SueAnn Porter

I want to tear down all the prisons!

A stronghold can either be a prison, or it can be a fortress. A prison is a place where one is held captive. A fortress is a place of safety and protection, usually high above ground, where you can watch for enemy attacks, and be ready to defend yourself before the enemy gets too close.

A “bad” stronghold is a prison of the mind, filled with wrong ideas, wrong logic, and blinding lies. These strongholds are places from where demons rule.

A “good” stronghold is a mind that is free of wrong ideas and wrong logic, and is based on God’s Word.

God is our stronghold. We want to get in the habit of RUNNING to God when we are faced with trouble. In the midst of the storm, we should cry out to God for help. It’s best if we have a few scriptures memorized that pertain to the situation, and pray them back to God.

For example, “God is my refuge, and my strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46) Sing the song if it helps! Satan hates it.

 

We can pray and break the strongholds in our life, but then we must be sure to replace the old stronghold with a new stronghold based in God’s Word.

We can, thru prayer, demolish the strongholds of the enemy. But it can’t stay empty. It needs to be filled up with God’s word. Remember the parable about the spirit that goes out, and comes back to find the place swept and cleaned up, and brings back seven spirits that are worse. Fill the stronghold up with God’s WORD.

It’s best to memorize the scriptures FIRST. Meditate on the scriptures, memorize them, and make them a part of you. Then pray against your strongholds. Then continue to SPEAK and meditate on the scriptures so that God fills in the places that were previously taken by the bad strongholds.

The weapons we fight with are NOT the weapons of the world; on the contrary, they have DIVINE POWER TO DEMOLISH STRONGHOLDS.   2 COR 10:4

Negative thoughts can become a stronghold. We need to:

1) recognize them when they happen

2) cast them out (speak against them)

3) replace with God’s word (speak the word)

Now, add to this: Keep seeking, keep asking, keep knocking. If it doesn’t go on the first go-round, do it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day. Sometimes the strongholds fall immediately like a dynamite explosion, other times it’s like digging out of prison through the wall with a spoon. Don’t quit. Keep digging. (Re-watched Escape from Alcatraz last night. Clint Eastwood literally “digs out” of the prison.)

 

There are also strongholds in unbeliever’s minds that actually keep them from “seeing” Jesus and understanding the gospel. Part of the veil that blinds the minds of unbeliever is the strongholds in their minds. We need to keep praying for the stronghold to be demolished and the veil to be removed. Then they can understand the gospel as it is presented, and make Jesus Lord of their life.  (I am working on a prayer for this which I hope to post later in the week.)

“A stronghold is an occupied position that provides both defensive and offensive benefits. The defensive benefit is that the stronghold is positioned in such a way that it can easily be held and defended. The offensive benefit is that the stronghold provides a strategic position from which to launch attacks on an unsuspecting foe.”  — John Bevere

 

Be self-controlled, and alert. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. –1 Peter 5:8

 

I love 2 Peter 1:3-4:

For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the personal knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence.

By means of these He has bestowed on us His great and precious promises, so that though them we might escape from the moral decay that is in the world because of covetousness, and become partakers of THE DIVINE NATURE.

By God’s precious promises to us, we can partake of His divine nature !!! His divine power has been bestowed upon us !!!

 

Allow God full access to your life.  Someone will occupy the strong hold, either God or Satan, choose!

The more we learn about Satan and his strategy, the more effectively we can battle him.  Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy.

Jesus came to give us life abundantly.

 

2 Tim 4:18 says:

The Lord will deliver ME from every evil work and preserve ME for His heavenly kingdom.

We must be decisive! Satan can take advantage of indecision. Choose ye this day whom you will serve!

In the spiritual realm, the demons know that they have lost. But in the natural realm, many people do not know this so they believe that the demons have power. We  have power over them because of Jesus!!

We can’t fight the devil in our own strength. God gave us His armor to fight with.

We need to be submitted to God, and then we can resist the devil and he will flee. This way we shift from defense to offense!! If Satan attacks, be ready to counterattack.

Remember: Greater is He who is in ME than he who is in the world.

Jesus gave us His name and authority. The name of Jesus is the legal authorization that allows us to stand against the devil.

 

I want to tear down ALL the prisons in my mind and rebuild secure fortresses based on God’s Word in their place!

#TrustJesus