Prayer Focus: Pulling Down Strongholds – Time to be Bold

 

“I use God’s mighty weapons, not those made by men, to knock down the devil’s strongholds.”  – 2 Corinthians 10:4 (TLB)

Lord, I pray that You would set me free from anything that holds me other than You.

Deliver me from any memory of the past that has the power to control me or keep me trapped in its grip.

Teach me how to forgive, especially anyone who has hurt me, so that unforgiveness will not be able to hold me captive.

Set me free from everything that keeps me from being all that You created me to be.

Protect me from the plans of the enemy, and cause me to always remember that no-one, including the evil one, can affect the deliverance and healing You want to bring about in my life, after all, Your Word declares that no plan or purpose of Yours can be thwarted (Job 42:2).

Restore all that has been stolen from me until I am lacking no good thing.

I know that in Your presence there is healing and wholeness. Teach me how to live in Your presence so that I can be made and remain totally whole.

Lord, Your Word tells me that “though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:3-4 ESV). So, I know that I cannot use my own human plans and methods to win any battles but instead I use Your mighty weapons.

And today is my time to be bold and declare, in the name of Jesus,  

I pull down any stronghold the enemy has erected around me – the Lord sets me free and I am indeed free.

In the name of Jesus, I declare that for my sake,

God will not rest, until [my] righteousness blazes down like the sun and [my] salvation flames up like a torch (Isaiah 62:1 MSG); He will make the darkness bright before [me] and smooth and straighten out the road ahead. He will not forsake [me]. (Isaiah 42:16 TLB).

Lord, You have said in Your Word that he who walks in [skillful and godly] wisdom will be rescued (Proverbs 28:26 AMP): I boldly declare that I will walk in wisdom and find full deliverance, in Jesus’ mighty name above all names, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, Amen†

 

“Prayer Focus: Pulling Down Strongholds – Time to be Bold” (Adapted from a prayer by Stormie Omartian)

Jesus wants to…

 

Matthew 8:2-3 (GNT), as it is written,

Then a man suffering from a dreaded skin disease came to Him, knelt down before Him, and said, “Sir, if You want to, You can make me clean”. Jesus reached out and touched him. “I do want to”, He answered. “Be clean!” At once the man was healed of his disease.

Beloved like this suffering man, you must never be in doubt of Jesus’ ability to heal you or whether He wants to. The man somehow knew that if Jesus wanted to, if it was His will, He could easily make him clean. The man demonstrated great humility by kneeling before the Lord and strong faith by what he said; his approach was both humble and bold.

This passage shows us that Jesus not only cares, He cares enough to reach out to us and touch us. His touch gives us a sense of comfort and calms our spirits – it’s reassuring. Jesus has compassion for us and is willing to attend to our condition whatever it may be.

Jesus wants to come into contact with us today. He wants to form a very personal relationship with every one of us; Jesus wants to be close to us, to literally touch us wherever we’re hurting – our pain and our affliction.

Jesus wants to fulfill our hearts’ desires because the desires of our hearts are His desires. Jesus has a heart for all of us and wants to bathe us in His love. When we realize the love of Jesus, something happens within us and at once we become clean. We no longer feel shunned or rejected but accepted and embraced by a love we’ve never known. We no longer focus on the condition of our skin, but we feel the cleansing that starts taking place from within.

When we kneel before Jesus, He reaches out, touches us, cleanses us and heals all our diseases because Jesus wants to.

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “Jesus wants to…” ©2013 (20-Mar-13) revisited September 21, 2026

Let your heart and mouth work together

Understand that God has already done everything – blessings, healing, deliverance…everything. He has already provided everything that you need – it’s already there, in the spirit. So how do you get it? Faith!

Faith is the bridge that allows what God has already provided to cross over from the spirit realm into the natural or physical realm. But, having faith is one thing, employing it is another.

Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. I assure you that whoever tells…and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.

(Mark 11:22,23 GNT)

“A man will be satisfied with good by the words of his mouth…”

(Proverbs 12:14 HCSB)

Believe, Confess, and Receive! Let your heart and your mouth work together.

“…the word is very near you—it's within your mouth and heart for you to attain."

(Deuteronomy 30:14 ISV)

Beloved, when you truly believe and you confess, faith is released and you will receive.

Amen †

 

 

 

 

 

Shelley Johnson “Let your heart and mouth work together” © 2016 (06-Jun-2016) revisited September 20, 2026

Another Purpose for Healing: Something to Ponder

 

“And so Jesus went throughout Galilee. He taught in the synagogues. He preached the good news of the Kingdom, and He healed people, ridding their bodies of sickness and disease.” – Matthew 4:23 (VOICE)

We all want to be healthy, after all, our health affects the quality of our lives; we all need to be healthy.

When I originally wrote this post, I’d been fighting a very miserable cold for two weeks. I was certainly not feeling well, and I didn’t like it.

That was just a cold, and yes, it was an annoyance, but it made me think about those people in Jesus’ day who were experiencing all sorts of very ill health for years and years, and about His healing miracles.

Throughout the Bible there’s irrefutable evidence that the Lord has always desired for all people to be in good health. According to Scripture, we know that Jesus performed many healing miracles but was His only purpose for doing so a desire for the people of the day to be healthy, or was there another purpose for healing?

Today I’d like to give you something to ponder.

In Jesus’ time it’s clear that sickness and disease were rampant. I imagine that several factors accounted for that, including unsanitary living conditions, poverty, and a lack of advancement in medical science.

Among the list of diseases, blindness was very prominent and we are told of one significant incidence of blindness from birth where the sole purpose of this healing was to display the works of God (John 9:1-3). I’d like to suggest that there was yet still another purpose for Jesus’ healing miracles.

You see, in those days the sick were considered impure and there were very stringent rules and restrictions pertaining to purity which were enforced by the priests in an effort to maintain social standing, economic and religious status, to the point where holiness was equated with purity. Everything was classified according to its degree of purity thereby creating rigid social boundaries.

All sick people were outcasts – untouchable nobodies who were debarred from partaking in every aspect of human society. This exile also applied to worship at the Temple, as the impure were not allowed to enter the Temple area. But Jesus had a different vision, He defied the rules when He went about “healing every disease and sickness among the people” (Matthew 4:23 NIV).

Yes, Jesus had another purpose for healing. He did not want anyone excluded from religious life. Healing made all those people pure again, thereby restoring their status and bringing them out of exile and back into society.

Beloved, Jesus’ healing miracles were a bold and daring statement to the religious order as they proclaimed that anyone and everyone can be a part of the Kingdom of God.

“…heal anyone who is sick, and tell them, ‘God’s Kingdom is right on your doorstep!’” – Luke 10:9 (MSG)

Amen†

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shelley Johnson “Another Purpose for Healing: Something to Ponder” © 2016 (13-10-2016) revisited September 19, 2026

Sift Away Satan, Sift Away

 

"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat." – Luke 22:31 (NIV)

"Satan has asked"…

Many of us are of the belief that Satan has free reign to do whatever he wants to do on this earth, and for the most part, that may be true, however, it is clear from Luke 22:31, that when it comes to those in relationship with Jesus – born-again children of God – he must ask.

But from who does Satan seek permission "to sift all of you"?

"Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them." – Job 1:6, also 2:1 (JUB)

There are days and then there’s that one particular day when Satan, mixing in with the angels, presents himself before God to ask permission to sift you. Permission is required from God. And now that you know this, another question arises: Why, as a child of God, should God grant Satan permission to sift you?

You must keep in mind that Satan is prowling around the earth like a roaring lion looking for prey, ready to pounce at the mere sign of weakness (1 Peter 5:8). He is an astute strategist who studies his prey carefully. He is looking out for even the tiniest chink in your armour – any kind of emotional instability, angry outbursts, spiritual immaturity, pride, self-righteousness, greed, rage, bitterness; if you’re easily offended, hasty, emotionally wounded, and fearful, you’re ripe for the taking.

Satan’s greatest ally is fear. Fear gives Satan cause to move against you; he will use your fear as his compelling reason for proving his case against you before God, just as he did with Job.

When you operate in fear, you give Satan a legal right to put his hands on you (see Job 1:12; 2;6) and God is legally bound to remove His hedge of protection from around you. Satan couldn’t care less about your good attributes or your great works; he is keeping a keen eye out for those skeletons hidden in the back of your closet – your craven fears.

But cheer up because it’s not all bad news. You see, even though Satan has been given permission to sift, there are boundaries that he’s not allowed to cross. Remember, God always sets the boundaries.

As crafty, powerful and clever as Satan is, he is still a created being, just like the rest of us. Created by God, and therefore subordinate to God and, like the ocean, only able to venture as far as God permits (Job 2:6). As God’s own, Satan can only lift a finger against you under divine imposed limitations, and God will use these times of physical misery for a spiritual purpose.

Look at what Jesus told Peter right after he let him know about the sifting.

"But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." – Luke 22:32 (NIV)

God will use this time of sifting as a set up for His glory to be manifested in you and through you, to give you a testimony to share with others so that by it their faith might be strengthened. He will work all things together for your good and His glory (see Romans 8:28).

Beloved, God is the only one who determines the outcome of your life. He does not gamble with the lives of His children. He has already established a great plan for you.

Even if you have to suffer a little while, know that at the end of it all the genuineness of your faith will be proven and you’ll be as refined as fire refines gold, so, sift away Satan, sift away.

Amen †

 

Shelley Johnson “Sift Away Satan, Sift Away” © 2016 (07-Jun-2016) revisited September 18, 2026

God has set Boundaries

 

God has set boundaries in nature and also for us, His children. For instance, in Jeremiah 5:22 (NLT) we read,

“I, the Lord, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries I set.”

God has established clear boundaries that are beneficial to us and are not, as some erroneously believe, restrictions to our freedom. In fact, boundaries create a refuge, which, if not violated, afford us the freedom of being as “naked” and unashamed as Adam and Eve once were in the Garden.

“The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden… Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.” – Genesis 2:15, 25 (NLT)

God’s boundaries help us stay within His will: “…yet not My will but Yours be done.” (ref. Luke 22:42).

God provides boundaries of times and seasons, for all of His creation: “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

God has set boundaries throughout His Word which give us a comprehensive perspective of the relationship between God and us. Those boundaries define who we are and allow us to see God as He really is.

With these boundaries in place, we are able to gain an understanding of the unity and oneness we are to have with God so that we may experience all the intimacy that is possible in our relationship with Him.

God has set boundaries for us because He knows the dangers of living without them. When God set a boundary for Satan concerning Job it was to let him know that he may go this far but no farther.

“The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.” – Job 2:6 (NIV)

God’s boundaries are very important if we are to live as He intends for us to live and violating them keeps us away from experiencing His best.

Beloved, God loves you and it is out of His love that He sets boundaries. God wants you to have the promised abundant life and has set boundaries in order to protect and preserve the best He has for you.

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “God has set Boundaries”  © 2013 (20-Jun-13) revisited September 17, 2026

Honest Thomas

 

“Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” – John 20:25 (NIV)

This is what Thomas said to the other disciples after they told him that they had seen Jesus. You see, after His resurrection, Jesus had appeared to the disciples, but Thomas was absent. All he knew for sure was that Jesus had been arrested, sentenced, crucified, died and was buried, and even though he would have heard Jesus speak of His death and subsequent resurrection...

“but now I am going to him who sent me”…Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.” – John 16:5 & 16 (NIV)

...we are told that some of the disciples were left confused by what Jesus said so, though Thomas isn’t mentioned, it’s safe to assume that he might have been in the “some” group.

At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” – John 16:17 (NIV)

After three years of discipleship, they still didn’t quite understand. A few chapters before this in John 14 Jesus, after giving them yet another heads up of His departure says, “You know the way to the place where I am going.” (v 4), then Thomas says to Him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” (v 5).

Thomas’ use of the pronoun “we” indicates that he was speaking on behalf of all the disciples. The disciples were left confused by what Jesus said; Thomas was not the only one in doubt.

The disciples, upon seeing the resurrected Jesus worshiped him; but some doubted (Matthew 28:17).

Mark 16:14,

Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

In his Gospel account, Luke tells of two disciples who encounter Jesus on their way to Emmaus; the two immediately return to Jerusalem to tell the others of their incredible reunion,

While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them…He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? – Luke 24:36 & 38 (NIV)

Thomas was not the only one in doubt so, why has he been singled out? Why is he referred to as “Doubting Thomas”?

Thomas may have doubted but he also spoke up while everyone else remained silent. Thomas was honest; he did not sit by murmuring and wondering, he did not stand around smiling and pretending that he wasn’t in doubt or confused or lost, he spoke…

“we don’t know where…we don’t know the way…”

“unless I see…and put…I will not believe”

Who else was honest about how they were feeling? Which one of the other disciples was honest enough to voice their confusion, their doubt, their trepidation?

After years of following his beloved Rabbi, not even Peter was completely confident, this was demonstrated in his attempt to stop Jesus’ arrest – he cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant, causing Jesus to say,

“Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” – John 18:11 (NIV)

Beloved, Thomas did not hide his uncertainty, the way that so many people, even those in church, tend to do.

Admitting your doubt is not a sign of weakness; revealing your uncertainty is not a character flaw; letting others know that you just don’t get it, does not mean that you are dumb. It’s better to express your lack of understanding, rather than existing in pretence.

Be like Thomas, be honest about your level of spiritual understanding; speak up when you’re confused; admit that you’re lost when something just doesn’t click; ask questions when you have doubts.

Thomas was honest and perhaps he should have been nicknamed “Honest Thomas” instead.

Amen †

 

Shelley Johnson “Honest Thomas” © 2026 September 15, 2026