Overcoming Demonic Strongholds
Unveiling Their Tactics, Exercising Authority, and Embracing Victory
The Bible makes us understand that demons are troubled spirits who traverse desert places and finding no rest, look for a human soul they can occupy, use and destroy. If the soul of a man is empty, they will occupy the space and even invite more demons that exceed their evil to rule over the empty soul.
I am not troubled by the power of demons, because I know that the power of God is greater than any demon and any stronghold demons build. While I am not troubled about demons, I believe it is important for believers to be aware and alert to their modes of operation so that we can seize authority and exert our rightful privilege to execute judgment against them. (1 Pet 5:8-9, Ps. 149:9)
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5. NIV)
A stronghold is a fortress or a fortified city. For visual imagery, recall any epic movie you have watched that features a tower or a city that has tall walls and strong gates to protect the people in it from attacks of the enemy without.
In ancient times, strongholds were used to establish rule over territories in times of peace. Some strongholds served as the residential addresses of a monarch or a ruler. These strongholds were called castles. Generally, they had two major functions; to protect and to create an obstacle so that the defender’s weapons may be more effective in the event of an attack.
Historically, depending on the period strongholds were built, some strongholds featured underground routes, and cisterns of water and could protect the crops and animals of the inhabitants of the city so that a stronghold could withstand many months of attack, and defend itself. This should give you an understanding of what strongholds are to demons in a person's life.
The wicked one uses a stronghold to mark territory in an individual. That territory can be anything - health, finance, marriage, pornography, drinking, greed, overeating, physical indiscipline, laziness - anything. Now imagine what happens when a demon invites other demons to occupy a soul - multiple strongholds are constructed in that person. If you know anyone that is oppressed by a demon, it is not unusual to find out that more than one demon is in control of that person's life.
Now demons are pretty serious about their objective of controlling and destroying the soul of whom they possess. The longer time they occupy a person, the deeper their fortifications.
Humanly speaking, to engineer a stronghold, several factors are taken into consideration to ensure that the stronghold built is as effective as possible. Some of these factors include the weapons the attackers and defenders possess, the nature of the ground, available materials, the temper of both assailants and defendants, strategic possibilities, and the expenses involved.
From a spiritual perspective, Satan has had thousands of years of practice and experience to easily build effective spiritual strongholds in the life of anyone. He has the means to attack your mind, he can exploit your carnal human nature, he can use external resources to influence you, he can take advantage of your character and that of those around you, and he has limitless resources to spend on your destruction - all he needs is a loophole to gain entry into the person’s life. It usually starts with a thought.
Let's look at the example we see in the book of Genesis. Satan went to Eve in the garden and questioned her understanding of God's word - 'Did God say that you should not eat from every tree in the garden?' And when her response showed that she did not understand what God said, (the loophole), he moved in to suggest God was keeping something that rightfully belonged to her from her. She believed him and led the first rebellion against God, giving Satan the foothold he needed to overthrow humanity's dominion over the earth.
Back to the story Jesus told about how demons come to take possession of a soul, Jesus said if a demon sees an empty space, especially one from where he was evicted, he will go and call greater demons than himself to take rulership of that space so that the end state of the soul is worse than the beginning.
Satan will do the same today. To gain a foothold, he will start by suggesting evil thoughts. If you believe them and act on them, he will seize control. He deceived Eve and took control of humanity. He still deceives people today and seizes control over their lives.
Luckily for us, Satan is a defeated foe. No matter how much experience and practice he has had, the victory the believer has over him through the Word of God is unmatched. The Bible makes us understand that God and His Word are one and the same, so when you speak the Word of God, you silence Satan and destroy his useless weapons.
Satan has no defense against the Word of God, because it is God’s power, and irrespective of the time he has taken to build a stronghold in any life, the Word of God will destroy it with ease. The Word of God is our weapon against Satan.
The Word of God is also our defense against the primary method of attack of the enemy, the tool by which he gains a foothold - that is deception.
In the book of Mathew, we are told the story of Jesus' temptation saga where Satan came for Him when He was hungry after 40 days of fasting. Satan came at a time when he knew Jesus would be weak as Jesus had not eaten for forty days and nights. Then he brought up all manners of offers to get Jesus to disobey God or relinquish authority to him. But Jesus was filled with the knowledge of the Word of God, so He had an answer for every lie the devil threw at Him even when Satan masqueraded his evil offer as good using the scriptures.
If you do not know the word of God, or have an understanding of what it says, then you are at a disadvantage when Satan comes for you. Believe it, Satan hates you enough to come for you.
How can we destroy Satan's strongholds today? As Jesus did, we demolish evil thoughts and anything that rises up against the knowledge of God and we confine our thoughts to obey Christ through the word of God. In practical terms, it means that we command any thought, any habit, any behavior, any experience, and anything that is not obeying Christ in our lives, to be demolished, to submit to Christ's authority, and we resist the devil. Satan will flee. (Psalm 44:5, Psalm 18:39)
Jesus commanded Satan to begone from him, and Satan left. As joint heirs with Christ, we have that authority, and no stronghold, no matter how long it has been built, no matter how fortified it may seem can withstand the destructive power of His name. Then we fill ourselves up with the Word of God because those demons will come back finding no place to rest. But with God's power in us, they will have no empty space to occupy. Victory is certain for us who love God. Amen. (1 Corinthians 15:57)
