Stronghold
2 Corinthians 10:4–5 (KJV) “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
A stronghold is a fortified place. In this case, it is a pattern of thinking that regulates your life. This is something that is detrimental to you resisting the devil. These are thoughts that are against what God has for our lives. These thoughts hold us in bondage. It is very hard to resist the devil with strongholds in our minds. These strongholds are imaginations, arguments, theories, and reasonings that oppose the Word of God. They must be removed. If we are going to successfully and consistently win against the enemy, then we must do what is necessary to get rid of these strongholds and patterns of thinking.
These strongholds came over the years before we were born again and can even develop after we are born again if we live as a carnal Christian. A stronghold begins with giving the devil a foothold. What I mean by that is, imagine yourself scaling the face of a huge rock or mountain; and as you climb up, you are looking for just a crack in the rock to put your feet or toes. These are what I call footholds. It’s just enough of a crack for the devil to get in. When these footholds are not dealt with, they become strongholds.
So, random, ungodly thoughts that are not dealt with—thoughts that we let stay among our thoughts—can and will eventually turn into strongholds. According to Jesus, the devil is just looking for a place to come in. John 14:30 (AMPC) says, “I will not talk with you much more, for the prince (evil genius, ruler) of the world is coming. And he has no claim on Me [he has nothing in common with Me; there is nothing in Me that belongs to him, and he has no power over Me].” We must make sure none of the devil’s thoughts are our thoughts.
How do we get rid of these strongholds? We are told what to think on in Philippians 4:8 (KJV), which says, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
If we are going to dismantle strongholds, we must do it by replacing what we are thinking on. You can’t have strongholds prayed away, cast out, or have someone lay hands on you to fix it. Someone else praying for you won’t fix it either. We must take every thought captive by replacing the thought with something pure, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy—and all these come from the Word of God.
Once we begin to think like God thinks, it will help us say what God says, and it will cause the devil to get out of our minds. With our helmet of salvation, we will win the battles of life.