Many people are unable to reach their full potential, not because they aren’t making efforts, but because foundational issues have placed an embargo on their destinies. These are well-meaning individuals with multiple degrees, yet an invisible force—the same one that held their parents back—is battling against their future. They notice recurring patterns of failure, setbacks, poverty, disfavor, and various challenges, but they never take the time to address them. Instead, they blame the economic situation, forgetting that “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3)
Understanding your foundation is crucial to fulfilling your destiny. This understanding helps you avoid comparing yourself to others. Some people’s foundations have propelled them to great heights, while others have been limited by theirs.
A pastor once shared his story: He was invited to a program to minister. Before his session, he prayed and fasted for three days. During the ministration, he felt the power of God in a normal way. However, another pastor, a white man, was also invited to the same program. While the African pastor was fasting and praying, the white preacher was eating and enjoying his coffee.
At one point, the white preacher asked, “Why aren’t you eating?” The African pastor replied, “For every ministration, I need to fast and pray to experience the hand of God while preaching.” The white preacher was astonished by his response.
When the white preacher ministered, the power of God moved mightily. The African pastor was surprised by the impact and later asked him some questions. During their conversation, the African pastor realized that the white preacher’s foundation played a significant role in his life. The white preacher explained that his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all pastors, creating a spiritual legacy that influenced his ministry.
This story underscores the importance of understanding your foundation. Anyone coming from a polluted foundation who compares themselves to someone with a different background does so to their own detriment. When you are meant to confront and overcome forces in your foundation but fail to do so because you compare yourself with others whose foundations are less polluted, you risk allowing those evil forces to mock your efforts.
Some ministers are unable to rise because of their foundations. Listen, while it is God’s will to use you, He also expects you to destroy and pull down every contrary altar in your foundation, just as Gideon tore down the altars in his father’s house. The assignment God gave Gideon would not have prospered if he had not first dealt with those altars.
Have you ever thought about foundation from this perspective? Imagine being set to run a race, but the track assigned to you is muddy, while your competitor runs on a smooth, concrete surface. Chances are, while you’re running, you’ll struggle and find it hard to gain speed because the ground beneath you isn’t giving you the support you need to run effectively without slipping. Meanwhile, your competitor, even with less effort, might achieve greater speed because their foundation offers the required advantage.
In life, you’ll notice that some people have foundations that give them an undeniable advantage, while for others, their foundation becomes the primary obstacle holding them back. They work tirelessly, but their efforts go unnoticed because their foundation hinders the visible impact of their hard work.
If you want to run the race of life successfully, the first and most important step is to address your foundation. Through prayer and by seeking mercy from God, He can transform a shaky, unstable foundation into a firm one where your efforts will yield visible and meaningful results. However, if one chooses not to seek God’s intervention, they may continue to labor in vain, and it may feel as though God is absent.
Many people fall into various errors because of their foundation. Despite their intellectual efforts to avoid certain mistakes, unresolved forces tied to their foundation often undermine their reasoning, leading them into unimaginable errors.
Don’t wait for the evil forces in your foundation to wreak havoc in your life before addressing them. Take action and stop them before they stop you. Foundational problems are among the most persistent and challenging issues one can face, and they cannot be handled lightly. These problems often predate the individuals affected and have defeated many who failed to address them through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The truth is, being a Christian without taking the time to confront foundational issues does not necessarily exempt one from experiencing their effects. Many Christians walk in ignorance and are defeated daily by the forces they refuse to confront.
As a child of God, the provision to escape foundational problems has been made available to you, but it requires intentional application. Consider this analogy: imagine you have an overdrawn account, and a wealthy benefactor opens a new account for you, depositing millions of dollars into it. While the new account is a blessing, it does not erase the fact that your previous account remains overdrawn. To resolve the negative balance, you must transfer funds from the new account to the old one to settle the debt.
In the same way, foundational problems represent debts that you are being called upon to pay. Unfortunately, you are not the original debtor, but the responsibility is shared among everyone in the lineage. This is why the Bible states: “Our ancestors sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment” (Lamentations 5:7).
Now, as a believer in Christ, you are a new creation, and a new account has been opened for you. However, it is essential to close the old account of ancestral debt. The only way to do this is by applying the credit from the new account—God’s provision through Christ—toward the old account to be truly free. This process often involves deliverance, which can be done individually by addressing the evil foundation through prayer and fasting, or collectively by participating in a congregational deliverance session. Either approach can be effective; the critical point is to confront and address the evil foundation.
Sadly, when the devil seeks to keep people in bondage, he convinces them that deliverance is unnecessary, suggesting that simply believing in their freedom is sufficient. However, true freedom often requires active engagement and deliverance to break free from the chains of foundational problems.
I first heard the phrase “stop them before they stop you” from Dr. D.K. Olukoya many years ago, and since then, it has stuck in my memory. I came to realize that anyone who wants to go far in life must address foundational problems before those problems have a chance to stop them. These issues are no respecters of age, educational level, political status, or any accomplishments in life.
For instance, Moses, the servant of God, failed to confront a major weakness rooted in his foundation—anger. Jacob had foretold this by saying, ‘Simeon and Levi are brothers; instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place. Let not my soul enter their council; let not my honor be united to their assembly; for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they hamstrung an ox’ (Genesis 49:5-6). Moses first exhibited this anger when he slew an Egyptian. Unfortunately, as he continued his walk with God, he did not recognize that anger was a significant weakness he needed to address. Although he was described as the meekest man on the face of the earth, this foundational weakness sapped his spiritual strength, ultimately preventing him from exercising restraint in moments of provocation. This weakness eventually contributed to his inability to enter the promised land.
Beloved, I am an advocate of intellectual growth, but if you notice any negative patterns in your family, don’t ignore them. Take time to seek God and address these issues until you achieve victory. Decide that whatever stopped your parents—and continues to hinder others—will not stop you. Make sure you stop these forces before they stop you. To deal with foundational issues, here is the process of conducting personal deliverance:
1. Be Determined to Break Free: Until you say, ‘enough is enough,’ some problems will persist. These issues may even make you complacent, leading you to gloss over them with empty reassurances like, ‘all will be well.’ The first step toward deliverance is deciding to put an end to every negative pattern in your family. Remember, when Jacob stole Esau’s blessing, Isaac said to Esau, ‘…And it shall come to pass, when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck’ (Genesis 27:40b). Isaac revealed to Esau that the key to deliverance is becoming restless—being filled with the spirit of ‘enough is enough; I can no longer tolerate this situation.’ With this determination, you will be empowered to pray and fast persistently until you destroy the evil forces tied to your foundation.
2. Conduct Spiritual Mapping: To effectively address foundational problems, you must begin by conducting spiritual mapping of your lineage. Ask pertinent questions and study the lives of those before you, starting with your grandparents. Identify and take note of any unpleasant patterns, as they should not be ignored. Write them down and begin addressing them earnestly in prayer.
3. Conduct Deliverance on Your Foundation: After identifying and documenting unpleasant patterns in your foundation, the next step is to prayerfully address them. Approach this with spiritual fervor and intensity, being resolute and unwavering in your spirit against these negative patterns. If possible, dedicate one day each week to prayer and fasting specifically focused on foundational issues. Even when you observe that these patterns no longer manifest in your life, do not stop. Continuously cleanse your foundation with the fire of the Holy Spirit and the blood of Jesus.
4. Strive to Live Holy: To remain perpetually victorious over foundational problems, you must strive to live a holy life. Many people have defeated foundational issues only to have them resurface because they returned to sin. Sin can strengthen weakened foundational forces, allowing negative patterns that once disappeared to reappear. Therefore, if you want to triumph over foundational powers, avoid sin at all costs.
In conclusion, recognize that everyone’s foundation plays a significant role in their destiny. If you are determined to go far and know that your foundation could become a hindrance, do not deceive yourself. Instead, take responsibility and address those foundational issues.
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