WITHOUT Christ as Lord and Saviour you cannot win the battle against demonic strongholds. He is the living spirit that gives you power to overcome.
Mathew 12:29. Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.
Mark 3:27. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.
Jesus is the stronger man: He overcame the world. John 16:33 I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
What are satanic strongholds?
Satanic strongholds can be described as spiritual castles in the mind where the devil controls people’s lives using wrong belief systems and lies.
Evil spirits guard such castles from the outside viciously.
Click on the link below to watch a video on pastor Nellie’s teaching on strongholds.
A stronghold can be a grand lie that has been told over a long period of time and accepted as a truth.
Satanic strongholds come about when one accepts or is convinced that what they are experiencing presently is the truth!
If you believe the lie over time and it remains unchallenged by the truth of God, the devil is able to build a stronghold in your mind.
Look at the case of Abraham in Genesis 15:1-6. After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield, your very great reward.” But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”
And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”
Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.”
He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
We see God trying to pull down Abraham’s stronghold. At the time, Abram had no child and that is what he was experiencing at that moment.
The Bible says he chose to believe by looking beyond the present circumstance which defied logic and science and it was counted “unto him as righteousness.”
A stronghold is a limiting negative mindset. It is an attitude , a deep set of belief that can block someone from the truth and the the love of God.
Satanic strongholds can be as a result of childhood wounding, lack of self control, unforgiveness, defilement, idolatry and personal sins that open doors to demons.
Satanic strongholds of the mind
Satan attacks the mind with arguments, pretensions, falsehoods, imaginations and rebellion according to 2 Corinthians 10 :3-5 . For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.
On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
There are strongholds of logic, science and there are satanic strongholds we may have accepted in our lives out of human tradition.
When Satan has fortified a stronghold, he will stop at nothing to sustain it. If the door was opened by personal sin, the stronghold then becomes something you are doing and won’t let go of.
Click on the link below to watch a video on pastor Nellie’s teaching on how demons build strongholds.
Demons will then use it to keep a doorway open which gives them a legal ground to be there.
Once demons occupy a stronghold, the destructive habit will not stop until;
- Sin is confessed
- Demons in the stronghold kicked out
- A new life of discipline and obedience starts
Satan targets the mind in a fierce spiritual battle that is going on. Isaiah 61:1 says Jesus came to set captives free from the strongholds of the devil.
To deal with a satanic stronghold you must deal with the foundation, the building blocks the enemy used in the first place to build it.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 tells us about the material Satan used to build the stronghold-arguments, falsehoods, pretensions, imagination “that sets up against the knowledge of God.”
Satan opposes the word of God
It is important to “take captive” our thoughts and bring them into obedience of Christ. Our thoughts precede every action we take.
An action, done repeatedly become part of a habit and once the habit gets a hold of our personality it births a character.
Characters come with labels that gives us an identity and finally determines our destiny.
Philippians 4:8, Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
When we take captive way-ward thoughts that Satan throws in our minds and make them obedient to Christ we begin to demolish Satanic strongholds and start to build new strongholds founded on the word of God.
Click on the link below to watch a video on pastor Nellie’s teaching on material Satan uses to build strongholds.
We are constantly becoming what we think. As a man thinks so is he. (Proverbs 23:7).
Satan opposes the word of God. He will tell you, “Go ahead and do it…it is your culture, everyone is doing it!”
The truth of the word of God is the greatest weapon against every satanic stronghold. Jeremiah 23:29. “Is not my word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?
Hebrews 4:12. For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
To pull down the satanic strongholds we must meditate on the word of God. Meditating is personalising and applying the word to a situation.
Strongholds are pulled down-breaking agreement with the li while demons are cast out, evicted as illegal tenants.
The mind must be brought under control of the Spirit. We will learn that we must walk, talk, and think like a “saved” man – this is the journey of mind renewal.
To demolish a stronghold, we must bring the word of God against it. We must constantly ask our selves what the word says about a tag, a label or a circumstance that the enemy may take advantage of to build his strongholds in our minds.
We need to pray daily and ask God to show us the areas of our minds that are still unrenewed.
The strongholds and hidden lies we have believed must be exposed against the light of God’s Word as the Spirit gives revelation.
Satan can use others as a mouthpiece to curse you and if you believe the lie it may end up in low self-esteem, anger, rejection, not believing you can make it and so not succeeding.
Superior weapons
The Bible says we can do al things through Christ who gives us strength. Philippians 4:13, For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
Remember the battle of satanic strongholds is in the mind. It is the choice of believing what is true through God’s word or what Satan whispers to you through his falsehoods, pretentions, imaginations and rebellion that is going to make the difference.
We must consciously and purposefully choose to believe and actively apply what the word of God says about our circumstances.
For God to demolish Joshua’s stronghold He reveals to Him the secret weapon of the Word in Joshua 1: 8-9, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.
Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.
Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
The truth of the word of God a divine and superior weapon against Satanic strongholds in our lives. Use it to hit against the stronghold, again and again, until it is destroyed.
Keep hearing, keep believing, keep doing and keep renewing your mind with the truth of God’s word and the truth from His Word will set you free!
Renewal of the mind may not be instantaneous, it is a process and constant warfare.
Remember the stronghold was not built in a day. Sometimes it can take quite some time before you will really experience a breakthrough. However the case maybe, keep fighting, keep going!
