What’s Stealing Your Christmas and How to Take It Back!
- Samuel C. Petty
- Dec 23, 2025
- 3 min read
The Christmas season is meant to be filled with peace on earth and goodwill toward men. Yet for many people, this time of year feels anything but peaceful. Instead of joy, they feel heaviness. Instead of hope, they feel sadness, anxiety, irritation, or numbness. They love Jesus and yet something seems to quietly rob them of the very thing Christmas promises.
This is not accidental.
Christmas shines a bright light on the heart. It magnifies what is unresolved, what is unhealed, and what has been buried beneath the surface. And the enemy knows it. The primary spiritual influence that works overtime during the Christmas season is unresolved emotional pain partnered with lies, often expressed through grief, disappointment, offense, comparison, and isolation.
The enemy does not need dramatic manifestations to steal your Christmas. He only needs unhealed places, unforgiven wounds, and unexamined agreements with lies such as:
“I’m alone.”
“This season reminds me of what I lost.”
“My family will never change.”
“I should be happier than I am; something must be wrong with me.”
When these lies remain unaddressed, they create spiritual and emotional “access points” that drain joy, distort perspective, and keep people stuck, year after year.
But Christmas is not just a reminder of pain.
It is the announcement of freedom.
“For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8, NKJV)
Below is a simple, Spirit-led Breakthrough Prayer model to help you receive freedom and healing during this season. Don’t rush it. Read slowly. Pray honestly. Let Jesus meet you right where you are.
Step 1 — REALIZE
Bring the Hidden into the Light
Freedom begins with awareness. The Holy Spirit gently reveals, not to shame you, but to heal you.
Ask the Lord:
“Lord, what is holding me back from joy right now?”
“What do You want me to surrender this Christmas?”
“When did I first experience this feeling or belief?”
Then pray:
“Heavenly Father, I ask You to show me what is limiting my relationship with You. I choose to surrender ___ to You.”
Be specific. Name the grief. Name the fear. Name the resentment. Name the disappointment. What is named can be healed. What stays hidden stays empowered.
Christmas reminds us that God entered the darkness, not to avoid it, but to redeem it!
Step 2 — RELEASE
Forgiveness Breaks Emotional and Spiritual Bondage
Unforgiveness is one of the most common thieves of Christmas joy. Old wounds resurface. Family dynamics reappear. Memories reopen.
Pause. Ask the Holy Spirit:
“Who do I need to forgive?”
Then pray:
“I choose to forgive ___ for ___.”
“It made me feel ___.”
“I release them from any debt they owe me.”
“I repent for judging them.”
“I choose to bless them.”
Forgiveness is not minimizing pain, it is removing power. When you release forgiveness, you close the door to bitterness and reclaim authority over your heart.
Jesus did not wait for people to deserve forgiveness. He released it so freedom could flow.
Step 3 — REPENT and RENOUNCE
Break Agreement with Lies
Repentance is not about condemnation—m, it is about realignment. Many people unknowingly partner with lies formed during painful seasons, especially around the holidays.
You may need to repent for:
Partnering with hopelessness
Agreeing with comparison
Identifying with rejection or loss
Expecting disappointment
Pray:
“I repent for partnering with ___.”
“In the name of Jesus Christ, I renounce my agreement with ___.”
When you renounce a lie, you remove its legal influence. This is where spiritual clarity returns and emotional heaviness begins to lift.
Step 4 — RECEIVE
Exchange Pain for Truth
God never asks us to release something without replacing it with something better.
Ask Him:
“Lord, what do You want to give me in exchange for what I’ve surrendered?”
Listen. Write it down.
You may receive:
Peace instead of anxiety.
Belonging instead of loneliness.
Hope instead of grief.
Sonship instead of striving.
Then give thanks:
“Thank You, Lord, for the truth You’ve given me. I receive it and choose to walk in it.”
Healing is not something you strive for, it is something you receive.
Christmas Was Never Meant to Be Stolen
The enemy may try to use this season to remind you of what you’ve lost. Jesus came to remind you of what He restored. Christmas is not about pretending everything is okay. It’s about Emmanuel; God with us, meeting us in the middle of our story and bringing freedom where bondage once lived.
If this season feels heavy, it does not mean you are failing. It may mean God is inviting you into healing.
Freedom is available, even now. And this Christmas can be different!
If you want to learn more about inner healing and deliverance and receive Pastoral Counseling ministry, visit the link below to find out more:
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