How to Identify and Overcome Strongholds

By Adrienne Reece

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; 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; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. (2 Cor 10:4-6)

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am an advocate for healthy eating habits. Throughout my experience with talking and walking with people on their health journeys, I don’t think I’ve met a single person that doesn’t WANT to live and eat healthy. However, the health industry is a multi-billion industry annually. In the same token, I don’t think there is a single Christian that I’ve met that doesn’t want to live life more abundantly and truly defeat the enemy for good! Aside from Satan never backing down and us even knowing his tactics, for one reason or another we seem to fail to live and lead a life of true abundance that God desires for us. 

I believe this is likely because, as we are driving on the road toward destiny, that there are some blind spots that we are unaware of. Today, I want to discuss the blind spot of strong holds in hopes that it empowers you to act both naturally and supernaturally. 

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself what a strong hold is? When I first started studying strongholds a few months ago, I thought I had a pretty good understanding of what they were and how to overcome them. I quickly realized how misguided I was. Maybe you’re like me and feel like you have a pretty good understanding as well, or maybe you are completely new to strongholds and are looking for ways to arm up against the enemy with real strategies to win the battles life throws at you. 

Merriam-Webster’s defines “stronghold” as “a structure or place offering resistance to a hostile force.” Another definition says, “a place that has been fortified so as to protect it against attack.” When you look up the synonym to the word stronghold, you’ll see words like “fort”, “fortified”, “castle”, “fortress” “refuge” and “keep” naming a few. 

If you’re thinking like me, you’ve probably already begun to see where I’m going with this. Our leading scripture tells us that our weapons are mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. If we have to pull them down, that means that somewhere, they must have been stood up. The enemy has literally set up castles and fortresses against you. Castles are strong structures meant to keep attacks at bay. Although his identity has not changed since The Garden, his strategies against you are just that, strategic. So, we, as believers, need to be equally as strategic in our efforts, and when you add in Our Secret Weapon, The Holy Spirit, we are sure to send that joker packing every time!!!

Strongholds work great when they are working for you, but when the enemy uses them against you, he is able to keep you sick, broke, broken, poverished, busted and disgusted. We have to undo the enemy’s strongholds or “structures of resistance against attack”. But before we can do that, we have to know what strongholds we are fighting. Although I don’t know what exact strongholds have been established against you, here is a list that will hopefully give you some insight to allow the Holy Spirit to minister to you on a more in depth and personal level.

Some examples include: 
Anxiety & depression in the form of shame, self-pity, lack of passion, guilt, hopelessness, suicidal thoughts and ideations, loss or increase in appetite, or worthlessness, stress, worry, sorrow, self-rejection, panic attacks, confusion, comparison, migraine headaches, accusations, lack of trust for yourself, others, or God.

Fear in the form of something bad happening to yourself or someone else, the dark, authority figures, God forgetting about you, death, heights, loneliness or what others think/feel about you. 

Addiction in the form of drugs: legal, prescribed, and otherwise, gambling, eating, drinking, sweets, exercise, caffeine, shopping, social media or even smartphones.

Spiritual laziness, Divorce in the bloodline, teenage pregnancy in the bloodline and sexual immorality. 

I know this is a comprehensive list and I could go on, but I believe that the Holy Spirit will continue showing you exactly what strongholds are up against you. 

As you can see, many of these proverbial castles begin in your mind. The enemy has built up fortified protection against YOU using YOU as his measure of resistance. It’s not news to you, but more of a reminder, that aside from Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5). We are rendered powerless against an enemy that we can’t even see, not just in the natural, but supernaturally as well. Christ is the difference between winning and losing…between life and death.

 Castle are strong towers that are usually walled with rocks. Another definition for “rock” is “anchor”, “cornerstone”, “defense”, “strength”, “support”, and “foundation” …you see where I’m going with this yet?! CHRIST IS OUR STRENGTH! Our FOUNDATION! OUR CHIEF CORNERSTONE (Eph 2:20) Do you know what a cornerstone is? It’s a piece of stone that brings two cement walls together at an intersection. It’s a place of construction on a monumental building! 

What’s more monumental than you actually breaking the mental strongholds off of your life and your family’s life?!  

As with many of Gods instructions, before He does His part, there is something required of us first. If you go back to our leading scripture, verse 6 ends with “when your obedience is fulfilled.” God will empower you to pull down the strongholds that have been fortified against you life, your family, and your bloodline only after you are obedient. What was the instruction, you ask? I’m so glad you asked. Because He told us that our weapons are not carnal, we know that it’s nothing we can PHYSICALLY do but everything must be done through a posture of the heart. Let me share a few weapons that will hopefully help you pull down strongholds. 

First, you’ve got to have faith. Mark 11:23 says “Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed and be cast into the sea, and shall believe and don’t doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith.”  Establishing faith to see situations turn around is hard. People judge you, and some may even mock you and talk against you but stand firm; God always gets the last laugh. 

Another weapon is your prayer and devotion life. This is the lifeline to your faith and ultimately the key to breaking down the strongholds that are formed against you. The only prayers that God answers are His own but if you’re not spending regular time with Him, studying to show yourself approved, then you’re essentially ALLOWING the enemy a free victory because you don’t know what to pray.

 Would you allow your next-door neighbor to just come into your house and destroy everything you’ve worked so hard for? All your family heir looms, memories, and sow discord, division, and lies among your family members, just to walk out the front door and go back into their own home like nothing ever happened?

 I don’t know about you but in my B.C (before Christ) days, I was unhinged. You can ask anyone who knew me. And that girl although saved now, is NOT about to let NO ONE come up in MY HOUSE, disrespect MY THINGS, talk to or touch MY FAMILY all while I do nothing. But that’s exactly what many believers are doing. 

The last weapon I will share with you is the weapon of patience. I want you to know that patience is a warfare tactic against the enemy. He uses it against us all the time! It’s not about time, but about posture. It’s about your heart being, and remaining ready, willing, and obedient to God’s next instruction. God exists and operates outside of time. 2 Peter 3:8 says “Be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” He’s not on our clock…ever! And the sooner we learn that the more peace we can give ourselves. James 1:3 says “the trying of your faith worketh patience.” So as your faith grows, your patience is working, remember Abraham? His sacrifice wasn’t provided until the last possible second, but…he was obedient, and God took care of the rest.  

I challenge you this week to choose a weapon. Bonus points if you choose more than one. Ephesians 6:11 tells us to “Put on the whole armor of God that ye may stand against the wiles of the devil.” Whether you choose faith, prayer, devotion, patience, or another weapon entirely, I challenge you to arm up to defeat the enemy’s strongholds that have been fortified against you. My friend, you are not fighting FOR victory, but FROM victory. God has already done the heavy lifting for us. Now, we just have to stand firm and resist the devil until he flees (James 4:7)

There will be a more in depth discussion on this topic on Adrienne’s Youtube Channel. Be sure to subscribe to stay up to date with this and other blog conversations.