Breakthroughs don’t just happen. They are fought for. In the Kingdom, every breakthrough follows a pattern of alignment, not ambition. You cannot sustainably breakthrough where you haven’t honoured the process. But there’s more—before the breakthrough, there are three crucial stages that God walks us through to Break out, Break up, Break in and only then… Break through. Everyone loves the sound of “breakthrough,” but what if you break through when you haven’t first broken out, broken up, or broken in? What happens when a man ascends too early? What happens when a door opens before you’re ready? The answer is simple: what was meant to be an elevation becomes your downfall. Let’s take them one by one.
Break Out – Leaving the Enemy’s Camp
“Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord.” – 2 Corinthians 6:17
Before God ushers you into anything great, He first calls you out of what is familiar into what is peculiar. Israel had to break out of Egypt before they could receive Canaan. You cannot sit in Pharaoh’s palace and expect to inherit God’s promises. In the same way, many are asking God for fruitfulness while still camping in the territory of compromise. That’s not how this works.
If you don’t break out of the enemy’s camp, your breakthrough becomes a trojan horse. You may step into a new place, but with old chains still on your feet. You’ll carry the language, loyalties, and lifestyle of Egypt into the Promised Land, and soon, the land will vomit you out. You can’t bring your old self, old ways and old thinking into God’s Kingdom. That’s why many rise in influence, wealth or ministry and crash—because their hearts never left where God once called them out from. They were gifted, but not equipped. That kind of breakthrough is a trap, not a triumph.
Breaking out is a spiritual jailbreak. It is when you consciously refuse to remain in systems, mindsets, and environments where the devil is king. You cannot seek results over righteousness and expect to see God’s glory. Before the prodigal son received restoration, he came to himself in the pigsty and said, “I will arise and go to my father.” That’s the break out moment—when you refuse to be defined by the prison of your past.
2. Break Up – Severing Every Tie with Sin and Stagnation
“Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD.” – Hosea 10:12
Breaking out is one thing; breaking up is another. You can leave Egypt, but Egypt might still be in your heart. Breaking up is when God deals with the residue. It’s when He cuts off every entanglement with sin, with soul ties, with bitterness, with every loyalty to darkness that refuses to let go. If you didn’t break up with sin, fleshly habits, or demonic alliances, your breakthrough will expose you, not exalt you. Elevation magnifies character. If you didn’t deal with the weights in the secret place, they will collapse you on the stage.
You will stand at the gate of influence and find yourself drawn back by what you refused to crucify. Lot’s wife entered the open gate of salvation but turned back in her heart. She escaped Sodom but didn’t break up with it—and she turned into a pillar of salt. Many have received platforms and titles only to become statues—lifeless, ineffective, and silenced by their own compromise.
There are some people and habits you don’t negotiate with—you break up with them. If God is going to trust you with the next level, He will first test if you are willing to sever the weights of the previous one. Every breakthrough is preceded by a divorce from what disqualifies you. Don’t romanticize your chains. Don’t glamorize your Egypt. Break up with whatever holds your heart hostage, so you don’t return to the same sin after you’ve tasted His mercy. That’s not a mistake—that’s betrayal.
3. Break In – Entering the Door God Has Opened
“For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.” – 1 Corinthians 16:9
After you’ve broken out and broken up, now comes the breaking in. This is where many stall, stay and settle. The door may be open, but the enemies still stand there. Due to your understanding of the jurisdiction of the devil, you should understand that just because God has said does not mean the enemy shouldn’t come and attempt to stop you. Just because God gave you a prophecy doesn’t mean the enemy should sit idle while you step into it.
If you bypass the process of breaking in, you won’t last long at the top. You may have gotten the job, the mic, the marriage, the ministry—but you skipped the resistance training that makes you strong enough to handle it. That’s why the children of Israel lingered in the wilderness for 40 years instead of 40 days. It’s not as if they couldn’t enter the Promised Land; they were not trained for battle to occupy it.
You will break through the gate only to collapse under the weight of unprepared responsibility. Because while the door was open, you never developed the muscles to stand in it. The adversaries you avoid in training will defeat you in the battle. God doesn’t just want you to breakthrough. He wants you to endure after the breakthrough. And for that, process is non-negotiable.
Breaking in requires discernment, warfare, and boldness. When Israel crossed the Jordan, Jericho was still standing. The door was open, but the wall was high. You’ll need faith to break into what God has already handed over to you. Don’t ask for open doors if you’re not ready for opposing giants. Don’t pray for access if you’re not willing to possess the land. Break in like David facing Goliath—with a stone and a word from the Lord. Break in like Joshua, marching around the wall. Breaking in prepares you to sustain your breakthrough.
4. Breaking through & Becoming a Channel for Others to Breakthrough
“And the breaker goes up before them… they break through the gate and go out by it. So their king goes on before them, and the LORD at their head.” – Micah 2:13
Now comes the breakthrough—but not before the other three. This is where the chains are broken, but not just for you. You now become a breaker for others. You don’t just break in for yourself; you break through for the generations coming after you. You’ve scaled the mountain. You’ve fought the giants. You’ve survived the refining. And now, you burst through the stronghold that once seemed immovable. But here’s the secret: what you call breakthrough, Heaven calls maturity. You didn’t just receive a testimony—you became one.
The breakthrough is not just about open doors. It’s about transformed hearts. It’s about finishing the race with scars that prove you didn’t give up.
A premature breakthrough is not progress—it’s a setup. If you didn’t let God break you out of worldly systems, break you up from sin and weights, or break you into your ordained territory through faith and warfare, your breakthrough will backfire. So let Him take you through every stage. As you go through the breaking, He breaks you. Let the breaking prepare you for the building. Let the pruning precede the planting. Let the wilderness shape your character before the throne tests your heart.
Don’t force the breakthrough. Prepare for it. If you’re praying for a breakthrough, ask God to prepare you to break out, to break up, and to break in. Because God doesn’t hand breakthroughs to people still romancing their bondage. He trains warriors in the wilderness and leads them up with purpose. So if the season feels heavy, trust God. Break out. Break up. Break in, and the breakthrough will find you already standing in your promised place—ready, refined, and victorious.
