Strongholds



Definition of Stronghold:
o A place that has been fortified so at to protect it against attack.

Biblical standpoint of Stronghold:

Strongholds are nothing short of what this word stands for. When we break down the two-part verbiage of this word, its “strong” first. and then, “hold” next. The word strong in definition is having to withstand great force or pressure. The word holds in definition is to keep or detain.
When we put these two words together, we must analyze the reality of what it means to engage with a stronghold. This in the spiritual realm is something that has a stronghold on your walk with Christ. Which ultimately, deals with the demonic forces that can keep a hold on a certain area in your life, that you allowed demons to come in at. This can include but not limited to:
Sex out of marriage
Pornography
Hate
Envy
Jealousy
Lust
Lying
Cheating
Stealing
Discord
Unforgiveness
And many other things that the enemy can have a stronghold on you. I believe with my own experience in life that unforgiveness is a huge stronghold that so many of us deal with. From our past hurts and pains, we have the tendency to not forgive those that we thought should not have betrayed us like they did. Holding this type of hold in our lives does not allow us to live our life in peace, joy, and abundance, which you can reference the e-book on my link tree on the amazon link “Prayer Changes Things with A Forgiving Heart”. This goes for all strongholds, but I find that more people have a hard time forgiving those that have wronged them in some way shape or form. When we can allow the Holy Spirit to overtake our heart and be delivered from things that once held our mind in captivity, we will be able to live a more peaceful life.
If you have been able to read about the “Warring with the Spirits” on amazon as an e-book, then this describes how the enemy is able to conquer a stronghold in one’s life. So, all the enemy does is listens to what you say, watches what you see, and can smell what you smell. The enemy cannot be everywhere at once. Remember it says that the enemy goes to and fro seeking out whom he can devour. This means exactly that; he only encounters where you yourself have opened a gate way or portal to allow an attack of the enemy in.
It is usually very subtle, the more subtle it is the more of a stronghold the enemy can gravitate and hold on to. For instance, let’s say you have had a problem with pornography. Let’s say a movie comes on that is R rated and has sexually explicit scenes. By watching this very small scene in a regular movie, can open the portal to what you are struggling with. In all honesty, you may feel as if this is something simple and won’t cause an area for temptation, but what if you are not spiritually inclined and not strong enough to withstand the attacks of the enemy, then you can become slowly wrapped into watching pornography.
I remember when I was much younger, I had a VCR in my room, and I had just gotten home from school. I just so happen to turn my T.V on not thinking anything of it, and hit play on the VCR, only to find that someone had left their pornography tape in the VCR. For me, that was the ultimate portal that opened a gateway for the enemy to start opening me up to pornography. This was very subtle, for one I was young and didn’t realize how deep I would get in this world until I was of age, sexually active, and so far, gone into it, that I didn’t realize that I was addicted to something that was not of God. Now with me being young and not knowing about strongholds, this could have happened through a gateway that my parent had opened, that was not covered through the blood that ultimately, was opened up to me.
Strongholds in laymen turns are addictions. You become addicted to filling that void of what you think your lacking in order to satisfy the flesh in that moment. It’s a process to get to the level of being addicted to something. Sometimes you may go through breaks, of trying to pull away, but you find yourself right back doing the same thing after pulling away. This happens when you have opened yourself back up to an addiction through what is usually a very small portal, for example a sexual scene in a regular movie.
In order to overcome this kind of hold in your life, it takes a spiritual encounter with the most high to help you break the yoke of addiction in your life. This in the spiritual realm is called being delivered. Deliverance can be a process as well, or it can happen immediately. What we cannot do is once we have gone through the deliverance, is STOP! We cannot stop praying for us to be delivered from the stronghold that has kept us bound for so long. When we continue to pray without ceasing than we are not allowing the enemy to attack us in that area of our life.
Now when you go through deliverance, most times you will go through a spiritual warfare. A spiritual warfare is fighting in the spirit, and taking back your rights from the enemy that was able to come through a portal in the area you are struggling in. That is why it is important to continue to pray, because the battle is not over once you have been delivered. Just imagine, someone coming in and trying to take back what you took from them. You may let them have it back with ease, or you might fight to keep it. This is how the enemy operates as well, but don’t think for one second that the attacks are over. An attack can come just as subtle as a stronghold can enter in.
Behind the reality of it all, we can give jurisdiction to the stronghold or attack to the enemy, by what we feed our flesh and spirit. If it goes against the principles of what the Lord teaches than you are setting yourself up for the enemy to enter a gateway that you allowed to be opened. In my next blog, I will focus on the deliverance and spiritual warfare of this segment of Warring in the Spirit.
Reflection Scriptures (KJV):
Enemy seeking who to devour:
1 Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
Cease without Praying:
1 Thessalonians 5:17-18
Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks for this the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Abstaining from all impurity:
1 Thessalonians 5:22-23
Abstain from all appearance of evil, And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Strongholds:
Psalm 9:9-10
The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee