Dick Leggatt, President of Derek Prince Ministries – USA and this comprises his November 11, 2014 Newsletter.  Click here to receive the Derek Prince Ministries emailed E-devotional.

 

Are you bound up in some area of your life?  Is there a nagging issue that makes you feel as if chains are wrapped around you?  Does it feel like some kind of yoke is on your neck — weighing you down and restricting your freedom?

Let’s face it.  We all have problems — some of them completely hidden from view and unknown to others.  People like you and me can look completely normal, yet we actually have a hidden burden that hampers us — some kind of a “yoke” around our necks.  What might that yoke look like in our lives?  It could be a horrible self-image that hobbles us.  Or a hidden addiction, an unreasoning fear, scars from past abuses, or bouts with depression.  Yokes like that can weigh us down, making normal life much more difficult.  If any of those describe your condition, please know that you are not alone in what you face.

In this letter, our intention is to understand fully how the Lord can remove that yoke, and break its hold over us forever.  How does that sound to you?

A Very Clear Answer

I was asked recently to speak at a local conference of pastors whose main focus is ministry to the Hispanic community.  It was to be a very short speaking session — basically only enough time for a greeting, a quick introduction of the work of Derek Prince Ministries, and a brief update.  As I was preparing for the meeting, I didn’t feel any pressing need to prepare notes of any kind.  But then, I sensed that familiar urging of the Holy Spirit.

To that unmistakable prompting, I responded: “Lord, what do You want me to say to these people?”  Sometimes the answer comes in the form of a vague impression, or sometimes nothing particularly distinct.  Not this time.  Very clearly, the answer came: “Here is what I want you to tell those people: the anointing breaks the yoke.”

A Powerful Passage

As soon as I heard this Word from the Lord, something leaped inside of me.  I recognized it as a very powerful, potentially liberating word.  I remembered hearing this exact expression over the years from many speakers, so I assumed it was actually a verse of Scripture.  It was not.

Checking in a concordance, I found a citation that matched it fairly closely, and what a powerful verse it is!  Isaiah 10:27 says: “It shall come to pass in that day that his burden [the burden of the Assyrian] will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed [broken] because of the anointing oil.”

I spent a few more minutes searching through the Word for “the anointing breaks the yoke,” yet never found it.  However, what I did find was extremely encouraging.  First of all, there are many references to yokes.  Secondly, in the references that deal with the Lord’s help with “yokes” or “burdens” or “chains,” most times the Lord first removes them.  Consistently, His second step is to break them so they can never again be placed upon us.

We see this pattern clearly in Isaiah 58:6, a verse about the kind of fast which is acceptable to the Lord. “To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens [the bonds of the yoke], to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?”

Removing and breaking every yoke.  Extremely good news, wouldn’t you agree?

Our Messiah: the Anointed One

The other point of clarification from this quick study that was very helpful regarded “the anointing.”  Over the years, I had heard a few speakers and teachers who tended to refer to “the anointing” in worshipful, hushed tones.  “The anointing is here!”  “Let’s wait on the anointing!”

Without question, the anointing of the Holy Spirit is very powerful and beneficial.  What I realized, however, is that it is not a “something” that breaks yokes and chains — it’s a “Someone.”  It is the Anointed One, our Messiah, who is anointed by the Holy Spirit of God.  It is Jesus Christ who absolutely delights in removing and breaking any chains that bind us.

The Scripture that expresses this so clearly is Isaiah 61:1, quoted by Jesus in Luke 4:18: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.”  Every one of those actions by the Anointed One equates to breaking a yoke.  We can say with confidence: “Jesus, the Anointed One, breaks every yoke.”

Healing All Who Are Oppressed

Derek Prince taught on this topic of Jesus, the Anointed One — who removes and breaks the yokes that burden people.  He made it clear, however, that this is just one of many aspects of the ministry of our Lord and Savior.  It’s good to remember that the Lord reveals Himself to us in many ways, meeting a variety of needs in our lives at different times.  For right now, let’s focus on Derek’s teaching on Jesus, the Messiah.

So, He [Jesus] was filled with the Spirit, led by the Spirit, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. He was truly the Mashiach, the Messiah, the Christos, the Anointed.  In Luke, chapter 4, verses 17 and 18, we read how He Himself declared that He was the fulfillment of God’s promise and He Himself entered into the synagogue in Nazareth and took the Scripture which we’ve already read in Isaiah 61:1 and applied it to Himself….

Then He closed the book, and in words of tremendous historical significance He said to them, “Today this prophecy is fulfilled in your ears.”  He said, “I am the one; I am the Anointed; The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.”  And He went forth from that moment as the Deliverer bringing release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, setting free those who were downtrodden, bringing the Gospel to the poor.

This marvelous ministry of Jesus, the Anointed, the Christ, the Messiah, is summed up by Peter in one verse.  As he was speaking to the house of Cornelius, he described to them what he had witnessed in the ministry of Jesus. Acts 10:38: “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him” (NASB).

That’s the summation of the ministry of Jesus as the Messiah, the Anointed, the Christ. God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit.  God was with Him.  In the power of that anointing, He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil.

Breaking Every Yoke

Are there some specific personal situations coming to mind as we share about Jesus’ desire and power to remove bondages from our lives and break the yokes off our necks?  You may be thinking about an area of your life where you know you are chained down — where there is a need for the Lord to remove a yoke and break it into pieces.  You and I both know He will gladly help us with those areas.  All we have to do is ask Him.

Would you like to deal with that matter once and for all right now?  Let’s ask Jesus to release us from that yoke by praying the following prayer together.

Lord, first and foremost, I want to recognize and honor you as my Messiah — the Anointed One who has forgiven me, released me from captivity, and chosen me to be used for Your purposes.  Thank You, Lord, for pouring out Your grace upon me and making me Your very own.  I commit myself afresh to You with this prayer.

Now I want to confess that there are some areas of my life in which I am burdened by a yoke.  No one else but You knows how bound up I am, and I need Your help to get free.  Lord, please remove these bondages from me that hamper me and hinder me.  I also ask You to destroy them completely. Break their hold over me from this point forward.

Thank You, Lord, for bringing complete freedom to me.  I give You all praise and all honor.  Help me in the days ahead to step into the new liberty You have provided for me.  I want to walk in a way that has eluded me until this moment of freedom which You have provided.  Thank You for removing and breaking the yoke that has weighed me down. Amen.

Walking in Freedom

Because of the prayer you just prayed, you will be able to walk differently — freed from the yoke and the burden you have been carrying up to now.  You may have not even realized you were carrying it.  But by the prayer you have just prayed, that yoke has been lifted off your neck.  The Lord has broken it into pieces so that it may never again be used against you.  If you want to shout and sing right now, you have good reason to do so.

Please know that we are shouting and singing with you.  Your freedom, as well as your closer relationship with Jesus Christ, is of the highest importance to us.  We want to help you in every possible way to live in a way that brings maximum glory to our Savior.  We are committed to that end and want to offer you free materials by Derek Prince to assist you, specifically the full teaching from which Derek’s excerpt was taken — a week-long series of radio messages he recorded on the “Titles of Jesus.”

This free material we offer you is simply out of our deep gratitude for your involvement with us.  Through your prayers and intercession for us, your expressions of appreciation and your generous financial participation, you are making it possible for us to do this vital work.  We simply can’t thank you enough.  Simply click here to download this free message, “Titles of Jesus, Part 2.”  It’s yours for the asking — and we sure hope you will do the asking so we can do the sending.

“Your Yoke Is Broken!”

Now it’s time for you to walk in that new found freedom you have just received.  As you have clearly discovered, the Anointed One breaks every yoke . Your life will be newer and freer from this moment on because of that truth, and because of what you have just prayed in response to this letter.

We hope you will share what has happened to you with someone close to you.  When you do, please let them know that we stand ready to be of assistance and encouragement to them as well.  You can begin by telling them: “The Anointed One breaks every yoke!”

 

All the best,
Dick Leggatt
President, DPM–USA

 

P.S. It is such a privilege to be joined with you in the work of Derek Prince Ministries. Thank you again for partnering with us. Let us remind you once more to click here to download the free CD we mentioned, “Titles of Jesus, Part 2.” We hope to hear from you!

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Materials used by kind permission of Derek Prince Ministries.