Also, similar to the rest of us, she sometimes grew frustrated and tried to take
things into her own hands saying things such as, "You just need to give your
life to the Lord"; or "You have to quit doing the stuff you're doing."
Predictably; this would only result in her seeing the pride and rebellion in
Kevin rise up, actually making things worse. "Then I would really feel like I
had blown it," she said.
"Kevin was heading down a rocky road. He had major problems, including drugs,
depression and extreme anger," Marlena relates.
Early in 1995 she took a class of mine in which I taught these principles about
praying for the lost. Marlena shared them with her husband, Patrick, and their
children. They began to pray the principles over Kevin. They specifically prayed
the following (all parenthetical remarks are mine):
That God would lift the veil over him (revelation and enlightenment);
For the Holy Spirit to hover over him and protect him;
For godly people to be in his pathway each day;
To cast down anything that would exalt itself against the knowledge of God,
specifically pride and rebellion (This would include the hupsoma aspect of the
stronghold.);
To take down all known strongholds-thought patterns, opinions on religion,
materialism, fear (This is the logismos dimension of the stronghold.);
To bind Satan from taking Kevin captive; to bind all wicked thoughts and lies
Satan would try to place in Kevin's mind (These would be the noema aspect of the
stronghold.);
That the armor of God would be placed on him.
After two weeks of praying in this way, Kevin overdosed on drugs and in his time
of need cried out to God. "The Lord met him in a powerful way. The veil was
definitely lifted and he had a revelation of God. He now has an understanding of
the Word and responds to it. The confusion is gone! Kevin separated himself from
the world and his former friends. He is now pursuing God and Christian
relationships. His focus is on pleasing God, knowing Him more and more. He is
even considering missions."
Intercessory Prayer by Dutch Sheets, p.175-177. 1996, Gospel Light/Regal Books,
Ventura, CA 93003. Used by Permission.
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