Forgiveness by Tom White

Forgive others as God has forgiven you. From "Breaking Strongholds" by Tom White.

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           In order to allow the Lord to fully free you, you must be willing to repent of any bitterness held toward anyone who has wounded or offended you. You need to forgive, that God may forgive you (Mk 11:25). Grudges die hard. But even if you have suffered a terrible injustice, you are still responsible for your responses to life's cruelty.

           Unforgiveness, it seems, is the strongest of the strongholds. It is often a core issue for the Christian who is stagnant or struggling.

           During the Nazi occupation of Holland, a remarkable Dutch woman and her family were sent to a concentration camp for hiding Jews in their home. Corrie ten Boom soon came to hate the guard who mocked and sneered at their naked bodies as were taken to the showers. His leering face seemed forever seared into her memory. Her sister died in the camp, but Corrie survived and vowed never to return to Germany.

           When she did return for a speaking engagement many years, her first talk was on forgiveness. To her horror, there was same guard sitting in the audience. He could never have recognized Corrie as one of his emaciated, sick, and shorn prisoners. His radiant expression even suggested that he had since been converted. After the talk, the smiling man extended his hand and said, "Ah, dear sister Corrie, isn't it wonderful how God forgives?" Feeling only intense hatred for this man who had so wronged her and her family, Corrie ten Boom heard the Lord tell her to put out her hand. "It took all of the years that I had quietly obeyed God in obscurity to do the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I put out my hand. It was only after my simple act of obedience that I felt something almost like warm oil being poured over me. And with it came the unmistakable message: 'Well done, Corrie. That's how my children behave.' And the hate in my heart was absorbed and gone."

           If the bitterness lingers, continue to repent of it daily, and release to God's justice anyone who has offended you. Unforgiveness, it seems, is the strongest of the strongholds. It is often a core issue for the Christian who is stagnant or struggling.

Pray With Authority

           We can analyze our problems, share them with others, and resolve to turn over a new leaf, but the most powerful agent of change is the Holy Spirit moving in response to a prayer of authority. Whether we confront strongholds that exist only in the mind or emotions or whether evil spirits are involved, the nature of our praying is the same. Jesus counseled us to have faith in God. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says win happen, it win be done for him." (Mk 11:23).

           In Jesus' authority, and according to what he has said about the win of the Father for us, we uproot the lies and tear down the distortions of truth that come from the enemy. When Jesus faced the onslaught of Satan in the wilderness, he simply stood on scriptural truth. As taught and modeled by the Lord, fasting can be a powerful tool for breaking strongholds. Even one day of skipping meals and focusing specifically on one area of need win signal the Lord of your seriousness.

           If you 're dealing with persistent sin issues, go beyond repentance to renounce the sin in the authority of Jesus' name. With identity issues, forcefully reject lies and accusations. We need to be aware of negative character traits that can run in a family, perhaps an inherited carnality that works its way down through generations. Characteristics such as prejudice, bitterness, criticism, and jealousy are often learned, picked up by children in early family ' environments. Such traits can also be accentuated and aggravated by demonic powers.

           The truth of God will touch these imperfections at all levels and transform a person into the character of Christ. I am convinced that God simply wants us to learn to take the initiative to employ the weapons he has provided. Don't let the devil stifle or distract you from engaging in spiritual combat. The following prayers may give you some sense of how this kind of prayer might sound.

Pattern prayer for sin strongholds:

Father, I expose to you the anger in my life. I cannot change these reactions. I confess this as sin. Forgive me. Cleanse me. Create in me a new heart, by your power; and renew a right spirit within me. In the name of Jesus, I renounce my rights to my anger: Remove from me, Lord, the root of irritation that keeps this sin alive in me. I reject the thought that I'll never change. Spirit of God, I invite you to cleanse and control the anger in my life. Produce in me the power of self-control and gentleness. Lord, by the power of your Word, I renounce the notion that I'm resigned to being an angry person. Change my heart, O God, in the power of Jesus ' name.

Pattern prayer for identity issues:

Lord, you cared enough abut me to choose me as your child. I affirm that your love for me is unconditional and unchanging. My own thoughts and feelings are deceptive. I reject the lie of rejection that demeans my personal value and robs me of the joy of my inheritance in your kingdom. I affirm that your plans for my life are for fulfillment and fruitfulness. I speak to the mountains of self-doubt, fear of other people, and inferiority, and receive Your power over my mind and emotions.

Father, I take refuge in you alone and submit my struggle to you. I resist the accusations of Satan that I don't matter to you and that I don't have a place in your plan. Draw near to me. Heal my wounded heart, speak truth to my inner person, and free me through your love to be available for service to others.

           Get tough in taking up truth as a weapon. Keep praying as long as it takes to break mental and emotional strongholds. Don't expect profound, immediate results. You may be at this struggle awhile actually a lifetime in different areas but as you regularly invite the Lord into the process, you will notice the intensity of the stronghold diminishing. As you find increased freedom from your own internal battles, you will be more free to focus on praying to penetrate the darkness that surrounds others.

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