Prayer Part 2

 In ministry, I have found there are many, many casues of sicknesses and diseases.  There are two at the top of the list. I will focus on these two because they have many, many evil spiritual riders that add to our sicknesses and diseases. The causes are associated with demon spirits in Mark 15:17… in My name they will cast out demons. Demons are a word Christians avoid or don’t believe in.  Have you ever heard someone say they have a demon spirit working in them like anger, bitterness, and fear, to name a few? 

Spiritual Riders – A rider generally refers as an addition or attachment to the primary cause of sickness and disease.  In ministry we must address both the primary issue and the rider issues attached to the primary.  They work together to bring sickness, disease, and premature death.

The Unloving Spirit – The unloving spirt is the most damaging and its biggest rider is FEAR.  Henry Wright has ministered to over 35,000 individuals and he has come to the conclusion that most autoimmune disease are primarily the result of an unloving spirit producing feelings of not being loved, fear of not worthy to be loved, not being accepted, self-rejection, self-hatred, and self-bitterness, coupled with guilt and shame. In fact, it could be said that autoimmune diseases are primarily a self-hatred disease with fear-anxiety-stress rider attached to them.  The unloving spirit casues a person to beat up themselves every day leading to cortisol drip that destroys soft tissues and white T-cells.   It affects our auto-immune system.

Over 90% of the people I have ministered to do not feel loved.  Over 90% have not heard these words from their earthly father, “I love you.”  Or if they did say “I love you,” it didn’t mean anything to them because of the way the father treated their children.  God calls fathers  to nurture and love their wife and children.

Fear as in stress and anxiety – The Bible tells us that fear is mention 457 times in the Old Testament and New Testament.  God is warning us about fear over and over and over again trying to get our attention.  Yet, the vast majority ignore the warnings of fear and the health consequences related to fear. 

Fear compromises our health with many symptoms like depression, digestive Issues, insomnia, fatigue, pain (headaches, jaw clenching, sore neck or back issues), weakened immune system, heart symptoms, strokes, respiratory issues, restlessness, constantly on the edge, excessive sweating, hot flashes, dizziness, stress rashes, high blood pressure, and tightness of the of muscles, tendons, and ligaments.  The biggest fear of them all is fearing into the future that casues 120 million people to have high blood pressure.  In addition, fear causes inflammation of the muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Inflamed muscles, ligaments, and tendons push against the nerves resulting in joint and back pain.  Fear, anger, and resentment can lead to inflammation and excessive cortisol secretion that destroys soft tissues like knee, shoulder, and spine cartilage.

Does Prayer Work – Yes, according to scripture. Yes, when we pray for one another and self!

Jeremiah 30:17 For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds,’ says the Lord…

Psalm 107:20 He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

1 Peter 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.

Do you really believe what God promises in His Word? 

Why Are We Not Being Healed? – Actually, we are being healed when we pray initially for the issue at hand. Deuteronomy 28 tells us sin casues sickness and disease. The problem is we bring back the sin (the cause) that led to the symptoms.  Example:  We can cast out the fear that causes depression and it has to go.  Unfortunately, we allow the fear that leads to depression to come back in.  Do you think Satan is going to let us get away without ongoing attacks?  We must pray every time negative health symptom resurfaces. It is a process and if you continue to pray, the sickness and disease symptoms will minimize and eventually will not be an issue.  This applies to every sickness and disease symptom we have.

The Elderly – The older we get, the more health issues we will incur.  Why is this?  Because, by the time we are in our seventies and eighties we will have decades of sins causing sickness and disease. In addition, we have to address generational sickness and disease passed down the generational line.  A good example is fear and anger.  Fearful people (mother and father) will project their fear and anger to their children in the womb. They will program fear and anger to their children by what they say and by their actions.  Don’t take my word.  Take the Word of God, You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me, Exodus 20:5 NLT. 

Spoken Curses – I want to discuss this subject because I am seeing more and more people being attacked with spoken curses.  Most people can curse you with verbal declarations/attacks and most fall by the wayside.  There are others who are very powerful and can do intense mental and physical damage to a person.  I have experienced people with Vertigo and I know it is from a spoken curse based on experience and prayer for healing.  Basically, we cancel the curse in the name of Jesus and it goes away in a few days in most cases. 

Then, there are spoken curses that afflict other parts of the body as I found out recently.  This person was experiencing stomach inflammation and pain.  Doctors do not know what caused it.  We called on the Holy Spirit and asked what caused the stomach issues.  The Holy Spirit told me immediately it was a spoken curse.  Understand, there are certain people who have high level abilities to curse people resulting in physical and mental illnesses.  They will curse you and continue to curse you unless we pray against the curses.  One must cancel the spoken curses every day. The person can spew additional curses. Again, we must renounce the curses from the person, cast it out, and pray for healing in the name of Jesus. Canceling curses are not just a onetime event. It must be continuously until the symptoms go away.

Curses of Disobedience – All of our health issues are from disobedience (sin) as it says in Deuteronomy 28.  It’s that simple. We are not perfect, but God wants us to change our ways (repent) and He gives us a way to come out of captivity with prayer.  We bring people out of captivity by teaching them how to identify the causes of sickness and disease.    We bring them out of captivity by teaching them how to pray effectively.  We teach them to pray for others and self throughout the day, “pray without ceasing” 1 Thessalonians 5:17.  This is the responsibility of the body of Jesus Christ.  Not just the pastors and leaders.

Deliverance – Refers to the act of being rescued or set free from danger, harm, or a difficult situation.  Basically, it means to bring people out of captivity from sin.  When we take people through a deliverance, we ask them some basic, but important questions.

·       Do you believe God can heal you with prayer? 

·       What is your relationship with your father?

·       Did your father say these words to you “I love you”?

·       Do you feel loved?

·       Do you love yourself?

·       Who hurt you in your life?

·       What are you hiding that you don’t want anyone to know about?

·       What physical and emotional sicknesses and diseases do you have?

·       Do you feel like it is never going to get better?  (hopelessness and despair)

These questions allow us to dig deeper and help us to create a profile of characteristics so that we can address each sickness and disease with prayer.

How Do We Pray – We don’t pray for the symptoms of sickness and disease.  Neither did Jesus. Jesus identified the root of the symptom in John 5:14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”  Sin is the root of all health issues and we must follow the blueprint of Jesus Christ to bring people out of captivity with prayer. 

If we can’t identify the root of the sickness and disease, we can pray away the causes that led to the symptoms.  Casting out the casues is effective prayer.  Praying away the symptom is not.

In Closing – I continually ask Christians if they need prayer at church service, church functions, prayer services, and in the public.  Over 95% decline.  Most won’t make themselves available for prayer even though they will tell you all about their sicknesses/diseases and their doctor visits.  Declaring all their illnesses is a spoken curse.  So, we have a multitude of believers in God are suffering with sickness and disease because we don’t believe we can be healed and won’t address their health issues with prayer.  Their first option and many times only option are doctors.  Don’t get me wrong. I am not advocating eliminating doctors.  I am advocating prayer to eliminating the need for doctors who only treat the symptoms with drugs.

Every one of us is suffering.  If people will not pray for you, then prayer for yourself.  If you have health issues, pray before you go to sleep every night and I promise you your health symptoms will minimize and eventually go away. I can personally attest to this.  If you want good sleep, pray this scripture before you go to sleep, You can go to bed without fear; you will lie down and sleep soundly, Proverbs 3:24 NLT.  Do not wait on mankind to pray for you.

We must become a praying body of Jesus Christ before, during, and after all church functions.  We must pray when not attending church functions.  This is not an option.

We as fathers and mothers must train up our children on how to pray.  We do not want our children to grow up with sicknesses and diseases. It is everyone’s responsibility to teach and pray for one another so we can be healed.  O Lord my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me Psalm 30:2

God never intended for us to carry our burdens alone, but gave us power and authority to pray for one another and to pray for ourselves in the name of Jesus.  Jeremiah prays for deliverance:  Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved, For You are my praise. Jeremiah 17:14.                                            Tony 7-6-2026                                                                                                                      

Prayer Part 1

 1 Timothy 2:1 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.

God calls us to pray for all people.  Not just one person, not just Christians, or not at all.  Every person on this planet is a child of God and they need prayer.  We are called to pray for protection, healing of physical, emotional, and spiritual health issues.  God calls us to intercede on their behalf.  To intercede for someone means to intervene, plead, or act on their behalf.  It means "standing in the gap" to help someone facing difficulty, resolve a conflict, or advocate for a need they cannot easily handle on their own. 

Everyone is Suffering – Every Christian and non-Christian is suffering with something.  We are suffering with emotional and physical health issues because most don’t pray, or pray very little, or we don’t know how to pray, or we don’t pray effectively. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much James 5:15. 

Effective Prayer

I use this verse many times as an example of how to pray effectively, anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad Proverbs 12:25 NKJV.  Anxiety is fear in the Bible.  Depression is caused by fear. Fear is sin and God tells us not to fear hundreds of times in the Bible.  Effective prayer is casting out the fear that is causing the depression rather than the praying away the depression symptoms.

Sin and Symptoms

Jesus taught about sin that leads to health issues and how to be healed, then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing (greater illnesses) come upon you.” John 5:10-14.  A woman was caught in adultery and Jesus said to the Pharisees in John 8:7 He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”  Afterwards, Jesus told the women sin no more in verse 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”  What is the correlation between the depression verse, the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda, and the adulterous women?  Sin caused the issues (symptoms).  This not any different than all of us who have sickness and disease.  Don’t take my word.  Take the Word of God who tells us why we have sickness and disease.  It is because of the curses of disobedience in Deuteronomy 28:15-68. Disobedience is sin.  God lists many sicknesses and diseases symptoms and includes all sicknesses and diseases not listed in verse 61 Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the Lord bring upon you until you are destroyed because of our disobedience.  Jesus commands all of us to sin no more!

The Church of Today – The Great Commission

I have visited many, many churches over the years in Denver and the western United States when I was traveling for work.  All of the churches, with one exception, are doing the same things.  They have praise, they teach the Bible, they tell you don’t do this, and don’t do that.  They have people at the altar for prayer, but very few make themselves available for prayer.  The prayer that can bring them out of captivity.

What I have found is very few are carrying out the entire commandment Jesus gave to the disciples before He went to be with His Father.  Most churches preach the gospel but are not consistent with the rest of the commandments from Jesus.

Most people and even Google reference Matthew 28: 18-20 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

The commandment in Mark 16:14-18 digs deeper with additional instructions that are at a different spiritual level that are not being mentioned or applied as much in today’s church body, Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Mark 16:14-18 is Jesus’s blue print for bringing people out of captivity and we must follow His instructions.  His instructions are not an option to ignore if we want to be healed. 

·       Jesus tells every believer to preach the gospel.  We can’t teach the gospel if we don’t read the gospel, or won’t teach the gospel.  The gospel is God’s blueprint on how to live a Christian life.

·       Jesus commands us to cast out demons.  They are frequently referred to as "unclean spirits", "evil spirits", or simply "dark angels of Satan." Anger, fear, confusion, unsound mind, bitterness, unforgiveness, slander, envy, jealousy, unloving, curses, and hatred, to name a few are demons.  Why are we afraid to say the word “demon” in and out of church? Don’t ignore or fear demons that contribute to sickness and disease because we have power and authority over demons, Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you, Lucke 10:19.

·       They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.  It means that believers have the authority to act as conduits of God's healing power by physically touching and praying for the sick and diseased, resulting in physical, emotional, and even spiritual belief restoration.

The church body of Jesus Christ is sick and diseased because we are not praying for one another at every church function, before, during or after, when needed so we can be healed.  We are not praying for ourselves throughout the day and especially when we are being attacked, or before we lay down to sleep.  Satan is attacking us 24/7 and we don’t counter these attacks.  Confess your sins at night, cast out those evil spirits, ask for God to forgive you, and declare one or more of these scriptures at night before you go to sleep:

When you lie down, you will not be afraid (fearful); Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet, Proverbs 3:24 NKJV.

Psalm 91:5-6 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence (diseases) that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

Psalm 4:8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Bottom Line

We must pray because there is no other way to be healed. The keys to healing are:

·       Believing God can heal you according to His promises of healing – and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you” Exodus 15:26

·       Confess to God that you need prayer for your sins – I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin Psalm 32:5.

·       Make yourself available for prayer – Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  Jame 5:16 NLT.

·       We must access God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in and out of church.  Not just Jesus as I seen in most churches, I have visited.  God is the head of Jesus, But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God, 1 Corinthians 11:3.  Every prayer should start off with “Father God, in the name of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit…..”  Folks, we cannot be healed if we are not praying for one another and self. We cannot be healed if we are not praying during the day and night.  It is everybody’s responsibility to pray. We cannot put the entire burden of prayer for healing on the Pastors and a few prayer warriors. 

Prayer Warriors – We must raise up an army of additional prayer warriors at all ages for those in need, which is all of us.  Prayer warriors need prayer as well and they need us to pray for them. 

Availability – Again, we must make ourselves available for prayer.  I frequently ask people if they need prayer everywhere I go, public, private, or at church functions.  The vast majority say “no.”  I recently ask a married prayer warrior couple if they needed prayer and they said no.  It’s like they were afraid to expose their issues for fear of being judged as flawed. 

Altar Prayer – All the churches I have visited have people available to pray for the flock at the altar.  Very, very few come to the altar.  Instead, they rush out the door like a cattle stampede.

Prayer Outside the Church Sanctuary – Would it be a blessing to have prayer warriors outside the sanctuary during service available to pray for those who need prayer?  Especially the elderly who suffer the most?

Programing People for Prayer – This means preparing them and encouraging them to seek prayer, before during and after any church functions.  This has to be consistent to a point where everyone will consider making themselves available for prayer. 

The Praying Church of Jesus Christ – Basically, Jesus in His ministry did two things.  He taught and He prayed.  As a result, people were being healed because of prayer by Jeus and His disciples.  The Bible tells us that four and five thousand came to hear Jesus and to be prayed for.  Prayers that led to healing testimonies.

Healing Testimonies – The church of Jesu Christ grew because of healing testimonies.  The same can happen to any church of today if we pray.  We must encourage the entire church to pray.  Prayer will lead to healing. Healing will lead to healing testimonies.  Have you ever heard a person share their healing testimony on stage?  Healing testimonies will cause your church to explode because they want to be healed!

The Seven Churches in Revelation – Are we being hindered?

Loveless Church – “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

The Persecuted Church – “I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.

The Compromising Church – “But I have a few things against you, because you have those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.

The Corrupt Church – “Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.”

The Dead Church – "I know your works; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead." a religious congregation that operates as a social club or traditional institution but lacks spiritual vitality, genuine faith, and missional purpose

The Faithful Church – “I know your works.  Because you have kept My command to persevere, also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

The Lukewarm Church – “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”

Is it possible that the characteristics of the seven churches are represented in today’s modern Christian church and church body directly and indirectly without realizing it? Are some churches and individuals loveless, persecuted, compromised, corrupt, dead, faithful, or lukewarm? Are there trouble makers in church that can kill the church spiritually?  Things we must consider in the church of today.

Lastly – Is there a church out that is willing to do what Jesus did in His ministry?  A church that is a Faithful Church.  A faithful church body that will focus on God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.  A faithful church and a body of Jesus Christ that encourages teaching and praying. A faithful church body that uses their power, For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind, 2 Timothy 1:7 and authority, Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you, Luke 10:19 to bring ourselves and others out of captivity because of our sin. A faithful church who will lead other churches to do the same.

Will the Body of Jesus Christ continue to be in captivity to sickness and disease because we fail to pray for one another consistently so we can be healed?  Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  Jame 5:16 NLT.                                                                                                                   Tony 6-19 -26                 

Stress, Anxiety, and Our Health

 Members of the Kingdom of God,

I pray you are doing well.  The below is a teaching on stress, anxiety, fear, and how it affects our health.  Everyone suffers with fear at one level or another.  Fear can be passed down the generation line, it can be a trauma which has a stressor (fear) tied to it, fear of being hurt, fear of being abused, fear of not being loved or worthy to be loved, fear of verbal attack, fear of getting sick and many more.  Our biggest fear we have is fearing into the future.

I pray you get something out of this teaching and I encourage you to share.  It is knowledge that is very useful.

Lastly, I know this is rather long (4 pages) compared to other teachings, but it only takes 10 minutes to read.  Quite a bit more if you really study this and apply it to your life.  Reponses, questions, or prayer requests welcomed.

Blessings to you all,

Tony

Stress, Anxiety, And Our Health

I was led to write this teaching based on a lady we prayed for this past Tuesday at a church prayer gathering.  She was in the hospital with several issues.  Just mentioning and going to the hospital causes stress and anxiety.  One symptom she had was difficulty breathing. Stress and anxiety caused the millions of air sacs to constrict or narrow in her lungs making it difficult to breathe.  Stress and anxiety are fear in the Bible.

Would you pray away this women’s symptoms or would you pray away what caused the symptoms?  We prayed away the causes which is stress/anxiety/fear in the name of Jesus.  James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins) to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective, NIV.  Praying away the symptoms is not effective prayer,

The following stress and anxiety information is from WebMD, Mayor Clinic, Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Cleveland Clinic, and others on the effects of stress and anxiety from a science and medical perspective.  Interesting to note is fear is not mentioned by science and the medical field.  Yet, fear is mentioned 353 times in the Old Testament and 104 time in the New Testament (Bible Gateway NKJV). Even Christians seldom say “I’m in fear” or “I am fearful.” They don’t want to be judged as flawed.  Yet, we don’t have a problem saying “I am stressed. Why would any Christians declare stress or anxiety over their selves?  It is a spoken curse. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so, James 3:10.  We can be programmed by our own spoken curses making our sickness and disease worse!  How many times have you heard a person listing their sicknesses and diseases.  God is trying to tells us about fear and we ignore His warnings.  God says “do not fear” throughout the Bible.  Why do we disobey God?  Disobedience (sin) leads to sickness and disease according to the Bible in Deuteronomy 28:15-68.

Stress and Anxiety

Chronic stress and anxiety triggers prolonged releases of cortisol and adrenaline, which take a severe physical toll on the body. This continuous "fight-or-flight" state significantly increases the risk of developing, or exacerbating a variety of serious sicknesses and diseases.

Excessive Cortisol Drip – An excessive cortisol "drip" typically refers to either long-term exposure to excess cortisol or hypercortisolism.  Because the body relies on cortisol for metabolism, immune function, and stress (fear) response, too much of it triggers widespread physical and mental health issues. 

Stress and anxiety play a role in cortisol drip, but it is not the cause as I have written in a previous teachings. Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit (bitterness, envy, jealousy, and anger) dries the bones (bone marrow and white T cells that fight off immune disease).  Excessive cortisol destroys the white T cells that are critical in destroying infected or cancerous cells and to coordinate the overall immune response against foreign pathogens (infections, viruses, parasites, and bacteria).  Proverbs 14:30 A heart that has peace is life to the body, but wrong desires are like the wasting away of the bones, NLV.

Science says excessive cortisol drip can lead to the following physical and mental symptoms:                                                                                                                                                                                  

Weight Gain: Cortisol, the body’s primary stress hormone, causes weight gain by driving the body to store visceral fat—deep belly fat surrounding internal organs. It does this through a combination of increased appetite, altered fat distribution, hormonal disruption, and metabolic slow down.

Skin Issues: Thinning skin that bruises easily, slow wound healing, and purple stretch marks on the abdomen and hips.

Hormonal & Reproductive Impacts: Irregular periods and excessive body hair in women, and a low sex drive or erectile dysfunction in men.

Metabolic & Bone Issues: High blood pressure, elevated blood sugar (potentially leading to Type 2 diabetes), and weakened bones (osteoporosis).

Mental & Cognitive Effects: Heightened anxiety, depression (fear), irritability, and issues with focus and memory (forgetfulness, brain fog, dementia, and a whirlwind of thoughts causing confusion).        Inflammation: Constant exposure to high cortisol blunts your immune cells' receptors. Cortisol can no longer suppress the immune system, leading to unchecked inflammation of muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

Key Science and medical point – Cortisol can destroy soft tissues. As a catabolic hormone, chronic high levels—whether from long-term—force your body to break down proteins in your muscles, tendons, ligaments, skin, joint and, knee/shoulder cartilage, and connective tissues (cells, fibers and ground substances).

The top most common sicknesses and diseases linked to stress and anxiety include:

Cardiovascular Disease: Chronic stress elevates blood pressure, increases heart rate, and causes long-term strain on arteries, raising the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Tony’s notes: 120 million people have high blood pressure.  Most stress issues are fearing into the future.

Gastrointestinal Disorders: The brain-gut connection means stress can cause or worsen conditions like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), gastritis, and peptic ulcers.  Tony’s notes: IBS is mostly specific to women.

Type II Diabetes: High levels of stress hormones interfere with insulin production and blood sugar regulation, increasing the risk of developing diabetes. Tony, notes: More than 36 million people have Type 2 diabetes.

Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome: Anxiety often leads to emotional eating and high cortisol levels promote the storage of fat, particularly around the abdomen.  Tony’s notes: Approximately 74% of Americans are overweight.    

Chronic Insomnia: A hyperactive nervous system and racing thoughts severely disrupt sleep architecture, creating a vicious cycle of fatigue and heightened anxiety. Tony’s notes: 30% to 40% of U.S. adults experience occasional or short-term insomnia symptoms, while about 10% to 15% suffer from chronic insomnia

Weakened Immune System: Elevated cortisol suppresses the immune response, leaving the body more susceptible to frequent colds, flu, and infections. Tony’s notes: 24 to 30 million people Have some form of autoimmune disease. Additionally, about 6.2% of adults and 2.6% of children are considered immunocompromised

Autoimmune Flare-ups: The inflammation caused by unmanaged stress can trigger or worsen autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. Tony’s notes: Cortisol causes inflammation.

Skin and Hair Conditions: Stress-related inflammation and hormonal changes can exacerbate or trigger skin disorders like eczema, psoriasis, and acne, and may lead to hair loss. Tony’s notes: Elevated cortisol levels trigger excessive oil production, break down collagen and elastin, weaken the skin's moisture barrier, and increase inflammation.  Thinning hair is directly tied to stress/anxiety/fear.  Fear causes the blood vessels feeding the hair follicle to narrow resulting in thinning hair and/or baldness.  Note; baldness in men can be a result of generational baldness.

Tension Headaches and Migraines: Emotional stress and anxiety. Tony’s notes: Must include any trauma which has a stressor (fear) tied to it.

Depression and Mood Disorders: Chronic activation of stress pathways alters brain chemistry, serving as a primary risk factor for developing secondary clinical depression.  Tony’s note: Everyone has down moments which is caused by fear at one level or another.  The only way to fight depression is to pray away the cause.  God tells us what causes depression in Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad, NKJV. Fear causes depression and God tells us a good word makes it glad.  Meaning, a good word is prayer that casts out the fear that causes depression. We must teach this to all believers so they can come out of depression with this scripture:

Prayer Against Depression – Father God, in the name of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit, I/we cast out the fear that is causing depression and we pray healing and deliverance from depression, Amen!

What Is the Next Step? – We are responders emotionally, physically, and spiritually to our thoughts, good and bad.  Bad thoughts affect our health. 

We must get involved together with others at our emotional, and physical levels in order to help us come to grips with our innermost thoughts, innermost fears, and innermost hurts that have led to physical, and mental sickness and disease. 

We must understand that our sickness and disease is in opposition to God’s promises of healing.

We must understand that we can only be healed from sickness and disease by God through prayer. 

We must increase our knowledge on what causes sickness and disease according to Deuterium 28:15-68. 

We must increase our teaching and prayer for all ages and at all functions in the church. 

We must become a praying church so that we can take back what Satan has stolen from us.

We must make ourselves available for prayer. We do this by confessing our sins to one another James 5:16

Bottom Line – The church of today is not making progress in the area of sickness and disease and we all suffer.  We say we believe in healing, but why are we not being healed?  What is our first option when we are sick and diseased? Doctors or God?  I can assure you God won’t charge you a cent for His healing!

We are trending down from an already critical point.  We are in perilous times according to: 2 Timouthy 3:1-5 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that, NLT.  We are losing the battle because of our disobedience.

God’s Perfect Love Casts Out All Fear, Stress, And Anxiety

“Perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in (God’s) love” 1 John 4:18. This includes EVERY fear/stress/anxiety that causes fear related health symptoms.

We all can cast out fear by declaring our love to God and receiving His perfect love every day.  Do you know how much God loves you?  God loves us so much He sent His only Son to die on the cross for us.  Have you consistently told God how much you love Him? 

This simple uncomplicated prayer will bring healing to you.  It is God’s promise.

Prayer – Father God, in the name of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, I want to declare my love to You.  I know you love me so much that you sent your son Jesus to die on the cross for me.  I receive Your perfect love that casts out all fear that has led to sickness and disease in my life.  In the name of Jesus, I pray for healing and deliverance from fear. Amen.

I do this every night and many times during the day.  Do this and you will see fear symptoms begin to minimize and eventually bring healing to you from fear related sicknesses and diseases.  It’s God’s promises of healing from His Word. Do you believe what God Promises?

I don’t teach about these subjects to judge or condemn people, any church, any church function, or any church ministry.  I am communicating what the Bible tells us all to do so we can come out of captivity from sin.  We are to follow the blueprint of Jesus Christ and His church ministry as we wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus: 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!  Tony 6/3/2026

Pastors Need Prayer

 I was led to put this teaching together last week primarily because we need to pray continuously for pastors and for one another because Satan attacks us 24/7.

My teachings are not specific to any one person or church.  They are specific to what the Bible tells us to do and to mirror the ministry of Jesus Christ so that we can come out of captivity.

 Pastors                                                                                                            5-28-2026

Ephesians 4:11-16 11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Each of these have a responsibility for the edifying of the body of Jesus Christ

Apostles – One who is sent out or a messenger

Prophets – Acting as a mouthpiece to deliver direct messages from God to correct or guide

Evangelists – Is a missionary who travels from place to place to spread the Gospel

Pastors – A recognized or appointed person serving a local church or parish

Teachers – Responsible to impart biblical wisdom and the importance of leading by example

This is called the five-fold ministry.  Not one is more important than the other.  They are called to work together to instruct, enlighten, and uplift the Body of Jeus Christ for the Kingdom of God.  Everyone has been called to do one or more of the five-fold ministry. 

Today, we are going to focus on the pastors in today’s church.  In many cases the modern pastoral job description is often unmanageable, requiring leaders to act as CEO, counselor, event planner, spiritual guidance and primary leader of prayer. This "over functioning" frequently leads to extreme responsibility and pressure to perform the functions of the church even though the Body of Jesus Christ should be contributing more, especially in the area of prayer. 

Spiritual attacks on pastors are broadly viewed within Christian theology as intense, targeted spiritual warfare designed to distract, discourage, or derail church leaders. Because pastors lead congregations, the enemy targets them and can cause widespread fallout in the church. 

The pastor and even his family have become the focal point of the church and have become a target of criticism by the church body, others, and even family.  They will attach pastors through anonymous letters, emails, gossip, slander, browbeating and even church insurrection.

Many pastors are forced to build a bubble of protection around them and their families.  It can be very difficult to trust anyone for fear of being attacked.  This is fearing into the future leads to stress and anxiety.  They are forced to withdraw and trust only a few. 

I put this teaching together last week and it is interesting to hear the topic yesterday at church.  It was focused on Proverbs 6:16-19, so I added this to the teaching.

There are six things the Lord hates—no, seven things he detests:

1. haughty eyes, 2.
2. a lying tongue,
3. hands that kill the innocent,
4. a heart that plots evil,
5. feet that race to do wrong,
6. a false witness who pours out lies,
7. a person who sows discord in a family.

Although this applies to everyone, it applies to those who come against leadership in the church as well and especially the pastors.

What Can We Do to Help Church Leadership?

The most effective thing we can do is to pray for our pastors consistently and especially prior to the church service.  The following is a prayer covering that I pray each morning before I go out into this evil world.  It is a very, very effective and a powerful prayer declaration. 

Father God, in the name of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit, I pray a hedge of protection covered by the blood of Jesus and Psalm 91.  I cancel all evil assignments against me directly or indirectly.  Thank you God.

I can’t count the number of times I have dodged harmful attacks from Satan directly and indirect attacks that Satan worked through others.

Folks, we must be a praying body of Jesus Christ.  We cannot be part-time prayer warriors because the attacks are full-time.  We have power and authority over evil according to Luke 10:19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  We are called to do what Jesus taught us to do in scriptures. This is not an option.                                Tony 5-28-2026

Envy and Jealousy

I would like to share a story of a friend we have ministered to and is tied to envy and jealousy.  She is a special person in the Lord. She has special high level spiritual gifts. During worship and song, she would be in a spiritual Godly trance soaking in the presence of God.  We will call her Ruth.

In everyday life Ruth would discern evil people and one could see a change in her countenance. The evil was not something Ruth wanted to see.  From an early age people of all ages have targeted her and Ruth could not understand why.  Ruth was always very kind to everyone and always put others first. 

Ruth grew up to be a physically beautiful young woman.  Heads would turn when she came into a room.  Ruth did not think she was beautiful.  Many times, women would not like the attention she got from men and would treat her with contempt.  This resulted in many hurts from, family, friends, co-workers, and even church ministries. Ruth now stays away from people and the church.  She was targeted by Satan to destroy her like so many others.  Ruth has health issues as a result of these attacks.  Ruth couldn’t understand why people are so mean and ruthless.  Ruth doesn’t feel loved or worthy to be loved because of these attacks.

Satan will work in people to go after other people.  Satan will attempt to destroy our connection with God and our worship lifestyle honoring, surrendering, and revering God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

This teaching is about envy and jealousy and how it affects our health spiritually, emotionally, and physically.  Envy and jealousy are about wanting what others have. It is a painful, often resentful feeling of wanting someone else's possessions, achievements, attributes, or spiritual gifts from God. 

Why do we need to know more about the subject of envy and jealousy?  Because scripture warns us about envy and jealousy.  It is sin and it greatly affects our health. Envy and Jealousy are rottenness to the bones, Proverbs 14:30 A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness (cancer, NLT) to the bones. Proverbs 12:4 An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones. 

James 3:16 Wherever you find jealousy and fighting, there will be trouble and every other kind of wrong-doing.

Proverbs 15:30 The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and a good report makes the bones healthy.

Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.

Proverbs 16:24 Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.

Isaiah 58:11 The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

Psalm 6:2 Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.

Psalm 32:3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning (physical pain) all the day long.

Psalm 38:3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your anger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin.

Why do we need healthy bones?  Scientifically, we need to identify what is in the bones. Inside the bones is a complex, living tissue structure designed for strength, flexibility, and blood production. The interior consists primarily of spongy bone and bone marrow alongside blood vessels that run through the bone's canals.

Bone marrow produces white T cells.  T cells are a type of white blood cell called lymphocytes. They help your immune system to fight germs and protect you from sickness and disease. There are two main types. Cytotoxic T cells destroy infected cells. Helper T cells send signals that direct other immune cells to fight infection.

What Is Tied to Envy and Jealousy?  Scripture tells us anger is tied to envy and jealousy.

 Proverbs 27:4 Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous NLT.

Psalm 38:3 Because of your anger, my whole body is sick; my health is broken because of my sins.

Psalm 38:3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your anger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin NLT.

If you have anger, you most likely will have bitterness.  They are tied together in Ephesians 4:31–32 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. This verse includes evil speaking, which is slander and slander includes hatred and lying lips, Proverbs 10:18 Whoever hides hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool Proverbs.  All these leads to gossip as in 1 Timothy 5:13 And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not. As you can see from scriptures, envy and jealousy includes many other sins that will destroy your health and the health of others.

Habakkuk 3:16 There is no soundness (lack of physical health) in my flesh because of your anger, nor any health in my bones (bone marrow) because of my sin. 

NKJV - Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  NIV Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 

Not only are the envious and jealous at risk from sickness and disease from their sin, but it affects the health of the person who they have targeted like was done with Ruth.

James 5:16 says to: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results, NLT.

We cannot overcome sin that leads to sicknesses and diseases if we refuse to repent by confessing our sins and praying for one another so we can be healed.  This is an everyday requirement by God and it is not an option if you are a believer in Jesus Christ.  Make yourself available and ask for prayer in and out of church.

Job 21:24 His pails are full of milk, And the marrow of his bones is moist (healthy).

What say you?

Spiritual Warfare 24/7

Why are getting attacked by Satan and his fallen angels 24/7?  It is because Satan’s wants to destroy God’s children. Unfortunately, we allow the attacks with very little resistance from the Body of Jesus Christ and we have not been taught how to pray effectively, James 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 

Satan knows we are sinful and we give him a legal right to harass us.  Evil spirits can be very powerful and hard to cast out as Jesus said in Matthew 17:19-21  Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” 20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

Why are we sinful?  God tells us we are sinful because of disobedience as it says in Deuteronomy 28: 15 “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you. The curses are sickness and disease.  God tells us about many sicknesses and diseases in verses 16-68.  God tells us that all sicknesses and diseases come from disobedience/sin in verse 61 Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the Lord bring upon you until you are destroyed.  If all sickness and disease symptoms come from sin (disobedience) why do we ignore the warnings of God? Why are we not praying without ceasing, 1 Thessalonians 5:17? 

Praying is not a complicated process.  It is made complicated because we refuse to pray day and night when needed.  How do I know we are not praying day and night?  Because, we are all struggling with sickness and disease, physically and mentally. We are we struggling spiritually as well because we do not believe we can be healed even though God promises healing.  God is not our first choice for healing.  Science, doctors, and every remedy under the sun is our choices for healing even though we remain sick and diseased.  

Jesus tells us The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly, John 10:10.  Satan (the thief) seeks to rob believers of our spiritual life, health, peace, joy, and purpose, ultimately aiming to destroy our relationship with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Satan intends to steal our hopes and destroy lives with sin. 

Steps To Counter the Attacks from Satan and His Fallen Angeles

Sin began with Satan telling Eve a lie, Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die, Genisis 3:4.  Eve was tempted by Satan to do what God told Eve and Adam not to do.  She believed Satan’s lies, You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it, John 8:44.  Nothing will change unless we pray against Satan and his fallen angels whose only objective is to destroy and ultimately kill us.

The soul is where our thoughts come from. Thoughts come from ourselves, thoughts from God, and thoughts from Satan in the form of lies and temptations.  Our body is a rebounder to who we are in thought.  It’s referred to as the mind-body connection.  It is a biological truth that the things we think about and dwell on actually become part of who we are. We will never get to the spiritual roots of health issues if we don’t first understand the biology of how our minds affect our bodies mentally and physically. Thoughts can be anger, hatred, self-hatred, bitterness, self-bitterness, unforgiveness, unforgiveness of self, feeling unloved, unbelief, fear, fearing into the future, hurts from family, friends, employers, the church, and rejection, to name a few.  All of these and countless others lead to sickness and diseases. Again, it is the mind-body connection.

Science has identified over 3000 sicknesses and diseases and are listed in Merck Manuel. These illnesses are symptoms.  Ask the science and the medical field what caused the illnesses and they can’t give you an answer.  The medical field treats the symptoms, but can’t heal the symptoms.  Yet, we continue to put our trust in the medical field instead of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.  I don’t advocate eliminating doctors.  I do advocate what God instructed us to do in to eliminate our health issues in James 5:16 Confess your trespasses (and repent) to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed…  First order of business in this verse is to confess our sins. Second order of business is praying away the causes of that led to the symptoms of sickness and disease.  We can’t ignore God’s promise of healing in this verse.  So, why doesn’t the Body of Jesus Christ do as God instructs us to do?

When Shall We Pray  

As I said earlier, we must be praying without ceasing, 1 Thessalonians 5:17.  It means we must counter all attacks with prayer at the moment we are attacked.  Example: When you feel depressed, pray away the anxiety (fear) that caused the depression, Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad, Proverbs 12:25.  Praying away the depression is not effective prayer, James 5:16.  When depression hits again and again, then pray away the fear again and again.  Eventually, the depression will minimize.

Another example is high blood pressure.  Science says that stress causes blood vessels to narrow causing the heart to pump harder.  Stress is fear in the Bible.  Fear is mentioned in the bible hundreds of times.  Fear causes high blood pressure.  Praying away the high blood pressure is not effective prayer.  We must pray away the fear that causes high blood pressure that affects 120 million Americans and keeps them in captivity.  If you have high blood pressure every day, we must pray away the fear that causes high blood pressure every day.  Same hold true for any sickness and disease symptoms.  Do you agree?

A third example is dementia (Alzheimer's).  Dementia symptoms include forgetfulness, progressive memory loss, difficulty completing familiar tasks, language problems, poor judgment, mood changes, and confusion.  Confusion is from Satan because God is not an author of confusion, 1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

God gives us a clue about dementia in 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.  Satan gives us a spirit of fear and he gives us an unsound mind.  Basically speaking, dementia is an unsound mind.  The clue God gives us is on what causes an unsound is in the first part of the verse, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear.”  The elderly have been exposed to thousands of fears all their lives like most of us.  Eventually, fear can cause dementia and many other fear related health issues.  We must pray away the fear that causes an unsound mind, confusion, and many other health issues.

Understand that Satan brings fear to us from past generations as well because of iniquities/sin as it says in Exodus 34:7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exodus 20:5).  This is perpetual down the generational line.

The elderly have all these generational fears, fears from childhood, fears as adults, fears in middle age, and elderly fears. Most every fear is a separate fear and most fears are fears into the future.  Over a lifetime we can have thousands and thousands of fears that cause many sicknesses and diseases because we don’t pray and cast out all fears.

The best scripture when praying against all fears especially fear of not feeling loved is 1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.  This scripture is for all fears when you declare out loud that you receive Gods perfect love that casts out ALL fears.  This would be an excellent prayer for the congregation to declare during service.

I have been visiting churches for many years and I ask the volunteers, leadership and pastors these two questions:  1. Why are we coming into church sick and diseased and leave sick and diseased even though God promises healing?  2. Why are we not praying before, during, and after every church service and every church function?  I have yet to hear an answer that is pleasing to God.

Jesus prayed before, during and after in His ministry. He knew how powerful prayer was.  His teachings and especially His prayers led to many healings.  His initial teachings were rather foreign to most at the time. As He prayed for healing of the people, word got around through testimonies of healing and his ministry exploded because people wanted to be healed from their sicknesses and diseases.  The Bible tells us of the four and five thousand came to hear Jesus’ teachings and His prayer for healing.  Isn’t this the blueprint Jesus expected the church of today to follow? Most of the churches I visit are not full to capacity. Quite a few are only half empty. Is it because they are not a praying church and not experiencing miracles of healing?

This scripture is the last thing Jesus said to the disciples before he left to be with His Father, And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons (evil spirits); they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands (pray) on the sick, and they will recover.”  Are we following this commandment? Our sicknesses and diseases are telling us a different story. 

Prayers are powerful, but prayers and scriptures together are twice as powerful if we pray throughout the day to counter the attacks from Satan so that we can be delivered from our sins that cause health issues.  Most of us going into church service knows the Bible, but most do not pray or do not know how to pray effectively to come out of captivity.  We must be a praying church at all ages because all of us are suffering.  Even the children.  Children need to be taught how to pray for one another and self.  Prayer is not just for adults.

Perhaps the church needs the elderly to take the lead and pray as the Bible tells us to do in James 5:14-15 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

Every day I try to hold myself accountable to do as God instructs us to do and emulate what Jesus did in His ministry.  Everyday I make myself available to pray for people who are sick and diseased.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of people do not make themselves available for prayer in or out of church based on my experience the past 21 years.  May God bless you abundantly.