UNCOVERING STRONGHOLDS
A stumblingblock is an interconnection of a person(s), a place or surrounding, an event, a personality defect or a thing that demons continue to employ to cause the captive to fall. Often there is something in the captive’s personality or character that draws him either by attraction or seduction to perform an act that proves to be detrimental, by acting as a doorway for particular demons.Usually the stronghold is upheld by a particular sin, serving as a stimulator to the weight that continues to beset the captive.
A stronghold may consist of one demon or a constellation of demons. The bigger the stronghold, the more unproductive theclient’s spiritual life will be.Upon searching for strongholds, you should prepare the captive to face them squarely by recognizing factors and issues that may lie in either his subconscious or even the unconscious mind. In this regard, dream interpretation will be an important tool in uncovering subliminal strongholds. As a deliverance counselor, you should seek the Lord in prayer, asking Him to uncover that which is hidden so that the captive can receive a powerful insight that might be earth shattering. For example, consider a captive who was raised in the church. She strongly believes that she is saved because of her church affiliation and the fact that she speaks in tongues. The captive in this example never suspected that her inability to contend with demons is because she never got saved while attending church. However, the Lord has revealed to you that He has allowed the demons to torment her because her eternal salvation was in the balance. In other words, the torment drove the captive to you for help, so that the Lord could open up the captive’s eyes so that she could perceive her true spiritual condition.
Some captives are very invested in maintaining the power of their stronghold, even though they would like to be relieved from torment. Consider a person who is out on the ledge of a highrise apartment house, trying to get into the window of her apartment which is several feet to the left of her. In order to reach her destination, she must avoid looking down or to the right to avoid getting dizzy or distracted and end up falling to her death. Similarly, a person bound by a stronghold may try to avoid any deviation from his usual patterns for fear that he may fall. The course that the captive has developed over time consists of unconscious defense mechanisms, designed on a subliminal level to keep the captive on his path, even though the captive would agree that the path he has chosen is destructive.
As an example, a female captive who is dependent upon an abusive partner will be hindered from making any independent moves of her own. As such, those in the bondage to a stronghold most likely lack spontaneity of feeling, thought and/ or willpower, making his soul weak and unstable. Each stronghold will create a specific fear or doubt as well as an accompanying behavior of his self concept and pride system. Captives who are in bondage to their own self-created stronghold will often attribute the strength of the stronghold to demons, when in fact, casting out the demons will not bring any relief. In a case of this kind, the stronghold is embedded in the captive’s personality defect. The demons take advantage of the personality defect. So through deliverance counseling, it is imperative to deal with the personality defect prior to casting out demons, for the will eventually return. Deal with the defect, and don’t be surprised if the demon walks away on its own.
- Rescue Is About Deliverance (leavethechurch.me)
- Am I Under A Curse? Or A Plague? (endtimeebooklibrary.com)
- How I Overcame a False Conversion, by Wendy Clarke (leavethechurch.me)
Spiritual Warfare Library of PSM 