The book of Acts 12:1-17 is my favourite sermon illustration of being set free from captivity. It is an exciting story about King Herod and the early church. I love the story because it demonstrates the weapon of prayer for freedom from captivity. According to the scripture, prayer is the key to liberation from detention of the enemy.
The story begins with how King Herod executed James because he was not happy with the church. To further cause chaos, he imprisoned Peter in a cell of quaternions of soldiers.
A quaternion of soldiers is a security system. It means that Peter was guided by four guards. Two guards at the gate of the cell. The other two guards by his side inside the prison.
The early Christians realized they were in a dilemma. They could not appeal to the king to release Peter. But, they discovered the weapon of prayer for freedom from captivity.
A remarkable event took place the night before Peter was to die. An angel of the Lord entered the prison. He raised Peter and removed his chains. They passed the prison gates unto the city without any interference from the guards at the prison.
After Peter regained consciousness, he realized that God had sent an angel to set him free from imprisonment. He went to the house of Mary to meet the other disciples. Even the disciples could not believe his total deliverance from bondage.
Like it happened in Acts 12, God can give you freedom from physical and spiritual strongholds. Prayer is a potent power against enslavement.
The scripture in Isaiah 59:1 is an assurance that God is more than able to set you free from any bondage. All you have to do is to go down on your knee and offer a prayer for freedom.
Table of contents
What Is Prayer
Prayer is a habitual activity performed by Christians. A reliable medium to reach God with your requests and problems. It is the way you can have a discussion with God to tender your heart desires. Prayer gives Christians the key to obtaining liberty from captivity. It takes the power of prayer to cancel the expectation of the enemies about your life.
Having a prayer lifestyle will help you to win the battle for the crown.
What Is Divine Freedom
Divine freedom is a situation when not under any individual or collective captivity. It is a state of having liberty from spiritual strongholds. Your destiny is not under the control of evil spiritual forces.
Deliverance from captivity is total liberation from any form of unstable situations. It is deliverance from spiritual strongholds.
Spiritual Captivity Definition
Spiritual captivity means to be inside a satanic prison. It is the opposite of divine freedom. A person in bondage is inside a spiritual cage. You lose everything and unable to move forward in life. The urge to give up is overwhelming. Captivity is a place of slavery.
Satanic imprisonment causes backwardness. You observe that your finance, marriage, or health are no longer in good shape.
What Is Collective Captivity
Collective captivity is a form of bondage that affects you and your family members. It functions as a kind of generational curse. You experience the consequences of actions that you did not commit. For example, your family may experience collective captivity in marriage. It thus means that members of your family are likely to get married late.
Families and community of origin are the major causes of collective captivity. It takes the power of prayer to break out of the strongholds of collective bondage.
In Exodus chapter one, the scripture describes the Israelite in collective captivity.
After the death of Joseph, a new king called Pharaoh ruled over Egypt. Pharaoh observed that the children of Israel were more prosperous than the Egyptians.
What did the Israelites do in Egypt?
The Israelites did nothing wrong against the new king or the people of Egypt. Pharaoh was only scared of the dominance of the Israelites. He feared that they would one day take over his kingdom.
In verse twelve of the scripture, he placed the Israelite in collective bondage. From the old to the newborn suffered corporate captivity.
Also Read: How to Build a Godly Relationship Before Marriage
Types of Spiritual Captivity and Imprisonment
- Internal Captivity
- External Captivity
- Remote Control Captivity
- Personal Captivity
1. Internal Captivity
Internal captivity is a type of confinement by a local force. The source of your oppression is close to you.
The enemy may not be happy with your level of success. So, they try to sabotage your efforts to achieve success.
2. External Captivity
External captivity means to be in the custody of an external force.
External bondage is the major challenge of many Christians. Without a firm foundation in Christ, you would remain in external captivity.
3. Remote Control Captivity
Remote control captivity occurs when an evil spirit dominates the life of a person. The individual is under the influence of an evil force. You discover that you do things against your will.
4. Personal Captivity
Personal captivity occurs when you are not at peace with yourself. You captive by your thought. It seems to you that something negative would happen to you or something would go wrong.
Personal captivity may also occur when you are not in harmony with your spouse or the people around you. When a person offends you, you tend to overthink and plot how to revenge. That is a form of personal captivity.
The scripture in John 16:33 gives you the assurance that you can get peace in Jesus. You may be going through some personal problems that giving up may seem like the best option.
You have to tender your worries to God in prayers. Do not stop at anything. You can make Jesus proud by fighting to survive.
Abuse, ill-health or other traumatic experiences may cause personal captivity.
Personal captivity can occur when you make some mistakes in life. Sin is a kind of slavery.
Signs of Spiritual Captivity
- Sudden Loss of Capability
- Unhealthy Marriage.
- Sickness
- Long Period of Stagnancy
1. Sudden Loss of Capability
The sudden loss of capability is one of the glaring signs of spiritual captivity. You will observe that you are no longer able to do the things that you do. Life becomes difficult. It may seem like you have transformed into a different personality.
2. Unhealthy Marriage
Building a Christian marriage is the will of God for you and your partner. Marriage is a medium the enemy uses to place you in captivity.
The enemy will try to sow the seed of discord in your marital life. You begin to quarrel with your spouse on little things that should not cause any problem. The enemy intention is to create disunity in your home.
3. Sickness
Ill health is confinement afflicting many people today. The devil is aware that a sick individual may not be able to achieve destiny. So, they try to make sure you don’t experience good health. Having a wounded in your spirit is a sign of bondage.
4. Long Period of Stagnancy
Staying at one spot in your career, business or in any area of your life is a frustrating experience. Like king Pharaoh, your enemy intends to slow down your progress.
Stagnancy is an example of strongholds. Have you been experiencing stagnancy for a long time? You need to pray to God to set you free.
Types of Captivity in The Bible
- Captivity by Demons (Matthew 17:18)
- Captivity of Sickness (James 5:14)
- Captivity of Slavery (Exodus 1:1-22)
- Captivity of Poverty (Deuteronomy 8:18)
- Captivity of Cultism (Hebrews 13:9)
- Captivity of War (Matthew 24:6)
- Captivity of Drugs (Ephesians 5:18)
1. Captivity by Demons (Matthew 17:18)
Captivity of demon occurs when an individual becomes possessed with an evil spirit. The person is not in control of his actions. These unclean spirits are responsible for many people’s downfall.
The scriptures tell us a story in Acts Matthew 17:18 how Jesus cured a boy of evil spirits. It takes the word of God and prayer to get liberation from demons. The power over demons is inside of you according to the scripture in Matthew 10:1.
2. Captivity of Sickness (James 5:14)
Sickness and disease can afflict a person. It is a bondage of not being able to live a healthy life. The scripture in James 5:14 gives hope that prayer can bring a turnaround in your health status.
3. Captivity of Slavery (Exodus 1:1-22)
Like the story of the Israelites, people are in the bondage of slavery. They are under the authority of an external force.
These controllers may be a boss in the office, your spouse or a corrupt leader.
4. Captivity of Poverty (Deuteronomy 8:18)
The bondage of poverty is a terrible experience. The captive is unable to amass wealth to live a good life. According to the scripture in Deuteronomy 8:18, God is the giver of wealth.
5. Captivity of Cultism (Hebrews 13:9)
Captivity of cultism occurs when you get swayed by wrong teachings. You are in conviction to do things that are not pleasing to God. 2 Peter 2:1-3 warns about false prophets that would want to place you in spiritual bondage.
6. Captivity of War (Matthew 24:6)
So many nations are currently under the bondage of war. War is a form of captivity that brings about loss of life and properties.
7. Captivity of Drugs (Ephesians 5:18)
The consumption of hard substances is not the will of God. You must keep your body as the temple of God.
What Is Captivity in The Bible
The bible gives us the guidelines and requirements for breaking free from strongholds. The scripture in Deuteronomy 30:3 tells us how God will turn your captivity into a breakthrough. Other scriptures on freedom of the captive include;
- Galatians 5:1 – Christ has given you freedom as long as you don’t dwell in sin.
- Job 42:10 – Prayer is the key to divine freedom.
- Isaiah 61:1 – You have the anointing to proclaim freedom.
- 2 Timothy 1:7 – You have the spirit of God inside of you. Do not fear.
- 1 Peter 2:16 – Live a life of freedom and pleasing to God.
- Mark 16:17 – Accept Jesus into your life to receive the power of total liberation.
One of the most effective ways of claiming your freedom is prayer. Prayer will give your total liberation from spiritual oppression. Luke 10:19 affirms that God has given you authority through Jesus to dominate.
Pulling Down Strongholds Prayer Points
The cry for freedom from imprisonment is a deliverance prayer.
- Father every evil plan against my life, let them fall apart.
- Lord anything or device the enemy is using to track my progress, let them get destroyed by your fire.
- Father, I crush every demonic activity of the enemy against my life.
- Arise oh Lord and destroy the plans of the enemies for my life.
- Lord do not allow evil to prevail over my life and family.
- Lord let not the rod of wickedness rest upon my life and family.
- Father, let the counsel of the wicked against my life backfire.
- Set my enemies against one another.
- Lord deliver me from self errors.
- Give me wings to be above my enemies. Lord, make me untouchable.
- Rescue me from any bondage and set me free.
- Let the doors to my breakthrough open in their own accord.
- Surprise my enemy with my success.
- Let my enemies get consumed with their plans for my life.
- Take away suffering from my life in Jesus name.
- Drop any negative thing in my life that will last for eternity.
- Lord, place in me your glory would have a positive impact on my generation.
- Father, what stopped my generation will not stop me in Jesus name.
I would love to hear from you in the comment section.
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Wow I truly believe that this is my ministry I have been seeking the LORD and now I know without a doubt !! It has been revealed through my own captivity experience in my mind and allowing the HOLY GHOST to teach me in his word the PULLING DOWN THE STRONGHOLDS . Thank You so much you have no idea how you have helped in Launching MY MINISTRY MAY THE LORD INCREASE YOU 100 FOLD IN ALL YOU DO FOR THE KINGDOM
I am bless by this prayer points, thank and God bless.
Amen.
Thanks a lot for this powerful message. God bless you bro.
Hello Ola,
The pleasure is ours.
The true blessings from God is to have breakthrough in prayers.
Hello Elias,
Thank you for your contribution.
Thanks for this contents.It has built one of my sermon.
The pleasure is mine.
I appreciate your feedback.
Good bless.