah, taking up space and like when I would think, why isn't the water absorbing? And then I pulled the plant, I'm like, β this thing is fake.
Right. But I was just thinking about the analogy of this, you know, for for good and bad, because in the scripture, Proverbs eighteen twenty one, which I know probably all lot of us know, death and life are the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. So again, I'm still in the soil, you know, and the potato is is a fruit of the plant. But how many times
Are we putting things in to the soil with the words we say? We don't even realize it. Right. Until it's taken root. And then if a root takes hold, it can be a pain to get it out. Yeah. And β and I just think of it like so the analogy because the same thing can be as powerful if you're planting a root to a tree. Right.
That you want to take root and live, right? Exactly. To bear fruit. Yeah. But if a negative weed is planted and it takes root, it's as powerful as the fruitful tree. Right. But in a negative way. Because you don't want it and you're trying to kill it. And then you try to spray it and then it's spread out and then it pops up two plants over and you're like, I thought I killed you. You know? And I mean I
I just see these analogies, it's like that, you know. But when it says every plant which my heavenly father has not planted will be uprooted. Yes. And I think like the message in that, and again, that was Matthew 15, 13, but that Lord, you would uproot every system of lies that we have been believing that are intertwined. Right.
in our inner being that we cannot seem to get the root to eradicate it. That it uproots it and it has to go. And you know, I think of that scripture again in β is it John ten ten? You know, the key the thief comes not but to still kill and destroy. You know, but I've come that you have life, you know, or β the authority. I have given you the authority to trample over serpents and scorpions and
over all the things and nothing by any means shall hurt you. Like, you know, to understand the power of those words, right? Authority. Uproot what isn't right. You know, renew my mind. Let me think the thoughts of Christ. Yeah. β and I think like that is
the power of the vine concept, you know, if we remain in him, right? Right. And we allow him to prune off what isn't like him and that we might bear fruit. Yeah. And that's just like the thing, Lord, what are the lies that we are believing that took root that are more like a weed than a fruitful seed? Right. Exactly. And you know, we want
To be fruitful. We want to bear branches that remain. You know. β we want to dwell in your peace, in your protection, in your promise. Like we want to believe the fruit of our words, right? Death and life are in the power of the tongue. And I feel like one of the convictions is it is easier to say and agree with the negative or the hurt or the disappointment because it's what you tangibly see. Right.
But when we're talking about trying to stand in the spirit of truth that is directly opposite of what we're seeing, that is hard. Yeah. And it's weighty. And I think like in my own life, if I'm honest, that's where the struggle right now even is, is because I know what to say. And in the weariness or the wear down, like it's easier to tell myself.
what is visible and what is real right than to stand in faith is the substance of things hope for the evidence of things not yet seen. Right. Like I ha having to say it again. Like I'm gonna get up again tomorrow and I'm gonna say you are faithful. You are true. He who the Son sets free is indeed free. I will indeed be free in my heart, my mind, my spirit and my soul.
you know, I will dwell under the shadow of the Almighty. You know, the angels of the Lord encamp around about me. You know, that like the the things that are true that I that you're not seeing. And I think like that is the battle that we are in and to come out of agreement with the lies that the enemy subtly takes root in the weed. And he subtly just kind of
β numbs you. Yeah. You know? And that's like the thing. It's the subtle, right? And that's like what's happening. It's like the subtle. Like we subtly bought into things unaware. Right. Right? Yeah. And that is what is that? There's a scripture on that like he's sly like a fox or the I can't think of the address of what I'm thinking of, but like this the subtleness of
Well that's not that big of a deal. Or you didn't really mean that. Or you're just upset. Right. You're just angry, you know, the Bible says be angry and sin not. Like all of the ways to justify what is truly unjust. Well, didn't God say that vengeance is his? Be pr or should you probably just take care of it yourself?
Should you probably just come into agreement that this is always how it's gonna be? Right. Right. Rather than I'm not gonna accept this because I believe this. Yeah. Right. It's a discipline, like you talked about last week. Right, right. It's the discipline. And I think like we've talked about it. Yeah. The the having the discernment of your own thought life. Like
like we've talked about, there's so much, there's so many distractions, there's so much noise, there's so much chaos. β you know, I mean I've talked to people I mean this r recently who it's like they even if they can get to a place where they can quiet their mind, their thoughts are so loud that they they still can't tap into peace because
Once there's no outside distractions, the inner distractions are overwhelming. They're like, why can't I just sit still? It's it's it's the enemy at work. And and so many of us don't pay attention to what is pulling our attention. Like we're not paying attention to the things we're thinking about, you know, and that's why I mean, as simplistic as it sounds, that's why the like pay attention to the can't.
always and never thoughts that that you find yourself repeating chances are good there's a lie built around there somewhere that you've come into agreement with β when i was praying and and asking the lord okay so we we've talked about like the intentionality Lori was just saying like if we would water the the plant that we want to grow with intention
that one would grow and the weeds would starve out eventually, right? But it's that discipline of going, okay, this is what I am aiming at. This is what I want to water and feed and fertilize and protect is is having these godly agreements, like coming into agreement with what God has spoken, what God, what God has promised, β what his word says. And I was praying
last night and just saying, okay, Lord, so how do we what do we do to practice consistently watering that seed, consistently coming into agreement, coming into alignment with you on purpose. And I just felt like he was like, you need to align your thoughts with my thoughts. So you need to recognize you need to know what my thoughts are, right? We say that all the time. Like you need to be in the word.
need to know the word. β even if you don't like Lori and I, we're not great at chapter and verse, but we know the word, you know, so get in the word and know what his thoughts are. β if you don't know what they are about a cer circumstance or a situation, ask and ask him. Like ask him to reveal what he's thinking about this, what his plans are for this. So align your thoughts with his
Don't be easily offended. That's a tough one in our culture, it feels like everyone's so easily offended. Don't don't don't be easily offended. Like God's not offended. He doesn't get easily offended. β don't take it so personal. Realize that it's an attack on you, but the ultimate attack is really on the Lord, because you are his. β do not ascribe intent to
β this one will preach all day, every day. β we are storytellers. We're created in his image and he is the best storyteller ever. And when we don't have all the facts, we just make them up in our mind. We just decide, you know, why that person cut us off in traffic and like what a horrible person he is. We β very rarely are we gonna ascribe intent and go
He must be like having a really hard and give grace. Like whenever we ascribe intent, it's we're we're the we're the hero in the story. We're the good person and they're in the wrong and we just decide how awful they are and why they're doing what they're doing. And and you know, there might be hints of truth to it, but we're not the ultimate author of anything. Like he is writing the story and we need to not ascribe intent. We need to
Bring the situation to the Lord and ask for his mercy and understanding in it. β and really we just like we need to be more like Jesus. That's just been the prayer β on my lips for the last for several weeks. It's like, Lord, I I'm sorry. this is what I say under my breath. I'm sorry, Lord.
For the mess we've made. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that this is normal for our our culture. I'm sorry that this is that this is happening. β I'm sorry that we've just like not listened to you, not come to you for advice, not waited on your answer, like we just jumped the gun and and fix it ourselves or try to fix it and then it's more of a mess. Like but my prayer has been like, I'm sorry, Lord, and then help me be like you in this situation.
How what would you like, you know, let's like get out the old 90s, what would Jesus do bracelets and like like really what would you do in this situation? How how can I act the most like you? Usually it's gonna be exactly the opposite of what you wanna do because your flesh is usually not in alignment with what Jesus will do. But β I mean, just those those four things, aligning your thoughts, not being easily offended.
not filling in the blanks with no facts but your own opinion and being more like Jesus like those will help you practice coming into agreement with the things that God is speaking. β and the more we water those seeds the more we pay attention to that the more the other agreements are going to starve out and not be what we keep feeding.
But there is an important step to to breaking those agreements, to saying, okay, I did not realize that I was giving access to the enemy just because I listened to him and decided that that was true. Right? Because the enemy doesn't very often come in and speak to us. We're we're like, well, obviously that's the devil.
Sounds a lot like us. He sounds a lot like our wounded spirit and our insecure heart. And he just sounds a lot like us. You know, examples of ungodly agreements are all all the inner vows we make when we've been hurt or betrayed or feel abandoned. Like we're just gonna we're gonna we make those inner vows of how that's never gonna happen again because of this, that, and the other thing, or we're not gonna ever put ourselves in that situation.
β we just make vows. a lot of the ungodly agreements are fear-based. They're based on anxiety. Anxiety bosses us around and boxes us in and limits us. A lot of them are generational or inherited. It's just things that run along in our family line and we accept it as normal instead of trying to break it. β
And sometimes it's the lies that the enemy speaks to us about our identity, about who we are. which identity is so huge and it's like the devil's playground. Like he, if he can get us to think poorly of ourselves, to think less, not that we're supposed to be prideful or overconfident, but we are made in God's image and he's crazy about us.
And there should be a level of confidence in him and his craftsmanship that we would find value in ourselves simply because we're made by him and we're loved by him. And the enemy doesn't know what to do with that kind of confidence because it's not prideful and it's not about us, it's all about him, and he can't have it, and so he fights against it. So I just think β there is.
power in
in both sides, like Lori said, and come into into agreement with the things that God says about us, about Himself, about the plans he has for us, whether it's scripture in the word, whether it's a prophetic word or encouragement you've gotten in the past, whether it's, you know, things that someone else has experienced with the Lord that you are longing to experience. Like come into agreement with the truths of that. And
Ask him for discernment. Like, Lord, if there are lies that I am believing that's holding me back, that's causing me to not experience breakthrough and victory, like let's just cut it off at the root. Let's get to the heart of it. β I'd rather not break 50 billion agreements that I've come into agreement with unaware, if there's just one or two that I can see the truth in and cut it off and have that.
Tree fall down and not be not be blocking my way anymore. Like I just feel like there's such breakthrough, again, broken record, but like we're on the verge of it so close. Like, what would happen if all of a sudden the ties that bind us and hold us back are all cut at the same time.
As we're leaning against it and trying to fall forward into God. If all of those ties were cut at once, I mean the I hate to say it, the domino effect, you guys, is gonna be phenomenal. It's just gonna be the freedom that we fall into will be unstoppable. And that feels like
That's the end of the season that we're leaning into right now. Like before this β next move of God happens, the bride of Christ is gonna have to be set free. And I think a lot of us fell asleep, a lot of us grew weary and tired of the battle, a lot of us stepped out of the battle thinking that they could actually step out of the battle. and
And I think that this season has been awakening us to realize how bound we are and leaning away from that bondage so hard that when those ties are cut, the freedom falls and it's it it's unstoppable. And so that's what we want to pray about today. We want to pray that the Holy Spirit would reveal to each of us
The binding agreements that we've made with the enemy that will bring the most freedom as we ask the Holy Spirit to cut those ties, to break those agreements, to replace, replace the lies with truth, to show us how to think and hope and believe and put faith in what He says.
above and beyond our own experience, our own opinion, our own emotions, that we would choose to align our hearts and our thoughts with what God says. And in doing that we would find the freedom that we're looking for, that we're longing for, that He wants for us to walk in.
So we're gonna pray. And we encourage you guys to pray with us. Yes. We encourage you to β to press into this this week. β I will we'll we'll we'll see how my week goes. I will try to put a resource like we did last week β for you to kind of dig deeper if you would like to click on that in the show notes and kind of get a little bit more direction in how to how to pursue this. But I really believe
That the Lord has freedom on the other side of this for each of us. A greater measure of freedom that we could walk in and a greater measure of not self-confidence, but God confidence. Like God values me so much that He loves me so much that He has plans for my life that I have yet to fulfill.
that he longs for me to be free from these agreements that I've made, unaware or unintentionally, that are holding me back. He wants to break those so that I can be set free into this next season to move and partner with him and bringing about more kingdom, more heaven on earth.
Hmm. Amen. I just think that when you're talking about that, like, you know, just like I've been camped in the Lord's Prayer and in Psalms twenty three. And I think it just is a reminder of partnering with heaven and asking the Lord to help us have that perspective of him as the shepherd, as the provider, as β
I was telling Karri even this morning again, I was reading in Psalms twenty three, and I had written down b in my Bible, β by that in verse four, you know, it says, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. And it it's a dual nature of fierce protection. And I think like that is β and then you go down to verse six. Well
All of it says you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my keff runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. But when I was just thinking in this, you know, you leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul, which is my mind, my will, and my emotion. But when we think of the Lord's Prayer in the Psalms twenty three, it's like we are β trying to understand the nature and the character of God to free us.
β from our enemies. And I think of that scriptures as well, yeah, I go through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll for no evil. And I might have already said that, but in that passage so many times right now, it's the word through. Yeah. And just asking the Holy Spirit to highlight to me the characteristic of the Father that he is going to bring us through and he is going to help us have victory over β
the strongholds, the lies, the power that the enemy has β you know, allowed to attach itself to us, you know, that he's gonna uproot what God has implanted in us, you know, these these stories. But when you I mean maybe if it's just if you read in the Lord's Prayer again or, you know, your kingdom come, your will be done in my life on earth as it is in heaven. Yeah. personalizing it, you know.
But so many of these things are and I was telling Karri this earlier, it's drawing us back to the nature of him as a father. And β if a father is with a child that is in dangerous terrain, they're not gonna leave him. They're gonna help them through it. They're gonna help them navigate what's the safest route or how should you do this or you as a parent are gonna calculate, is this safe enough or not? β should we go another way? β is there another way around it or over it? You know.
And I think just like that na analogy of of seeing him as that, as the shepherd, as the protector, as the the safety net, if you will. Mm-hmm. β that he will help us through this and that which has attached itself to us that is not right, that he would reveal it. Yeah. You know, and I know that this sounds weird, but I like I have really just been
β the the wind of the spirit and the breath of God. And I know that that sounds crazy, but the wind of the spirit to stir up yeah what is not like him. What needs to be blown out of here. What needs you know β what needs what needs to purify the air. You know, we put air purifiers in our homes to purify the air. And it's just like, you know
It's the wind of the spirit and the breath of God. You know, his breath spoke life. And again, I don't know if I said this last week or not, but β you can't see the wind or the breath, but you can feel the effects of it. Yeah. And that's what I just keep asking, Holy Spirit, would you allow us to feel the effects of your nearness?
And your power, you are the comforter, you are the helper, you are the guide. All of the attributes of who you are, that we would we would bask in that and be rid of what is not like you. Yeah. That which plagues our mind, our heart, our home, that which makes the air stagnant or smell bad or makes us sick. You know, because that's kind of like the attributes of that.
That though the effects of the enemy and the strongholds and the lies, it affects. It's weighty, it's heavy, it makes you tired, it makes you not feel good. It makes your thoughts crazy, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. And so maybe just even just seeing that analogy this week of the wind of the Spirit and the breath of God and the air purifying system that He would purify. Yes. The air we breathe in and excel.
You know, I breathe you in. I think there's a song or something, I breathe you in like oxygen or something like that. But you know, when you inhale and you exhale, you know, we breathe in your word, we breathe in your truth, we inhale and then we exhale what's not like you. We release it, we let it go. And so I just pray, β I just pray, Holy Spirit, that you would help us to see that analogy. Thank you.
That the wind of the Spirit and the breath of God would be released into our life this week. Lord, we ask that you would allow us to see the analogies that mark our life, that help us β grasp the truth, that help us hang on to the promises, Lord that
β ye though we walk through the valleys of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil, for you are with us. Lord, these strongholds, these things β that hold on to us that we've talked about. Lord, wherever they came in, wherever they β were allowed access. Yes, Lord. Whether it was through our mouth, through our thought, through somebody else speaking it over us,
We just ask, Holy Spirit, that access would be denied to our lives, and that you would uproot anything that the Father has not planted in us. Yes, Lord. And that you would β help us release with our mouth β any confession that we need to of something that we know we came into agreement with that is not from you, β something we've given.
unrightful space to. We just ask that you would show us the way of repentance, that we would we would we would repent quickly. Not that you would want us to be β staying in condemnation, but God that we when it says that the power of life and death is in our tongue. What if we have spoken death over ourselves or over our situations?
β in ways that has taken root we we repent of it and we ask that you would reveal it and and re replace it with the truth. What is the truth that we should speak to the matter, to the situation, to ourselves? What is the truth? And Lord, I pray that in this season right now, that β
Holy Spirit, I ask that you would highlight the truth. The truth that you want us to know about who Jesus says that we are, what Jesus said we could have or confess and declare, the word that He wants us to stand on in this hour. I pray that you would highlight your word over each individual that's listening. What is the scripture that they stand on? What is the word that they
put in their mouth that they declare out loud in the atmosphere.
Lord, what are the lies that we've believed about ourselves in this hour that has affected our health and our mind and our home? We ask that you would reveal it to us so that we can come out of agreement with it and that you would replace it with the truth. Yes. Because your word says that the truth sets us free. The truth breaks the strongholds. And so, Lord, I I just pray that as we've talked about, β
roots and weeds and seeds and how they are intertwined and one is for good and one is for evil. β I pray, Lord, that you would take out anything that is a weed and that you would help us to plant a seed that will remain, that will bear fruit, that will grow harvest, that it will produce life and godliness. Lord, I I thank you that you are causing us to grow strong in our root system.
That we would produce harvest, that there would be fruitfulness, Lord, that there would be life in our mouth, that there would be β purity of our thoughts, Lord, that there would be joy in our homes and in our presence β when we are with people, Lord, that you would help us to walk in your attributes and your characteristics. We thank you, Jesus. We thank you, Jesus, that.
You are the vine and we are the branches, Lord. It just seems like you're highlighting to me the images of structures of of seed and harvest. And we just pray, God, that we would uproot the weeds that have taken root around our seed. And we just say you cannot dwell here. That's right. You must go. You are of you are of of the spirit of death, and we do not want you here.
We are going to nourish and take care of the seed. We're going to take care of the soil. We're going to water it. We're going to feed it. We're going to give it sun. Literally. We're going to give it you, Lord. And we just pray that you would highlight individually to each one what that is for them. What is it individually for us, God? That you would highlight what you're speaking to us, God.
Lord that you would replace the weighty weariness with refreshing. Yes. Would you s shine your light into the dark places of our caverns?
And would you clean it out, God? And would you allow us to prepare the soil for new life? Thank you, Jesus. Would you shine bright? Lord, I just see β like when you walk into a dark room with a candle.
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. I won't let Satan blow it out. So, Lord, we just pray when we come into these places that you highlight that have things that are not like you, we just pray, Lord, that when we walk into those dark rooms with your light in hand, the darkness is expelled, and there is new life in that room, in that place. There is new perspective.
There is new language out of our mouth. There is new thoughts in our minds because you are replacing it with what is right, what is true, what is holy, what is pure. That your word is a lamp into our feet and a light into our path. So we open the word and we put it in our mouth and we say it out loud. It does not return void. It accomplishes what it sent forth to do.
It changes us, it heals us, it delivers us, it gives us new perspective, it sets us free, and we will stand on that today, God. Thank you, Lord. I praise you, Father.
Holy Spirit, we invite you into our thought life. We invite you into our emotions. We invite you into our self-protection, self-sabotage. Lord, we invite you into the to the cycles that keep repeating in our life.
And Lord, we ask that you would search us and know us. That you would reveal things that we've come into agreement with that maybe we're unaware or we didn't really think were a big deal. But Lord, if it's a big deal to you, it's a big deal to us. And so we ask, Lord, that you would course correct us. Yes, Jesus. That you would β that you would shine a light on the the phrasing and the thoughts that we just
β let run wild in us that are maybe producing a crop that we don't want. We ask that you would come and uproot those things. Yes, Lord. That you would dig with us to the very root and take it out so that we could β become more like Jesus. That's our ultimate goal, Lord, is to live a life of
Faith and freedom that looks like Jesus. And so we ask, Holy Spirit, that you would wash us clean with your word. Yes. That the blood of Jesus would wash us pure, that would heal us physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. Lord, that you would set us free for the whom for whom the Son set free is free indeed. Lord, we we lean in.
To that freedom, even as you are cutting the ties that bind. We are willing to free fall forward into the life that you have promised us. Lord, we come into agreement on purpose with purpose for the things that you have in store for us. We believe that they are good. We believe that you will go with us.
We believe that you are for us and not against us. Yes. Lord, we believe that you find such incredible value and worth in us. Yes. Not because of the things we do for you, but because of who we are. We are your beloved. Yes, we are the apple of your eye. Yes, sir. We are highly favored.
And Lord, we are pursued by the Maker of our soul. Yes. We thank you, Jesus, that you run after us. We thank you, Father, that you come running with a robe and a ring, and you claim us as your own and you celebrate with us. Lord, we pray for moments this week where we encounter the celebratory love of the Father.
That it is overwhelming and surprising. Mm-hmm. We embrace the fact that you desire to love us without restraint. Yes.
Help our hearts long for that too.
Help us remember that nothing else satisfies. No one can take your place. There's nothing that I can pursue that will bring me the joy and the hope and the peace that I long for more than you. You are the one.
Help us keep our priorities straight and knowing that you are our heart's desire. And we pursue you with reckless abandon this week, Lord. That we would take every thought captive, that we would silence every distraction, that we would protect our time with you this week. And that we would purpose in our heart and in our
physical days, Lord, to set aside a secret place. That we would pursue you in the slow and the quiet, and that we would pursue you even when that feels unavailable to us.
Thank you, Lord. We come into agreement on purpose with the things that you speak over us. Holy Spirit, remind us of scripture, remind us of songs, sing over us this week words of hope and love and encouragement that we can find the invitation to come into agreement with what you say about us.
We choose you, Lord. We choose you. We choose you and your ways and your words above anything and anyone else.
Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you, Alice.
Love you, Lord. We love you, Jesus.
I thank you for your presence, God. Yes. Thank you for your nearness, God.
Holy Spirit, in your mercy and in your grace.
And in the midst of r of rat race, would you just s settle our spirit? Mm-hmm. Would you restore our souls today? Thank you, Lord.
that he who abides under the shadow of the Almighty take refuge. Lord I pray in this hour that there will be seasons of refuge and rest and reprieve from the fight.
If we could but touch the hem of your garment, we would be made whole.
Lord we're reaching out today.
Confessing out loud our desire to be free from the weights and the snares that entangle us.
And to rest and retreat in your presence and to be known as sons and daughters. And to be loved by our good good father. Because it's who you are. It's what the word says. Our Father who art in heaven. Holy is your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done in our lives on earth as it is in heaven. May the glorious power of heaven invade our lives in this hour. Thank you. That we would be consumed and encountered and changed by the power that transforms us from the inside out that can only be done by you. And we acknowledge that today. It can only be done by you.
But Lord today we open our heart and our hands and we say we we want it, God. We open our hands and we we we say we want it, God. We want more of you. Jesus Christ. We long for more of you.
We can't do it without you and we don't want to. So in your mercy and your grace, would you draw near? Would you reveal the attributes and the character of who you are in our lives? That it's not by what we can do, but by who you are. And when we understand that.
With an assurance and a knowing like we've never known before.
I ask that your presence would be weighty over our lives and in our homes. Yes, Lord. Would the glory of the Lord encamp around about us and be a shield and a covering. May we know what your glory looks like in this hour.
That the words that we speak, your glory, your presence, may they be known in our life far beyond just words. Yes, Lord. Would you encounter us? Would you encounter our homes? Would you encounter our children? The places that we work, the places that we dwell, the places that we visit, the people that we encounter. We ask, Holy Spirit.
That the evidence of who you are would be all around our lives. Mm-hmm.
We invite you. Forgive us of any place we've closed you out. Thank you, Lord. Forgive us where we've not trusted you or allowed you to have the access or the control that you should have had. Yes. Forgive us. And we open our hands and we open our hearts and we say we receive you fully as the Father left you, as our guide, as our comfort, as our peace. And may we know.
And respond to that still small voice. Yes, Lord. You said the still small voice. And we pray that we would hear the voice, the still small voice, and a stranger's voice we will not follow. Yes. Thank you, Jesus. We thank you, Holy Spirit. Thank you, Jesus.
Lord, we just say welcome home. Welcome home to our hearts. Come in and dine with us.
We invite you in. Create in us, Lord, a space that is home to you. Where you come and you abide and you never leave. That we are aware of your abiding presence with us wherever we go. We pray, Lord, for a new season of carrying you with us with intention and purpose.
That we create space for you in our hearts. Yes, I have.
We come into agreement with you in our hearts and our minds and our spirits, Lord. Yes, Lord. That you are our God and we are your beloved bride. Yes, Jesus. Make us pure and make us one, Lord.
We thank you for the power of agreement. We thank you for the power of unity. We thank you for intimacy, Lord, that you desire to be one with us as you and the Father are one.
Just spirit. I praise you.
give you permission to move in, to take up more space, to rearrange things in our lives and our thoughts and our hearts, Lord, that you would make yourself at home.
Thank you. Thank you for the honor of carrying you with us, Lord. Thank you, Father. Help us to be ever mindful of it.
Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Be at work in us and among us today. Thank you, Jesus. And this week, Lord, continue to draw us near.
Thank you for the invitation, Lord, and we say yes. We choose you. Yes. We choose to believe you above everything else. And anything else we choose to come into agreement and into alignment with you and you alone. Your word stands forever. Yes. It never it never changes. It never leaves. It will be forever and ever. And we come into agreement with your word.
Jesus' name in Jesus' name.
In hand. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
We just release the peace that we feel in this room right now. We release that to you wherever you are. Yes. And we just will continue to be praying over each of you this week that you will encounter the Lord and that He will reveal truth to you. Yes. And that you will come into agreement on purpose with purpose. Yes.
Thank you, Father. Yes, Lord. Amen. Amen. Be blessed. Be blessed. We'll be back next week.