prayer strategies to release blockages - a series

this is the first in a series of prayer strategies. if this has blessed you please leave a comment, add a blessing to it or post your own strategy from a passage in scripture.

Isaac Genesis 26

In the end of the story, Isaac was vindicated as the fear of the Lord came on the Philistines and they sued for peace. In the interim, Isaac kept making whatever adjustments he had to make to keep economic peace with the obstructionists. However, based on the Lord's promise to bless him THERE, he did not pull out of that economic region entirely. He just did damage control until the breakthrough came.

In the midst of that period of injustice, God told him to shift from cattle to farming for a year and to defiantly plant a faith crop during a drought and God rewarded him with a hundred ROI. Not bad for a first time farmer, planting at the wrong time.

PRAYER STRATEGY: Ask God to place the fear of the Lord on those who are overtly stopping up your "wells" so that they fear touching you and yours.

Ask God to show you what temporary income stream He has prepared for you, well outside the current business plan you are working, to tide you over until the fear of the Lord straightens things out with them.

Arthur Burk

prayer strategies to release blockages - Jacob Genesis 30

God's provision for Jacob

When Laban violated his financial agreement with Jacob, he asked God to do miracles in the production to offset the fluid payment scheme. God provided raw materials that should have been totally outside Jacob's reach in order to radically increase his profit margin, even though accounts receivables were being manipulated.

Prayer Strategy: Ask God to supernaturally multiply the fruitfulness of all your employees so that they produce more, at higher quality, in less time than humanly possible, so that the cost of producing your widgets is vastly under budget.

Ask God to provide substantial amounts of free or discount raw materials to further drive costs down.

Joseph

Genesis 40-41

Both times Joseph got into a bad patch, he used his character to outperform his peers and get some promotions. However, character alone did not get him where he wanted to be. Eventually God created a crisis in high places and positioned someone who knew Joseph's character to catapult him to where he needed to be.

Prayer Strategy: Ask God to precipitate a crisis at the highest level of the organization that is sanctioning the injustice that is holding you back.

Ask God to position the right person who can cause the highly motivated leader-in-crisis to demand a hyper-expedited, retroactively reimbursed adjustment to the project in question.

Exodus Part 1

The Hebrews came to Egypt as honoured guests of the Pharaoh. Over time, a series of social contracts emerged that effectively put these free people into slavery, and they had no ability to right the wrong because the web so complex and the traditional alignment of castes and races was so deep.

In the face of that, God raised up a leader who had the courage and mandate to take the first step in what would most likely be a messy process, even though he did not have a clue how the whole thing would play out.

Prayer Strategy: Ask God for a champion who has the right personality to advocate for you against an unjust leader who is holding your assets captive.

Exodus 3

Exodus Part 2

Exodus 7-8

The guy playing hardball with God's people was surrounded by a group of technicians who kept reassuring the top dog that they had more than adequate resources to block any power play by Moses. After three rounds, they choked and admitted that they were totally out of their league arm wrestling with Moses' God.

Prayer Strategy: Ask God to drive a wedge between the decision maker who is blocking economic justice and his coterie so he knows they will not have his back if push comes to shove.

Exodus Part 3

chapters 9-10

God systematically released devouring in every area of the obstructionist's economic engine, except the portion related to the Hebrews. Not only did he end up with a major cash bleed due to the destruction of capital resources, he also almost lost all of his social capital as a leader. His erstwhile henchmen knew they were in over their heads with Moses' God and were begging him to settle with Moses and his tribe.

Prayer Stratgey: Ask God to systematically strip away the financial and social assets of the one who is knowingly sustaining the injustice against you.
Ask God to convine his advisers that God's hand has turned against them so that they urge theie leader to endorse your position.

Exodus Part 4

Exodus 14

After the clear victory by the Hebrews and their God, and the restoration of 400 years of back wages with penalties and interest, Pharaoh embraced a policy of crushing them by sheer force. As he moved toward them, God positioned Himself between them and the Hebrews, so that the Hebrews had light and the Egyptians had only darkness.

Prayer Strategy: Ask God to block all visibility for any vindictive spirit in the other company, while giving extraordinary perspective to you as you dig out from the bruising battle and try to rebuild.

Jericho

Joshua 6

Jericho was a city with stone walls that were impregnable to the normal technology of the day. God used science He knew about but they did not,to take them down in an unusual way.

As the Israelites marched around the city 13 times, the uniform thud of 600,000+ pair of feet created a harmonic vibration that weakened the walls. The final shout was amplified by God to cause the walls to fall in, quite an anomaly in a circular structure.

Prayer strategy: God could have done the whole thing Himself, but he opted to use the one thing the Hebrews had available to them which was boots on the ground. He then multiplied the power of their persistent obedience.

If the things you have done so far to release the resources promised you by God have not been enough, ask God to multiply the power of your simple obedience so that it knocks out every obstacle the enemy is counting on to protect him in his passive aggressive stance.

Valley of Aijalon

Joshua 10

When things got ugly during the battle with the king of Jerusalem and his cronies, Joshua asked for an extension of time in order to get the job done.

God not only granted his request for more time, but God also partnered with him in getting the job done by using heavenly drones of the icy kind that actually killed more enemy troops than the Hebrews did.

Prayer Strategy: When A/R is delayed so that A/P is becoming a problem, ask God to cause your creditors to allow you more time, without penalties.

Ask God to send heavenly drones to cause drastic consequences in the enemy camp, in areas totally inaccessible to you.

Gideon

Judges 8

Gideon’s story has a hauntingly familiar ring. It began with a miracle, and then God seemed to have gotten distracted while some bit players refused to pull their weight, thereby jeopardizing the entire project. In the end, while God refused to intervene with the small fry who wouldn’t step up, He did do a larger miracle which was to help Gideon and his core cadre keep on going when they were all out of juice. In the end, they completed the project with huge economic ROI.

Prayer strategy: Sometimes the only possible request is for the strength to go one more mile against the odds because God is not moving in any other area. And when that is all that is left to pray, don’t hesitate to ask for that.

Sisera

Judges 4

It was God's time for the economic burden on the Israelites to be lifted off, and He had put in place a time sensitive strategy to break the back of those who were robbing His people. However, even though the natural resources were there in the Servant tribe of Zebulun and the Mercy tribe of Naphtali, and the supernatural resources were promised, the man of the hour choked.

In that situation, God's plan still had to go forward, so He turned to two women to get the job done in the place of the man who didn't have enough sand in his craw.

Prayer Strategy: Instead of getting frustrated at the passivity of the person who is clearly in the needed position and who has the responsibility to right a wrong for you, simply ask God to move HIs backup into play to do what needs to be done for there to be progress in His plan.

Saul

Jonathan at Michmash 1 Samuel 14

King Saul's army was demoralized in the face of being seriously outgunned. There was however, one young officer who still had fire in his belly and an amazing amount of chutzpah, and when he engaged the enemy, the battle turned in favour of God's people.

Prayer Strategy: When your A team has suffered o many setbacks in a given economic battle that they no longer believe in themselves, ask God to show you someone else on your team who He has graced with an uncommon vision for a frontal assault that most others would consider a suicide mission.


~ read a portion of how Jonathan defeats the Philistines

One day Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come on, let’s go over to where the Philistines have their outpost.” But Jonathan did not tell his father what he was doing.

Meanwhile, Saul and his 600 men were camped on the outskirts of Gibeah, around the pomegranate treea at Migron. Among Saul’s men was Ahijah the priest, who was wearing the ephod, the priestly vest. Ahijah was the son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the priest of the Lord who had served at Shiloh.

No one realized that Jonathan had left the Israelite camp. To reach the Philistine outpost, Jonathan had to go down between two rocky cliffs that were called Bozez and Seneh. The cliff on the north was in front of Micmash, and the one on the south was in front of Geba. “Let’s go across to the outpost of those pagans,” Jonathan said to his armor bearer. “Perhaps the Lord will help us, for nothing can hinder the Lord. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!”

“Do what you think is best,” the armor bearer replied. “I’m with you completely, whatever you decide.”

“All right then,” Jonathan told him. “We will cross over and let them see us. If they say to us, ‘Stay where you are or we’ll kill you,’ then we will stop and not go up to them. But if they say, ‘Come on up and fight,’ then we will go up. That will be the Lord’s sign that he will help us defeat them.”

When the Philistines saw them coming, they shouted, “Look! The Hebrews are crawling out of their holes!” Then the men from the outpost shouted to Jonathan, “Come on up here, and we’ll teach you a lesson!”

“Come on, climb right behind me,” Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “for the Lord will help us defeat them!”

So they climbed up using both hands and feet, and the Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer killed those who came behind them. They killed some twenty men in all, and their bodies were scattered over about half an acre.b

Suddenly, panic broke out in the Philistine army, both in the camp and in the field, including even the outposts and raiding parties. And just then an earthquake struck, and everyone was terrified.

Israel Defeats the Philistines

Saul’s lookouts in Gibeah of Benjamin saw a strange sight—the vast army of Philistines began to melt away in every direction. “Call the roll and find out who’s missing,” Saul ordered. And when they checked, they found that Jonathan and his armor bearer were gone.

Then Saul shouted to Ahijah, “Bring the ephod here!” For at that time Ahijah was wearing the ephod in front of the Israelites. But while Saul was talking to the priest, the confusion in the Philistine camp grew louder and louder. So Saul said to the priest, “Never mind; let’s get going!”

Then Saul and all his men rushed out to the battle and found the Philistines killing each other. There was terrible confusion everywhere. Even the Hebrews who had previously gone over to the Philistine army revolted and joined in with Saul, Jonathan, and the rest of the Israelites. Likewise, the men of Israel who were hiding in the hill country of Ephraim joined the chase when they saw the Philistines running away. So the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle continued to rage even beyond Beth-aven.

David

1 Samuel 17

Humanly speaking, a stone form a sling would not do too much damage to a grown man, much less a giant, but since God directed that stone to the medial prefrontal cortex of the brain, it killed Goliath.

Prayer strategy:Ask God to multiply the impact of your simple weapons by having hit points of extreme vulnerability in the enemy camp resulting in such a shocking victory on one small point that the whole rest of the opposition is left in utter disarray.

Elijah

1 Kings17

The prophet was doing all right on the food stamp program when it was suddenly dried up. Instead of God fixing it, Elijah was sent on the most improbable mission to mooch off a widow in a foreign country where there was extreme poverty due to the Elijah-induced drought. He went and God met him there. It is one of the interesting dynamics of God's Strategy Office that God so ends up doing things in a much harder way than necessary in our eyes. But where he commands, he does empower.

Prayer Strategy: When the accustomed income stream dries up and is not restored, ask God to show you what his new pipeline is- and then lean into what he shows you, no matter how odd.

Hezekiah

The king of Assyria successfully invaded Israel and was threatening Judah. In the process of the demand for surrender, the God of Israel was robustly mocked. The king sent to ask the prophet Isaiah what to do, and the prophet said, "Nothing. This is God's issue." Hezekiah stood firm ad God sent an angel of death who killed all the officer corps, and the king of Assyria withdrew to his home, only to be assassinated by his sons.

Prayer Strategy: When the leadership of another company is mocking your God and your moral values as a businessman, don't own it. Go directly to God and ask Him to protect His own reputation with power and precision.

Jehoshaphat

we do not know what to do but our eyes are fixed on YOU (2 chronicles 20:12)

Judah was being invaded by an army from three nations that was utterly overwhelming in size. He wisely called the whole nation into a time of seeking the face of the Lord until He gave directions. In the end, God caused the alliance of the three armies to implode resulting in complete extermination of the soldiers. The people of Judah spent three days collecting the booty. Far from being destroyed, they were enriched.

Prayer strategy: When business turns ugly and the opposition is trying to take you completely out of the marketplace, turn to God with prayer and fasting until you receive direction from Him. And then walk it out precisely, even though it may look as though you are marching toward oblivion.

Daniel

But Daniel resolved not to defile himself..

Daniel and his buds were being told they had to fit in with the corporate policy even though it would violate their conscience. He appealed to the head of the project and was turned down, even though that official was sympathetic to Daniel's plight. He explained that his job security was more important to him than justice for Daniel.

Daniel then went down one level in the bureaucracy and appealed for a test case option. The minion agreed to runa ten day test. It was sufficiently successful that the minion covered for Daniel's non-compliance for the duration of the project.

Prayer Strategy: When you are in the midst of a values clash which might affect your being in compliance on a project, before accepting the 'final' word of the one in charge, ask God to change the heart of some other person who WILL listen ot the facts that the standard rules are not necessary for your being effective on the project.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 32

Things were looking pretty bad in the short term and the stock brokers were frantically moving their stops lower just to get out of the market. At that time, God informed Jeremiah that He was bullish on Judah and instructed him to invest in a futures option.

Prayer strategy: When your short term options in a given market sector are deteriorating, before bailing on that income stream, ask the Lord whether He wants you to position yourself for the future there instead of leaving permanently.

Peter

don't hesitate to ask for angelic intervention

Herod arrested Peter with an eye toward execution, to enhance his own political favor. God sent an angel during the night to topen the prison doors and set Peter free to finish his Kingdom assignment.

Prayer strategy: When the death of a project seems imminent, don't hesitate to ask for angelic intervention to change the impossible, however it needs to be done.

Mary and Joseph

Matthew 2

From the time God directed Joseph and Mary to embark on their uncommon journey, there did not appear to be any further provision from God for them. In the natural, things went from bad to worse, culminating in the cruel birth in the stable.

They struggled on in the natural, surviving somehow. Abruptly two years later, the Magi brought treasures of immense proportion-a day before Joseph and Co. had to relocate to a foreign company where he had no connections.

Prayer Strategy; The fact that God does not supernaturally provide for the day to day cash flow battle you are fighting does not mean that he is not preparing to fully find a major capital project. Do not let the unanswered prayers for the small things block you from asking for all of the major resources you need for expansion, in spite of the previous cash flow battles.

Paul

Acts 16

The apostle Paul's roots were in Asia Minor so that was his psychological orientation for ministry. When he left on one of his missionary trips, at each fork of the road he tried to turn east, toward the culturally familiar turf. God blocked him consistently until he came to the end of the road, without being allowed to do his work.

There God gave him a vision of ministry options in Macedonia, which is Europe-something he had not thought of until then, particularly since he apparently hated the sea, and he would have to take a ship to get there. When he went in obedience, he was able to plant the church that was closest to him from then on.

Prayer strategy; When you can't make the kind of widgets you have been making for a long time and you would like to keep making, ask God what you will have to embrace in order to make a different kind of widget that he will bless in this new season.



THIS ENDS THE SERIES ON PRAYER STRATEGIES TO RELEASE BLOCKAGES