Relationship with God: Our relationship with Him is the key to staying free and walking in who we were created to be. He must be first in our life. We are called to live a life of submission to Him. We must lay ourselves down at His feet and pick up His will, His purpose, and His plan. There is no room for pride or rebellion. We must always walk in total submission to Him. Romans 12:1-2.

Prayer: Make time for God daily to sit at His feet and grow in your relationship with Him. Nothing can replace your time with the Lord. Sitting at His feet is where we learn from Him, where we talk to Him, and He talks to us. This is where He pours out His anointing and His love. I love to sit with Him and ask Him questions and then listen for His reply. Some of the things I ask Him are what He wants to say to me, what He wants to change in me, what He wants me to do in certain situations, and I also ask Him about anything I do not understand in His Word or things that are going on in my life. I journal the things He says to me so I can always go back and reflect on His messages. Prayer is so much more than just asking Him to do things for us. It is about talking to Him and then also listening to Him. I am not saying that we should neglect praying for the needs of others and ourselves, but I am pointing out the importance of not getting stuck in the pattern of only bringing our requests to Him. We must be intentional about our relationship with Him and actively pursue getting closer to Him, learning from Him, and being submitted to Him.

Keeping Our Thoughts Clean: Do not focus on the negative side of things and do not speak negatively about your life or situations. When you feel negative emotions or hear negative thoughts, verbally counter them with positive words from the Bible. Speak life. Adjust how you talk about yourself and others. Do not entertain negative thoughts at all, not even for one moment. Replace them with the truth found in the Word of God as soon as they enter your mind.

We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:5, AMP.

Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart.] Philippians 4:8, AMP.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it an indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words.” Proverbs 18:21, AMP.

Also, be mindful of the words others speak over your life. If anyone speaks curses, break them immediately and never accept them and come into agreement with them. Proverbs 18:21, AMP.

Thought Life: Keep your thought life under control. Do not entertain thoughts of the past (regret), fantasy, etc. Pull down every single thought that does not line up with the Word of God. Give them zero amount of your time. Often what you spend time thinking about will eventually come out in your behaviors and in your life. That is why we must focus on the things of God and His truth. Our feelings and emotions will lie to us, but His Word will never fail and never lie. It must be the firm foundation of our lives. 

We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:5, AMP.

Speak God’s Word: Scripture is so powerful. It will keep you connected to God and it will also make the enemy flee. Pick scriptures that speak specifically to your life and situations and say them out loud. We can also use scriptures to speak against the enemy and pray to God. I created a binder that is full of scriptures that I have personalized to speak and pray over my life and the lives of my family.

Praise and Worship: It pushes darkness back and draws God near. It also reminds us of the goodness of God. If we feel the enemy attacking, we should start verbally recounting all the things God has done for us. We should know our identity in Him and put the enemy on notice that we know who God says we are. We need to have a thankful heart and tell God how thankful we are for all He has done for us. There are times that we just need to sit in His presence and thank Him without asking Him for anything. He has poured His love out on us and loved us even when we could not love ourselves. He is a good Father, and He takes care of His children. We must never take that for granted or take it lightly. We do not deserve His love and kindness, but out of His goodness He gives it to us anyway. He gave His one and only Son for us so that we could have eternal life in heaven. Jesus loved us so much that He faced shame, ridicule, rejection, and physical death so that we could have eternal life with Him. He clothes us in His righteousness and salvation so that we may approach the Father. We must never forget His sacrifice and we should always come to Him with a thankful heart.

Repentance: Be quick to repent when you sin. Also, ask the Holy Spirit to convict you immediately when you mess up. Invite Him to teach you God’s ways. Ask for God to let you see people the way He sees them, feel about others the way He feels about them, and love like He loves. Ask Him to search your heart and mind and burn up anything that is not pleasing to Him. Our goal is to look, act, and feel more like Him. We are called to be His representatives on the earth so we must be more like Him. We need to spend time in self-reflection and ask ourselves—do others see Jesus in us, are we so full of Him that others can sense His presence, do we sound like Him, do we act like Him, do we love like Him, do we have the mind of Christ, and do we represent His character? We must then address the areas where we are lacking.

Remain Humble and Submitted to God:

But He gives us more and more grace [through the power of the Holy Spirit to defy sin and live an obedient life that reflects both our faith and our gratitude for our salvation].

Therefore, it says, “God is opposed to the proud and haughty, but [continually] gives

[the gift of] grace to the humble [who turn away from self-righteousness].” James 4:6, AMP.

We must always walk in full submission to Him. We must also dedicate our lives to Him and lay our will, plans, and purposes down at His feet. Once we accept Him as our Lord and Savior our lives are not our own anymore. We owe Him everything. 1 Corinthians 6:20.

Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship. Romans 12:1, AMP.

Deliverance: Deliverance is closing all doors to demons, casting them out in the name of Jesus, and maintaining the freedom.

Christian Counseling: You may have wounds that need to fully heal. That can require prayer, deliverance, and counseling. In John 5:1–14 Jesus heals a man and later finds him in the temple. V. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.” That is why it is really important to work through all past pain, hurt, and trauma. If you are hurt, make sure to take the pain to God, forgive the person, and release them. We must keep all pain, bitterness, anger, resentment, and rejection uprooted from our lives. It does not mean that painful situations will not happen, but when they do occur we must be quick to deal with them and take them to the feet of Jesus. Do not shove them aside or try to bury them. Face them head on and deal with them fully so you can walk in total freedom and healing.

Change Habits: For example, if one of your issues is pornography, you may need to put an accountability app on your phone. If it is drugs, you may have to avoid certain places and people. If it is gossip with friends, you may have to distance yourself until that habit is broken. You will have to work to break those old patterns and habits. Part of that change is renewing your mind daily by prayer and reading the Word of God.

Discipleship: You should make sure you have a place to learn about the Lord such as a biblically based church and/or a Bible study group. Find someone to mentor you and help you grow in the Lord. Don’t try to go it alone. Find and create a Godly support system. Surround yourself with people who love the Lord and want to grow in Him and help you grow as well.

Verbally Assault the Enemy: We are in a war for our lives with an enemy whose only goal is to kill, steal, and destroy us. We cannot be passive with him or allow him any room in our lives. We do not have to always be on the defensive. We can go on the offensive and push the enemy back. If he has taken anything from you go get it back. Push your territory further and further. You be the one taking ground and not him. I love the story of David and Goliath and it really puts the battle against the enemy in perspective. 1 Samuel 17. This is an example of how I come against the enemy: (With a loud, firm voice) “Right now I am coming against you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I command you to take your hands off my life and family. I cancel and break every demonic plan and obstacle trying to come against me in the name of Jesus. You have no control over my life, enemy. I draw the line in the sand and say you may not cross it. Jesus gave me authority to trample over you and you are under my feet. I know who I am in Jesus Christ. I know what His death on the cross means and what power over you it gave me. I know who He says I am. I am a child of the Most High and you will not torment me. The Word of God says greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. It also says no weapon formed against me will prosper. NONE, not one weapon. I put on the full armor of God and you cannot penetrate that. I take the shield of faith and your darts are no match for it. I hold the sword against you which is the Word of God.” This is how I speak to the enemy. There is no sitting down at the table for coffee, conversation, and compromise. No, this is a battle and I go to battle against him. We are not in a discussion. I am dictating what he will and will not do and he is obeying. The Word of God says we have authority and I walk in that every day of my life. Does he like this? No. Does he try to defeat me again? Yes. It is a battle we will be in until we get to Heaven, but we do not have to live in constant torment. Remember that your mind is your territory, and the enemy has no business using it for his playground. We do not have to tolerate the thoughts he tries to give us or the words he whispers to us. Take your mind back and refuse to give him any ground in your thought life.

Listen carefully: I have given you authority [that you now possess] to tread on serpents and scorpions, and [the ability to exercise authority] over all the power of the enemy (Satan); and nothing will [in any way] harm you. Luke 10:19, AMP.

These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues. Mark 16:17, AMP.

Identity: We must make sure we are walking in the identity given to us by Jesus. No one and nothing else should dictate who we are. If you do not know who you are in Him, search His Word to see what He says about you and who you are, how He feels about you, and ask Him who He has called you to be. We are all called to be disciples of Christ and a big part of that is laying down our lives for Him and totally dying to self. Every day we must make the choice to pick up our cross and follow Him. We must walk in the full identity and authority given to us by Jesus if we want to live victorious lives. We must know who we are, who the enemy is, and be secure in our relationship with the Lord.

Armor of God:            Put on the full armor of God daily. You can incorporate these verses into a daily personalized prayer.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm, therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:10–18, AMP.

Fasting: This is a great way to get your flesh under control and break old habits. It is also a really good way to grow in your relationship with the Lord. If you are not familiar with the practice, do a Bible study on the subject and research the importance it held in the Bible and still holds for us today. Do not allow the thought of fasting to overwhelm you. You can start out small and go from there. It is all about your heart intention and wanting to be fully surrendered to the Lord. If you wait until you feel ready to fast you will never get started because our flesh is never ready to give up the things it wants. We must be the ones to make our flesh submit to the things of God and not the other way around.

And whenever you are fasting, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they put on a sad and dismal face [like actors, discoloring their faces with ashes or dirt] so that their fasting may be seen by men. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, they [already] have their reward in full. Matthew 6:16, AMP.

In this Scripture, Jesus said whenever you fast. He did not say if, He said when. I think it is safe to say that He assumed His followers would be spending time fasting. You can find many scriptures in the Old and New Testaments that speak to how the people highly regarded fasting as a means to get the attention of God, to get their prayers answered, to hear from God, and for repentance.

Name of Jesus: His name is above all things. When we speak to the enemy in His name they must obey. They understand the authority in His name and they know they must obey. The key is for us to learn and recognize that ability and put the enemy on notice that we understand the power in His name.

For this reason also [because He obeyed and so completely humbled Himself], God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow [in submission], of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess and openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord (sovereign God), to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9–11, AMP.

These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well. Mark 16:17–18, AMP.

The Bible says if we are His believer’s, signs and wonders will accompany us in the form of casting out demons, speaking in tongues, and healing the sick. It does not say they can, might, or even that they should. It says they will. We will do these things, and if we aren’t doing them we have to figure out why.

Authority Over the Enemy: We have authority over the enemy in every area of our lives. The enemy belongs under our feet. We have the ability to tread on them, and that means they are under our feet. We do not have to tolerate demons in our lives. We can draw the line in the sand and tell them that they may not cross it. It is time for us to take our territory back and reclaim every single thing the enemy has stolen from us.

Listen carefully: I have given you authority [that you now possess] to tread on serpents and scorpions, and [the ability to exercise authority] over all the power of the enemy (Satan); and nothing will [in any way] harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven. Luke 10:19–20, AMP.

Be Honest with Yourself and God: Do a personal inventory and do it often. Take a long honest look at yourself and ask the Holy Spirit to show you any areas that you need to work on. Do not live in denial or minimize the things in your life that need to change. Our goal is to be more like Jesus, and He is the standard we must hold ourselves up to. We will never measure up because he is sinless and faultless, but He is still our example and who we must strive to be more like.

House Cleaning: Be mindful of every item that comes into your home. Do not bring in anything that has any connection to witchcraft, paganism, sinful behaviors, false religions, and the occult. Also, pray over any preowned items asking God to remove anything demonic that may be attached to them. Also, verbally bind, and cut off anything that may be attached to them in the name of Jesus. If demons are still manifesting in your home, you have the spiritual authority to cast them out. First, find out why they are there. Is there an object that is giving them legal rights? If so, destroy it and make them leave. If there is no legal right, take your spiritual authority and make them leave your house. Ask the Holy Spirit for discernment so you will know exactly what you are dealing with.     

Testimony: Share your testimony with others. Tell about the goodness of God and help others get their freedom!! Freedom is to share and to be used to set other captives free. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. God set you free and now you can help show others there is hope and freedom for them as well. You are a living advertisement for His goodness, grace, mercy, and bondage breaking power.

And they overcame and conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, for they did not love their life and renounce their faith even when faced with death. Revelation 12:11, AMP.

Blessings,

Nichole Henson, MSW

Fullness of Joy Ministry