Foundations for Freedom (2 of 8)

Mike Connell

Page 7 of 10
The next thing is that people need to renounce or cancel bondages in their life. I’ll explain what these are, and how you do it. Bondage can be as simple as a generational curse. It could be an inner vow a person made. Like for example, I was praying with a person recently, and she was trying to get pregnant. As I spoke with her, I asked her: “Have you been pregnant before?” She said: “Yes. We have one child; and I want another child, but I’ve had 3 miscarriages.” I said: “Tell me about the first child, and the process of pregnancy.” It was extremely painful, extremely difficult for her. I said: “Did you ever make an inner vow – I will never have another child again.” She said: “Yes I did.” I said: “That’s what’s happening. Your body is reacting. It is rejecting each new child. You’ve made an inner vow – I will never have another child. You need to renounce and break that curse over your life.”

So I’ll identify the specific things to renounce shortly. There it is: Recognise; take responsibility; repent and confess sin; release forgiveness; renounce any bondages, speak words to cancel them; and then reach out for God to set you free. So, we see now, the foundations for freedom. Notice the last one I had – you reach out to Jesus to set you free, because otherwise, people make an idol out of you in ministry. They want you to fix them up. They put the responsibility on you, rather than being responsible to reach Jesus for the help.

[Demonstration and Exercises]

I’ll just show you what I mean. I’ll just demonstrate something with you. I just need one volunteer. Just please stand here. Can I take your hand? So when it comes to ministering to people, if the person looks to you, to come-through for them, there is a pressure that comes from them. You are under pressure to perform. You’re under pressure to do something; and pressure from people can lead to quite strong witchcraft. Jesus never allowed Himself to be pressured by people over ministry. He always did what He saw the Father doing, or was moved with compassion.

I have found a very simple thing you can do. It’s something like this: “I want you to close your eyes now, and I want you to look towards Jesus. From within, look towards Him, expecting for Him to touch you.” Now, I’ve directed her attention away from me. So immediately, pressure comes off. I’ve directed her towards the Lord, expecting to receive; and even as she does that, the presence of God will start to come on her. There’s a flow of God’s presence. Now, if I was to do the same thing, not focus on her, or trying to fix her, I just set my attention, focus my attention on Jesus, the source. His presence starts to come, and she starts to feel the anointing come on. Ministry flow needs to be Holy-Spirit-directed. So, we work with the person’s heart, to open up to the Holy Spirit; and then we listen for him [Whoosh] and it’s very easy to minister his power.

So, always turn the person towards Jesus for their help, because people tend to want you to fix them; which makes them a victim, and you’re the rescuer. That’s not empowering, because here’s what happens: if I’m the victim, and you have to rescue me, then if I don’t get free, it’s your fault. ‘I need someone more anointed. I come for someone more anointed.’ Same thing, “you have to get me free. It’s your responsibility”. See, I’m still thinking like a victim, rather than being empowered; but if it’s my decision to receive and respond in faith, then my faith will release the power of God.

“Just come stand. Just come and stand there. Can I take your hand? Close your eyes and just in your heart, look up to the Lord; and as you look up to the Lord, the presence of God will come on you.” See? Just like that. Now, ministry should flow out of rest. You notice, I really didn’t do a lot. I just directed him to the answer, and He could feel the presence of God come on him. So, I have noticed in ministry, it’s the anointing that flows from within us, the energising power of the Holy Spirit; and there’s an anointing that rests on people when they open their heart to the Lord. I can release the power of God very strongly, because we’ve created an environment for ministry.