Is Something Or Someone Controlling You?

This is the Truth Network. Welcome to Running with Horses, a podcast devoted to inspire you, concerning a relationship with Almighty God that empowers you to accomplish things you never thought possible. Shirley Weaver wants to take you there. And now, here's today's episode. Hello, everyone, and welcome back. The power of prayer, the power of God to deliver His people, these two are the emphasis for today's podcast.

Let me explain. We have in our ministry one opportunity to pray that is very important to us. It's an early morning prayer. And the people that participate in that morning prayer are seasoned, mature believers.

So the focus is certain things for certain days. For example, Tuesdays, we pray for families, not just for our lives personally, but families all over the world, really. And we do pray in the Spirit. So we understand from New Testament scriptures, the vast reach of trusting the Spirit of God to pray through you, even though your understanding may not be fruitful. But we always allow time at the end of each season, each period of time in the morning, I say season, but what I mean is a block of time for prayer in the Spirit. Then we allow the Lord to speak interpretation, the impression that anyone has something specific. And we do describe that to one another, and then agree with the mind of the Lord that has just been stated.

So you follow me, you know what I'm saying. And in that regard, I'm a little breathless this morning, because the prayer yesterday morning for families, and then the next point I'm making is that we pray for the ministry, this ministry, on Wednesday mornings. Those two prayer sessions have left me breathless. And it's like an expectation or a sense of something happening, maybe.

Stay with me here while I lay this out for you. During the prayer for families yesterday, Tuesday is family day, a strong prophetic word came forth near the end of the prayer time, and that word was this, let my family go. And as there was a pause and a silence from the rest of the team, as one person spoke, let my family go. There came a wind, a surge of what I would call an anointing, a presence of God, and the understanding, like the discernment you had, I had, it was the word of the Lord. Here is a command, a statement, a decree made by faith, spoken into the spirit realm, commanding every force of opposition and oppression affecting the family, let my family go. And we began to apply that word, one, and then two, and then three, four, and five or more. We made this announcement, we made this decree.

There was a momentum of faith as we spoke. You know, the principle is God said to Pharaoh, let my people go. It was a command. It was a demand. God placed a demand on Pharaoh to remove the opposition to his people, the restraint, the oppression, the enslavement, and to release them to what? To worship him. So when your family, my family, any family is held, restrained, and under such opposition from whatever the negative source is, whether it be earthly or spiritual, you know, sometimes there are just natural things happening.

Other times it's very much demonic. Here comes this profound demand by faith based on the word of the Lord. So first of all, during that prayer time, we heard, let my family go. And we have been hammering, hammering, demanding, not just for my family or anyone near me, their family, but for your family, because we send this intercession out over the extended family that is a part of the congregation making up Shirley Weaver Ministries, A Clear Trumpet Incorporated, all of that.

Okay. So you come under the influence of that prayer. Again, we do it by faith. We obey the word of the Lord and we believe that we have his word in our mouths and that we have his heart in the matter.

That's the first thing. Secondly, subsequent to that prayer time, then this morning we prayed for the ministry, for Shirley Weaver Ministries, and specifically for you as a listener, a follower, a subscriber, a financial supporter, whatever. We pray for you specifically and we picked up again this command from the Lord regarding you and your family. And after the prayer time, I heard a testimony I haven't heard in a while. It was coming from a Bible teacher who had had a similar experience in prayer, but this had to do with specific oppression coming against him and specifically he said it was severe depression and that it had become such an obstacle for him on every side and in every way and that the depression would be so dark and so deep that he couldn't function. And in prayer one day, the Lord showed him that a demon is like a disembodied person.

Let me say that again. God showed him that a demon is like a disembodied person. So you envision a person being the instigator of the oppression you're feeling, in his case, the extreme darkness of depression. And seeing it that way, God showed that to him and seeing it that way, the next thing God showed him is the scripture that says that God is no respecter of persons. That anyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

So those two things, a demon is a person, a disembodied person, a person without a body, and God, here's the cry for salvation or freedom or deliverance from slavery, in his case, heavy depression, and then anyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Those two came to him in the form of a revelation, much like we received earlier concerning the command, let my family go. And he simply said, he prayed this prayer, Father, your word says that you are no respecter of persons. What you will do for one you will do for another. And anyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be delivered, shall be an absolute.

It was for him. Therefore, I call on you now, deliver me from this person, this demon persona, deliver me from its influence. That was the prayer. The next thing that happened, a supernatural experience of, and he described it, the effect of like a heavenly vacuum cleaner or vacuum force, like this power came on him and sucked or there was suction as it were feeling, a suction feeling, drawing that dark spirit of heaviness influence and presence, that persona out of him, up and out of him. And there was an immediate deliverance.

Those are the two things. Those are the two demonstrations of God's power that are so real in my thinking right now, because they're fresh. Many times I have experienced the presence of God. Many times I have known his influence to come in a supernatural way on many levels in many ways.

And I have even experienced something similar to this testimony, a removal of a persona of my life that resulted in a healing, like a supernatural divine healing, bottom line. All of that to say, as I think about that this morning, my thought goes to the fact and to the point and to this reality. So many people are swimming in goo. I don't know another way to say it. They're just swimming in a sea of this goo. They can't get out. In some ways they're afraid to even try to get out. They are trapped.

They are paralyzed. And they do not know the power and the reality of the things that are so present in my heart and my mind right now, because we just experienced them. I just personally experienced these things. And so I want to say for anyone that describes, if this describes you swimming in a goo, I mean, you've been this way day in and day out, week in, week out, et cetera.

I'm telling you, there is hope. That doesn't mean that I don't understand that this can be complex. I'm not saying we push a button and get a result.

I'm not saying that we don't wait patiently for the Lord. All of these things factor in for sure, but never at the expense, hear me, never at the expense of believing God for his power to supernaturally suction you out of that goo, reach down and lift you out of that goo, give you a word, a prophetic word to command the goo to release you. And I don't know, maybe goo is too much of an American kind of comment or phrase or word usage. Goo means yuck. It means like thick mud.

It means something that's sticky and thick and slimy and not good. So even though things are usually complex, like many layers, and that takes in our culture, our geographical location, because I never do a podcast on running with horses that I am not thinking of those in other nations who may not have the same environment that I have. When you know, when you live in a country that is free, a free country, you have opportunities that those in a nation that is not as free simply do not have just on a regular basis. Just you know, there's not a level playing field here, as it were, if you're looking at the circumstances, but I'm telling you, in God, the playing field is very level. No matter the darkness, there is a corresponding weight of God's delivering power to set the record straight. And he says, I am no respecter of persons.

Remember, Moses approached Pharaoh, a pagan king in a pagan idolatrous land with the demand, let my people go, they are going to worship God freely. So that's our thinking. So add to that, and I'm saying they're layers here. I understand they're complex, even on your best day, or in the very best, most freed environment, a geographical location. You know, there are many people who live their entire lives under the control of another person, another person. And that control creates a binding so that they are unable to speak up.

They can't even defend themselves. And many instances, you know what I'm saying. But I believe every situation like these I've mentioned and many others is subject to change. I believe that the power of God is so great that no matter the darkness, no matter the layers and the complex layers of difficulty, of dark control, of oppression of any kind, as we've said it before, we have a lot to learn about the power of God.

But we can learn it. He will do for you exactly what His Word declares He will do. You can believe His Word. A couple of things.

Just keep this in mind. In your situation, ask this question. What is God saying in your situation?

What is He saying? You know, He has said that His thoughts and His ways are higher than mine, right? So I want to know His thought. I want to know His way in the situation where I am. And for sure, for sure, I realize because we are close to the return of the Lord to receive His bride, His bride, the church, for sure, you are positioned right now, no matter how dark, in the plan of God for His rescue.

So first of all, what is God saying in your situation? Secondly, what is the underlier? Or maybe it's plural.

What are the underliers? Is this purely a work of Satan? Something demonic? Something the Bible says resist the devil, he will flee?

Something about which God said, take authority over those things? Or could it be something just simple or maybe something major, just that is within your power, not necessarily a demonic persuasion, but something like, you've got to do something. You've got to change something. Something has got to give, right? Or, and this is major, I believe, repentance. It's because many times sin are things that have us off track and away from the will of God.

That is the underlier. So something simple, like a change you need to make, you're not, you're just frozen. You're unwilling to make it for some reason. I mean, that doesn't even make sense. You know, the prophet told the king, dip in the river seven times to be healed of your leprosy.

And he said, I'm not doing that. Well, don't be dumb like the king in that story. But also to remember that repentance is a powerhouse and everything in between. Everything small that you need to change the power of repentance, which is so great.

What is the underlier? And last, lastly, let me say, and let me be clear, you know, on a previous episode of our podcast, we talked about being at the top of your faith, living there, that that is possible. So we may have an overlap here where you've done everything you do know to do. Like you have done these things, you've checked all the boxes and you are patiently waiting for God to intervene. The scripture Genesis to revelation is filled with examples of those who are righteous and who are trusting God, waiting for him to intervene.

We know that. Or even though you're at the top of your faith, you may be paralyzed in some way. Like you just can't, you don't know which way to go or anything.

You don't know what to change. You know, you've repented of everything, but it's the, there's a paralyzing that has take place. Let me tell you being paralyzed this way and patiently waiting. Those are not the same thing.

It's subtle, but they're not the same thing. Patiently waiting implies the power of confident, trust toward God. You are at the top of your faith and you are confidently trusting in him like it. You are so confident.

You are so sure you're not moving no matter what. That is not the same thing as really just being sort of succumbing to the circumstances. You need make, make that distinction.

Okay. Don't go another day without making that distinction. And remember this of all these things, what is God saying in your situation? What are the underlyers and are you at the top of your faith? Even if that includes patiently waiting, those three things do not reduce or in any way diminish your, your knowing that the power of God is resident and available for you. The fact that he hasn't answered 60 seconds ago doesn't mean he's not there right now.

Like right now. You can always believe that. Always keep your hope fixed there and refuse to relent. And when you're asking God, what are you saying in this situation? You're doing basically what the testimony I've described earlier did. You know, God, I'm bound here.

What to do? And God answered, you're dealing with a demon and anyone who calls on me shall be delivered. And the other example, the first one I gave, when you pray, God will give you a word, a word like, let my family go. It is essential in this hour, in this complicated day of evil that you, you understand what the will of the Lord is and you're not deterred and you're not turned away. No matter where you live, no matter your circumstances, he is there present with you. He is there to deliver anyone who calls on the name of the Lord. He will deliver you. We'll see you next time. We'll see you next time.