Exposing the Hidden Roots

The Watchman’s Brief –

SCIF Chronicles: Strategic Coalition of Intercessory Forces July Edition 1

Exposing the Hidden Roots

By Prophetess Kelly Jennings

Go Deeper From the Inside Out

The Year of Man (2026) is the season where God said, “He’s going after the soul of man,” which is proven to be a revelatory experience in discovering the hidden things of the heart.

“Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts…” (Psalm 51:6)

From January through this current month, God has been dealing with us in the deep area of our hearts and souls.

Around the same time, my husband and I felt a compelling urge to cut down trees from our yard, something we'd put off for years. Now I understand why God pressed for their removal in 2026, in the sixth month, in which the uprooting began on the 6th day of the 6th month: He was finalizing a revelation

I'd carried for seven years. Through that pressing, He authorized me to release it through a book and teacher's manual called “The Hidden Roots.” It all makes sense now, and the timing is so aligned to

what God is doing in the souls of his people, especially those who attend the Power Priest 5 am Prayer.

However, this final revelation did not come until my husband and I started the process of cutting down trees on our property. Below is an excerpt from the book I’m writing. The final will be released mid-July.

The Revelation Beneath the Roots

How a Yard Project Became a Deliverance Revelation

This final revelation began in the most unexpected place: my front yard.

My husband and I decided to cut down four trees on our property, two in the front yard and two on the side of the house. At first glance, it may have looked like a simple landscaping decision, but as the process unfolded, the Lord began to speak to me through every stage. What started as a yard project became a revelation about deliverance, healing, hidden roots, spiritual maintenance, and the work God must do beneath the surface before new life can truly grow.

This biblical revelation is the foundation, the first in a six-volume series designed to walk you through specific roots that may be hindering your growth. There is so much ground to cover that it would be impossible to address everything in one volume. So,

I have devoted this first book to awakening you to the foundational truth: that roots matter, that what

grows beneath the surface determines what manifests above it, and that the Holy Spirit is willing to go as deep as necessary and to the extent we will allow him to go to heal the hidden pains of our souls.

You cannot fully understand the branches until you discern the roots, and you cannot uproot what you have not yet identified. This foundation volume is essential to everything that follows. As you read, allow the Holy Spirit to show you not only what has been growing in the soil of your soul, but also His willingness to restore the ground beneath every wounded place.

The roots may be deep, but the Healer is deeper.

"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." Proverbs 4:23, KJV

The two trees in our front yard have been there since we moved into our home eighteen years ago. They’ve grown tall, mature, and strong. Their trunks were established. Their branches had stretched wide. Their shade covered a large portion of our front lawn. One of those trees, especially the larger one, had become something I appreciated because it gave shade to the Hostas in our flower bed.

Hostas thrive in shaded places. They are not plants that do well in direct, constant sunlight. They need covering and protection from harsh exposure. So, in one sense, that tree had served a purpose. It provided shade, protected what was planted beneath, and

created an environment where certain things could grow.

But while the tree gave shade, it also created another problem.

The grass around the tree struggled to grow. Weeds continued to come up. The roots had taken over so much of the ground that the lawn could not flourish the way we desired. We wanted a beautiful, healthy, manicured lawn, but as long as those trees remained rooted in the front yard, the ground around them could not fully produce what we envisioned.

That is when the Lord began to show me something: some things in our lives may have served a purpose in one season, but if they remain too long, they begin to hinder what God wants to grow next.

Some patterns protected us before they imprisoned us. Some coping mechanisms shaded us before they stunted us. Some survival behaviors helped us endure a season, but later became the very thing blocking fruitfulness. Some emotional defenses once guarded our wounds, but eventually limited the access of the healing hand of God in those deep areas of our souls.

At one point, the shade may have seemed helpful. But over time, the roots began to dominate the ground. The two trees on the side of our house presented a different issue. They had also grown tall and strong, but they were beginning to lean toward the house. What once may have looked beautiful or harmless had now become a potential threat. We knew that if a major storm came, those trees could fall and cause significant damage to our roof, our home, and our sense of safety.

So, we chose to remove them as a form of preventive care.

We were not waiting for destruction before we acted. We were not waiting for a storm to prove the danger was real. We looked at the direction and size of the

trees, and the potential damage they could cause, and we decided it was time to address the problem before it became a crisis.

This, too, became part of the revelation.

Deliverance is not only for what has already fallen apart. Sometimes deliverance is preventive care. Often God begins dealing with a root before it destroys a marriage, damages a ministry, breaks a family, ruins a relationship, corrupts a calling, or causes a person to collapse under the weight of something that should have been resolved earlier.

If you are like most people, you wait until the storm comes before you deal with the tree. Oftentimes, you’ll wait until anger has damaged the relationship, until bitterness has poisoned the heart, until lust has opened a door. You wait until fear has paralyzed your obedience, or pride has isolated you, and unforgiveness has hardened you. You may notice the generational patterns reproduced through your children, yet you may pretend the problems don’t exist until what was leaning finally falls.

But the wisdom of God teaches us to discern danger before destruction.

"Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth

wood shall be endangered thereby." Ecclesiastes 10:9, KJV.

This verse reminds us that dealing with hard things can be dangerous, difficult, and uncomfortable. Removing what has been settled for a long time is not easy work. Cutting down what has stood for years requires wisdom, strength, and timing. But ignoring what has become dangerous does not make it safe.

The side trees also had roots that were growing toward our driveway. We knew that if those roots continued to spread, it would only be a matter of time before they pushed beneath the cement and created another problem. Roots are powerful because they do not always show you what they are doing. They grow quietly. They move underground. They stretch into places you cannot see. By the time you notice the damage above ground, the roots have already been active beneath the surface for a long time.

This is how hidden roots work in the soul.

A person may see the fruit but not understand the root. The root of anything represents the origin or source of its existence. I think of a student in a spelling bee, standing before a word too heavy for memory alone. When the letters won't come, they don't guess. They ask, "What is the root or the origin?"

The principle holds for trees as much as words. A tree is not defined by what waves in the wind. The leaves change with the season, and the branches bend with the storm, but the root, hidden and buried, tells you what the tree is.

This is why so many of us stay stuck. We study the leaves, prune the branches, and treat the fruit, wondering why the same harvest returns season after season. The branches are the symptoms, the root is the source, but God works from the root up.

Therefore, before you spell out your healing, ask the same question that the student asks: What is the root, origin, or source of a thing? In other words, where are these symptoms stemming from?

When we don’t address the source, we focus only on what we see and not what is hidden. This is why anger so often masks abandonment, and control so often covers fear. If we discern deeper, what looks like lust may be a wound; what seems to be depression could be unresolved grief. Procrastination can hide a fear of failure, and the disappointment that seems certain to follow. Bitterness frequently marks a betrayal that was never healed, and an addiction is rarely about the substance itself; it is the emptiness underneath, medicated instead of met. What we don’t see is the hidden root that will remain dormant until we are willing to look deeper and kill the symptoms at the root.

Unfortunately, the hidden roots are the origin and source of most of our problems.

However, roots often move before they are noticed.

Roots can eventually become problematic for an older home. If left unattended, the roots from a mature tree can grow deeper, affecting plumbing, foundations, concrete, and underground systems. Mature tree roots can press against what was meant

to stay stable and invade what was meant to flow freely. Consequently, tree roots can interrupt what was designed to function properly.

Spiritually, hidden roots can affect the inner workings of a person's life. They can affect how we receive love, how we process correction, how we handle conflict, how we trust God, how we forgive, how we serve, how we lead, how we think, how we respond, and how we relate to others. The issue is not always what is visible. The issue is what has been growing beneath the surface long enough to interfere with the flow.

When Trauma Becomes a Root System

Trauma is one of the deepest roots that can grow beneath the surface of a person’s life.

It does not always announce itself loudly. Sometimes trauma hides under strength. Sometimes it hides under silence. Sometimes it hides under control, perfectionism, anger, fear, people-pleasing, isolation, overachievement, emotional numbness, or a smile that has learned how to cover pain. From the outside, you may appear functional, gifted, responsible, spiritual, and strong. But beneath the surface, trauma may still be moving through the root system of the soul.

Trauma is not only what happened to you. It is also what remained in you after what happened.

It can be the memory that never fully healed.
The fear that stayed after the danger passed.

The shame attached itself to the wound.
The lie that formed in the mind.
The vow the heart made to never be hurt again.
The defense system became a way of life.
The pain that shaped how we love, trust, respond, and see ourselves.

Like the roots of a tree, trauma can run deep, long, and quietly. It can spread into places you did not expect. It can affect relationships, emotions, bodies, decision-making, your ability to receive love, and even your understanding of God. A traumatic root may begin in childhood, but if it is never healed, it can continue speaking in adulthood.

A child may experience rejection and become an adult who struggles to trust love.

A child may experience abandonment and become an adult who fears being left.
A child may experience abuse and become an adult who confuses control with safety.
A child may experience shame and become an adult who hides behind performance.
A child may experience instability and become an adult who lives in anxiety.
A child may experience violation and become an adult who struggles with purity, boundaries, or self-worth.

This is why trauma must be treated as more than a memory. It can become a root system.

When trauma becomes a root system, it begins to feed fruit. The fruit may show up as anger, withdrawal, insecurity, fear, depression, bitterness, sexual brokenness, mistrust, defensiveness, procrastination, control, addiction, or emotional reactivity. People may judge the fruit without ever asking what root has been feeding it.

But God sees beneath the fruit.

He sees the wound.
He sees the moment.
He sees the memory.
He sees the lie.
He sees the place where the heart broke.
He sees the place where the soul learned to survive.

Psalm 147:3 says, “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” God does not ignore broken places. He binds wounds. He ministers to what was torn. He heals what people may have overlooked, mishandled, or misunderstood.

Isaiah 61:1 says, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me... he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives...” This is the ministry of Jesus, and the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. He not only forgives sin, but He heals brokenness. He not only addresses behavior; He ministers to captivity within the heart.

Trauma may explain why a person reacts a certain way, but it does not have to remain the ruler of that person’s life. Trauma may reveal what happened,

but it does not have the authority to define who we are in Christ. Trauma may have shaped a season, but it does not have to write the final chapter.

This is where deliverance and healing work together.

Deliverance deals with bondage.
Healing deals with the wound.
Truth deals with the lie.
Repentance deals with agreement.
Forgiveness deals with the debt we keep holding.
The Holy Spirit deals with the root system.

All of us have roots we must address; some run deeper than others. Unbeknownst to most, we quench the spirit within us and do not give the Holy

Spirit governing authority to go after the hidden roots within us. So, many people want deliverance from the fruit the tree is producing, while still protecting the root. You may want the anger to stop, yet you resist forgiving the pain that caused the anger. Some may desire to overcome anxiety, but resist confronting the fear that produces the anxiety. Others cry for freedom from lust but refuse to examine the wound feeding the emptiness and the broken attachment beneath it. Lastly, we all want peace, yet we keep rehearsing the very memory that waters the trauma.

A root that is still being fed will keep producing the same fruit. So, the question remains: what are you feeding your roots?

This does not mean we rush healing. It does not mean we force people to relive pain without wisdom, safety, and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Healing must be handled with compassion. Some

ground is tender because it has been deeply disturbed. Some memories require patience. Some wounds need wise counsel, prayer, time, and safe spiritual support.

But healing does require surrender.

At some point, the wounded place must be brought before God. The memory must be given to Him. Lies must be renounced. Soul agreements and vows must be broken. Personal shame must be removed. Phobias and fears must be confronted. Consequently, the heart must be allowed to feel again, trust again, forgive again, and live again.

Trauma says, “Protect yourself.”
The Holy Spirit says, “Let Me heal you.”

Trauma says, “Never trust again.”
The Holy Spirit says, “I will teach you discernment without fear.”

Trauma says, “This is who you are now.”
The Holy Spirit says, “You are who God says you are.”

Trauma says, “Hide the wound.”
The Holy Spirit says, “Bring it into the light so it can be healed.”

Trauma says, “Survive.”
The Holy Spirit says, “Live.”

The tree-cutting revelation teaches us that roots must be exposed before the ground can be restored. Trauma is one of those roots that must be handled

carefully, but it cannot be ignored. If trauma remains hidden, it can continue to affect what grows above the surface. It can influence personality, emotions, relationships, health, decisions, and spiritual confidence.

But when the Holy Spirit begins to heal trauma at the root, the ground changes.

You begin to respond differently.
Your body begins to release what it has carried.Your mind begins to receive truth.
Your heart begins to soften.
Your soul begins to breathe.
Your fruit begins to change.

Where fear once grew, faith can be rooted.

Where shame once lived, identity can be restored. Where bitterness was, forgiveness can take root. Where grief lingers, comfort can be cultivated. Where rejection holds, sonship can be established.
Where trauma once ruled, the peace of God can begin to govern.

Trauma can run deep, but God goes deeper.

There is no root too hidden that the Holy Spirit cannot reveal. No hurt too old for God to touch. Intrusive thoughts or memories are never so painful that God’s grace cannot heal, and there is no buried place in our souls beyond the Holy Spirit’s reach.

The roots may be deep, but the Healer is deeper still.

"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." Proverbs 4:23, KJV

The word "issues" gives us a picture of flow, release, movement, and source. What flows out of your life is often connected to what has been stored, planted, guarded, or neglected in your heart. If your heart was invaded by hidden roots, then what flows out will eventually reveal what has been growing within.

This is why deliverance must deal with roots. It is not enough to cut off a branch. We can’t just sweep away leaves and clean up the visible mess while leaving the underground system untouched. If the root remains alive, the issue may return. The root may not return in the same form, but it will continue to seek expression.

Therefore, we must admit that deliverance is a process, but the more we avoid the uprooting, the longer the “issues” remain.

When Hidden Things Begin to Move

Discernment After the Ground Has Been Disturbed

Another part of this process became deeply significant. After the trees were removed, we noticed snakes, and later, we noticed large red ants in our yard. We realized that by cutting down the trees, disturbing the ground, and removing what had been rooted there for years, we likely disrupted these creeping creatures’ habitat, ecosystem, and their ability to remain hidden.

Before the trees were removed, those crawling things were always present, but we did not see them. They

had a covering, shade, and places to hide. They could move beneath the surface, around the roots, under the debris, and within the natural environment that was created over time. But once the trees came down and the ground was disturbed, what had been hidden began to show itself. This indicated it was time to remove the residue and move to the next phase of the yard landscaping.

Understanding that ground disruptions are manifestations of the initial works of deliverance. Notice I said that beginnings, because many ministers will explain that coughing, spitting, and crying are the full manifestations of a root being pulled up out of a person’s soul. While these things may transpire, these signs are not mandatory manifestations. However, through the work of the Holy Spirit alone, you may

experience spitting and coughing, but it is not solely provoked by man that commands something to be coughed up. When we allow the Holy Spirit to do only what He can do…we will see fruit that remains and deliverances that sustain for more than one day.

I must caution that there is no “one-size fits all.” Nor should we say certain manifestations, such as coughing and spitting, should not exist. But understand that bodily exercise profits little, and we should look for manifested fruits of the spirit that appear after true deliverance has taken place in the days following the healing ministry.

In a deliverance session I performed, I simply quoted the word and pleaded the authority and blood of Jesus, without calling anything out. However, the individual started coughing and spitting up on their own. This was the work of the Holy Spirit; nothing I

did, except declaring the word over the soil in the soul, caused this manifestation. It is not necessary to see something to know that deliverance has taken place, especially for those who are suppressed, oppressed, and depressed. But if a person is fully possessed, be alert, because there’s no telling what manifestations may show up.

Throughout Scripture, deliverance did not always look the same. Some people cried out, some fell, some were healed instantly, some were restored quietly, and some were delivered from a distance. The Bible does not teach us to chase manifestations; it teaches us to look for freedom, healing, repentance, restored identity, and lasting fruit. Regardless, all manifestations should be provoked by the work of the Holy Spirit and not a performance by man.

This, too, became a revelation. Regarding the tree roots, you may not see the roots rotting, but when we bind the oppressing spirit and halt its ability to

progress, the process exposes the root, and the Holy Spirit begins to uproot, disrupt, and the root no longer is permitted to grow any further.

When God begins the process of deliverance, hidden things often begin to move.

~Selah