JUICY JULY 2024

THEME: MADE BATTLE-FIT

DATE: 16/07/2024

TOPIC: FREEDOM FROM THE CAPTIVITY OF DEBTS

TEXT: PSALMS 126

BIBLE STUDY : JOHN 14

TESTIMONY HIGHLIGHT

Let us read through this testimony before we start to pray. May your own testimony also arrive speedily and gloriously to the Glory of the Lord alone in Jesus’ Name. Amen. 

This Juicy July started as if it won’t make sense for me. I cried to God about why I wasn’t feeling it. I told Him I didn’t even have the strength to write my prayer requests as mama would always ask us to write every year. I was just so limp and weak because the issues surrounding my family was just so much. I didn’t see where the help would come from at all. We had no help, no support, nobody, but this God. Well, I finally dragged myself to start writing all the requests and you need to see how many they are. But I just want to thank the Lord that cannot fail. The One who makes a way in the wilderness. All the MILLIONS of debts we were owing, He cleared all of them, BUDites. I mean, He started from the first day of this month….How He did it is still very unbelievable to my family. I just finished calculating what is left in the account and it is still running into millions. I have always heard that God is real but I didn’t know it is to this extent. If I had ten thousand tongues, they would never be enough to praise the Lord. There is indeed something about this seventh month, indeed. God bless this family for always pushing us to prayer…ah, there is power in prayers. Praise the Lord. 

Secondly, I had a revelation two days ago about my daughter being attacked but in the dream, I was like a defence to her. I fought the first demon and neutralized the weapon of the second demon. As soon as I woke up from the dream indeed, my baby became sick. I was scared but started to fire prayers together with my hubby and by His grace, she is recovering well. I am sure God just allowed that just to make me know that what I saw was not a joke. I want to thank the Lord because through all these prayers, He has started to train my hands to war indeed. I wonder what would have happened to my daughter if my spirit had not been affected by all the things we are learning and praying about here. Maybe she would have died, ha, God forbid. I worship the Lord because He that has started training me will never leave me. I worship Him because the life of my daughter was not snatched away by the enemies and I thank Him in advance because my daughter is perfectly made whole. May the Name of the Lord be praised forever. Amen. 

PRAYER

Praise the Lord for the testimony. Ask the Lord to take all the glory for it. Ask that the Lord will glorify Himself the more in the life of the testifier. And that the Lord will give everyone heartily participating in the Juicy July Prayer programme great testimonies to the glory of His Name. Ask for your own testimonies also. 

INTRODUCTION

One of our Dynamite Wives and leaders in this family was really touched by the fact that almost every list of prayer points we have here daily has something related to debts and financial issues in them. Her family was also in a similar situation and the Lord graciously delivered them in a supernatural way. So, I asked her to write something about the issue, I would work around it and then, we can pray about it. She faithfully did it in no time. Thank you so much ma for this wonderful message and for sharing your wealth of wisdom and experience with us. God bless you immensely. Amen.

FREEDOM FROM THE CAPTIVITY OF DEBTS

Being in debt is being in captivity. It is a weight, very heavy upon the shoulders and the head. It feels as though you can’t catch your breath from under its enormous weight. The chains drag around you such that you end up feeling lost and insecure. The ones who hold the chains at the other end, depending on their grip on it can choke us, snuff out the life in us such that life may not be worth living again. 

When in debt, you can barely laugh for there is no cause for joy. The weight is so choking that there is no song on your lips as the mouth is already filled with sorrow and groanings. You are constantly drowning in your tears because all that could have brought joy and comfort are all burdened by the weight of debt. All efforts to repay the debt mostly feel like fetching water from a well into an endless depth of a pit; those precious seeds of efforts amount to nothing.

SPIRITUAL DEBTS

Debt can be of many kinds. One of it is spiritual debt owed to ancestral lineage or covenants we are tied to. This type is often the root cause of all kinds of debt. This is because debt has a demonic collector who ensures the debtor pays back. There are demonic agents attached to each debt and they stay with the debtor to tighten the rope of frustration all the time. They steal all sense of freedom. They simply resist the debtor and find every means possible to keep the debtor bound. This is because this is where they get the real dividend of the debt. We see this in the life of Joshua the high priest in Zechariah 3:1-3. 

Satan, the chief debt collector, kept resisting him from receiving the ministration of the Lord because his garment contextually had something on it. Hence, he is not free. We can also see the same pattern in the story of the widow in 2 Kings 4:1-2. The debt collectors wanted her sons as the overall cost repayment, not necessarily the money. That was the goal.

This principal kind of debt replays in why some are delayed in some crucial aspects of their lives because they have not paid their debts. An instance is of a woman who is the eldest and can only get married until all her two younger sisters are married and settled in their own homes. She is well over thirty and she is to bear the cost of the debt in her lineage. 

Another is of a family where the first daughters must have babies outside wedlock because there is an ancestral debt they must pay as daughters of a lineage. Their first child must belong to a man they will not marry. Thus, it is the repayment of the debt their great-grandfather owed to a young maiden. It is a converted spiritual debt.

HOW TO BE FREE FROM SPIRITUAL/ANCENSTRAL DEBTS

Acknowledge the Debt:

You might not know exactly what debts you are in spiritually but if you ask the Lord to open your eyes, you might begin to see clearly, dear sis. What have you noticed that is a reality in your life and home and extended family? Do they seem to be under one labour or the other? Maybe some will have good homes and poverty. Some other will have terrible homes and wealth. So will have anointing but wayward children. Just look around and see things that seem to be like patterns which are at work in your lineage. Recognize and acknowledge them. If you do not know that you have issues, you will never realize your need for freedom, sis! This is the first step towards breaking free from them.

Repentance:

Repent for any known or unknown sins that may have opened the door to these debts. This includes personal sins and those committed by ancestors.

Renounce Ancestral Covenants:

Verbally renounce any ancestral covenants, pacts, or agreements that have given the enemy legal rights over your life. Use the authority of Jesus’ name to break these bonds.

Plead the Blood of Jesus:

Invoke the Power of the Blood of Jesus, which speaks better things than the blood of Abel (Hebrews 12:24). The Blood of Jesus has the power to cleanse and break every chain.

Declare Your Identity in Christ:

Affirm your new identity in Christ. You are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), and old things have passed away. Declare that you are no longer under any ancestral curses or debts. For instance, sis, when I am praying these types of prayers, I tell the enemies and the wicked ones altogether that I have new Blood running through my veins. I might be the daughter of my father but hey, you’ve got no hold on me, ancestral powers! I am a new creature! The Blood of Jesus runs through my veins. The One who has the rights to me now is my God in Heaven, so, evil ancestral curses and debts tracing my bloodline, leave me alone! 

Use the Word of God:

Stand on the promises of God’s Word. Scriptures like Galatians 3:13 (Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law) and Colossians 2:14 (blotting out the handwriting of ordinances) are powerful declarations against spiritual debts.

Seek Deliverance:

Consider seeking deliverance through prayer and fasting. I always prefer personal deliverances. I started doing this on myself so many years ago and it was one of the things that trained me up for battles. When you keep relying on people of God to deliver you, you will never grow spiritually. You won’t grow muscles at all. So, I think if you take seriously all we have been doing in the past few days seriously, you should be fit to start delivering yourself, your home, your marriage, your lineage, your loved ones, without running helter-skelter. 

Forgive and Release:

Forgive those who may have wronged you, including ancestors whose actions may have brought these debts. Release them from your judgment and ask God to heal your lineage. Yes, let your father/mother go from the prison of your heart if you think they are the ones who brought a lot of problems on you. They might also be victims of ancestral battles, you know? Forgive them, sis. Let go of all the people whose stories you have heard that could be responsible for your spiritual bondages/debts.

Build a Life of Obedience:

Live a life of obedience to God’s Word. Break free from habits and behaviors that may have kept you in bondage. Consistently seek God’s will in all areas of your life.

Engage in Spiritual Warfare:

Engage in spiritual warfare prayers. Use the authority given to you by Jesus to bind and cast out any demonic influences.

Walk in Faith and Trust:

Trust God completely for your deliverance and provision. Walk in faith, believing that He who started a good work in you will bring it to completion.

FINANCIAL DEBTS

Also, there are categories of debt that occur based on our ill-made life decisions. Paramount is financial debt. The enemy is seriously dealing with believers in this current season by weighing them with financial debts. I know of a fervent married couple in Christ who live in the north. They got into huge debt last year and it led to their separation. The wife is in the south west working to earn some money leaving her husband in the north with their two young kids. Their debt was a result of sports betting. She primarily left because the shame was a lot. The devil uses legit reasons to draw Christians into the art of borrowing. There is nothing wrong in seeking an extra source of income, right? Sometimes he lures us into legit means like a clothing business so we can earn the money and pay back or even illegitimate means like gambling. 

He makes us get high on the drive or need to earn more money. Subtly, he sows the seed of the love of money in our hearts and we gradually nurse it consciously or unconsciously through the quest to satisfy this growing desire for more money. In the process, he kills the tree of ‘godliness with contentment’ because both cannot thrive together. Not before long, we start serving mammon instead of God. It is not bad to make money. It is bad when it makes us stop trusting God for our daily bread and instead what we see in our bank account. This is the power of mammon- we serve money.

Financial debt is so crazy that it has led to suicide, even among people who know. There is a Pastor I heard of who had borrowed money from all his church members and fellow pastors and even those outside the church. It has led him to lose the honour of his office as God’s representative. Another pastor got in trouble with loan apps such that his wife left him to her parents with the threat of a divorce. The spirit behind debt is no respecter of persons. There is one student who is a key member of the Christian students body executives. He gambled away his school fees for more financial gain and he lost it all. When we as believers allow ourselves to lust after and love up on money, we blaspheme God. He loses face as our Father.

OUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

The text Psalm 126 is one that has filled my family with hope when we were drowning in debt and we were losing ourselves. We owed over 3 million naira back in 2020. We got into it through forex. We could barely eat. I couldn’t even afford to buy a skirt when I needed it so badly for work. As a lecturer, I would wear my torn shirt like that after mending with needle and thread. Our son, he had to depend on hand-me-downs from a church member as all his clothes were too small for him and we couldn’t afford new ones. My husband looked so malnourished you would think he had HIV/AIDS. We would trek long distances so we would not have to spend extra on transport. We sold our car as cheaply as 150,000 naira because we could not maintain it and we needed money. Things were that bad. We had stopped paying tithe and offering, if we did, it was just to put up the act of fulfilling all righteousness. 

My husband had borrowed from more than 15 loan apps in the huge 100s of thousands that the harassment calls were terrible. Our parents received some of such messages. And their hearts bled with sorrow. We had begged from colleagues at work, friends we had not spoken to in years. We found ourselves in this mess because we wanted more money and we ventured into what God didn’t approve of. Like the prodigal son, we met ruin in the path that seemed right. We forgot that our dependency is only on the Lord.

When the shame became unbearable, we sought help from the Lord. We asked for mercy as we confessed our foolishness in choosing our own way and trusting in our ability. We sought that He would intervene and help us out of the miry clay that was sinking us deep in debt. Then we waited for His Word. His Word came in Juicy July 2021 in the form of Psalm 126 verse 1. However, there was no manifestation until 2 months later. Through those months, we stopped borrowing. We welcomed the shame but Christ took it on Himself. We used those months to restore our relationship back to the Lord. God began to correct us and He taught us what giving and prosperity means through His Word. Then the tests of our lessons came to prove our repentance to God and our commitment to trusting Him. To His glory, we passed the test and in 6 months, all the debt was paid off. 18 months later we are in our own house, built on our own land with our individual cars. This, is what turning captivity around can look like, a dream!

How to Not Fall into the Web of Debt

1. Don’t make a decision outside of God’s will. It may be legit, but it doesn’t mean God approves it for you.

2. Don’t borrow in the first place. Whatever you have at the moment is what God has provided. If you think you need more, ask for it in prayers. He will meet the need. If you need a laptop, He doesn’t need to provide money to meet the need. He can outrightly bring the laptop to your doorstep. Don’t let borrowing be an option at all on your list.

3. Avoid any quick money-making scheme. Trust me, it is fake and it is money outside God’s provisions.

4. Give what is due God to God. Give your tithe, give to those the Bible has pointed out as the needy. Be generous to others even in your little. These bring increase, always. It doesn’t have to be much before you can give. It is a spiritual rule.

5. Be content with God’s provisions. Oftentimes, it is discontent that drives us into the lust for more money. God’s blessing is what makes rich, not money.

HOW TO GET OUT OF FINANCIAL DEBTS

1. Seek His Forgiveness: It is a sin not to trust God. Moses didn’t trust God and he hit the rock instead of speaking to it. This was sinful in God’s eyes, and his punishment was to not partake of the Promised Land. We cannot say we trust in God’s abundant riches and then borrow from men or from satanic sources. Hence, the need to seek forgiveness.

2. Repent of Your Waywardness: Not trusting the Lord to supply all your needs is a form of waywardness. We may feel we borrowed the money to meet some very important sets of needs. However, consider Jesus’ ministry; having to cater to the needs of 12 other men and some women, did he ever borrow? When he needed money badly, he trusted God for provision, and He made it come from a fish’s mouth. To show your repentance, decide never to borrow from anyone again, no matter how urgent the need is and how desperate you are. If you need it, ask; He will provide.

3. Seek His Face for Mercy: Mercy is what is needed at a time like this. The debt collector has a right to the life of the debtor until the money is paid. Take a look at the referenced Scripture earlier, 2 Kings 4:1-2. The debt collector was going to take two sons, their life and all, as repayment for the loan their father took from him. Hence, the widow ran to the prophet for help, for mercy. The same way she ran to the prophet, you should run to the Father and beg for His mercy. His mercy prevails over judgment.

4. Giving: One crucial aspect is giving. If you have not been faithful in giving, especially in paying your tithe correctly, this must be rectified. God doesn’t need your money to run Kingdom business. However, the secret lies in the spiritual rule of giving: Give, and it shall be given unto you. It is the starting point of acknowledging God’s sovereignty over your life and choosing to please Him. Study the matter of tithing, starting from Abraham and Melchizedek through to Malachi. Also, study instances of giving in the Bible, such as the Widow of Zarephath, who lacked nothing during the famine.

5. Wait on God: Often, when we have prayed, we are quick to end it there. You must wait to get an answer from God as a response to your prayer. When you call someone on the phone, you speak and expect them to speak in return. Similarly, wait until God gives you His Word. It is His Word that you will hold onto throughout the period until there is peace restored. Ensure He gives you His Word.

6. Embrace Shame: One key factor why we keep compiling debt is that we want to avoid any form of shame and embarrassment, so we borrow from one source to cover another. I remember calling one of my students to ask if he could loan me money. I bless God that he didn’t. I was trying to avoid one shame by creating another form of shame. Jesus did not run away from the shame the cross was going to bring to Him. He embraced it instead. The more you run from the shame, the more your debt will compile.

7. Await Your Test: God will allow you to be tested to see if you will stay true to your resolution. The result of this test will determine if He will release Kingdom wealth to you. Most times, these tests come in the form of giving. Our test was to give all that someone sent to us to our church. It was hard because we needed the money, but we obeyed by His grace!

8. God’s Ultimate Goal: Understand that settling your debt isn’t God’s ultimate goal. His overall goal is to prosper you and make you a Kingdom financier. This is what you should aim for. So, He will ask you: ‘What is in your hand? What do you have at home?’ When God asks you this question, like the prophet asked the widow, do you have anything to table to God? Hence, God needs you to have something He can put His blessings upon for financial prosperity. This prosperity is for Kingdom purposes—bread to eat for you and seed to sow for the Kingdom.

PRAYER TIME

WORSHIP 

Let us take some quality time to worship the Lord for His Word that we have just gone through. Thank Him for the specific revelations that He has given you today.  Adore the Lord for who He is. Tell Him how wonderful His works are! Tell the Creator how excellent all He has made are. 

SPIRITUAL SANITATION 

Begin to sanitize your life right now. Rid your life of every sins and iniquities with the Blood of Jesus. The Lord does not hear the prayers coming from the mouth of a sinner, but if such confesses and forsakes the sins, the Lord will have mercy, hear and forgive.

ATMOSPHERIC SANITATION

Now, take charge of your environment. Begin to cover where you are now with the Blood of Jesus. Cover yourself with the fire of the Holy Ghost.

DELIVERANCE FROM SPIRITUAL/ANCESTRAL DEBTS

• Heavenly Father, I thank You for the freedom I have in Christ Jesus. I declare that I am no longer bound by any spiritual or ancestral debts.
• By the blood of Jesus, I nullify every demonic claim over my life due to ancestral debts.
• I declare that I am a new creation in Christ. Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
• Lord, I stand on Your Word that says Christ has redeemed me from the curse of the law. I am free from every curse and debt.
• Father, release me from every spiritual debt that has held me captive. I plead the blood of Jesus over my life and lineage.
• In Jesus’ name, I command every demonic force enforcing ancestral debts in my life to be bound and cast out by fire.
• I forgive my ancestors and anyone else whose actions may have brought these debts. I release them from my judgment.
• In the name of Jesus, I declare my freedom from every demonic collector assigned to my life.
• Father, restore to me everything the enemy has stolen through ancestral debts in the Mighty Name of Jesus.
• I declare that my family and future generations are free from all forms of ancestral debts and curses.
• In Jesus’ name, I break free from every delay and frustration caused by ancestral debts.
• Heavenly Father, I bless Your name for delivering me from all forms of spiritual debts. I walk in the freedom You have given me in the Mighty Name of Jesus that cannot fail I have prayed. Amen. 

PRAYERS ON FREEDOM FROM FINANCIAL DEBTS

• Lord, I break every demonic hold over my finances and declare Your lordship over my resources.

• Holy Spirit, from this day forward, guide me in wise financial decisions that honor You and lead to freedom in Jesus’ Name.

• Father, by Your infinite mercies, release Your provision and resources to meet all my needs from today according to Your riches in glory by Christ in Jesus’ Name.

• Lord, deliver me from the spirit of lack and poverty; open doors of abundance for me.

• I declare that my life is free from the grip of debt and financial bondage, in Jesus’ name.

• Father, restore everything that the enemy has stolen from me through debt and financial oppression.

• Lord, grant me the grace to trust You completely for my financial needs and to avoid borrowing in the Name of Jesus Christ.

• Father, let Your mercy prevail over every judgment against me due to debts in the Name of Jesus Christ.

• Lord, teach me to be a faithful steward of the resources You have entrusted to me henceforth in the Name of Jesus Christ.

• Father, remove every garment of shame from me and replace it with a robe of righteousness and honor from this day forward in Jesus’ Name.

• Holy Spirit, empower me to fulfill my financial obligations without stress or burden henceforth, I plead in Jesus’ Name.

• In Jesus’ name, I command every demonic agent enforcing debt in my life to be silenced.

• Lord, give me the wisdom to build wealth and become a Kingdom financier.

• Father, I thank You for Your faithfulness in delivering me from every form of debt.

CONTINUE TO PRAY AS THE LORD LEADS YOU!

PRAYER REQUEST SPOTLIGHTS

Could we please join hands together to raise our voices to the Lord on behalf of these sisters

– I want God to help my baby to start eating everyother food I want God to deliver my daughter from the spirit of sturbbornness. I want God to make me a billionaire. I want God to make us to be mobile either with car, keke or motorcycle. We are traking every day. Even to Church self. I want God to help me to be very strong in prayers both my husband. Seriously God should intervene in my business center, I need God urgently 

– SOS prayer request: Since last week, my hand has been swollen, I have used drugs, taken it to the clinic and prayed but it has refused to come down and have been undergoing excruciating pain, people of God pray for me that God of Juicy July will arise and send every evil arrow back to senders, grant me deliverance and I will share my testimony. Every evil structures set against my spiritual growth and progress, fire of God will destroy them.

– Sisters please, join me in prayers for my family that the Lord will destroy the works of the devil in my family and there would be a total restoration of everything we’ve lost and that God will miraculously settle our debtssss because my family is at the verge of embarrassment. Also, for my elder sister Deborah, that the Lord will give her a good job and her own husband because she’s of marriageable age already. Also, that the scholarship I’m after that the Lord will make it mine. Also for my roommate that the Lord will make things easy for her and her family.

– I was diagnosed of anaemia last week but I know that is not my portion. I want God to heal me, speed up my recovery and restore to me perfect health with long life as His Word has promised me. Also, I want God to take charge of my brother’s wedding ceremony coming up next month in the eastern part of Nigeria. That there shall be no evil or accident of any form be recorded to and fro the journey. The Lord will supplies all that he needs to fund the wedding and the marriage itself. 

– Help me pray for my Mom, she’s been complaining of tooth ache and sharp migrating pain from her inner hip to the entire leg. Help me pray that God will grant her strength and vigor to live a healthy life and preserved to see, enabled to play with her unborn grandchildren in Jesus name.

– My only and elder brother who when growing up used to be industrious, hardworking and intelligent after graduating from Polytechnic over 10 years now all of a sudden has become useless to the family. He’s always at home being deceived into online works without fruit. He has a family, his wife parents have withdrawn his wife and child from him because he couldn’t cater for them and he now lives with my parents which is giving everyone of us pain and shame. From this Juicy July, I’ve come to realize that the “spirit of recreation”  is at work in his life.😭

Please join my family to cry unto God for mercy and deliverance upon his life, that he gives us testimony thought this year Juicy July in Jesus’ name. 

– I want God to bless me with the fruit of the womb. I need God’s divine direction on the type of work to do that will lead to financial freedom. I pray for God’s divine provision, my Mum want to buy a property but the money is not complete and the person that owns the property has given her a short time to balance up if not the sell it to another person, brethren please join me and pray that God will provide for us.

NOW TO OUR PRAYER JOURNALS

Let us raise our prayer list to the Lord and tell Him all about our requests. Let us ask the Father in the Name of Jesus to turn those requests into testimonies for us according to His Will in Jesus’ Name. Let us pray fervently on them before we move on.

I WILL TRUST by Fred Hammond

There was a time I truly believed

That I could do it on my own

But all that I found at the end of that road is

That concept for me was all wrong

But I found a Savior who turned me around

And He placed His love on me

And I will trust in Him ’til my last heartbeat

Some put their trust in earthly possessions

But in the end it won’t bring them through

I will not lean to my own understanding

But with my whole heart here’s what I’ll do

I will trust (trust in the name of The Lord)

In the name (trust in the name of The Lord)

Of The Lord (Lord I will)

Lord I’ll trust in You

I will trust (trust in the name of The Lord)

In the name (trust in the name of The Lord)

Of The Lord (for I know)

He will see me through

Don’t put your trust in things that will perish

And ultimately fade away

And even with family and friends all around

You can find yourself alone and dismayed

Cause with their best intentions

They’re only human

Believe me when I say

Trust in the Lord

He is faithful and true

Some put their trust in earthly possessions

But in the end it won’t bring them through

I will not lean to my own understanding

But with my whole heart here’s what I’ll do

I will trust (trust in the name of The Lord)

In the name (trust in the name of The Lord)

Of The Lord (Lord I will)

Lord I’ll trust in You

I will trust (trust in the name of The Lord)

In the name (trust in the name of The Lord)

Of The Lord (for I know)

He will see me through

The name of The Lord is a mighty strong tower

Righteous run in and they’re saved

I will trust You (trust in You)

I will trust (trust in the name of The Lord)

In the name (trust in the name of The Lord)

Of The Lord (Lord I will)

Lord I’ll trust in You

I will trust (trust in the name of The Lord)

In the name (trust in the name of The Lord)

Of The Lord (for I know)

He will see me through

I will trust (trust in the name of The Lord)

In the name (trust in the name of The Lord)

Of The Lord (Lord I will)

Lord I’ll trust in You

I will trust (the name of The Lord is a mighty)

In the name (a strong tower, a strong tower)

Of The Lord (the righteous run in and they are)

He will see me through (saved, saved)

I will trust (trust in the name of The Lord)

In the name (trust in the name of The Lord)

Of The Lord (Lord I will)

Lord I’ll trust in You

NOTE

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