Getting To The Root

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As we have watched the events of the past weeks unfold you can hear the hearts of many crying out for deep and systematic change that will get at the root of the issues. It is a principle we see in Scripture. In Romans 11:16, Paul says “If the root is holy, so are the branches.” Jesus said, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots (Matthew 15:13).” Amos 2:9 says that God destroyed the fruit of the enemy of His people and the roots below.

We cannot achieve this in our own strength and efforts. Our Heavenly Father’s strength can destroy every evil root. But God doesn’t just pull up the evil roots. He gives us the Root, Jesus. In Revelation 22:16 Jesus says, “I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.”

Our role is to start with our own hearts. Asking God to search us and pull out any evil roots we have allowed to grow. Letting God do a deep work in each of us. Then ask the Root of David, the Bright and Morning Star, to fill us with Himself, so that through prayer and obedience, we can replace the evil roots (foundations) with holy roots that will produce fruit.

God wants the body of Christ to stand against separations energized by Satan, whether those are on a national scale or the separation that has formed in our personal relationships. In Matthew 12:25 Jesus said that every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. Christ brought down the wall of hostility between God and man, Jew and Gentile, black and white, east and west, male and female, young and old, so that in Him we can all be “built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit (Ephesians 2:10-22).”

God commands us to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace and, as much as possible, to live at peace with all men (Ephesians 4:3, Rom. 12:18). God warns us not to regard anyone after the flesh but to walk in the ministry of reconciliation that God has given to us (2 Corinthians 5:16, 18).

Use this prayer as a starting point to your own conversation with God. It is not a list to be rushed through. Pause at each line and listen to what God wants to reveal to you.

Father,

Forgive me for the ways I have allowed evil roots to have a place in my heart and mind. You are the Gardener of my heart. You search me and know my every thought. Please shine the light of Your glory so that anything that is not of You can be uprooted and removed.

Remove all roots of prejudice (favoritism, discrimination, tribalism, tradition)
James 2:1-12, John 4:9, 1:43-51, Mark 6:1-6, Esther 3:8-10

And replace them with fear of God, Godly wisdom and the ministry of reconciliation.
Proverbs 9:10, James 3:17-18, 2 Corinthians. 5:18-19, Ephesians 2:15b-16

Remove the root of walking in the flesh (carnality, divisions, jealousy, anger, unforgiveness, bitterness)
Galatians 5:19-21, 1 Corinthians  3:1-4, 12:25-27 Jude 16-19, Ephesians. 4:31-32, Hebrews 12:15

And replace it with walking in the Spirit and being rooted in love and filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:17-19, 2 Corinthians 2:10-11, 1 Corinthians 1:10, Galatians 5:16-18, 22-26

Remove the root of soulish talk, criticism, and curses
Revelation12:10, James 3, 4:11; Matthew 12:33-37

And replace them with speaking blessings and cultivating restoration.
1 Peter 3:9-12, Ephesians 4:29, Ephesians 5:19-20, Revelation 12:11, Isa. 58:12

Remove the root of bondage (control, greed, exploitation, oppression)
Exodus 1:8-14, Mark 10:35-45, Proverbs 22:22-23, 14:31; Isaiah 58:3, 2 Peter 2:3, Jeremiah 6:13,

And replace them with Christ’s humility and having no other gods before You.
Mark 12:30-31, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Matthew 20:28, 1 Peter 5:2-3, Luke 22:24-30

Remove the root of pride
James 4:6, Proverbs 8:13, 11:2, 16:18

And replace it with a heart of repentance and humility.
Philippians 2:1-8, Judges 8:1-3 2 Corinthians 7:9-10, 2 Chr. 7:14, Revelation 3:19, Jer. 13:17

Remove the root of deception (hypocrisy, lying)
Acts 13:10, Heb. 3:13, 2 Corinthians 11:3, 13-15, 2 Thes. 2:3-4, 9-12

And replace it with knowing and receiving the Truth.
John 8:32, 36; John 16:13, Psa. 31:5

I choose to repent from each of these roots and any others you reveal to me in all my relationships. I also cry out on the behalf of the church that we as the body of Christ would repent from these roots for the sake of the nations. God, pull up these roots of the enemy and establish the names of our Lord who is the Victor and our Redeemer!

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:17-18).


Adapted from pages 172 – 173 of Prayer Portions by Sylvia Gunter © 1995
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