Corporate Prayer

I asked our group of prayer warriors their definition of corporate prayer.  The first answer was very basic and accurate.  Roz said that corporate prayer is group prayer.

This world is getting very dark and many are giving large amounts of information of what is happening in the world, but I have not experienced anyone really showing us how to overcome the evil that is sure to come prior to the coming of Jesus Christ. 

Satan and his minions will rise up and will work through people to bring evil like we have never seen in history of the world.  The time of darkness will be greater than what Hitler and his henchmen did to the world.  Greater than what the drug cartels are currently doing to innocent men, women, and even children.  Greater than what he is doing in the world today.

We are seeing evil in our family, friends, communities, cities, states, and our nation.  We are seeing inequality even though God has created us equal.  We are seeing our children not honoring their mother and father.  We are seeing older generations being kicked to the curb, as the younger generation comes into power in our society including the church.  We now have sex, violence, greed, and selfishness permeating our lives.  We have allowed Baal into our society in the form of child sacrifices (abortions) that Believers in Christ ignore. God is not happy with us.

I have been preparing myself for years and not really knowing if I was on the right tract.  I have invested large amounts of time in reading His Word, warfare, exercising my authority in Jesus Christ and carrying out the Great Commission (Mark 16:15-18).  I have been waiting to hear form the Lord as to the what I have to do as I prepare for His coming. 

Our private prayer group has had great results recently as we gather to fellowship and pray.  Recently, the Lord has shown me the importance of corporate prayer. I was led to pray a brief corporate prayer for healing/deliverance and one for curses in a recent home group bible study.  I had immediate results from the prayer on curses.  I had been experiencing unusual aches and pain since October and my wife and I had determined that a family member was declaring curses over me.  Two days after the prayer, I realized that the aches and pains were gone.  We broke the curses and forgave the curser.  Ok, we are on to something very important for the battle at hand as it pertains to corporate prayer.

Shortly thereafter, the Lord showed me additional information for praying corporately and I would like to share with you.  The information came in three parts with intercessory prayer being the last point.

1. Call on the Helper to release the power of the Holy Spirit – There is no greater power here on earth than the Helper that was sent specifically for us, (But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you John 14:26).  We must call upon the Holy Spirit so He can answer us and shows great and mighty things that we don’t know, (Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know Jeremiah 33:3).  It perplexes me to no end why the Body of Christ refuses call on the Holy Spirit prior to every Godly function consistently and throughout the day. It is the Helper that will give us what we need to know as we battle the enemy.  God want us to walk in the Spirit throughout the day (I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh, Galatians 5:16).  We can’t walk in the spirit if we are weighed down by the flesh (sin).
2. Asking for individual forgiveness from the sin of iniquities and trespasses – This includes forgiveness for the past and present generations, (Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin Psalm 51:1-2).  Sin keeps us from a closer relationship with God.  Sin will not give us the spiritual eyes to see and ears to hear what He wants for us as we battle for our lives and the lives of others.
3. Forgiveness of others – Be ready for offenses for they are sure to come, (Matthew 18:7 Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes).  Offenses cause hurts leading to un-forgiveness, bitterness, rage, anger, slander, (Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you 4:31-32).  Forgiveness is not a one-time occurrence.  Anytime a thought arises and it brings bad memories, we must start the process of forgiveness over again (Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven Matthew 18:21-22).  Un-forgiveness does great damage to our physical and our soul (mind/emotions).  Dr. Henry Wright with 30 years of ministry experience, says that 80% of our sickness and disease is caused by un-forgiveness.  We cannot hang onto those record of wrongs that people have done to us. We are required to forgive others and ask God to forgive us for having un-forgiveness towards those who have offended us.
4. Forgiveness of Self – Two things come to mind here. Because of offenses, we start to feel rejection, abandonment, not feeling loved, and not worthy to name a few.  First, we start to beat up on ourselves because of what people have said or done to us.  Second, we look back on our lives with regret and start to beat up on ourselves and experience guilt, shame, and self- condemnation.  These are spirits working in our lives that have to be eliminated in deliverance (Mark 16:17).  These things are fear based and won’t allow us to have a sound mind (For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind 2 Timothy 2:7).  We are required to forgive ourselves and to ask God to forgive us for having un-forgiveness towards ourselves.  
5. Breaking Curses – Curses are the result of ungodly actions or declarations by others (Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so James 3:10).   Behind every curse is a curser and if we hate the curse, we hate the curser.  Step one is to break the curse in the name of Jesus. Step two is to forgive the curser in the name of Jesus, rendering the curse and curser null and void.  We must do what God commends us to do and not allow the curses to destroy us (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 Deuteronomy 28:15).
6. Healing and Deliverance – In the Great Commission, Jesus gave instructions to the disciples who discipled others who in turn discipled others all the way to the present. So, the Great Commission applies to all of us.  In it, we have power and authority to bring deliverance (And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons Mark 16:17) and healing (they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover Mark 16:18).  Yet, the body of Christ as a whole does not carry out the Great Commission, so we are in disobedience to what Jesus called the original disciples and for us as disciples to do.

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 16:15-18.  So, we must take our authority and declare (pray) healing and deliverance in the name of Jesus.

7. Intercessory corporate prayer – The first six bullet points denote a process of cleansing of our sin and the sin of others that are important prerequisites to allow us to be more effective in the battle against Satan and his army.   Corporate prayer is group of prayer warriors coming together to stand in the gap (So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one Ezekiel 22:30).  In the present reference, standing in the gap is a metaphor for committed intercession.  There is a gap between God and man that an intercessor tries to repair.  Corporate/intercessory prayer is about the power of agreement and knowing that it will be done by God (Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven Matthew 18:19). Power in numbers makes us and our spiritual warfare prayer stronger. Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).

The two most powerful weapons we have against Satan is the Holy Spirit (Helper) and prayer.  Whether it is two, three, or an entire congregation, and even the entire army of Believers, we must begin the process of using corporate prayer as a regular part of every Godly function, especially in the last days that we are in. 

These are seven points can be used in individual and corporate prayer.  There is huge power and authority in group/corporate prayer.  Throughout the Bible we see how prayer has changed even the most dire circumstances.  In the last days, prayer and especially corporate prayer is how we will be able to stand up and defeat the enemy leading up to the coming of Jesus Christ. Satan’s army will not be able to stand against God’s praying warriors.  So, we must take advantage of the gathering of God’s praying Saints.

Corporate prayer takes practice so that we can build up our faith.  The faith as small as a mustard seed can stand against Satan who is a defeated foe , (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 Matthew 17:20).  We must have the Helper side by side with us or we will be defeated trying to battle the enemy alone.

In last days, the world will have a large population of secular people that will not pray and a large population of believers who will not know how to pray.  As is in the history of the bible, there will be a remnant.  A remnant of Believers that God will honor, protect (Revelation 12:6), and deliver from the evil sure to come.  What say you?

Blessings, Tony Sanchez, 4-13-18

Curses

When we have curses, there will always be a curser.  Dealing with curser is key to canceling the curse.

What is a curse?  A curse can be negative spoken words or actions.  Magic charms and spells can be curses that attacks our soul, spirit, and body.  A curse is sometimes defined as "the invocation of supernatural power to inflict harm upon someone or something."

A more accurate definition of curse is much broader because I believe that our words spoken with intensity carry the energy of love or hatred, and life or death (Death and life are in the power of the tongue Proverbs 18:21).  We can be affected by the attitude of hatred, bitterness, revenge, and un-forgiveness in someone’s heart (Ephesians 4:31-32 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you).  That is why Jesus is so insistent on forgiveness from our heart.

Another way to say it is a curse can be the harmful energy released against another by the use of witchcraft, hateful words, one’s actions of iniquity, one's hateful attitude, by negative or controlling people.  A wrong word or prophecy from a praying Christian can be a curse.  Hearing and not refusing a message from a psychic, gypsy, or fortune teller acts the same way.  A negative or wrong diagnosis by a medical doctor, a negative comment by a school teacher, taunts or bullying by your peers, damaging things said during discipline by your parents and curses against self, which can be the most damaging.  Any and all of these can and do act as curses.

A good example of a physical curse is Vertigo that I learned about in ministry.  We have found that vertigo can be a result of evil spoken works in all the cases I come across.  We simple cancel the curses in the name of Jesus and send it back to the sender seven-fold.  It has worked every single time.   A lady that I came across a few weeks ago who lived in Mexico was selling her condo and ready to move back to Texas due to Vertigo.  I prayed for her and she called me back a few days later and she had been healed from Vertigo.  Praise God.

Exodus 34:7 talks about both spoken and action curses due to iniquity (wickedness) and transgression and the resulting sin, “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.”  I believe the third and forth generations are the present generations in our family and can follow to the next generation once the oldest generation dies out. 

Most often we have accepted the curses and the curses of the generations without doing anything about it.  Especially, the hurtful things that people have said to us, including things we say about ourselves.  Behind every curse is a curser and behind every curser is a curser that curses the curser all the way back to Adam and Eve.  Every curse is performed by a person because of disobedience (iniquities and trespasses) against God’s love.  The curses are an offense to us and our family.  Many are very angry because of generational curses.  If they are angry, they have un-forgiveness.   Sure, there are prayers for breaking curses and some are broken, but there is something missing.  As I was spending time with the Lord few weeks ago.  He revealed what I am about to share with you.   I believe what God showed me is the key to making curses null and void.  It is something that we have failed to consider.  If we are angry and have un-forgiveness towards the people behind the curses, what does God want us to do?  1). God wants to us to renounce and break the curse.  2). He wants us to forgive the curser up to 70 times 70 if needed in the name and love of Jesus Christ (Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven Matthew 18:21-22). 

God’s perfect love and His Word can and will cancel the power of the curse.  We have to choose to not give curses a place in our lives and the lives of our family.

Amen and Amen

Tony Sanchez

Mental Illness

Depression and oppression is mental illness.  One can go from depression to oppression and in extreme cases can result into a catatonic state of mind characterized by a marked lack of movement, activity, or expression.

Depression (despair and hopelessness) is caused by anxiety (stress, worry, trauma, tension pressure = fear), Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression. The primary anxiety in this verse is feeling unloved by man, but God’s perfect love cast out fear (1 John 4:18).   Depression is defined as: a mood disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentrating, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection, despair, hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal tendencies. 

Oppression is defined as: the state of being subject to unjust treatment or control from persecution (harass or punish). Synonyms: abuse, maltreatment, ill-treatment, tyranny, despotism, repression, suppression, subjection, subjugation. Symptoms can in include nausea, fatigue, compromised, immune system, memory issues, low metabolism, and weariness (exhausted depleted in strength and energy) to name a few.

Constant and continuous depression over years and even decades without relief turns into oppression where the person spirals down into darkness making it very difficult for them to come out of this captivity.  In the Bible it is also called prison as David explains in Psalm 142:7 Bring my soul out of prison, That I may praise Your name.  The person loses the will to live and is only a shell of what they were previously and not what God wants for them. God wants them to come out of prison and He has anointed us to do this as it says in Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty (freedom) to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.  They become fatigued as a result of the stupor they are in.  A stupor is defined as 1. A condition of greatly dulled or completely suspended sense or sensibility, a drunken stupor, specifically: a mental condition by absence of spontaneous movement, greatly diminished responsiveness to stimulation, and usually impaired consciousness. 2. A state of extreme apathy or torpor (mental and motor inactivity with partial or total insensibility, a state of lowered physiological activity typically characterized by reduced metabolism, heart rate, respiration, and body temperature) resulting often from stress or shock.

 To reiterate, depression and oppression is mental illness. 

What does God say about oppression and what causes oppression.

The bible speaks of a spirit of stupor (oppression) in Romans 11:8 “God has given them a spirit of stupor, Eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear To this very day.  Interesting that the person is not able to see (spiritual eyes) or ears to hear from God.  Satan has used the spirit of stupor to not only control people, but to remove life and love from their soul.

Isaiah 5:7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.  Many oppressed are crying out for help, but nobody has answers.

Isaiah 3:4-5 “I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. The people will be oppressed, everyone by another and every one by his neighbor; The child will be insolent (overbearing) toward the elder, And the base toward the honorable.” Mankind will oppress mankind and children play a part in the oppression of the elderly.

Isaiah 3:12 As for My people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths.”  Notes: The point is that the leadership allowed this to happen.  The leadership as well as the men have failed.  Godly order was not followed and the result was oppression for all.

Ecclesiastes 4:1-3 Then I returned and considered all the oppression that is done under the sun: And look! The tears of the oppressed, but they have no comforter—On the side of their oppressors there is power, But they have no comforter. Therefore, I praised the dead who were already dead, more than the living who are still alive.  Yet, better than both is he who has never existed, who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.  Consider those in the world who suffer oppression. In a statement brimming with passion, he finds the oppressed have no comforter (champion or anyone that has answers) and power lies on the side of their oppressors.  Because of these two factors, the oppressed have no hope and continue to slide into darkness.

We must look at the two major root causes of depression and oppression? 1). Fear of mankind (including self) is a major cause of depression/oppression/ mental illness.  Mankind has assaulted our soul with hurts to the point that our soul is in prison and we are not able to praise His name (Bring my soul out of prison, That I may praise Your name…” Psalm 142:7). Depression and oppression is a spirit of heaviness (Isaiah 61:3). We have opened the door to man as a result of pride fullness and closed the door to God and His word.  We have chosen to buy into what people have said or done to us instead of ignoring their offenses and forgiving them.  If we forgive them and love them as God loves us, the offenses do not have a legal right to control us or torment us as in depression and oppression. 2). Trusting in man’s love instead of God’s love brings torment to the soul resulting in sickness (physical and mental) and disease.  This is a fear of not being loved, of not being accepted, and fear that we do not measure up.  Mental illness will take us down to the pit without hope to God’s truth, (For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth Isaiah 38:18).  We have been consumed by man’s inequities, (But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousness’s are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away (into the prison). And there is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us, And have consumed us because of our iniquities Isaiah 64:6-7). Mental illness is devoid of love. You have an orphan spirit because of what mankind (including self) has done to you.

Interesting, the medical field doesn’t know what causes mental illness, so they treat mental illness with drugs.  But God is very clear in His Word.  Even prisons full of prisoners have much to say about metal illness from experience with those who have been placed in solitary confinement.   The same solitary confinement (spiritual prison) where many non-prisoners are held captive.  Both prisoners and non-prisoners have an orphan soul without a name and without hope deep in the depths of the spiritual prison.

I encourage you to give some thought to the below piece on solitary confinement in correctional facilities that I found on the internet.  There are astonishing similarities with those in in prisons and those who are not in these facilities, but who are in a spiritual solitary confinement. 

What does solitary confinement in prison do to your mind?  Solitary confinement is described as a prison within the prison.  For 23 hours a day, inmates are kept inside a small cell.  It’s not unusual for inmates to spend years at a time in solitary. Medical literature says solitary confinement can also take a heavy mental toll.

Does solitary confinement make you crazy? Researchers have found little to suggest that extreme isolation is good for the psyche. In a study at University of Wisconsin psychologist Harry Harlow placed rhesus monkeys inside a custom-designed solitary chamber nicknamed “the pit of despair.” Shaped like an inverted pyramid, the chamber had slippery sides that made climbing out all but impossible. After a day or two, “most subjects typically assume a hunched position in a corner of the bottom of the apparatus. One might presume that they find their situation to be hopeless.” Harlow also found that monkeys kept in isolation wound up “profoundly disturbed, given to staring blankly and rocking in place for long periods, circling their cages repetitively, and mutilating themselves.” Most readjusted eventually, but not those that had been caged the longest. “Twelve months of isolation almost obliterated the animals socially,” Harlow found.

Similar studies on human subjects are rare, but in 1951 researchers at McGill University paid a group of male graduate students to stay in small chambers equipped with only a bed for an experiment on sensory deprivation. They could leave to use the bathroom, but that’s all.  They wore goggles and earphones to limit their sense of sight and hearing, and gloves to limit their sense of touch. The plan was to observe students for six weeks, but not one lasted more than seven days. Nearly every student lost the ability “to think clearly about anything for any length of time,” while several others began to suffer hallucinations.

What are the effects on prisoners? In short, not much better. Stuart Grassian, a board-certified psychiatrist and a former faculty member at Harvard Medical School, has interviewed hundreds of prisoners in solitary confinement. In one study, he found that roughly a third of solitary inmates were “actively psychotic and/or acutely suicidal.” Grassian has since concluded that solitary can cause a specific psychiatric syndrome, characterized by hallucinations; panic attacks; overt paranoia; diminished impulse control; hypersensitivity to external stimuli; and difficulties with thinking, concentration and memory. Some inmates lose the ability to maintain a state of alertness.

Does solitary make prisoners more dangerous?  At the very least, solitary can certainly make prisoners much more of a danger to themselves. Inmates in solitary, for example, have been found to engage in self-mutilation at rates that are higher than the general prison population.

Suicide is another major concern. In one study of California’s prison system, researchers found that from 1999 to 2004 prisoners in solitary confinement accounted for nearly half of all suicides. A 1995 study of the federal prison system found that 63 percent of suicides occurred among inmates locked in “special housing status,” such as solitary or in psychiatric seclusion cells. As one inmate cited in the study explained: The Hole and Segregation cells are depressing enough to drive many men to take their lives in order to escape. For some it would appear to be the only way out.

Is it possible for inmates to adjust? It’s tough. In a study of inmates at California’s Pelican Bay State Prison, psychologist Craig Haney found that prisoners “lose the ability to initiate or to control their own behavior, or to organize their own lives.” Haney, a professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz, attributed this loss to the near total lack of control that prisoners have over their day-to-day lives in solitary.

Often time, he found, prisoners in solitary “begin to lose the ability to initiate behavior of any kind — to organize their own lives around activity and purpose.” What results is chronic apathy (lack of feeling or emotion), lethargy (abnormal drowsiness and fatigue), torpor (mental and motor inactivity), depression as result of despair and hopelessness, (Job 12:25), that ultimately leads to severe oppression.  The atrophy (wasting away or progressive decline), and the anxiety (fear) which surrounds social interaction can be extremely disabling.

Depression and oppression will cause us to wither away mentally and physically. Mental illness has a root cause and it can be traced back to the generations of not feeling loved or unworthy to be loved and especially when the father fails to say the words “I love you” or fails to nurture their children or wives. The result of feeling unloved causes mankind to turn to wickedness (iniquities) and un-forgiveness causing bitterness rage, anger harsh words, slander that dominates our lives, (Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior Ephesians 4:31). Self-pity (nobody loves me) is another spirit tied to depression/oppression.  Little is known about self-pity, but it is a powerful spirit that fans the fire of hopelessness, despair, and stupor (depression/oppression) causing us to go further into solitary confinement.

Until we are ready to educate people on how this occurs, we will continue to suffer from mental illness.  You see, mental illness affects each and everyone one of us to some degree. Every one of us has suffered depression at one time or another, yet we are afraid to confess this so that we can be prayed for and healed (James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed). 

We are affected by people who have mental illness.  Yet we ignore mental illness like the plague. We ignore people who are suffering.  Homeless people are most evident because we see them in the streets.  Can we assume that they have lost hope?  We spend trillions on ourselves, but cut programs for those who are suffering from mental illness. 

The Body of Christ does a poor job of dealing with or praying for mental illness.  People with mental illness who are suffering with mental illness, are held captive in prison, and we do very little even though we are anointed to bring them out of prison (Isaiah 61:1) where their soul is held captive.  Their soul in solitary confinement.

I would like to share a true story about two brothers.  Bob the eldest, was in mental institution and was in a catatonic state of existence.  Bob had been beaten down over the decades to point of hopelessness.  He was no longer responding to humans and the institution said there was no hope.  Jerry, the younger brother started to visit his older brother every day after work and showered Bob with love.  He told Bob how wonderful and worthy he was.  One year later Bob had come out of the spiritual prison fully healed.

We tend to make healing mental illness complicated, but in God’s mercy, He has given us hope on how to combat mental illness in His Word.  In Isaiah 58 God talks about fasting that is pleasing to Him in verses 6-14.  Specifically verse 6, fasting to loosen the bonds of man’s wickedness that we spoke about earlier.  To undo the heavy burdens that man experiences.  To let the oppressed, go free. To break every yoke of oppression (Isaiah 58:6 “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke?

6 Keys to healing mental illness

We heal mental illness by: 1). Prayer and fasting (even if it is for only one day) because the spirits involved in depression and oppression are powerful (Matthew 17:21 21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting”).  2). We call on the Helper for answers (Psalms 91:15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him) and direction. 3). We lead them in prayer of forgiveness for those who have hurt them including self (Jerimiah 20:13 Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! For He has delivered the life of the poor from the hand of evildoers).  4). We declare the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness/depression/oppression (Isaiah 61:3 The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified”) so we can bring them out of darkness.  5). We declare our love and God’s perfect love over them to overcome the fear and the torment, (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 1 John 4:18).  6). We pray consistently for them and continue to minister to them until they are healed even if it takes a year.

We don’t need to go to mankind with all of his treatments that don’t work.  God gives us the keys to healing mental illness in His Word.  Glory be to our Father in Heaven. 

Jerimiah 17:14 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved, For You are my praise.

Amen and Amen, blessings to all, Tony Sanchez 3-9-18

GOD'S FOUNDATION OF LOVE

God has always been about love and is love.  He created Adam and Eve in the image of Him in love, So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:27. He so loved the world that He sent His Only Son to die on the cross so we could receive salvation, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life John 3:16.

So, why has it been so hard to love one another and to love ourselves?  I am going to put a few things in bullet points and open it up for discussion.

·         From the creation, man chose to be disobedient, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die Genesis 3:3.  Taking what you know about fallen man in the present, we must consider what led up to their disobedience.

·         After the ten plagues, God had Moses lead His people out of Egypt and performed miracle after miracle in Exodus.  Why then, were they wandering in the desert for forty years? Psalm 106:7-15 gives us answers, Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; They did not remember the multitude of Your mercies, But rebelled by the sea—the Red Sea. 8 Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake, That He might make His mighty power known. 9 He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up; So He led them through the depths, As through the wilderness. 10 He saved them from the hand of him who hated them, And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.  11 The waters covered their enemies; There was not one of them left. 12 Then they believed His words; They sang His praise. 13 They soon forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel, 14 But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, And tested God in the desert. 15 And He gave them their request, But, sent leanness (lack of trust) into their soul.                          

·         God chose the people of Israel as His chosen people, for you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth Deuteronomy 7:6. What did God say later in Deuteronomy that shaped a very important love foundation of obedience and disobedience that pertains to our well-being?

How important is God’s love?

·         God’s love is our foundation with Abba Father. 

·         His love is the love we must convey to our wife and children. 

·         His love is our foundation in loving ourselves so we can love others.

What happens when we disobey God?

·         We become a people of sin as in iniquities (wickedness) and trespasses).

·         We become a people who rely on our own thinking, the thinking of others, and the world (flesh).

·         As believers, we compromise the Word of God as in false doctrine. 

·         We insert our interpretation and before we know it, we become like Israel wandering in the desert.

 How important is God’s love to our Health?

·         Trusting in Him is paramount to our health.  We cannot trust fully in the love from man.

·         One very important question we have to ponder is this:  Has God ever hurt you ………………………….?

·         How many times has man hurt you? Are you able to overcome these hurts?  There is a direct link to emotional and physical sickness and disease in your life and how it ties into how man (including self) has treated you over your lifetime. 

·         Our past, especially our relationship with man defines who we are in the present.  It defines our health, soul (mind/thinking and emotions), our relationship with others, self, and God.  Your love is rooted in circumstances and because of the hurts, man has quenched your love and God’s love. 

·         We have bought into man’s judgment including self-judgement and not by God’s judgement, Psalm 98:9 For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, And the peoples with equity (justice according to His law). 

·         We have allowed man to steal, kill, and destroy our lives mostly by the things that have come out of their mouths, out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing James 3:10. We have bought into and accepted a lifetime of mankind’s accusations, criticisms, abuses, and the terrorism of our soul. 

Conclusion:

Man, and the medical field have made sickness and disease so complicated when in fact, it is very simple.  The medical field mostly treats the symptoms.  God will heal your symptoms caused by sickness and disease.  Just obey Him and His Word and the majority of medical treatments and expenses go away! Sickness and disease prevention is determining what the root cause of sickness and disease and trusting God and His Love to heal you.  Have you every heard of the phrase “cause and effect?”

God gave us two choices in Deuteronomy 28, to obey Him or disobey Him.  What He is saying here is, if you love Him and obey Him, sickness and disease will not be such a big issue in our lives.  He gives us the choice.

Our goal each and every day is developing a strong over the top relationship with God, to love Him with our heart, soul, strength (Deuteronomy 7:5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength), to trust in Him (Psalm 18:2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold, Psalm 7:1 O Lord my God, in You I put my trust; Save me from all those who persecute me; And deliver me), and to submit to Him (James 4:7 Therefore submit to God).  We are to hate evil so our soul is not afflicted by the wicked, Psalm 97:10 You who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.

Ezekiel 33:13 When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die.

WHAT CHOICE WILL YOU MAKE GOING FORWARD?

Amen

Tony Sanchez 2-9-18

FEAR - HOW IT AFFECTS YOUR HEALTH

HOW FEAR AFFECTS YOUR HEALTH

Job 3:25 For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me.  And what I dreaded has happened to me.

Job’s problem was he worried into the future and could have benefited by the New Testament verses in Matthew 6:34 that says: “do not worry” and Matthew 6:25 “do not worry about your life”.

How is fear affecting your life and life of your family, friends and others?  Man has known about fear for quite some time.

“Even relatively short periods of stress may cause changes that leave the brain cells hypersensitive for weeks, reports Israeli scientists trying to uncover the molecular root of post-traumatic stress disorder.” Washington (Associated Press) September 2001.

“Pregnant women who often feel stressed out could be programming their fetuses’ nervous systems for heightened reactions to stress and a greater lifetime risk of heart attacks, scientists reported over the weekend.” San Diego (USA Today) March 1999.

We all know by now the negative effects of stress, anxiety, alarm, dread, fright, panic, scary, tension, terror trepidation, nervousness, and worry to our bodies. So many words, but it all comes down to one word that describes all these words and that is FEAR!   Angina (throat inflammation), Arrhythmias (alteration of heart beat), asthma (airway obstruction), allergies (immune response to a substance), high blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome, tension or migraine headaches, strokes, impotence, insomnia, diabetes, prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate gland), malabsorption (faulty absorption of nutrients), and eczema (skin inflammation) are but few of the many diseases known to be fear related by the medical field.  Doctors are studying this mind/body connection, calling this area of study Psychoneuroimmunology.  The aim is to nail down the latest medical technology to determine the mind/body connection that causes sickness and disease.

What about the spirit?  We are a triune being.  We are spirit.  We have a soul.  We live in a body.  Our SOUL consists of our mind, will, memories, and emotions.  Our SPIRIT consists of our conscience and intuition (knowing right and wrong) and our BODY is the mobile home for our soul and spirit, 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.  

Fears are not psychological defects, but tribulations of the soul as a result of a lifetime of distress, suffering, torment, hurts, pain, attacks, betrayals, and not being loved by others. The holistic approach treats the “whole” patient, but how well do they understand man’s spirit and soul from God’s perspective.

Satan however, understands our packaging quite well.  He has made a study of God’s creation since Adam and Eve.  Satan knows all about our mind/body/soul connection. He knows that we are only sustained in health and sanity to the degree that we match up to the obedience of the living God (Deuteronomy 28:15-68).  Satan knows that by controlling our thoughts, he can control our health.  His goal is to “steal, and to kill and to destroy” (John 10:10).  Satan manipulates human moods, attitudes, feelings, and emotions.

So, if Satan has made a study of man, it’s time for man to start understanding what really makes us tick.  Part of that is discerning exactly how he uses FEAR to break down our bodies.

In order for our bodies to maintain all of its systems, the hypothalamus gland in the brain works to regulate factors so that we remain in a state of homeostasis.  Homeostasis is a self-regulating process which biological systems tend to maintain stability while adjusting to conditions that is optimal for survival.  For instance, our blood pressure should normally be 120/80, our resting heart rate should be around 60-80 beats per minute, and our body temperature should be around 98.6 degrees.  Everything is at a remarkable set point and does not vary much from day to day.  To achieve this homeostasis, the hypothalamus must receive input about the state of the body and make compensatory changes if anything goes out of whack.

The autonomic nervous system regulates the activity of cardiac muscles, smooth muscles (not under voluntary control) and glands.  When a fearful thought triggers the hypothalamus, it signals the autonomic nervous system, which in turn affects our heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, sweating, etc.  The body is in a fight or flight mode (the instinctive physiological response to a threatening situation, which readies one either to resist forcibly or to run away).  This is why our hearts may race, our hands may get sweaty, and our knees might buckle when a test, a bully, or an equally stressful situation confronts us.

There is a time for rest and a time for action.  Fight or flight is normally a short-term response.  But if a stressor is not removed and this fight or flight mechanism is extended beyond its normal time frame, the body will start breaking down.  The medical profession calls this the General Adaptation Syndrome which has three stages (1. alarm stage-burst of energy, 2. resistance stage-the body attempts to adapt, 3.the exhausting stage-which drains you physically, emotionally, and mentally).

When a person is continually not feeling safe and having fearful thoughts, the body will be in a continuous state of fight or flight leaving no time for rest, recovery, and repair of body and soul.  When the body can no longer maintain its homeostasis, sickness and disease will result.

Yes, doctors will tell you that stress kills, but what do they offer to counter it?  They may prescribe an anti-anxiety drugs, suggest stress management courses, or exercise.  New agers and even Christians may look towards yoga, biofeedback, meditating, self-healing, herbs, oils, diet, and whatever man dreams up.

But are they Godly solutions?  Not according to God.  Deuteronomy 28 outlines blessings and curses related to health and God gives us the choice.  The curses in Deuteronomy 28:15-68 are sin and we have a choice to buy into these curses/sin that results in sickness and disease, or we can choose blessings Deuteronomy 28:1-14 and good health.  What is your choice going to be? 

God’s wants us to choose not worry to keep us health (Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble).

Fear Symptoms that I have come across or learned about:

Can cause muscles, tendons and ligaments contract or tighten.  Most often, the left leg will be shorter than the right because of fear.  Many times, there will be great pain in the back, neck, and legs and other places.

Can causes blood vessels to be constricted (made narrow) resulting in numerous issues related to poor circulation.  I see many with swelling Dropsy/edema (Luke 14:2).  Many with swollen feet (Nehemiah 9:21) and diseased feet (2 Chronicles 16:12 because of hatred towards self because they do not feel loved of feel worthy). 

Can cause the narrowing of upper and lower respiratory track making it difficult to breath.  I found many people with Asthma, a lung disease characterized by airway obstruction, airway inflammation, have issues of abandonment

Can causes the body to be out of alignment and to be contorted.  (bones & intestines).

Can cause migraines, IBS, seizures, panic attacks, heart conditions, blurred vision, itching and skin disorders (Deuteronomy 28:27).

Fear can be passed on through the fetus (generational fear).  Colic in babies can be a result of the mother experiencing trauma (disorder resulting in a mental, emotional, or physical stress/fear) during pregnancy.

Fear can come down the generational line (Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me).  Fear is an iniquity).

Fear can cause diarrhea usually from a person bringing rage and terror or constipation from worrying.

Health Consequences of a Tormented Soul

Greetings,

I am part of a healing ministry and a private ministry where we pray for people with emotional and physical issues.  Many times, we are a last resort for people who are in captivity because of the many negative things that have happened to them in their lifetime.  It can include generation things that were passed down.   I call this torment or assault of the soul (mind and emotions).  What many fail to fully understand is how the tormented soul or physical traumas can result in sickness and disease.
People have gone in for medical treatment and to ministries only to have them treat or pray for the symptoms.  I believe that every sickness and disease has a cause (origin) and effect (symptoms).  Believers and unbelievers alike run to and fro looking for remedies.  Especially, manmade solutions such as oils, diets, exercise, acupuncture, yoga, herbs, and everything under the son.  I am not saying that some of these don’t provide relief, but they don’t bring healing in most cases, if at all.

Tens of thousands of books have been written by believers and unbelievers addressing sickness and disease. Unfortunately, our health is getting worse and nobody has written a book that provides the ultimate way to prevent or heal sickness and disease except for one.  Drum row……The Bible.  Deuteronomy 28 outlines blessings, curses, good or bad health in one chapter.  Deuteronomy 28:15-68 talks about sickness and disease and every sickness and plague not written in the Bible.  God tells us if we choose obey Him, we will experience health.  Just as Adam and Eve was given a choice whether to eat the forbidden fruit, we are given a choice as well in regards to our heath.

I found through the years of reading the Bible that God keeps things very elementary.  He does not want us to be confused, because God is not an author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33).  So, I will keep this very simple. 

I have created a chart below called the Mind-Body Connection.  It covers a wide spectrum of adversarial attracts against us throughout our lifetime by people and from Satan (I Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour).  It includes physical traumas as well, because physical traumas can severely affect our emotion physical health.    

Look at the right side of the chart (or see attached) that lists many of the things that can torment our soul and cause sickness and disease. The simple fact is this: the list on the right can only affect us if we choose to buy into all these things that have tormented our lives.  We choose to be hurt, offended, have un-forgiveness, to be betrayed, to fear, to feel unloved, to have hopelessness/depression, to hate self and others.  We choose to believe in man including self, rather than God. 

God will fill the emptiness of feeling unloved in your life.  His perfect love will fill the void that addictions cannot. God will give you peace and comfort that man cannot provide.  He will bless you with good health, but your health is dependent on your choice to obey Him.

It is my prayer that you will be blessed by this piece.  This is a subject that needs to be taught in the Church at the very least.  I encourage you to send this piece to believers and unbelievers alike. 

Apologies for the chart.  It did not copy as I would like.

Blessings, Tony Sanchez

Mind-Body Connection
				This is not what God wants for us
				Fragmented & Tormented Soul
				Brokenness
SPIRIT				Pride
				Wounds/Hurts
				Offenses
Affects our       relationship				Un-forgiveness
with God				Self-Pity
				Expectations
				Disappointments
				Betrayal
				Regrets/Guilt/Shame
SOUL				Broken Heart
				Traumas - Emotional/Physical
				Fear
Mind				Rejection/Self-Rejection
	Will			Unloving
Emotions				Anger
				Soul Ties
				Spoken Curses
				Generational Curses
				Imaginations/Fantasizing
				Accusations
		Affects		Unbelief
		Our		Hopelessness/Oppression
		Health		Hatred/Self-Hatred
				Envy & Jealousy
				Occult/Witchcraft
Body				Poverty
				Addictions
Sickness & Disease - Deuteronomy 28:15-68
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