Theresa seems to be vindictive enough; she would pay money for someone to hunt me down just for the principle of the thing. And I’ll give it to whomever it is searching; they are attempting to be quite clever about sniffing me out. Like when they had that detective tell folks I’m possibly heir to some huge fortune in, of all places, Asheville, North Carolina, and that it’s imperative my family locate me. Like I would really fall for that one. As soon as I took that bait, they would be reeling me into the nearest jailhouse and threatening to throw away the key or who knows what else.
Lately, I have considered making things right with my family. Just go on and allow that man to catch me and face the consequences. Frankly, I’m just tired of running. I’m too old to continue living this kind of lifestyle. Moving constantly, looking over my shoulders, hustling for my next “pay” day by any means necessary.
This minister was preaching about strongholds and being released from them.
“God can release you from the strongholds of your past,” Pastor Landris said. “Some of you may have done things you think you can never be forgiven of. There’s not a sin out there that you can’t bring before the Lord and ask Him to forgive you of that He won’t forgive. And God won’t bring up your past to you again. But now Satan will take your past and try to keep you in bondage. He’ll tell you how horrible you are. He’ll tell you that God could never forgive someone like you. But Satan is a liar, and the truth is not in him. Come, won’t you? Come, and let God release the shackles from around your ankles today. Let Him break the chains that have you bound.” He pulled his fist in different directions to show a chain being broken.
“If you’re tired of carrying around heavy weights that are holding you down,” Pastor Landris said, “then come. Let’s pray to have your stronghold released. If you want to be free, get up out of your seat and walk up here right now. Don’t wait for tomorrow. Today is your appointed time. Don’t worry about what the person sitting next to you will think. This is about you. Get up and come forward now. Right now. Today. Today is your day to be set free. For whom the Son sets free, is free indeed.”
I stood up, and the next thing I knew, I was standing at the altar with tears streaming down my face. I already knew the Lord; I’d given Him my heart when I was a young girl. True: I didn’t know what all that meant at the time. And I had turned away from Him and all that I knew to be right. But now it appears that in the midst of all my running away, I may be finding my way back to Him. It’s as though today, I am running into the arms of my Lord, who has been standing there waiting for me all this time.
“Take me back,” I found myself singing quietly as I walked to the front. “Take me back, dear Lord. To the place where I first received You.”
Chapter 2
Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.
—2 Corinthians 8:21
Pastor Landris stood at the front of the conference room. “Many of you came forward today when I extended the call for those who were dealing with various strongholds. I prayed for you at the altar, and as much as all of us would love for your deliverance from your stronghold to have been instantaneous, that’s not always the case. It’s not as if prayer alone will always cause everything to suddenly be all right,” Pastor Landris said as he took a few steps forward. “I believe in the power of prayer, but I also believe there are times where some work, strides, and efforts must be made on our part for a change to completely take hold and become effective.”
A woman raised her hand.
“Yes,” Pastor Landris said, acknowledging her.
“So coming forward today didn’t automatically break me from my stronghold?”
Pastor Landris smiled. “Sometimes some people experience an immediate manifestation of deliverance. Sometimes there is work that has to be done as the process is taking place. I’ve known people who have come up and asked me to pray for them to be released from, say, overwhelming debt. Now, I know everybody would love to just walk up to the front, have a minister slap them upside their head, and everything is set straight, right then and there. But God doesn’t always work that way. I’m not saying that He can’t do it that way; it’s just many times things are done in progression. First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear.”
A man raised his hand. “So you’re saying some of us may be released from our strongholds already?”
“Yes. And some of you may have to work it while you believe God for your full manifestation. I believe God did a work in each of you when you stood up, took that step of faith, and came forward. It might have been just the blade for some of you; for others, the full ear.” Pastor Landris looked toward the back as another hand went up. “Yes?”
“Then what you’re saying is that prayer alone doesn’t work?”
“I’m not saying prayer alone doesn’t work. But I feel people have misconceptions about prayer. Prayer is not designed to be a magic cure-all. Prayer is a way to bring a request before God. Look at prayer as being an usher who escorts you and your request front and center. That’s why I wanted all of you to come in here so we could talk more in-depth. My desire is to equip you with every tool needed to win your individual battles. God’s desire, as is mine in having done all these sessions on strongholds, is to set captives free. Think of my giving you information as bringing you before a locked door. Prayer delivers the key designed to unlock that door for you. If you have a key and don’t use it, what good does it do you? If you use the key—faith—but you refuse to walk through the unlocked door, it still profits you nothing. You must fully act on your faith to overcome your strongholds. But you also need a powerful weapon to fight with. This”—Pastor Landris picked up his Bible and held it up—“two-edged sword, the Word of God, applied consistently in daily living, will set captives free.”
Dr. Holden raised his hand.
“Yes?”
“How long does this process generally take? And is there any way we can accelerate the processing time…get to the full ear? I’m sort of in a hurry.”
A few people laughed while others looked intensely toward Pastor Landris for the answer.
“Much of where you go and how fast you get there from here will depend upon you. God has already done it. It’s finished in His eyes. But as the Bible says, without faith, it is impossible to please God; and faith without works is dead. You can believe you’ve been healed, delivered, your stronghold has been placed under your feet and that you’re free. But unless you act on that belief, in the end it doesn’t really matter what you believe. That’s why faith—action—is so important.” Another hand went up. “Yes?”
“So what’s next for us?”
Pastor Landris smiled and clapped his hands one time. “Glad you asked. What I’d like to do is to have our Deliverance Support Ministry meet with any of you who are interested in a specially created Bible study on this subject. This is a brand new ministry we’ve started here. This Wednesday will be the first time for this group to meet. The first two or three weeks will be used to disseminate information and tools with which you’ll learn how to cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. But to get you started, and for those who are not interested in this Bible study, I do have a handout for you to take with you so you can begin to make changes in your life today.”
Pastor Landris nodded to Sherry and her team to distribute the handouts. “For some of you, this handout may be enough to help usher you into the full manifestation of your deliverance. If that’s