7. Isaiah 61: 1

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted
to proclaim liberty to the captives
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound
                                           Is 61: 1

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.
                                          Luke 4: 18

Let us pray

Father, thank You that the prayer I now lift to You is as sweet smelling incense (Ps 141: 2; Rev 8: 4). In the spirit of Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, I bring this prayer to You on behalf of all Your children who still live impoverished, with broken hearts, as captives, blind and oppressed. Above all I pray for those who don't know that they are bound. I pray for those who don't know You as the balm of Gilead Who can and have healed their broken hearts. Jesus, may they know You did more than win their salvation and save them from hell when they die. You saved them from the hell they may live in here on earth. You did not only bring good tidings, You made all things new.

Oh my Lord, how easily we accept our status quo. Did life in Egypt as slaves become the norm for the Jews? The forty years in the wilderness must have become the norm for that generation that died there - because nothing changed until they died! Father of Mercy, open our eyes for all the things that have become the norm in our lives - that do not testify of the good tidings Christ came to earth for. Father, may the things we accept in our lives and of who we are become aligned with the standard of Christ. And may we understand that it is our right to reject! the things that keep us in emotional bondage and mental torment.

The devil only comes to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10a). Anything that kills good and healthy things is from him - the father of lies. Anything that steals our joy, our peace, our confidence, our faith, our trust, etc. is from him. Anything that destroys our relationships, our self-image, our love for Your Word, etc. is from him.

But we tolerate so much of it!!!!!!!! We think it is "just who we are" to live and feel in a way which we find no recommendation for in the Word. 2 Cor 3:18 says we should behold the glory of Jesus that we may be transformed into His image. Where do we behold Jesus? In the Word. What is His image like? One of wholeness, humility, faith, servanthood, love, obedience. Do we strive for those things? Father, cause us to hunger and thirst for the life and peace You gave the spiritually minded. Father, cause our spirit man to rise up with the knowledge that Jesus came to give us life, and life in abundance (John 10: 10). May our spirit man awaken to the truth that Christ came to set us free from all our bondage, be it drug addiction, anger, bitterness, sexual perversion, fear, the inclination to cheat, pride, an appetite that is detrimental to our health, lacking willpower - ANYTHING that causes us to live inferior lives compared to the healthy and blessed inheritance we have in Christ.

Father, forgive us for our willful blindness. For comfort's sake and out of fear, we hold on to an identity bestowed on us by our brokenness. Prov 21: 2 says every man's way is right in his own way, but You judge the heart. By defending our imprisonment, our blindness,  our brokenheartedness and embracing its crippling effect in our lives we in fact REJECT You. We reject what our spirit man already knows - that Your Word says, for the joy set before Christ He came to die on the cross for us (Heb 12: 2) to heal us, set us free, break the yoke of oppression (Is 61: 1; Luke 4: 18 ). We say, "Jesus, as much as You think You got a special talent from the Father to heal my broken heart or cause me to walk in freedom from anything that kills, steal or destroys in my life - Your special powers have no effect on healing my hurt and transforming me (Rom 12: 2). By holding on to our hurt, by giving our power of self-determination to our past - we are making You a liar (Rom 3: 4) because You say You came to set us free, but clearly Your Word is of no effect in our lives. Oh Jesus.... We are living lives that testify that the price on the cross was not high enough, the grace of Christ is not strong enough. We have not only been crippled, we have also given that initial blow aimed at killing, destroying and stealing the power to have ETERNAL power over our lives to keep us in that bondage - because we do not reject it in the name of Jesus. Forgive us for not opening Your Word to discover that the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from death, dwells in us (Rom 8: 11) to give us life and peace (Rom 8: 6). Forgive us for rejecting the Spirit and continuing to live according to the flesh ( Rom 8: 13). Forgive us for accepting death when we can be led by the Spirit of God as Your sons and daughters (Rom 8: 14).

My God, my God.... forgive us and cause our souls - mind, will and emotions - to see what our spirits already know (1 John 2: 20, 27). Our spirit man understands the liberty Christ bought us, but our souls don't want to put our faith in Christ that as we spend time in the Word it will cause it's light to drive out the darkness that has become our norm.

Father, thank You, thank You that You heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds (Ps 147: 3). Thank You that You are near to those with a broken heart (Ps 34: 18). Like we do not know how a seed grows, we only know that it grows, may we similarly speak these words to You over and over again, that the comfort You aimed to bestow on us through them, may ignite in our hearts, may become revelation to our broken hearts. When we remain carnally minded, by insisting on accepting our prisons and our brokenness, we do not give You a chance to spiritually transform us. By allowing this to be our norm and insisting that we are wiser than You to handle our situation, we nullify the cross (Gal 2: 21).

Father, may we pursue our inheritance in You. Like You removed the chains around Paul and Silas's feet AND opened the prison doors for them (Acts 16: 24 - 31) - so You have done it for each of us. But You did not translate them from within the prison to outside of it; they had to walk out themselves. Jesus, Jesus, nothing is holding us in those prisons for Your work here on earth was done (John 19: 30). When we continue to live in bitterness, unforgiveness, self-pity, the memory of that sexual violation, the shame of the abject poverty we were raised in, the emotional abuse of an ex-husband, etc. etc. we reject what You have done for us. Oh we don't mean to, but sometimes we don't know how not to live stuck in our bondage and brokenness.

I declare that we will come to Your powerful and living Word, which separates that which is dead, false, and deception in us from that which is true, alive and eternal (Heb 4: 12). Father, thank You that You have drawn us with gentle chords of love and taken the yoke from our necks (Hosea 11: 4). Thank You for having set us free and showing us in Your Word how to walk in this liberty. Thank You, thank  You that You watch over Your Word to perform it (Jer 1: 12). Like the Spirit hovered over the waters and performed when You spoke the earth into existence (Gen 1: 2-3) , so Your ministering angels watch to perform (Heb 1: 14; Ps 103: 20)  Is 61: 1 and Luke 4: 18 when we believe it and confess it.

I praise Your name. Amen.