Week 5 - RENOUNCE
CONNECT
What are you thankful for?
What challenge are you facing?
Have there been any answers to prayer?
Pray for each other.
Did anything stand out to you from last week’s follow-up Bible readings?
Last week you confessed sin. How is your walk in the light going? Is there anything else you to need confess?
How did your “I will …” statement from last week go?
How did your sharing goal from last week go?
How’s your memory work coming along?
John 8:31-32 (NAB)
31 Jesus said to those who believed in him, “If you remain in my word, 32 you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
DISCOVER
Let’s start with a review. We’ve worked through these freedom truths and freedom responsibilities:
OBEY
Obedience leads to freedom while disobedience leads to bondage, so obey the Lord and be free.
RESIST
Jesus resisted Satan by reciting the truth of God’s Word, so resist Satan by reciting the truth of God’s Word.
FORGIVE
God has forgiven you, so forgive others.
CONFESS
We are to agree with God that our sin is sinful, so confess your sin and find forgiveness and cleansing
And now …
RENOUNCE
Involvement with evil spiritually pollutes us, so renounce any current and past involvement with evil and in Jesus’ name break its power over your life.
Ask God to speak to you as you read His Word.
Acts 19:8-20 (NIV)
8 Paul entered the synagogue [in Ephesus] and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.
11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.
13 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
17 When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. 19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas (several million dollars in today’s funds). 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
Have someone retell this passage in their own words.
What stands out to you in this passage?
What does this passage say about God (The Father, His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit)?
What does this passage say about people, including ourselves?
What does this passage say about the life God invites us to live?
Digging Deeper
Who confessed their sin of involvement with the occult and burned all their sorcery books? Were they unbelievers or believers?
What does this say to believers about past and current involvement with evil?
Renounce
1. Openly Confess Sin
1 John 1:8-9 (CSB)
8 If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Freedom always starts with confession. We agree with God that our sin is sinful and ask Him to forgive and cleanse us.
2. Spiritually Break Power
Ephesians 4:26-27 (NIV)
26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.
Sin opens a door in our lives to spiritual/demonic influence. Paul says that anger gives the devil a foothold, that is, ground or turf from which to access our hearts. That’s bad news. The good news is in Jesus’ name we can remove the foothold and break his power over our lives.
3. Publicly Destroy Paraphernalia
Acts 19:18-19 (NIV)
18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. 19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly.
If you have any books or paraphernalia associated with this evil, remove them from your home and destroy them. If you have apps on your phone, delete them. You could do this in a “public ceremony” with your group.
Truth & Responsibility
This week’s freedom truth is:
Involvement with evil spiritually pollutes us.
This week’s freedom responsibility is:
So renounce any current and past involvement with evil and in Jesus’ name break its power over your life.
Not Able but Enabled
You won’t be able to break the power of sin in your life on your own. That’s why we support each other. But more importantly, that’s why we rely on God’s grace. God never intended for us to live the Christian life in our own strength. Instead, He gives us His grace to teach us to say “NO!” to sin. Then what we could never do on our own, we do by grace through faith.
Titus 2:11-12 (ESV)
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.
Notes on FREEDOM
As always, what’s shared here must stay here. Please practice strict confidentiality.
Satan doesn’t want you to be free. And he’ll do everything he can to discourage and distract you. For example, you may experience mental oppression as you go through today’s freedom exercises. Thoughts like, “This isn’t going to work” or “God doesn’t love you” or “Don’t believe this stuff or this person” may come to you. Resist these lies and trust God’s truth. If you’re experiencing mental oppression, it’s important to tell the others in the group so they can pray for you and help you stand firm on God’s truth.
These freedom exercises may take some time, maybe more time than one week’s meeting. Especially if you have several people working through these exercises, it may take more than a week. There’s no need to rush. Just take the time you need.
These freedom exercises may bring up some very personal and painful issues. Going through these exercises will give you greater freedom in Christ. You may, however, need additional help from a Christian support group, pastor, counsellor or therapist. Your group can help you discern if you need additional help.
If you’re unsure that you need to deal with something being covered, deal with it anyway. It’s better to be safe than sorry. For example, if you couldn't remember whether your jeans were washed or not and you threw them in the wash, it wouldn't be the end of the world, right? They would still be clean and you would know it. So, if in doubt, go through the freedom exercises. You may find greater freedom having done so.
Feel free to modify the prayers below to fit your situation and communicate your heart.
Renouncing Personal Sin and Evil
What follows is adapted from The Steps to Freedom in Christ by Neil Anderson
Pray this discernment prayer out loud:
Lord, bring to my mind anything and everything that I have done knowingly or unknowingly that involves the occult, cult or non-Christian teachings or practices. Show me where I have allowed evil to defile me so I can renounce it and experience Your freedom. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Areas to consider …
The occult - Ouija boards, spirit guides, palm readings, Tarot card readings, horoscopes, etc.
False religions & cults
Secret societies
Drugs
Witchcraft
New Age spirituality
Satanic rituals
Subcultures (games, music, entertainment, communities) that glorify darkness, death, sex and evil
Any spiritual experience that has left you confused, frightened or questioning its source
Other? Explain …
Take some time and wait on the Lord to bring any sin and evil to mind.
Pray this prayer out loud:
Lord, I confess that I have participated in ______ (name sin). I know this is evil and offensive to You. Thank You for Your forgiveness and cleansing. I now renounce any and all involvement in this evil. And in the name of Jesus Christ, I remove the foothold my sin gave to Satan and I break his power over my life. Thank You for my freedom! In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you have any books or paraphernalia associated with this evil, remove them from your home and destroy them. If you have apps on your phone, delete them. You could do this in a “public ceremony” with your group.
Renouncing Family Sin and Evil
Though we are not responsible for the sins of our parents or family, that doesn’t mean those sins don’t impact us.
Nehemiah 1:5-7 (NLT)
5 O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, 6 listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! 7 We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses.
Pray this prayer out loud:
Lord, I am grateful for my family, but I also know they are not perfect and their sin may still be impacting me. I want to be fully free. So show me any sin from my family that I need to renounce. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Once again, consider the list of evil above this time in regard to your parent’s or family’s involvement. Also consider the list of sins covered in CONFESS. The list is taken from Exodus 20:1-17 (The 10 Commandments), Matthew 5-7 (The Sermon on the Mount), Matthew 20:20-28, Mark 7:20-23, Romans 1:18-32, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, Galatians 5:19-21 and Philippians 2:14-16, 4:6.
Theft
Hatred, anger, rage, murder
Coveting, greed, selfish ambition
Arrogance, boastfulness, pride, judgmentalism, self-righteousness, self-salvation
Anxiety, worry, fear, obsessing
Unbelief, hopelessness
Lording over, manipulation, control
Lying, cheating
Breaking your word (promises, covenants and vows)
Making of unrighteous vows
Mocking, belittling, cursing others OR yourself
Slander, gossip
Jealousy, envy
Idolatry, witchcraft, false worship
Drunkenness, debauchery
Ingratitude, grumbling, complaining
Arguing, disrespect
Sexual immorality, adultery, homosexual activity, pornography, orgies
Lack of love, lack of mercy
Disobedience to parents, rebellion
Lack of submission to authorities
And so on …
And the additional sins covered, such as:
Abortion
Suicide and suicidal tendencies
Divorce
Self-dependence, drivenness and perfectionism
Eating disorders or self-mutilation
Substance abuse
And so on …
The question is: Do you see any sinful patterns being passed down in your family from one generation to another? Take some time and wait on the Lord to bring any sin and evil to mind.
Pray this prayer out loud:
Lord, I confess that my family has participated in ______ (name sin). I know this is evil and offensive to You. I now renounce my family’s involvement in this evil and any other evil that I may not be aware of. I renounce it in my father’s family and I renounce it in my mother’s family. And in the name of Jesus Christ, I remove the foothold this sin gave to Satan and I break his power over my life. Thank You for my freedom! In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Canceling Curses, Dedications and Vows
One way that Satan gains access to our lives is through words spoken over us either by others or by ourselves.
Proverbs 26:2 (NLT)
Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim.
Throughout the Bible, we see that words can carry spiritual power. Praise God that many of these words, such as curses, false accusations and expressions of ill will, never land. So to speak, they just bounce off us because there’s no ground in our lives for them to land. They’re undeserved. That doesn’t mean, however, that no curses ever land. Some do because there IS ground or we have given them ground to land. The unconfessed sin of bitterness or lust or rebellion creates a place for them to land. Or we don’t take the words seriously enough to combat them in the power of Christ. For example, maybe:
We cursed our bodies because we hated the way a certain part looks
Our parent repeatedly cursed us with the words “You’ll never amount to anything!”
Our great-grandfather dedicated all his ancestors to Masonry in a secret ceremony
We dedicated ourselves to a pagan god in an occult ritual
We vowed never to get married because of a painful breakup
We vowed to never share the Gospel again because of an embarrassing attempt
Some of these may seem harmless and they may be. But some are real and need to be renounced for their power to be broken. Regardless, all of them should be prayerfully considered.
Galatians 3:13 (NLT)
Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
The Good News is that Jesus has become a curse for us. On the cross, Jesus became accursed and removed the greatest curse against us—our guilt for having broken God’s holy law. And in Jesus’ name, we can cancel all other curses against us.
Pray this discernment prayer out loud:
Lord, bring to my mind any and every curse, dedication or vow spoken over me by another or myself so I can renounce them and break their power over my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Take a moment and wait on the Lord. Note any curses, dedications and vows the Holy Spirit brings to your mind.
Pray this prayer out loud:
Jesus, thank You for becoming a curse for me on the cross and removing the greatest curse against me—my guilt because I have sinned against God’s holy law. I now renounce all other curses, dedications and vows spoken over me by others or myself. Specifically, I renounce _____________ (name curse, dedication or vow) spoken by _________ (name person) OR by me. In the name of Jesus Christ, I break the power these words have had on me and the hold that Satan has over me because of these words. I now bless myself with ________ (the opposite of the curse, dedication or vow). Thank You for my freedom, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Dealing with the Demonic
There are three enemies constantly attacking us:
The flesh (sin-within)
The world system and
Satan and his demons.
We have been fighting back against all three through FREEDOM and we’ll continue to do so as we keep working through FREEDOM. Now, however it’s time to decisively deal with the demonic.
You can think of it this way. Demons are like rats. Rats like garbage and they get through the holes in our homes to find it. But what if you get rid of the garbage by …
Forgiving others
Asking others to forgive us
Lamenting our struggles to God
Confessing our sin
Renouncing evil?
What if we fill the holes that let the rats in by ….
Removing the footholds
Breaking sexual bonds
Destroying paraphernalia
Canceling curses, dedications and vows?
Then there’s only one thing left to do. Kick the rats out! And we have the authority to do just that!
In John 14:30, Jesus said the devil had no claim on Him. Jesus could say that because there was absolutely no ground for Satan to work with. He was sinless and perfectly clean. That can’t be said of us. But through faith, we have been given the righteousness of Jesus. And as we have been working through FREEDOM, we have been progressively dealing with our sin. So now it’s time to decisively deal with the devil through the authority that Jesus has given us.
Luke 10:17-20 (NLT)
17 When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!”
18 “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! 19 Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. 20 But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.”
Now, based on the Truths of this passage, say out loud:
Because I believe in Jesus,
He has given me:
Authorization to use His name,
Assurance of Satan’s defeat,
Authority over all the power of the enemy,
Protection from harm,
And citizenship in Heaven.
Therefore, in the name of Jesus, evil one and unclean spirits be gone!
And Holy Spirt come and fill me!
Amen.
Don’t use this as a magic formula like the seven sons of Sceva (see Acts 19 above). And don’t feel like you have to say it exactly like this. But this is Gospel Truth that you can boldly use to assert and enforce your freedom in Christ.
That One Thing
As we asked last week, Is there anything else you need to confess or renounce? Here was the question: What’s that one thing about yourself that you don’t want anyone else to know? If you’ve already revealed it, confessed it and renounced it, thank you. That takes courage and will lead to freedom. But if you’re still holding back, please consider this a safe place to deal with it.
LIVE
What truth have you discovered from today’s Bible passage(s) and conversation?
What would stop you from believing and obeying this truth?
How will you live out this truth this coming week? Finish this statement: “I will ….”
Who else needs to hear this truth? How could you share it with them?
When will we meet again?
Who will facilitate that meeting?
Pray for God’s help as you seek to follow Jesus this coming week.
WEEKLY BIBLE READINGS
Here are the Bible passages you are encouraged to read this coming week:
BUDDY SYSTEM
Connect with your buddy this week and ask each other these questions:
How are your readings going?
How’s your “I will …” statement coming along?
How’s your sharing goal coming along?
How can I pray for you?