Recently a reader; who shall remain nameless, sent me a request for help in what they called “their struggle to believe God”. The brokenness they felt every time they tried to trust His Biblical Truths seemed to become overwhelming… in fact they said that it felt like their Heart was “raging from within”. I want to thank the “reader” for their honest transparency, because I do not believe they are alone in this struggle. The desire to know what steps to take toward freedom is a huge leap in the right direction! We all must learn and understand these spiritual principles, if we are to grow in faith as Christ’s disciples.

What most people do not understand is that they need to be free from Demonic Strongholds!

Immediately, you might draw back and feel shocked at this statement. You may even say, “I am not lead by the devil!” Let me first tell you that this issue is a spiritual battle and there is no way to be free from our past unless we admit that the past might still have a hold on our life. We will never be free from old ways except by faith in the wisdom of God and agreement with the Word of God. The Holy Spirit will watch over God’s Word and make it powerful and effective in judging the intents of our heart (Heb 4:12)… if we are willing to receive.

The value of spiritual weapons… (2 Cor. 10:3-6).

“The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for the pulling down of spiritual strongholds, arguments and human reasoning that war against the Truth and the knowledge of Christ.”

I want to define a stronghold for you… it is a house made of thoughts.

This house made of thoughts is built upon a foundation of lies and deceptions that rule us emotionally, because we have had experiences that overwhelm our ability to believe the Truth. We cannot identify with what we have no ability to believe. What happens is that we make “emotional Covenants”… agreement with Darkness. Covenant agreement is a powerful spiritual force that either works for us or against us. Repentance and forgiveness are the beginning of freedom and all it requires is confession of our sin, but freedom costs us our emotional safety net. Remind yourself that this safety is fear based and not safe at all… its actually a deception. We must surrender our behavior in order to be free (John 8:30-36). Sinful behaviors are connected to the “orphan heart” that wants to be loved and embraced. What happens is that we often confuse legitimate needs with illegitimate behavior (Rom. 1:18-25).

We must do several things to break free.

• 1st Renounce the Emotional Covenants with Darkness… confess the sin and begin to destroy the yoke associated with the thinking and feeling that sin brings. Isaiah 27:10 says the anointing breaks yokes around our neck… claim that strength for yourself and destroy the yoke.
• 2nd Ask the Holy Spirit to begin to reveal to you what it is that this sin feeds in your heart. You will be able to hear in your heart immediately when you ask… God will answer and you will know. I find it helps to write a simple paragraph to God asking Him to reveal where your heart was broken and why. You might even want to ask Him where He was in the midst of your pain. You may need to go back into your heart and examine trauma or painful experiences that have caused you to make bitter judgments toward others, your parents or God. Quickly forgive them and the burden will lift, guilt and shame will leave quickly. That is where the Covenant was given its attachment to your heart. That is the easy part.
• 3rd You must exchange the lies for the Truth of God and begin to identify areas where you are being “fathered” by emotional pain rather than God. Your Father loves you and has always been available to you. His thoughts toward you are all good.

You may find many broken places where lies are hiding in your life… expose them and make them come into obedience to the Word of God. Take authority over shame and tell yourself what God has said about you… lies will bow a knee to Truth as you stand firm in Christ!