If you are feeling and sensing an out-of-the-blue intense spiritual battle, do not retreat from your authority and the ground you have already won. Of course, it is okay to manage it differently, but whatever you do, HOLD THE LINE AND DO NOT RETREAT.
Repeat after me…
“I declare PEACE over my heart.”
“I declare PEACE over my home.”
“I declare PEACE over my marriage.”
“I declare PEACE over my children.”
“I declare PEACE over my friendships.”
“I declare PEACE over my day.”
“I declare PEACE over my mind.”
We can walk in the peace that surfaces all understanding. The kind of peace that makes no logical sense based on external circumstances. But it is a CHOICE! Today I choose PEACE!
When my daughter was in first grade, she came home and said it was the worst day ever. She said the substitute teacher yelled at the class with a red face most of the day. I felt fear as she shared with me how the adult handled situations and asked her with the utmost compassion, “Oh honey, did you feel fear when she did that?” She wrinkled up her face and shook her head, saying, “NO! I wouldn’t let it!” She knew the fear wasn’t from her Father and how to take out her badge of authority and use it.
Kids don’t need to put up with everything that is handed to them in the spiritual realm. When my kids come home with stories about someone being unkind, rude, or disrespectful, we walk through forgiveness and then release the opposite back to them in the spiritual realm. You can’t be a victim when you are partnering with the Creator of the universe.
I loved receiving this testimony!!! Crawl into the world of this little boy and how his mom responded to his real heart.
“Hi Lisa, I’m not sure you’ll get this, I know you receive a lot of messages but I just finished your JOURNEY course and had to share something that happened today. My three-year-old has been struggling in Sunday school for the last month or so. When I signed him in he immediately cried and clung to me. I told the teacher I would keep him for worship and try again in a bit. We went in and started singing and he just hugged me and snuggled through two songs. I brought it up that I would take him after singing and he started fussing again. The band started singing Jeremy Camp “Same Power” right then and it hit me – your authority lesson! I asked him if he wanted to not be afraid and then I said, ‘Fear, I see you,’ and commanded it to leave and then ushered in peace. After the song I asked if he was ready and he was a completely different kid!! He walked to the room holding my hand and didn’t look back after saying bye to me. I am embarrassed to say I’m shocked, I shouldn’t be, because this is our God, but I just can’t recall ever feeling this powerful before in my parenting. I’m just so excited to have done this class and learn things I can use to help my kids through life! Thank you, thank you!!!”
I am all about empowering children, as my ministry is based on equipping parents on how to empower their children. However, I do not believe in empowering them BEFORE the child has first learned to submit. If you are empowering your young child by offering them a choice with everything you are teaching them, they are the master of their own world, which ultimately is not entirely true. Yes, they alone control themselves, but that doesn’t mean they are not accountable to an authority greater than themselves. Some things need to be submitted to, such as our relationship with God, our desires, Holy Spirit’s leading, stop signs, not playing in the street, harming another human, moral compass, relationships, righteousness, and so forth. We may be free to do as we choose, but that does not mean we want to raise children who are only motivated to respond when they are in control. I see parents of little ones so eager to empower their children. Yet, they are missing out on the required seasons of laying the foundation of character training and intentionally teaching children to submit to their authority. This is raising children who are defiant and full of entitlement.
Let me share an example: My daughter, who is a naturally born confident leader, went to babysit for a family. She returned and declared she would never do that again because the kids never listened to her. I encouraged another attempt. She again came through the door and stated the same thing. Not so eager to let her miss this golden opportunity to grow in her capacity to lead, I made her do it one more time. But this time, she came through the door and was most upset. I honestly could not figure out what was happening because this was a wonderful family. Shortly after, the mom asked me for a playdate, and we met at the park. Her toddler made a mess, and she asked, “Do you want a spanking now or a time out when we get home?” Instantly, I knew the problem my daughter was facing. When we got home, I asked her if she gave the kids a choice of when to go to bed. I asked if she gave them a choice of PJs. If she empowered them to decide if they wanted to brush their teeth or read their book first. My daughter was frustrated and said, “No, I just did what the mom told me to do with them, and they wouldn’t listen to a single thing I said.”
The problem was that she didn’t offer them choices, and the only way the child knew how to respond to authority was if they were in complete control of the option. This only works if, everywhere they go, people offer them choices to feel powerful, but that is not how the world is set up. Ultimately this is not true empowerment; this is entitlement. It is overwhelming to a small child who doesn’t even have the total brain capacity to always be in the driver’s seat. They are not orphans, but children set in families with parents who make healthy choices on their behalf.
A child must endure some training at home that establishes authority and how to surrender their will by trusting those God has given to care for them. The toddler years are when this is established and skipping this season and jumping right to empowerment will reap the fruit that will give parents a run for their money down the road. The definition of empowering means to give (someone) the authority or power to do something. If you give children something they do not know how to use properly, it is like giving a baby food before they know how to chew or a car before they know how to drive. We set our children up for messy accidents when we empower them before they are ready.
Do I believe in giving children space to make choices? YES! Do I believe in doing it before they have been first taught to trust your leadership? Not at all. Perhaps we can move away from the ‘do as I say’ control-based parenting and yet not swing so far to the other side where we skip some of the crucial character development that comes with being able to carry the weight of being truly empowered.
“I had been wondering if what I was teaching my 18-month-old was even working. Over the last month, I have noticed he walks into the room when the light is off and starts to cry. He runs to me and says, ‘Momma, it’s dark. I am scared.’ As he was running away, something rose up within me, and I told him to go back in there and tell the dark, ‘I AM NOT AFRAID,’ and I stomped my foot down. We did this for a whole month. He would cry, and I would remind him, and then he would tell the dark he wasn’t afraid and walk in and grab a toy. Finally, I turned the lights on for him after he walked through the door. But this morning, he walked into the dark living room, and I heard him say all on his own and stomp his feet, ‘I AM NOT AFRAID!’ He came to me so proud, stomping his feet, and said, ‘I am not afraid.’ Needless to say, we had a party in the kitchen when he told me this. Lisa, I thought you should hear this… What you do for parents even when their kids are too young to comprehend. They do, and I’m so grateful to see my son stomp on the floor to say he is not afraid!”
From 2018 when wildfires broke out in Redding, CA:
Friends, around noon today, a fire that could be seen all around broke out. It is fast-moving as we have high winds today. Our land is dry, and we need this fire to be out. They have already evacuated some and moved the previous evacuation center (which is down the road from us). Grab your kids, tell them there is a fire that needs to be blown out, and prophetically have them blow and declare that this fire will be stopped in Jesus’ name.
We were on a ministry trip and my son could not shake his attitude. After days of it wearing us all down, I sent him to retire early that night. I heard him crying in his bed and went to him. He began to say, “Mom, I am so angry, but I don’t know why.” At that moment, I knew what was going on. A well-known Christian leader said earlier that day that they could barely sleep at night because of all of the anger in the church (over a particular issue). I led him through a prayer to take authority over the anger and to release the opposite (peace, unity, clarity), and instantly his little body shifted. If you have a child who can ‘flip like a switch’ out of nowhere, it could be that they are very sensitive to the atmospheres around them. I was this way as a child, and it brought about a lot of conflicts because no one, including myself, understood why I could be perfectly fine one moment and angry or filled with anxiety the next. In my mind, nothing was bothering me, but it was like something had come over me. Once I realized I was coming into an atmosphere of ‘stuff,’ I began to learn how to take authority over it and flip it.
There is so much going on in the spiritual realm. If you are feeling overwhelmed, defeated, or like quitting, it is not you!!! This is a classic case of “on you, not in you.” Use your authority against it, and do not partner with it.
As we drove through multiple states, one can pick up on the atmosphere a town carries. We passed a section where extra large billboards promoting adult stores littered the highway. It was impossible not to see them, and it wasn’t just one, but one every mile or so. My eyes became so heavy I pulled off and sent the kids and friends into the store to browse, giving me a quick five-minute shut-eye. When I closed my eyes, I got this nasty image in my mind that was so X-rated it was vile to me. I ignored it, but as I attempted to get some rest, it returned again and again. I realized the thought was not coming from within me but rather on me and sat up to take authority over it. I asked God to show me what He saw and saw this taller-than-a-building, demon-looking creature on the side of the road with long claw-like fingernails. Asking Jesus to reveal what He wanted me to know, I heard, “He is stationed along the highway and taps their minds with sexual images luring them into the store (that was promoted on the billboard).” I asked the Lord why it was so big and tall and heard, “He has been fed well” (meaning every time someone bites the bait, he is fed and grows stronger). I sat up and realized I was not going to get my rest but was rather on assignment and said, “Well, then I am going to starve him,” and began releasing the opposite in the atmosphere. At the next stop, the encounter was so strong upon my heart that I shared it with each of my children individually and said, “I just wanted you to be aware if you begin having unusual thoughts, it isn’t you but something coming upon you,” and two of them admitted they had been battling nasty thoughts and having a hard time taking authority over it. We prayed, released it to go, and ushered in peace and purity over them. Not every thought is coming from within yourself but sometimes trying to come ON you to get you to partner with it as if it were your own. Discerning the difference is key.
We got addicted to a fireman show during the quarantine season. Over and over, these brave men and women would run into the crisis while everyone else was running away, full of panic and fear. This concept in the spiritual realm has so struck me. If Jesus lives inside of me, I have the fire hose, ax, and respirator to run INTO the building (crisis), not away. A fire untamed turns into a wildfire. Firefighters have one goal: Containment (the action of keeping something harmful under control or within limits).
We are to be suited up with God’s armor and the tools of heaven to defeat the works of the enemy here on earth. Jesus gave His life for payment for that freedom. Ezekiel 37 – “The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. … Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones and say to them, `Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!’’” Prophecy is simply hearing God for others and declaring it.
I say PROPHESY TO THAT STORM! Your words have so much power, they hold either LIFE or DEATH (Proverbs 18:21). Model this concept for them by looking at the sky and lamenting, “Oh no, it’s sunny out. My flowers are going to wilt, and all the bugs are going to dry up. This is the worst thing ever that the sun is out.” Of course, you are being silly, but we can take something and begin to declare destruction, fear, and death over it.
Make a list of things that are affecting them right now and PROPHESY over them. “I speak to the fear and say _____,” “Sickness, you have no hold on me,” “I declare my city will be safe,” “I will have an amazing school year.”
FACT VS. TRUTH – A fact is something that is proven true. But the truth is unchangeable.
Example: Kids at school wouldn’t sit with me for lunch – FACT.
Something is wrong with me – LIE.
It hurts that kids wouldn’t sit with me, but I am still wanted and belong – TRUTH.
There are a lot of things being exposed right now in the world – FACT.
The enemy is winning, and we are going to suffer – LIE.
God is exposing that which has been in darkness, and He still sits on the throne – TRUTH.
Do not mix your facts with your truth. It is the TRUTH that sets you free, not facts. We do not live an evidence-based life but a truth-based life. Ask, “Jesus, what facts have I grabbed onto?” “Jesus, what is Your truth?” Break agreement with facts and align your mind and heart with truth.
DO NOT PRACTICE WITCHCRAFT. This is VITAL right now. Prophecy is declaring the future through the power of the Holy Spirit. Witchcraft is declaring the future through the power of Satan. John 10:10 shares that the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy, while Jesus came to overcome and bring life. Your WORDS decide which side you want to camp in. We all know what a lie is and how much havoc it can wreak on our minds, hearts, emotions, and relationships. We behave based on what we believe. But witchcraft is when we begin to SPEAK IT OUT in declarations. “They hate me,” “I don’t belong there,” “This is terrible,” “We are going to die, “This is the worst thing ever,” “This year is going to stink.”
Some of you have been practicing witchcraft by your words. What we declare in the atmosphere becomes our reality. With so much going on in the world today, we need to be extra careful of our words as we could be strengthening the wrong kingdom. This is not just about having happy thoughts during a real crisis but declaring the TRUTH in the midst of it. If my kids are upset and say something like, “This is so unfair,” I validate that it may indeed look and feel that way. But I help connect them to the truth by helping them see God cares deeply about unjust scales and is a God of justice and help them rewrite their prophecy to say, “This feels so wrong, but God is in control and can make it right on my behalf.” There are no victims when God is in control!
Facts serve as kindling for the fire. Witchcraft is gasoline poured on a fire. His truth is the fire extinguisher that defeats the enemy from consuming those in your home, city, country, and world!
“Jesus, I confess that I have partnered with FACTS and allowed them to turn into words of witchcraft. Jesus, Do You forgive me?” (and then wait to receive His forgiveness).
When I see a fire starting, I will run into the burning building (storm) and prophesy the TRUTH over the situation.
TEACH THE CHILDREN – Take a piece of paper and draw a heart in the center. Share that the heart represents them and things that affect them, both good and bad. On the left side, draw a gasoline container (like the one Dad uses to fill the lawnmower), and on the right side, draw a picture of a firefighter. Take an example, such as not being allowed to see their friends. Point to the gasoline and begin using words of witchcraft and doom. “I will never get to see them,” “This is awful,” etc. Now point to the firefighter and declare words like, “I will get through this even though it is hard,” “This is not for forever,” and “God will give me a creative way to connect.” Help them to see the difference in what side they are partnering with.
In the days to come, when you see your child (or yourself) pour gasoline on the problem, be mindful that your words contain life or death, and YOU PICK which one you want to declare.
