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| Detroit - where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty |
Yesterday morning at Redeemer God was moving and changing the direction of our service from the beginning. In the middle of worship there was a call to come forward and receive prayer for the breaking of inner spiritual strongholds. Many people came forward and were released from the lies of the enemy.
We find the "spiritual stronghold" idea in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5:
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.5 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.
Here we see that a "spiritual stronghold" is an "argument"
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says that the weapons and a "pretender" that fortresses itself "against the knowledge of God." Spiritual strongholds are fortresses or houses made of thoughts that need to be torn down.
Here are some examples of pretender-strongholds – “houses” made of thoughts – that need to be torn down:
Cares of the world
Anxiety
Unforgiveness
Bitterness
Grief (lasting)
Instability (emotions rule; the emotional rollercoaster)
Accusations (the “accuser of the brethren”)
Condemnation
Sin and patterns of sin
One of the weapons we have to demolish strongholds is prayer (see Ephesians 6:18). In prayer, take such thoughts captive, such as "I am a failure in God's eyes," or "God could never love someone like me." Thoughts like these are pretenders to the throne. They have no place in the fortress of God. Remember that you are a temple of the Holy Spirit, and God's Spirit is never going to speak these kind of things to a follower of Jesus.
As I look at this list I realize I have battled every thing on it. The main way I tear these things down is by praying. I pray the truths of God, over and over again. Pray, for example, the Big Truth, which is: God loves me. As I pray this the Big Truth overwhelms the big lies that threaten my status in Christ.
I also find it necessary to pray this way a lot. While it's true that God can remove things once and for all, it is also true tat we are in a spiritual battle, and the enemy of our souls does not let up.
Pray the truth to defeat the lie.
Pray:
- Be anxious for nothing (freedom from anxiety is found in the Christ-abiding relationship)
- Give me Your heart of forgiveness (I forgive others because Christ has forgiven me)
- Uproot any root of bitterness within me
- Give me a heart of thankfulness (In Christ, I am a thankful, blessed person)
- God can heal my hurting, wounded heart
- God's truth, not my emotions, shall reign in my heart
- There is no condemnation for me, since I am in Christ Jesus
- Christ has defeated sin once and for all, therefore sin has lost its power in me
