Destroying The Yoke Of Barrenness Series

What is a Yoke?

There are two types of yokes. The first is the yoke of the Lord. In Matthew 11:29, Jesus said “take my yoke upon you”. So, Jesus has a yoke which we must take on, which we must carry. A yoke is something that is given you to carry. The yoke of the Lord is what God gives us to carry as we go through life. Jesus said take my yoke upon you and learn from me. You need to be with Jesus to learn from Him. The call to learn from Jesus is a call to discipleship. The yoke God wants us to carry is the yoke of following after the Lord, keeping company with Him, abiding in Him, learning from Him, and becoming His disciple. This yoke refreshes our souls; it gives us peace and rest. I pray that after today’s service, the only yoke we will be carrying is the yoke of the Lord, the yoke of discipleship, the yoke of an intimate relationship with the Lord.

Then there is the yoke from the devil. The yoke of the devil is what the devil gives you to carry as you go through life. In Isaiah 10:27 the bible says it shall come to pass in that day (that day being today in this service), that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder; and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil. God will not destroy what is of Him. The yoke this scripture is referring to that needs to be taken away, that needs to be destroyed is the yoke from the devil. This yoke of the devil includes yokes like the yoke of barrenness. My prayer for every one of us is that as the Word of the Lord goes forth today, every yoke the devil has given us to carry, every evil load we are carrying will be removed from our shoulders today in Jesus mighty name, amen.

We can actually be responsible for some of the yokes the devil places on us like the yoke of barrenness. Through sin and disobedience to God’s Word (Deuteronomy 28:45-48), a door can be opened for the devil to place the yoke of barrenness on us. Deuteronomy 28 talks about blessings and curses. The blessings such as the blessing of fruitfulness are the benefits of a life of obedience to God, while the curses such as the curse of barrenness are a result of disobedience to God. Also, in Lamentations 1:14, the prophet Jeremiah talks about yokes brought by transgressions and sin, yokes that we have used our own hands to place on ourselves. Carelessness is another way we open a door for the enemy to place a yoke on us. In Matthew 13:24-30, Jesus told a parable of how the enemy plants or places things on people while they are asleep. We are told that while men slept the enemy came and sowed tares. The sleep here is a state of carelessness, a state of not being spiritually awake and alert which can open a door for the enemy to place a yoke on someone. The good news for you and I today is that there is deliverance in this service for both the lawful and unlawful captives (Isaiah 49:24-26); there is deliverance for every yoke of barrenness we may have brought upon ourselves by our sin, disobedience and carelessness. There is also deliverance today for every yoke of barrenness that have come by no fault of ours.

The yoke of the Lord is easy and light to carry as Matthew 11:30 says. God will never lay anything heavy on us. God will never give us what we can’t bear, what we can’t handle, what we don’t have the capacity for (1 Corinthians 10:13, Matthew 25:15, Deuteronomy 16:17). We often act like its God’s yoke that is burdensome and wearisome. We act like having to come regularly to the presence of God, spending time with God, serving God, praying, fasting, reading God’s Word is such a drag and a big burden. God’s yoke isn’t a heavy weight to carry, if it appears heavy, burdensome and a big weight, we should check ourselves; are we trying to do God’s work and will in our human strength and wisdom not fully relying on the help and direction of the Holy Spirit, not depending completely on the grace of God? Are we doing the work the Holy Spirit should be doing in our lives, are we the ones directing, stirring and driving ‘the vehicle of our life’ instead of allowing the Holy Spirit lead? John the Baptist had an understanding that life and ministry can become strenuous, stressful and a weight on the shoulder when you are just doing things with your own limited knowledge, understanding and strength. Hence his statement “He must increase but I must decrease” (John 3:30). In other words, for things to go smoothly, for me to fulfill my divine purpose, for me to please God and serve God effectively, something must give way and that thing has to be me; my will, my strength and my understanding so that God’s unlimited knowledge, understanding and strength can be fully visible and active in my life. This is when the yoke of the Lord becomes easy and light, but when things are done in the flesh, life becomes such a struggle. My prayer for you today is that you will cease from struggling today, you will allow the Holy Spirit have his way and will in your life.