"Though we walk in the flesh, we
do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons
of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely
powerful for the destruction of fortresses (strongholds).
We are destroying speculations and every lofty
thing raised up against the knowledge of God,
and we are taking every thought captive to the
obedience of Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
A
stronghold is defined by Webster as a place having
strong defenses; a fortress. As we progress,
growing in our walk with God, the enemy will fight
hard by every possible means to discourage and
defeat us. To overcome these personal attacks
we must understand his methods. He will most often
try to defeat us through our minds (our thought
lives). This battle is very strong because it
goes on continually. In dreams, when we wake up
in the morning, and throughout the day, fiery
thought darts assail our minds. Our enemy knows
that if he can rule in our thoughts, then he can
defeat us in our actions, including our prayer
lives. We don't realize the number of negative
thoughts that bombard us daily. And they are powerful.
They can destroy relationships, affect ministries,
drain us of health and energy, as they impact
almost every area of our lives. To avoid destruction,
we must learn to take every thought captive to
Christ and not listen to the lies of the enemy.
Learning
to destroy strongholds of the mind will have a
dramatic affect in the life of every person who
wants to serve God wholeheartedly. As intercessors,
we must take captive our thoughts and walk in
truth. Doing this has greatly impacted both my
husband's and my life. Having gained understanding
of how to walk free of strongholds, we have been
able to teach people in several countries how
they, too, can walk in a greater freedom.
A
Powerful Enemy - Strongholds in our Mind
Some
of Satan's most powerful weapons against our effectiveness
for the Kingdom are strongholds in our minds.
A stronghold is a thought pattern, usually planted
in our minds during our first five years of life.
It grows and gains strength through the years,
becoming a practiced way of thinking and an automatic
way of living. We all have some strongholds, which
have become powerful life messages. An enemy stronghold
is based in a lying thought that we have embraced
instead of God's truth. These strongholds are
powerful and can cause destructive habits that
affect our relationship to God and to others.
Such patterns of thought can bring terrible misunderstandings
into our lives. Let me give you some examples
of strongholds: "I will never change,"
"I'm bad," "Nobody loves me,"
"I'm stupid," "I'm a failure,"
"It's all my fault," "Life isn't
safe," "My situation is hopeless,"
etc. Do you get the idea? And then, realize that
this idea or thought is the open door through
which the enemy can defeat us again and again.
We are then stuck in a rut. This is how the enemy
works.
Our strongholds affect one another, and that is
why there is so much warfare in marriages and
relationships. They trigger another's emotions
or strongholds and work to bring destruction.
They need to be brought to the cross in repentance.
"We do this by identifying strongholds
and practices in our flesh, hating them, repenting
of them, confessing them to the Father; and then
believing they have died with Jesus." We
read in I John 3:8, "The son of God appeared
for this purpose, to destroy the works of the
devil." We need to believe that His death
has set us free. If the body of Christ begins
to walk out of these strongholds and begins to
believe the truth instead of the lie, Satan knows
that we will be unstoppable for the Kingdom of
God. This is why he fights so hard to keep these
lies hidden in our lives. But there is hope! God
can identify and break these strongholds in our
mind.
Weapons
Against Strongholds
As
we enter deeper into the end times, we are going
to have to work to take every thought captive
to the obedience of Christ. Some weapons to
help us to deal with strongholds in our own lives
and the lives of others are the following:
- The
Word of God - Paul would speak the truth
of God's Word. The Word is our life and sets
us free. We must hold onto it with all of our
hearts. We must listen to what God says rather
than the lies and fiery darts
of the enemy.
- Repentance
- Repentance removes the legal base of Satan's
attack. When we confess the false belief that
we have carried most of our lives, God is able
to remove the legal base and the open door of
the enemy. He is able to break through the fear
that has controlled us. He can speak to our
hearts in a new way where we are able to experience
His peace and love in a new dimension.
- Personal
testimony
- We overcome the enemy by the word of our testimony.
Personal testimonies touch into the feeling
part of our being. Personal testimony given
in a spirit of humility helps us to identify
with others. "They overcame him by the
blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony."
(Revelation 12:11a)
- Forgiveness
- We must forgive everyone who has hurt or offended
us. Usually when strongholds are detected and
acknowledged, there is someone who has been
involved in the starting or reinforcing of that
stronghold. Forgiveness will be a key to our
deliverance. We must learn to set those people
free.
- The
blood of Jesus
- There is power in the blood of Jesus. This
is power to set the captives free and to live
a new kind of life. The blood of Jesus overcomes
all obstacles of sin. Jesus' blood is a weapon
of His kindness that disarms the weaponry of
the sin of the stronghold. We need to learn
to pray the blood of Jesus over our cities,
our neighborhoods and our families.
- Prayer
- Prayer applies the blood, cross and resurrection
life of Jesus. It enables us to hear and receive
the Word of God. "And pray in the Spirit
on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and
requests. With this in mind, be alert and always
keep on praying for all the saints." (Ephesians
6:18)
- Dying
to sin
- We need to hate the strongholds in our lives
and our sinful responses. We think we benefit
in some way from the stronghold such as the
satisfaction of vengeance, feeling powerful
and various other ways. We need to be so grieved
by our sinful strongholds that we are willing
to pay the price of dying to sin. It is a process.
"Love must be sincere. Hate what is
evil; cling to what is good." (Romans 12:9)
God
will enable us to break through the enemy strongholds
in our lives and in our cities and nation. Let
us not give up but diligently bring our thoughts
captive to the obedience of Christ.
"Therefore,
I urge you, brethren, in view of God's mercy,
to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy
and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual
act of worship. Do not conform any longer to
the pattern of this world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind. Then you will
be able to test and approve what God's will
is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Romans 12:1-2
To
find out more about destroying personal strongholds,
get out book called Intercessors Arise
or Go Forth in Power.
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