Need to Escape Strongholds? How to Actually Live Free

Each of us deal with strongholds at some point–those prisons which seem impossible to escape.

This post is taken from the soon-to-be-released LifeSword Devotional – WHERE FREEDOM DWELLS: A 31-Day Devotional Journey to Our Christ-Given Freedom (written to correspond with the spiritual theme of the seventh Miller’s Creek novel, STILL I WILL FOLLOW.) The post gives the solution for breaking free to escape those spiritual strongholds in our lives.

Imprisoned in a spiritual stronghold? Our supernatural weapons have divine power!
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STRONGHOLDS – Part of the Enemy’s Plan

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. -2 Corinthians 10:3-5

One part of being human is that at least once in our lives–and probably much more often–we will find ourselves imprisoned in some sort of stronghold.

In the above passage, the original word used for stronghold can also be interpreted as a fortress. Life has a way of trapping us with its shiny baubles, then locks us behind bars in these strongholds. To make matters worse, the fortresses that keep us imprisoned often make us feel that escape is impossible, and that the jailer who locked us up has also thrown away the key.

The Supernatural Weapons Which Destroy Strongholds

Don’t give in to the enemy’s discouragement! Our God offers us supernatural weapons which “have divine power to demolish strongholds.” What are these weapons?

Prayer, as our means of communicating with our Commander-in-Chief, is one such weapon. And God’s Word, one way in which God’s Spirit communicates with us, is another. Used together, these two God-given supernatural weapons can demolish the strongholds which keep us behind bars. So pray God’s Word over that fortress you can’t seem to escape!

Specific Strongholds to Demolish

Strongholds can take many shapes, sizes, and forms. They can be strongholds of addiction, bad attitudes, unloving hearts, unkind words, money, other material possessions, and so on and so forth.

The opening scripture passage also mentions some strongholds we can demolish:

Arguments – To me, this word reminds me of those who argue about God’s existence; His grace, mercy, and love; His plan to redeem mankind from a fallen world; His role as Creator and Sustainer of the universe; and even His sovereignty. Those who follow worldly philosophies will challenge our faith at every opportunity. How I pray that we know God’s Word well enough to demolish their arguments.
Every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God – Did you catch that word “pretension?” Other forms of the word are pretense and pretend. A sad fact about the world we live in is that people like to come up with their own ideas of reality. Satan is a liar, and he deals in lies (pretension) which woo people away from God’s Truth toward his pretense. Remember his lie to Eve? “Did God really say…?” He then went on to tell her that the banned fruit would make her and Adam like God. God had told them the fruit would be bring death. They chose the lie over the Truth. Our enemy still sets himself up against the knowledge of God to this very day.
Take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ – This point is so important that I could write an entire book about it. What we think about–in other words, what we allow to take root in our minds–can determine our lives. Satan is an expert at using the human mind as his battlefield. He’s won scores of battles there. We MUST take every thought that enters our minds–no matter how beguiling and appealing–and make it obey Jesus. How? Those same supernatural weapons. Study God’s Word. If that thought in your mind is contrary to the Bible, it is NOT of God. Pray about it as well. Ask God’s Spirit to shed His light on the thought. God’s light is powerful enough to expose the flaws in each and every thought.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the supernatural weapons with divine power You grant us as Your children. Through prayer and Your Word, we have no excuse for going astray. Lord, help us to destroy the enemy’s strongholds–not just in our individual lives, but also in the lives of friends, family, our church families, and even our country and world. Without Your divine intervention, we are totally without hope. Give us a hunger to know Your Word well, so we can effectively demolish arguments and Satan’s pretension which set themselves up against knowledge of You. Thank You that You are close to each one of us, and that You give us the ability to take every thought captive in obedience to the One who died for us that we might enjoy true freedom. It is in His name we pray. Amen.

Food For Thought: Prayerfully consider any strongholds in your life at the moment. Find scriptures to pray over that stronghold. Repeat this process for your friends, family members, church family, and our nation.

(Excerpt from WHERE FREEDOM DWELLS, the soon-to-be-released companion devotional to the Miller’s Creek novel, STILL I WILL FOLLOW.)