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chapter_six.docxchapter Six
The Power of a Promise
Congratulations! The wall may be invisible, but you know it’s there, because you have been bold enough to name it. It can never hold you back again without your knowing it. Your wall is marked for destruction.
Putting a name to your wall is a huge step, and you are now in position to get started on the best part of the process—tearing down your wall on the way to a Faith Breakthrough. It’s time to recognize two important warnings, though.
Warning 1
You’re about to uncover some powerful ways of moving past your wall, and there is a sequence to the steps involved. However, you’ll also notice that not all dots are connected. This is not an accident. Like a gardener cultivating the growth of a beautiful plant, there are really no shortcuts: you will be responding to God’s work in you far more than “making the breakthrough happen.” There is a critical role for the Holy Spirit to play. Don’t get ahead of him! As you read through these pages, take time once in a while to ask God these questions:
• Is there a place in my life where I am unwilling to trust that you want what is best for me?
• Are there areas of my heart that are failing to embrace the promise?
• Am I focusing on a surface issue and ignoring a deeper area of my life that needs to be addressed?
If you read through these chapters and follow the guidelines, you will probably be better able to cope with the walls in your life. But if you allow the Holy Spirit to guide you on this journey—even if that means that your course takes a few different turns than you find here—you will have experienced something far beyond what any of us can accomplish apart from him.
Warning 2
If you try to attack your wall with the wrong weapon, you’re going to be disappointed. Not just any old weapon will do. I’ve seen the frustration people go through when they identify the walls in their lives and attack them with positive thinking, willpower, or even blame. The only weapon that will work is the one God has provided us.
The Bible gives us a clue with an amazing inside look at the life of Abraham, whose name actually means “father of many.” Ironically, Abraham had no children until a very old age. Imagine the Wall of Frustration that could go up if you’d been promised a massive lineage only to have no children.
But he never lost hope in the promises God had given him, and he eventually was just that—the ultimate ancestor. Romans 4:20-21 tells us the secret of his legacy: “Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.”
Abraham broke through his wall in the only way that truly works: using the power of God’s promises. And the God of Abraham has promises awaiting you, too—promises that have the power to carry you right past the wall in front of you.
You’ve probably been aware of the power of words all of your life, but not all words are created equal.
The Berlin Wall didn’t fall because Ingeborg Elz proclaimed her desire that it would. But the Wall fell in part because Ronald Reagan promised it would fall. When words of promise are spoken by someone who has the power to back up those words, there is the potential for monumental change!
After Reagan echoed the historic words of Ingeborg Elz, he said something much less famous but just as impactful. He spoke of a promise:
As I looked out a moment ago from the Reichstag, that embodiment of German unity, I noticed words crudely spray-painted upon the wall, perhaps by a young Berliner, “This wall will fall. Beliefs become reality.” Yes, across Europe, this wall will fall. For it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom. 5
Some young Berliner boldly made a statement, and the leader of the free world turned it into a promise: “This wall will fall.”
How much more, then, should we have confidence when the Leader of the whole world, Jesus Christ, makes a promise? The promises of God are the secret weapon that can tear down every wall.
Are you convinced yet? Do you really believe that walls can come down through the power of promises? Perhaps you are thinking right now, I’ve heard this before, and it doesn’t work. I have read God’s promises, and I’ve prayed, and I didn’t get what I wanted!
We need to understand that God’s promises are powerful weapons, but they have to be used correctly.
Beware of the Misuse of Power
Why is it that young boys so often come up with great ideas at the very time their parents aren’t home, especially the kind of great ideas that can easily lead to a catastrophe? At least that’s the way it seemed for me when I was a boy.
I remember that when I was around ten years old, I was given a set of walkie-talkies. They were all the rage at the time, and mine were top-of-the-line, meaning they were black and heavy and they had a range of twenty or even thirty feet, so my friend and I could communicate at long distance—as long as we were actually close enough to hear each other anyway!
those walkie-talkies were perfect for playing army and coordinating attacks. They wouldn’t hold the attention of a modern-day boy for thirty seconds, but to us they were cutting-edge. One day when I was playing around with my walkie-talkies, my parents left me alone for a short while to run an errand. And that’s when I came up with an idea I was convinced would change communication as we knew it.
It came to me after my parents had pulled out of the driveway: If using the nine-volt battery that powered my new walkie-talkies could allow me to talk to someone twenty feet away, what would happen if the walkie-talkie had more power?
It was like when the apple hit Newton over the head and he suddenly realized he’d discovered gravity. Or actually, it was probably more like when Emmett Brown, “Doc” in the movie Back to the Future, falls while he’s hanging a picture in his bathroom, hits his head, and comes up with the idea for the flux capacitor. My idea, unfortunately, didn’t work as well as either of theirs. Regardless, I was sure at the time that I’d stumbled upon a communications breakthrough all my own.
All I needed was more power for my radio, and the sky would be the limit in terms of how far away I could communicate with someone. Quick thinking took me to an old lamp that was ready for the trash heap anyway, and I was able to cut off the cord easily with a set of wire cutters. My great idea was that if I could just connect my walkie-talkie to the electric outlet instead of to that puny nine-volt battery, I could create a supercolossal galactic radio transponder. Forget twenty feet! I was about to create something so supercharged it would allow me to talk to people on the other side of the planet.
I went to work cutting off the plastic caps that went over the nine-volt battery in my walkie-talkie. Next, I twisted those small wires onto the larger open wires from the old lamp cord.
Now all I had to do was plug in my invention. I was all set to be the next Edison.
Unfortunately, the only thing I did share in common with Edison that day was that I learned something about electricity.
It’s fast.
If you’re a ten-year-old boy who is unwittingly trying to burn down the garage, electricity is fast enough to travel almost instantly from the wall to what had previously been known as my walkie-talkie, which I dropped like a burning snake, and that literally was melting in front of my eyes!
My problem wasn’t in figuring out how to increase the power to my radio. I did that just fine, thank you. My problem wasn’t power—it was that I was ill equipped to access the tremendous power available, so I went about it the wrong way.
There is a life-giving, life-sustaining, wall-breaking power in God’s Word and, in particular, in God’s promises. A power that spiritual walls simply cannot withstand. But many people miss out on that power because they don’t understand how to tap into it. The result is frustration and disappointment, like running 220 volts into a nine-volt walkie-talkie.
Occasionally I talk to a church member who says, “Pastor, I want a breakthrough so badly, but it’s just not working.” Because our people have been taught over and over about the secret weapon of God’s promises, I will always ask, “What promises are you claiming from God’s Word?” And for those who can’t get past their walls, they will invariably stumble. If it’s a financial breakthrough they need, sometimes they will say, “I’m trusting God for the promise of being debt free!”
And I’ll ask, “Where is that promise?” What I mean is that the Scripture speaks on the subject of debt, but it doesn’t promise that God will wipe out your financial obligations. That misbelief short-circuits the promises of God. What God does promise is that he will provide for his children when they trust him and when they learn to live with a mind-set of contentment. God teaches that he rewards the diligent and that our hearts will focus where our treasure is placed. And while those promises may not take all the debt away (remember, your walls are not your circumstances!), they will radically impact the Wall of Greed or Lack of Discipline or Fear that is causing the debt to mount. Invariably, the debt will be addressed when the real promises are claimed.
When people discover the proper use of God’s promises and begin to count on those promises, I have never seen those walls left standing over the course of time. Walls lose when they go up against God’s promises!
God’s Word is full of life and truth and power—and promises. That’s exactly what you’ll see in the stories of some of the “wall breakers” I know. You’ll find their stories near the end of each chapter in this section. Each wall breaker is a member of our church, Bannockburn Baptist Church in Austin, Texas. They have all been a part of our journey through Faith Breakthroughs, and they have all claimed a promise of God and begun to turn that power loose on their unhealthy mind-sets. Amazingly (and often miraculously) their walls started coming down. Real walls. Spiritual walls that, for many of them, had been standing for years before they came down.
There is little doubt that President Reagan’s promise, “This wall will fall,” was a huge factor in the Berlin Wall’s coming down just a couple of years later. And there is absolutely no doubt that God’s Word, and God’s promises, can power through the most difficult wall in front of you.
god’s Word and the Very Worst of Walls
“But Pastor Ryan,” I’ve been told by people in my church and elsewhere, “you don’t understand; I was abused . . .” or, “I was betrayed . . .” or, “I was abandoned . . .” As I cross the country talking to people about making Faith Breakthroughs in their lives, it seems I always meet someone who feels that his or her story—his or her wall—is just too high for any words, whether those words are God’s promises or otherwise.
I’m the first to admit how grateful I am for the home I grew up in, filled with so much love and light. I also know how blessed I’ve been to have a beautiful, godly wife and wonderful children who know and love the Lord. In comparison to lots of people I’ve met, I know I have suffered so little. But I also know that God’s promises are true and that God’s Word speaks of his Son, Jesus, who endured the suffering of the cross and whose words and light can break through the darkest of places. Even the darkness of a POW camp.
It was Christmas Eve 1967, and Lieutenant John McCain was being given another “mind-set adjustment session” by his sadistic Vietnamese captors. Shot down over Hanoi, McCain had joined a number of other American prisoners of war in the infamous prison they called the “Hanoi Hilton.” On that day, McCain had been caught talking with another prisoner and was being beaten for his offense.
McCain later told of how one interrogator in particular delighted in brutality. He would approach McCain each day and demand that he bow before him. If McCain refused, he’d be struck in the face. But if he did bow, he’d be struck in the face anyway. So either way, this guard would smash his fist into the side of McCain’s head every day, knocking him to the ground. In McCain’s words, “These encounters were not episodic. They occurred every morning for nearly two years.”
Try to imagine being trapped in that kind of setting every day for years. A place where high walls topped with barbed wire surround you and where daily doses of cruelty and torture await you . . . even on the day before Christmas.
that Christmas Eve, things got much worse than just a blow to the head. Late in the afternoon McCain was brought from his cell to the main interrogation room. He was tied to a chair and literally beaten unconscious.
The officers were the interrogators, and in McCain’s words, they were the most brutal to the prisoners. The camp was also run by soldiers whom the Americans called gun guards. They wandered around the camp, carrying rifles on their shoulders. Many of these men had been so severely wounded in battle that it kept them from being shipped to the front lines. And it was these young men who supervised the prisoners’ daily routines. They would let the men out of their cells to eat their meals or to bathe, and they were the ones who locked them back up in their cells when they were finished.
And so it was that, on a memorable night, Lieutenant McCain woke up from his beating around midnight. The regular night shift time for gun guards was from 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. As he came to his senses, McCain realized he was still tied to his chair and was in terrible pain.
That’s when a gun guard entered the room.
McCain had never talked to this man, nor did he even remember making eye contact with him, something that was forbidden for the prisoners to do with their captors.
The young soldier stood inside the interrogation room for a moment and then quickly walked over to McCain. Silently, without once looking directly at or smiling at his prisoner, he loosened the ropes that bound him and left him alone in the room. Incredible relief flowed over McCain as the blood flowed back into his arms and legs, and he was able to sit up and even stand to stretch. A few minutes before his shift ended, that same gun guard returned, sat him back down in the chair, and tightened his ropes.
McCain knew that, without question, if that young man had been caught aiding an American prisoner, the best he could hope for would be to be shot. More likely, he would have been tortured to death in front of the other gun guards as an example of what would happen to those who aided the enemy. But no one knew what had happened that early Christmas morning except this unknown gun guard and Lieutenant John McCain.
Morning came, and it was Christmas Day. An officer came in and ordered the new guard to untie McCain and take him back to his cell. He arrived in time for the Christmas gift the prisoners were given. They were allowed to stand outside their cells for five minutes to exercise or just to stand there and look at the trees and sky.
It was during these minutes that McCain noticed the same young gun guard who had risked his life to loosen McCain’s ropes approach him. McCain writes:
He walked up and stood silently next to me. Again, he didn’t smile or look at me. He just stared at the ground in front of us. After a few moments had passed he rather nonchalantly used his sandaled foot to draw a cross in the dirt. We both stood wordlessly looking at the cross until, after a minute or two, he rubbed it out and walked away.
The reason that day was so significant is revealed in the title of McCain’s book, Faith of My Fathers. 6 I can just imagine that in the midst of that moment, he was drawn back to a promise he had heard early in life: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5, NKJV; see also Deuteronomy 31:8; Joshua 1:5).
That event became a turning point in McCain’s life. As terrible as conditions would be for the next five years, he would know that no walls were too high for God’s love to penetrate. Without a word—with just a picture of the Cross and the thousands of words it represents—God showed him that any wall, even the ones surrounding the Hanoi Hilton, could one day come down. It was the power of God’s promise that kept McCain alive and expectant of better days. And that same power is available for you today, ready to carry you through—and beyond—your own walls.
In the book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul talks about what life was like for each of us before the Cross, when we were cut off from God and stuck on the wrong side of the wall. He says, “In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope” (Ephesians 2:12).
Notice that the people who were living apart from Jesus were being robbed of one very important aspect of his presence: the promises God had made to them. They were without knowledge of God’s promises, and so they saw life without the luxury of God and hope—an outlook that was ripe for unhealthy mind-sets. And then he concludes the thought by sharing what happened when the promises were reintroduced: “For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us” (Ephesians 2:14).
Jesus’ blood, shed on the cross, broke down the wall that divided a fallen people from a holy God. And that same wall-breaking power is available to the believer for the rest of his or her life! If you have stayed the course, even in the worst of circumstances, then you know what it means to experience blessings whether the situation changes or not.
What if John McCain had never made it out of Hanoi? Would the promise he was clinging to have been any less powerful? I say no, because the promise extends beyond this world to the eternity awaiting those who trust and know Jesus. To forsake God’s promises because the blessing doesn’t come in the shape or form you had hoped is only robbing yourself. It could be that the circumstances may be about to change for the better. And it could be that God wants to bless you in the midst of those circumstances in a way that you can’t humanly see or understand. The challenges you face are not an indicator of a lack of faith. They are instead an opportunity to express that faith.
Are you ready, then, to learn how specifically to use the power God gives us through his cross, through his Word, and within his promises to tear down your walls?
I’m not sure what voices are telling you that your wall can’t come down. Perhaps you hear failed promises that you’ve made in the past that mock your efforts to try yet again. Or you might hear words from a specific person in the past (even someone linked to your wall) saying things like, “You will never amount to anything . . .” or, “What a crutch you have with your religion . . .” or, “How can I think you can take care of me, when you can’t even take care of yourself?” or, “I left you for a reason; you’re worthless!” or, “You don’t need to forgive him . . . you need to ‘overcome’ him!” or, “Don’t you realize how badly you’ve sinned? Do you really think that God is going to let you off the hook for that?”
I’m sure Satan will have a whole team of editors ready either to supply negative words or to get you to cut out from your speech (or even your thinking) any words you might say that sound like, “Lord, it’s time for my wall to fall!”
Whispered words can lull us to sleep when action is needed. Words like, “Oh, it’s not that big of a deal, that ‘wall’ in front of you,” or, “That wall has been standing in your life for so long; you should just ‘accommodate’ for it.”
Or you’ll hear other voices saying that the idea of a wall coming down is just false or naive hope, or that tearing it down will do nothing but stir up problems and be needlessly provocative. “Just leave well enough alone. What you’re about to do is going to be too hard!” the voices will say.
But don’t listen.
Listen instead to the promises that await you, the promises God has been offering you all along.
thers dealt with the pain in their own ways—sometimes with feelings of anger, sometimes with hearts of despair. Of course, because their mom was the “safer target,” she became the object of much of their vengeance. As is often the case, the children did not comprehend the details of what took place. They only knew that things were no longer the same.
Up to those moments, Mike’s expectations had been built upon a few important foundational truths: love and marriage were forever; his parents would always be there for him; and the God who loved him would protect him from pain. But in a moment—in one meeting with Dad—all the truths on which he based his mind-sets about life blew up in front of him.
As the family dealt with the crisis, they began to splinter, leaving Mike to bounce around among extended family members. Mike tried so hard, but it seemed that soon a Wall of Fear that he would never have a normal family himself blocked him from any kind of real commitment.
Mike spent his teen years on the move from his mother to his father to his grandparents and back to Mom. At every stop, he also felt pressure as he tried to deal with an angry older brother’s resentment and a confused younger brother’s detachment.
As a young adult, however, some circumstances in Mike’s life shaped a dramatic transformation. He met Marisha when he was staying with his mother and her new husband. And as they fell in love, Marisha provided the motivation Mike needed to seek a better way. God’s grace and power demonstrated to them both that that better way was more than a dream.
They began to claim—and live—God’s promises for their lives. One promise they clung to was John 1:12-13: “To all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.” Several years into their marriage God brought Mike and Marisha to Austin, Texas, and to Bannockburn, the church where I am pastor. While attending a parents class I was teaching, they heard me talk about the importance of understanding the heritage we have received, good or bad, and choosing to hand it to the Lord. Mike came to see me at the church a few days after our first meeting. With tears in his eyes, he shared his heartache and disappointments from growing up in a dysfunctional family, but he also shared something with all of the determination a man can have. Mike was absolutely committed to provide a better way for his children, a life without the hindrances of the walls that destroy the home.
A few weeks later, during our dedication service on Sunday morning, I had the privilege of handing Mike and Marisha a copy of a Legacy Covenant they had crafted for themselves, a proclamation before God that they were choosing to walk in his promises for their family. In the years that have followed that special morning, I have had the privilege of watching the walls continue to fall in their lives. Mike is living beyond the hurt that comes from many of his childhood memories and instead is able to serve as a conduit of God’s grace to his entire family. We were e-mailing back and forth recently about his journey to a breakthrough, and Mike reminded me of something powerful about the process of tearing down walls: “I’m glad to know that as my wall came down, Christ was not on the other side. He was right here with me, taking it apart.”
