Psalm 142:7, “Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name.”

THE PRISON GATE (Nehemiah 12:39)

This gate, and the one we will look at next week, are not listed in Nehemiah chapter three as one of the gates that Nehemiah repaired. However, they are mentioned in other chapters and make up the twelve gates that were in the walls of Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s time. Most translations of the Bible call this gate the GATE OF THE GUARD. It was obviously the gate where they guarded the prisoners.

Our task as we guard this gate is to make sure we do not have any prisoners. God does not have prisoners in his house. God does not want us to have any prisoners in our house either. He died on the cross to set us free from all bondages and bring us into liberty. (Galatians 5:1)

Jesus confirmed his purpose and ministry when he went into the Nazareth synagogue and read from 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 broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound…” (Luke 4:18) Jesus still wants to fulfill these words, but now He wants to fulfill them through you and me. He wants to use us “to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.” (Isaiah 42:8)

This anointing must first start with our own selves. You cannot release other people from prison if you are in prison yourself. You have to be free. You are the guarder of the prison gate, not the prisoner!

I believe the greatest prisons we lock ourselves into are in our thought life. This is where the devil attacks us most. It is in this area that he seeks to take us captive and make us his prisoner. You must stand guard at the gate of your thought life. All kinds of thoughts will come to this gate – thoughts of negativity, self-pity and depression. Thoughts of inadequacy and condemnation --, “I’m not good enough”, “I can’t cope”, “I’m hopeless” or “People don’t like me”.  Angry and resentful thoughts. And even unclean thoughts. These thoughts bring darkness to your mind. They are all lies and deceptions from the enemy to lock you in prison. Don’t let them. The devil wants you bound. Jesus wants you free.

The key to liberty is what you do with these thoughts. You can believe them, dwell on them and become a prisoner to them. Or, you can resist them in the name of Jesus. (Ephesians 4:27; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9-9)  When these thoughts intrude upon your mind, begin to pray, “I thank you for the victory, Lord Jesus. In your name I resist these thoughts. They don’t belong to me. I send them back where they came from, in Jesus’ name. Amen.” Keep on thanking the Lord for the victory through the power of the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Don’t stop until you have the victory.  As you continue to resist these thoughts, they enemy will get tired of trying to deceive you with them.

Fear also locks you into a prison house. Don’t allow it to imprison you. Claim the Scripture in 2 Timothy 1:7, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

When you walk in liberty, you can then bring liberty to those in your home and those you meet who are hurting and in prison. There are many who are locked in prison. They are waiting for someone to give them hope, pray for them and tell them how to walk in victory. That someone can be you. “That you may say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’” (Isaiah 49:9)

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

“Oh Lord, please help me to bring cast down every deceptive reasoning and bring every thought into captivity to You. Help me to be ruthless with these negative thoughts – to cast them out and rebuke them in the power of your name. Amen.”

 

AFFIRMATION: