An excerpt from the workbook: Recovered In Christ: Recovery IS Deliverance
The revised and updated workbook will be available soon!
“Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” – Alcoholics Anonymous’ step 4 of the 12 steps of recovery.
While working on this, spend some time in prayer every day for a few days asking God to reveal to you what you can’t see about yourself and your life that is blocking you from Him. Ask for light to be given regarding any ground/openings to the Devil to work in your life. God will show you.
Spend some time thinking about what the “Voice of Shame” says to you and what the Voice of Fear says to you…write them all down. Then spend time praying about what core beliefs (strongholds) you have that fuel these voices. Pray about this!
For Example… The Voice of Shame says “you’re garbage….you’re nothing….you are worthless….you’re insane and a lost cause and are better off dead.”
Core Belief: I am worthless to God
List as many as you can think of.
After this form of an in-depth “step 4” is done, share it with your friend/sponsor/mentor (Step 5). Be as honest as you can. Then…begin to vocally confess, renounce and pray against all of these “contracts” with the Devil! Humble yourself and do this in a real and authentic way with your sponsor/mentor. Be real. Expose your true self and motives. After this is done, sit quietly with with God reviewing your inventory and jot down creative ways to amend these situations and how to approach people you’ve harmed (steps 8 & 9). Pray for the power and desire to get deeper and deeper into prayer (steps 6 & 7), Bible reading (collective NOT selective study of the Bible) and meditation to safeguard against back sliding (Steps 10 & 11).
After finishing the inventory/confession/meditation/renouncing…keep praying and start looking for biblical verses that are the TRUTH in the face of these lies. Memorize them…make them yours. Trust them….for they are the words of God Himself…and only when you come into agreement with His truth can you truly revoke the contract with demons you made when you believed their lies, which created strongholds through these damaged core beliefs.
For Example….The Voice of Shame says “you’re garbage….you’re nothing….you are worthless….no one cares about you…God doesn’t know you…you’re insane and a lost cause and are better off dead.”
Core Belief: I am worthless to God
God’s Word Says “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalm 139: 13-16
God’s Word Says “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these…” Matthew 6: 25-34
The Voice of Shame says “you will always fail in trying to live up to God’s standards…you are too bad…too evil…no one can really love you.”
Core Belief: I always fail and I am just not good enough.
God’s Word Says “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:6
REMEMBER: This section of facing and challenging core beliefs that have been formed through shame, sin and the lies of the Devil is very important, keep this in mind: “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10: 3-5
After this is done – continue to share with people honestly, being watchful against the spirit of defensiveness and rebellion. Being vigilant to remain truthful and genuine and sincere, through a REAL willingness to be vulnerable and transparent. God can give you the power to do this but he will not overpower you to do it. YOU must humble yourself. And start to really get to know the Bible and allow the Holy Spirit to interpret and apply in you and your life the Truth.
Avoid discussing the work you are doing with those who will subtly or openly try to talk you out of it because they live in sin.
If…up until this point you have just been using this guide as a means to get deeper into step work and healing but have not put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior…then I invite you to spend some time just talking to Him in simple prayer and reading the Book of John…my prayer for you is that He will reveal to you who He is and in doing so…you will be saved!
Recovered In Christ 