Running a Freedom Experience with Your City Group

The Freedom Experience can be a deep, yet powerful night. The goal is to see God free people from spiritual strongholds, which are rooted in wrong thinking that has led to wrong living. 

It’s important that we are clear on two points regarding strongholds.

First, a stronghold is more than sin. Satan has taken a natural desire in us and supercharged it to create something beyond our control. A stronghold is a spiritual battle Satan is waging for our souls, and we cannot fight this battle without the Holy Spirit’s help.

Second, a stronghold is something most of us usually keep secret. This continues to give Satan power. The shame or guilt associated with our strongholds keeps them locked inside us, which is exactly where Satan can fuel his lies.

There are three important steps to ensure freedom over strongholds:

1) Honesty/Confession

-confession simply means “to call it as it is”

-i.e. don't call it “a momentary lapse of judgment”—call it an attraction to pornography or lust, don’t call it “a little indulgence”—call it selfishness or greed, etc.

2) Surrender/Repentance

-repentance is actively, aggressively turning away from the areas in which you know you have sinned—with God’s help

-it is turning away from our old ways and turning to God in full dependence

3) Accountability/Freedom

-we can’t walk away from a stronghold on our own—God has put people in our lives whom we can lean on and walk with through this turning from sin

-from this night, this is a great time to form Huddles for ongoing accountability, encouragement, and growth

Running the Freedom Experience

-Start off the night by separating men and women into two different spaces (or schedule two different nights). From there, get into groups of 3 or 4.

Pray

-Have each group pray for one another to have honest and open hearts before God and to remember this is a safe space to share.

-Pray against distraction and against any spiritual attacks from satan or his demons in Jesus’s name.

Strongholds

-Review the list of strongholds below and circle/write down any areas of your life where Satan has a foothold.

1.Bitterness (resentment, hate, unforgiveness, anger, violence, revenge)

2. Control (manipulation, lack of trust, worry, seeking recognition)

3. Idolatry (selfishness, greed, apathy, pride, stubbornness, vanity, materialism)

4. Despair (hopelessness, self-pity, isolation, addictions, self-harm)

5. Jealousy (spitefulness, gossip/slander, betrayal, critical/judgmental spirit)

6. Sexual Immorality (lust, seductiveness, fornication, adultery, pornography)

7. False Teaching & Religions (occult, Ouija board, invoking evil or dead spirits, fortune-telling, astrology, cults)

8. Insecurity (inferiority, inadequacy, timidity, withdrawal, people-pleasing, worry, wrong relationships)                                

9. Rejection (seeking acceptance, feeling unworthy, withdrawal, addictions)

10. Deceit (lying, delusions, rationalizing, wrong doctrine, misuse of Scripture)

11. Fear (phobias, compulsions, perfectionism, fear of failure)

12. Pride (controlling, boasting, belittling, taking credit, selfishness, vanity)

-Once everyone is done, take time to have everyone open up and share what they marked down. This is a time to model vulnerability, listen, ask thoughtful questions, and show compassion and understanding.     

Freedom

Next, prayerfully review the list of freedoms below. (Each freedom corresponds with the stronghold above—i.e. Bitterness vs. Forgiveness, Control vs. Surrender, etc.)

Circle/write down any areas of your life you want to believe God instead.

1. Forgiveness (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)

2. Surrender (Matt. 16:24-25)

3. Contentment (Matt. 6:25-26)

4. Hope (Psalm 34:17-18)

5. Gratefulness (Matt. 7:9-11)

6. Purity (Galatians 5:13-16, 19-21)

7. God’s Word (John 1:1-5, John 14:6-7)

8. Security in Christ (Ephesians 2:10)

9. Acceptance (Psalm 139:14)

10. Truthfulness (John 8:32)

11. Trust in God’s Sovereignty (Matt. 10:29-31)

12. Humility (Matt. 16:24)

-Once everyone is done, take time to have everyone open up and share what they marked down. This is a time to encourage, point to the Gospel of grace, forgiveness, hope, and freedom by growing in our trust in Jesus.

Pray

-After the person has shared, have them person take time to pray using the structure below.

-Through his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus has given us all authority over sin and Satan. We gain freedom by renouncing and repenting of the sin that has allowed strongholds to develop in our lives.

-Below is a guided prayer of repentance, renouncing strongholds, and claiming freedom. Have each person in the group pray this personally aloud according to the strongholds and freedoms they marked down.

“Father, I come before you in the name of Jesus. I recognize the power You have given me by the blood of Jesus to destroy theses spiritual strongholds in my life. I confess that I have given a foothold to sin in my life.

I renounce the stronghold of………………………….. in Jesus’s name..

I now claim the truth of……………………………… in Jesus’s name.

Jesus, in Your authority, I take back the ground I surrendered to the enemy. I now bind the enemy and I cast all demonic spirits out of my head, heart, and home in Jesus’s name. Holy Spirit, please protect me and empower me to trust and obey You and Your Word so that I stay walking in this freedom. In Jesus’s name. Amen!”

-Have others pray for them as well!

-Once everyone has shared, end your time by thanking God for the night.

-We encourage you to hang out and talk afterwards!

**We also highly encourage everyone to visit our Spiritual Habits page and browse more resources on how to walk in freedom from here on! And again, this is also a great time to form a Huddle for further accountability and encouragement!