2 Corinthians 10: 3-5 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing (demons) that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”
- Understand that sin/evil can be participated with
We have a choice to cooperate or participate with evil or with the Holy Spirit in every single thought we have. All negative, sinful or hurtful thought and feeling greatly affects our spirits and effects how we see God, ourselves and others. Evil we participate with and believe can come from sin within us, generational sin, sin spoken through someone else (Christian or non-Christian) or from demonic influence. We may not be aware of our specific sin areas, so if we are serious about spiritual freedom from sin, strongholds and demonic influence, we need to consistently ask God to reveal it to us so we can surrender it.
2. Take thoughts captive to Christ and renounce/reject anything opposed to God
If thoughts or feelings are not from a stronghold, meaning it is just an attack, we can adequately fight them with Scripture, giving our thoughts to Christ in prayer, through worship and by renouncing and rejecting it as untrue and not something to accept into our spirit. All thoughts should be processed through Jesus, literally every moment. This is what Paul means when he says, “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). We then have a choice to participate/cooperate with thoughts that line up with God’s truth and reject lies.
3. Know the Word of God and put on the full armor of God
We need to be proactive and bold in warfare every day. Spiritual warfare is much more than defense. We need to be in the Bible so we can know our God, our identity in Jesus and our enemy. We also need to recognize that the Bible is THE authority over all other things, including what others tell us, our culture, traditions and even what we think sounds right.
The armor of God can be put on every day by speaking it over yourself. Most of the armor is to protect us, however the Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God) and prayer are our powerful weapons to actively fight against evil. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” When I speak the armor over myself in the morning, I put on 6 items and prayer for my day. I use the verses from Ephesians 6: 13-18.
4. Spiritual repentance for strongholds and sins or attacks that don’t stop with taking thoughts captive and renouncing/rejecting
Speaking the words “I repent” is powerful for surrender of sin to God. This is not something we do (turn from our sin in an action), it is a spiritual surrender telling God we are sorry and no longer want this sin to control us. When we truly want to be free and when we speak the words of repentance and ask for God to change our hearts, we give Him permission to free us from a stronghold or demonic influence in the area we pray for. The Holy Spirit does the transformation in us and kicks out the demonic foothold or stronghold. This process leads to freedom when used along with taking thoughts captive and then our thoughts and feelings will change without us doing anything else because it is God’s work in us.
It’s really important to purposely pray, speaking the work “repent” when you want sinful/wrong/hurtful thoughts, feelings, attitudes or actions (anything negative including memories that haunt us or heartaches) to be changed and want deliverance from participation with demons/breaking of strongholds. Just thinking it’s not good and knowing God can fix it, asking for help from God or thinking He knows the problem so there’s no need to pray over it will not change your spiritual condition of being chained or in slavery to the stronghold. The best comparison I can give you to the need for the surrender to be spiritual is to compare it to salvation. Just knowing Jesus is God’s Son who died on the cross for our sins and rose again is not life changing because it doesn’t touch the spirit inside us. Remember the three-part man. Our soul/mind/emotions are one part of us, not the core of who we are. Our spirit is what is eternal and is our true self. To have change occur in the core of who we are is only possible by the God who created us- the Holy Spirit is the only one who can free use from spiritual bondage through the promise of the blood of Christ that was shed to free us from our sins. Just as we have to pray and ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior to be saved, we have to pray and ask Him to free us from our specific sins, hurts, thoughts and demonic forces/evils we participate with and our chains/prison/strongholds.
There is always resistance when we seek to be truly free. Surrender to God and release from our bondage is going to bring demonic response. The enemy does not want us to be free from his slavery, so he will act in different ways to discourage our honesty and humility before God and our desire for Him above anything else in our life. When we start repentance, we may find resistance in us to fully give up our sin, unbelief that this process is really important or will “work,” problems in the area we know God wants us to work on with Him or attack through others or circumstances that go very wrong. These problems usually immerge immediately or within a few days of starting repentance. It’s actually one of the ways that you can know that repentance is important and life changing.
The work of repentance and freedom can be a quick or a slow process. Any feelings, attitudes, memories, triggers, beliefs or behaviors that we feel controlled by that are not in alignment with God have to be repented of for freedom. Freedom is possible for all believers in any area of sin because of Christ’s death and resurrection. There is no sin or stronghold or demonic influence that can stand before the power of the blood of Christ if we understand how to battle and if we do it biblically. This process is also ongoing. We need to have hearts and minds that are constantly processing evil and good and being willing to surrender anything that is not in alignment with God. The work of the Holy Spirit for sanctification in our spirits, minds and bodies is lifelong.
*See below for sample prayer
I use 5 R’s. There are 8 by Henry Wright, “Be in Health.”
5. Have other mature believers pray for you and with you
Prayer is powerful for spiritual authority and deliverance. We need to be covered for protection against spiritual backlash when we go to war to tear down strongholds/sin in our lives. When we join each other in prayer, the Holy Spirit is given more access to work in our spirits. It’s one of the ways we participate and cooperate with Him and it is part of being the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit should always be asked how to pray and what to pray for whenever we pray for others.
6. Fill up with the Holy Spirit
By any and every means: prayer, Scripture, worship, being thankful, worship music, talking to others about the awesomeness of God, listening to sermons on-line, etc. When you begin repentance/deliverance things often get worse or harder before they get better. Trust and know the Word of God, stand firm and seek Him with all your heart so you can withstand any backlash.
EXAMPLE OF HOW I USE THE R’S TO PRAY REPENTANCE:
The R’s:
1. I recognize that I have participated with/cooperated with/believed…
2. I take responsibility for participating with/cooperating with/believing…
3. I repent for participating with/cooperating with/believing…(here I also asked God to change my heart to the opposite of the sin I am repenting of)
4. I renounce my participation with/cooperation with/belief in…
5. I receive Your forgiveness for participating with/cooperating with/believing in…
Sample:
Dear Lord,
I thank you so much for Your love for me and that Your desire for me to be close to You is greater than the sin that I have been a slave to. I thank you that Christ’s blood has washed away all of the sin that binds me and I only have to walk in agreement with You and Your Word through the power You give me in the Holy Spirit. Please protect me from demonic attack when I stand up and say no to sin’s grip on my life and hand it to You for transformation and sanctification of my spirit.
Lord, I recognize that I have participated in blaming myself and feeling insecure. Lord, I take responsibility for feeling insecure and blaming myself in my heart for my failures and for the times that I’ve been rejected. Lord, I repent for feeling insecure and blaming myself for my failures and I ask You to change my heart. Let me believe the truth that I am loved by You, forgiven and accepted. I know I can’t change insecurity or feelings of unforgiveness for myself in my spirit. Only You can make it something that I no longer feel at all. Lord, I renounce any more participation with an unloving spirit or a spirit of unforgiveness that allows me to feel insecure and blame myself. I thank You that that is not who I am in Christ. Lord, I receive Your forgiveness for believing the lies that I should feel insecure and for blaming myself for my failure, and I thank You for the blood of Christ that takes away all my sin when I give it to You.
Amen
Recent Comments