What's Holding You Back?

Written by Doyle DeGraw | 03 February 2010

Gideon was part of a great line of judges, kings, and prophets who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised. God wants your name to be in that list. He wants you included in the names of heroes who conquered, brought change, and pulled the promises of heaven to earth.

One thing that will hold you back from obtaining what God has promised is a passive and complacent spirit that seeks to rob the church of revival and renewal in God. In the life of Gideon in Judges 6, we learn about other things that will hold us back. They include a spirit of despair caused by oppression, a wrong mindset caused by idolatry, and a spirit of fear caused by personal bondage.

The book of Judges describes a pattern that afflicts God’s people. It is a pattern of experiencing revival, slipping into apathy, embracing compromise, committing sin, and being tied up in bondage. When this occurs, we must cry out to God to find our place in Him and be revived by His power. If this sounds like your life, there are answers so that you are not held back from your destiny in God.

The key for Gideon to find His way was worship. In the second half of Judges 6, Gideon is encouraged to set up an altar of worship to God before he deals with the strongholds in his life. It is easy to think we have to try harder and work harder to get rid of the issues in our life that hold us back. We need to complete a broken circle in our lives through worship and intimacy with God to see things go that are holding us back. Worship is at the heart of those who conquer kingdoms, administer justice, and gain what is promised, (Hebrews 11:32-34).