Introduction:

In this Freedom Prayer Guide, we are going to take time to prayerfully:

• Identify areas where we are walking in habitual sins of the flesh

• Break our ties with them and the bondage they bring

• Commit to walking in the Spirit

Biblical Foundations:

Habitual and persistent sin stems from walking in the flesh- which is characterized by self-centeredness and opposition to God. As we learn to walk in the Spirit, we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit and the new nature given to believers in Christ. "Walking in the flesh" bears the poisonous fruit of persistent sin, spiritual stagnation, and damaged relationships with God and others, whereas walking in the Spirit bears the fruit of Christ-likeness, deepened relationship with God, and love toward others.

Galatians 5:13-25 - “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Romans 8:5 “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Romans 5:12“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.“

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you for the freedom that comes through walking in the Spirit. Please search our hearts, our thoughts and our have been walking in the flesh (Galatians 5:16-26).

Confession:

During this phase of the freedom journey, we want to turn to God’s Word and God’s Spirit to highlight to us place where we have walked in the habitual sins of the flesh, and then we are going to take time to prayerfully confess this.

Walking in the Flesh Inventory:

Prayerfully read over the following list of common areas people walked in the flesh from Galatians 5 and Mark 7.20-23). Ask the Holy Spirit to bring to mind any areas you are or have in the past or are currently walking in the flesh:

• Sexual immorality

• Impurity

• Debauchery;

• Idolatry and witchcraft;

• Hatred

• Discord

• Jealousy

• Fits of rage

• Selfish ambition

• Dissensions

• Factions

• Envy

• Drunkenness

• Orgies

• Theft

• Greed

• Malice

• Deceit

• Lewdness

• Arrogance

• Slander

• Foolishness

• and things like these

Prayerfully take note of places you have walked in the habitual sins of the flesh.

Repentance:

A working definition of repentance encompasses experiencing godly sorrow over your sin (2 Corinthians 7.10), turning away from that sin and turning towards the Lord (1 Thess 1:9), as well as bearing the fruit of genuine change (Matt. 3.8). The Lord extends mercy and forgiveness to the repentant (Isaiah 55.7).

After you have prayerfully considered the Flesh Inventory, we have an opportunity to experience the freeing power of Jesus as we confess and repent of these places of sin and receive forgiveness and grace for humility.

Guided Prayer of Confession, Repentance and Receiving Forgiveness:

Lord, I confess I have walked in the habitual sins of the flesh in the following ways _______________________ _________________. I repent of living this way and renounce any ground that the enemy has taken in my life through walking in the flesh. Thank you for the power of your blood that washes me clean and your Spirit that fills me and grows the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control in my life.

Replace & Restore:

Repentance leads to sin being replaced with new life, healing and renewal.

Often, our places of walking in the flesh masks places where we have been hurt in the past. As we release these lies, Jesus wants to replace it with healing for our broken hearts (Luke 4.18) that we might live out our calling to walk in his Spirit

Use this guided prayer to receive a fresh healing in the place of our pain, shame and fear

Jesus, thank you that you see me. As I humble myself before you, I open up my heart and life to you in a fresh way and ask for you to heal my heart.

Take time to sit in silence for 1-2 minutes and listen to the Lord. Pay attention to what you sense the Holy Spirit doing in you and speaking to you during this time.

After a minute or two have each person in the group share what they sense the Spirit speaking or doing in them.