debt, the tool of slavery

I received the following from my friend, Mark Stone, this morning and I would like to share it:

It is not our taxes that make us slaves, it is our debt. The borrower is the slave of the lender. That is how the enemy keeps God's people in economic bondage - by making them dependent on banks and loan companies for cash - not by raising taxes. It is God's will for his people to live debt free.

However, It does not happen automatically. You have to make a decision to stop doing things the world way and commit to doing things the Kingdom way ( according to God's word ).

!. Ask the lord to forgive you for racking up so much debt. House note, car note, credit card debt, etc.

2. Determine in your heart that you are never going to borrow money again no matter how much pressure is brought to bear against you to do so.

3. In the same way that you made the Lord Jesus your savior, make him your provider. Believe in your heart that in Christ you have unlimited resources and confess with your mouth that the Lord Jesus Christ is your sole provider.

4. Ask the Lord to break the yolk of economic bondage off of you and put his yolk of economic freedom on you in it's place.

5. Earnestly seek the Lord to supernaturally pay off all your existing debt. See Luke 18 : 1-8. The keys here are be persistent and stay in faith. Also pray that he will keep you debt free from now on.

6. Finally give the Lord a shout of praise. Don't wait, praise him now! In a spiritual battle your praise is a weapon.

With regard to your bill, I am sorry to be taking so long to pay. I confess that it has not been a high priority for me, but today I am raising the priority level to my highest level. My plan is to put a check in the mail to you by this Friday.

Have a blessed day!

Mark

My Reflection:
My dad instilled a fear/disgust of debt in me that I have appreciated to this day.  I have avoided car debt and credit card debt (Thanks to my dad.) since college.  I currently have an operational business debt that comes and goes each year along with a sizable house debt.

The business debt will be paid off in January of 2010 but the house debt has been a bear to make progress on.  However my goal/position is to aggressively pay off the house debt.