And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing (Isaiah 10:27).

God was giving this message to the Israelites concerning their enemies, the Assyrians. Through God’s anointing, the Assyrian yoke was to be broken. That same promise the Lord gave the Israelites so many years ago to break bondage is in effect for you today if you will accept it. First, however, you must learn to distinguish between God’s yoke and the yoke of Satan’s bondage. In the eleventh chapter of Matthew, Jesus tells you to take my yoke upon you…for my yoke is easy, and my burden light. If you will carry the yoke of Jesus, He promised you would learn of Him and find rest unto your soul. Unfortunately, Satan has fooled many, and the load they carry is a yoke of distress and bondage. The Lord’s yoke is one of love, understanding, security and protection—an easy yoke, one that makes the burdens light. Is your load so heavy you can scarcely breathe; does it seem to be taking the very life out of you? Check your yoke: is it the yoke of the Lord? If not, know that the anointing and the power of God are here to break that yoke for you.

Down through the ages God has proven Himself as a yoke breaker. He looked at His people in Egyptian bondage, knowing their yoke was not of Him. In slime pits the Israelites worked, making bricks for Pharaoh until their fingers were worn to nubs (according to Josephus). Adequate care was denied them; they had no freedom. The yoke they bore was severe, but God had promised Abraham hundreds of years earlier He would break that yoke and bring this people out of bondage into freedom.

It happened in that day that a man tried to bring deliverance to his people before the appointed time. Moses rose up to slay an Egyptian he had discovered beating a Hebrew; he sought to break the yoke without the anointing of God and it didn’t work. Later, through that anointing, Moses broke the whole yoke. Perhaps you have tried to break your own yoke, tried to bring deliverance to your life but failed because your efforts were not done through the anointing of God. Moses, attempting to break the yoke of bondage in his own strength, was defeated and fled from Egypt in fear for his life. I’m sure he was disheartened and disgusted at his rejection by the Israelites whom he was trying to help, probably thinking he wanted nothing more to do with them. Years later, under the anointing of God, we see Moses standing before Pharaoh saying, “Let my people go!” God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. At times the devil is allowed to come rushing toward us so that God can show His greatness, His mighty power. Fear not; hide the promises of God in your heart; know that God walks with you, that the power of the Spirit is upon you and within you if you have yielded to Him. He walks with you all the way if you love Him with your whole heart. He promised never to leave or forsake you: hold to the Word of God. God honors faith wherever He finds it. Faith is what God can work with—not hope or doubt, but with FAITH He does His great work; He said His people would live by faith. Have faith in the anointing that breaks the yoke.

The Financial Yoke

What is your yoke? Is it a financial one? That yoke can be broken. God gave a financial plan over seven hundred years before the Law and it has never been changed. Abraham at that time paid tithes. Five hundred years before the Law, Jacob was a tither; God prospered both of them. Give, and it shall be given unto you, the Lord said (Luke 6:38). Faith for the finances must be used the same way you use faith for salvation, healing or the baptism of the Spirit. Don’t wait until God first gives to you; He said to give and it would be given in return. When you have taken God as your partner, obeyed Him, then you can let Him know you are expecting a good return, expecting your needs to be supplied. The Bible tells of how Elijah was fed by the birds during a famine. Anyone with that kind of faith could have stayed where he was for the duration of the famine, but God moved on him to leave for a purpose. The brook dried up and, one morning, the birds failed to come. Then the Lord told Elijah, Arise, get thee to Zarephath…I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee (I Kings 17:9). God was providing that widow a chance to give to Him that He might give to her. He would ask her to give all and if she did, great blessings were to follow. Elijah said to her, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand (verse 11).

And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die (verse 12). What a bleak outlook! When you’re down that low, you may just as well give your last morsel to God because you’ll soon meet Him. Would you have baked that cake for Elijah; would you have given God a chance? God doesn’t want you to wait until you are out of debt before you pay your tithes and love offerings. God said if you fail in your tithes and offerings that you have robbed Him. Bring ye all the tithes…prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it (Malachi 3:10). The widow woman believed Elijah when he told her what thus saith the Lord God of Israel: The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth (verse 14). That woman made a cake for Elijah first. It took great faith, for not only her life, but also the life of her son was at stake. To think that she would give that last handful of meal to the man of God rather than her own son is hard for many to imagine. When she went back to that meal barrel, it was filled and running over, the cruse of oil full, too. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah (verse 16). It wasn’t magic or luck; it came about through faith in God. The widow’s yoke had been broken through faith in the anointing of God. She gave her last to God and found that she could never out-give God. The anointing in Elijah’s life helped bring about deliverance for that woman. Miracle power worked in Elijah’s life; miracle power broke the bondage. God can work a miracle for your needs whatever they are: physical, mental, spiritual or financial. Perhaps your need is more money: God may move you about, send you job hunting. If God directs you to peddle papers on the corner, He will prosper you; wherever He sends you, you will prosper. Your will must always come second to His. Desire what He wants for you. When people come to me who need jobs, I tell them to put in their application at five or six places they would like to work, and we’ll pray. It works! Don’t sit around waiting for a job to fall into your lap; do something about it.

The city of Samaria was under siege. People were starving; some had been driven to the point of eating their own children. Four lepers outside the gates of Samaria were starving too, but they said, “Why sit we here until we die?” and started down the road for a miracle. God was going to use them. Although they had become accustomed to sitting by the gate, they had to break out of that rut before God could move for them. Maybe you’ve been in one place so long that it’s worn into a pit you cannot see over; you’re afraid to make a move. Someone once said that a turtle never gets anywhere unless he sticks his neck out—I’ve been sticking mine out ever since. You can draw up in your little shell crying, “Lord, send a miracle; Lord, send a miracle!” or you can stick your neck out and start after one. You don’t feel like it? Have you ever seen the condition a leper gets in? I have, and I know those four leprous men didn’t feel like walking down the road, but they did anyway. As they came, the Lord put great terror in the hearts of the Syrians.

For the lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the voice of a great host: and they said to one another, Lo, the king of Israel both hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life (II Kings 7:6,7). The starving lepers entered the camp and had a feast. A miracle was theirs: God had used them; He had broken the yoke. If God can use four lepers whose flesh is falling from their bodies, why can’t He use you? When in sin, you were a spiritual leper; but then God cleansed you, made you a new creature in Him as you accepted Jesus into your heart. He cleansed you, and you must know that He will work a miracle for you if that is your need. We live in the day of the miraculous. God will not do the miracle in the way you want it done; He will do it His way. You have the choice of yielding to God’s methods or of taking the bit in your teeth and trying to do EVERYTHING for yourself. Do you want to work where YOU want to work, or do you want to work where GOD wants you to work? Will you let God prosper you, or will you sit in one place wondering why God doesn’t give the miracle? If you’ve prayed and prayed, done absolutely all you know how to do, maybe it’s time to step out into God’s power like the lepers did. When they started walking, God prepared the way. Walk for your deliverance—why sit there until you die? If you want that yoke broken, it’s time to move, stop drawing up in your shell. “But things are apt to get worse,” you say. Sometimes they have to get worse before they can get better. Learn to humble yourself before the Lord.

The prophet, Elisha, was approached by a woman in deep trouble. Her husband had died; she had no money and her sons were about to be sold into slavery. Elisha asked her what she had to work with. She replied, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil (II Kings 4:2). Because that’s all she had, she looked everywhere but the right place for a miracle. How like her we are today! If there seems to be a lot to work with, we’ll believe God for a miracle. Our faith sinks, however, when we see nothing. We forget that nothing was what God created the whole universe from. He can perform a miracle for you out of absolutely nothing! All He wants is for you to get ready so He can use you; you are the channel He must work through. Be ready for the faith-God to take you over. “Mold me and make me, Lord,” you ask. But in your heart you really think you already have been molded and made. It seems to be the case that whenever we feel we are molded in just the right way, that the Lord breaks our vessel into a thousand pieces. “But I can’t take any more, Lord!” you cry. The Lord promised that when things become worse than you could bear, He would provide a way of escape. If there is none, then you can bear a little more. “I can take it Lord; I can take it.” He gives you grace and help for your situation.

Elisha didn’t do all the work for the woman who came to him for help; he gave her something to do. She was to borrow from her neighbors as many empty vessels as she could. Would you have done it? Everyone in the community knew the poor state that woman was in; they probably thought she had snapped under the strain when she started collecting pots. Soon her whole house overflowed with empty vessels. The world thought she was a loser, but God looked upon her as a winner. Get ready for the blessings of God, and when they come, recognize them and hold them to your bosom.

After the woman collected all the empty vessels, Elisha told her to go into her house and shut the door. By doing that, she shut out all unbelievers. When God starts moving for you, don’t tell everyone—wait until the miracle is complete before you testify. When the doubters were shut out, the power of God broke that woman’s bondage. She started pouring oil into the empty vessels from her one little pot of oil. The oil kept pouring until all the empty vessels were filled. Elisha then said to her, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest (II Kings 4:7).

God will move; He will supply your need if you look to Him and are obedient. Simon needed money to pay taxes, and Jesus told him go down to the sea. Cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee (Matthew 17:27). What fantastic ways the Lord uses to provide for His people! Would you have been obedient had a true man of God told you to get money in that way? Some of you cannot accept the fact that God will move for you because you have not stopped worrying long enough so that faith can take over. So long as you worry, you are not accepting God’s plan for your life. Get ready for God’s miracle. Get ready for God to move for you; prepare for your yoke to be broken, whatever it is!

You say you believe God? You don’t if you’re still walking the floor, if worry keeps you awake at night. Have you ever stayed awake at night and walked the floor because you had a good dose of faith? Too many people say, “Lord, I believe, I believe,” and in the next breath ask, “What am I going to do?” That is NOT faith—faith is full assurance that God will do what He said He would do. Faith takes all the worry out. When faith comes in, fear goes out the window. You don’t have to conquer worry and fear all by yourself. All you need do is open the door and say, “Come in faith, come on in!” When faith possesses your heart and mind, there’s no room for fear.

The Yoke of Sickness

Perhaps your yoke is one of sickness. Others have been healed by God, why not you? We have not come to the perfection in God’s Word, His love and His anointing that we can understand all. We do not know why it is so easy for some to receive a miracle from God and so hard for others. But we do know that we must get ready, do all we know and then wait upon God for the miracle. Condition your mind for that physical miracle. I waited so long for my miracle of healing that I did not think it was coming; I gave up. Death moved in very close; I knew I was going to die. Many people had prayed for me; I had prayed, but I wasn’t getting well, I was getting worse. Then when it looked as though there was no hope for life at all. Jesus came and made me whole; Jesus broke the yoke. It takes more than righteous living to receive a miracle from God. In fact, some of God’s most devout people will have the hardest time getting a miracle from Him. The goodness of God brings about the miracle, not your goodness. You cannot buy healing or bargain with God for it. It’s a gift; Jesus paid for it. The Bible says that WITH HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED!

If healing is your need, look to the Lord for the anointing that will break the bondage. He loves you, He loves you, He loves you! I found that He loved me. He had saved me and baptized me in the Spirit; He gave me messages to preach. I was determined to preach even if I died doing it. Never did I allow the devil stop me from proclaiming, “Jesus saves, and Jesus heals,” I knew He saved, healed and performed miracles. I do not know why some of you have not been healed yet. I just know God has healing for you, and He loves you. I keep holding on for you, crying out, “God, give that one your miracle! God, remember that one!” I pray for you when you do not know I’m praying. I know you become discouraged; I know you wonder why. But know that we are moving into the anointing and greatness of God in a fantastic way, and the anointing breaks the yoke. You can hinder God by not having enough of the anointing. Now God is pouring out His anointing. Accept it; help each other break the yoke. In this final hour the anointing will get greater and greater so the yoke and bondages can be broken by the power and anointing in the gift of miracles. Bondages are being broken now that have never been broken before. The Holy Spirit can move upon you and break your bondage, whatever it is. Get a vision of the fantastic things the anointing will do. You and I cannot break the yoke; God’s anointing will break it. Faith brings the anointing into your life.

The Spiritual Yoke

Perhaps your yoke is a spiritual one. You just cannot seem to pray right to save your life; you don’t believe your prayers really will be answered. You are unable to get the words straightened out in your mind or to think clearly. In fact, half of the time you’re not even sure you are saved. The devil comes in on that channel of insecurity and just makes hash out of you. Your mind is tormented, worried about something all the time. A nervous, uneasy burden presses down on you; and you don’t know why. If you don’t know what your burden is all about, go in before God and let the Holy Spirit unwrap the burden. God does not expect you to carry burdens you cannot identify. If you do, the devil can deceive you into carrying unnecessary loads.

In the past, God’s people have been guilty of carrying many burdens and loads they would not have needed to carry—uneasy, nervous burdens. “I just feel like someone’s going to die!” Every time the phone rings you jump like you’ve been shot. You live in a constant state of anxiety—you can’t live with your family and you can’t live without them. That yoke needs to be broken! Nothing wrong that you’ve done comes to your mind, and yet you’re sure there must be something—the enemy has a yoke around your neck. The yoke of God is NOT a yoke of fear or frustration—His yoke is easy. I repeat, if you have a yoke in life that is not easy, it is not the yoke of God. The yoke of the Lord makes the burden lighter to carry. Why let fear take you over, why doubt? Keep your mind on the greatness of God and the marvelous promises He has given you. With Jesus, with the anointing of God, every day is yours. The anointing of God breaks the yoke. Come out of bed in the morning using that anointing; you must have it each day. Take time to liberate the inside of you. Arise saying, “Thank God, I have Jesus. I’m going to be an overcomer today, Lord, because you walk with me. I have nothing to fear because I know your anointing will make the way!”

Do you look like the Lord is on board your ship, or do you resemble the fearful disciples that had Christ on board during the storm and forgot about His ability to calm the storm. The power of the Spirit, the anointing of God will break that bondage: use the WORD of God—there’s power in the Word. The Word, the Bible says, is sharper than a sword with two edges; the Word is with power! Deliverance is in the Word; deliverance comes through the Word of God. You cannot live according to man’s book and expect God’s deliverance; you must live by the Word of God, God’s ways. Let the people of this civilization exist the way they want; your life must be in God’s hands. The WORD is the mind, the power, the anointing of God that breaks all the yokes for God’s children. The Word brings Heaven within your reach, brings abundant life to you. Jesus said, I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly (John 10:10). Do your actions say that He came to give less life or no life at all? God promised to prosper and stand by you who are obedient, but He cannot do it when you clog the channels with worry and doubt. He does not honor lack of faith. If you refuse to believe God will supply your need, lift the burden, give you liberty in prayer and understanding of the Word, He will not move. He won’t move if you can’t believe you’re coming out of oppression, depression and sickness—you won’t let the yoke be broken. Many reject the idea that God can break the yoke at all.

All of us in this hour must rise up against the battles of the mind. In this last hour, those will be our greatest battles; mental breakdowns are becoming more and more apparent. The devil is working in a fantastic way on the human mind. The child of God is given a defense to rise up with, but if it is not used the protection will not be there. It isn’t enough just to be a child of God. You do not receive all the benefits of the Word by going to Calvary alone or to the Upper Room. You must use what you received at Calvary and in the Upper Room to claim what the Bible promises. When you use the anointing of God that comes from Calvary and Pentecost, the yoke will be broken. Jesus breaks every fetter; He sets men free. He WILL set you free; He WILL deliver you. Be rid of the bondage on the inside that weighs you down and torments you; it is the power of Satan coming against you. See his lies and deceits for what they are; don’t believe them.

The miracle anointing worked in Elijah and Elisha’s day, and that’s the reason miracles were performed. Now that miracle anointing is falling all over the land. Elijah is a type of the church; his miracles took place shortly before he was raptured. Miracles are taking place today in an ever increasing number, and soon the rapture of the Bride of Christ will take place.

Get ready for your bondage to be broken; the miracle anointing will do it. Fix your mind on the anointing, and hold to the promise that your yoke will be broken for you and for your loved ones. He wants to liberate you so you can be a witness for Him. What is it that binds you? Whatever it is, that yoke can be broken. Prepare yourself for it. Use God’s anointing to break the yoke.