What is a stronghold?
A stronghold refers to a fortified place, a place secured and protected to guard against attack. A stronghold of the mind is a negative story the devil has established in our minds that we consider it to be true which actually is a big lie.
How we relate in life is primarily controlled by how and what we think about life, about ourselves and about others. When we let negative thoughts have control over us we realize we always tend to respond negatively to situations of life. Feelings such as; jealousy, bitterness, unforgiveness, hatred, anger and many more will be our common characteristic. Let’s look at some few strongholds of the mind.
1. Low self-esteem
People with a low self-esteem hardly feel good about themselves, they always feel withdrawn, quiet and reserved. These feeling make them live below their potentials. And that’s because they really don’t know who they are in Christ Jesus. They underuse their gifts and abilities, they fail to recognize the fact that God has given them potentials to be light, liberators, or even teachers. Such people just fill up space, they are merely existing with little or no positive impact on others.
2. The feeling of inadequacy
If you are suffering from this stronghold you will always feel like certain things are reserved only for a certain class of people and maybe you aren’t qualified to belong there. God loves us even in our limitations and desires to use us just as we are. When we read the liberation story of the Israelites we can remember the many excuses Moses made in trying to refuse his assignment (Exodus 3). God was not looking for a fluent speaker or muscular person. All He needed was someone who would obediently take up the assignment. When Gideon was sent to liberate the Israelites from the Midianites he made excuses, he thought it depended on military might and fame but God proved him otherwise. God only needed available hands and hearts to work with, though feeble and fragile, he was willing to make them useful for His Glory. The feeling of inadequacy makes us less useful and limits us from fulfilling our purpose.
3. Trying to seek validation from people
If you feel good about yourself and are thankful for who you are and what God has been doing through you e.g, how he is helping you to put your gifts into proper use, you will notice that the opinions of others concerning you will not matter much. But the thought of being limited brings the feeling of competition within and makes you want to be seen or heard even if your contributions are irrelevant in a particular context. But when we focus on who we are in God, and remain in the place of intimacy with Him, we will live a life of less strife, more achievements, and more fruitfulness
4. Denial is another stronghold of the mind
We are all uniquely wired and unmistakably assigned to specific tasks and duties here on earth. Sometimes people deny their calling or gifts and fail to work in their area of purpose because they think some gifts and assignments are inferior to others. The gift of serving for example is in no way inferior to the gifts of preaching, prophecy or healing. We need to identify what our unique gifts are and seek the help of the Holy Spirit to explore them to maximum capacity. When we deny to acknowledge our gift, we find ourselves operating in an area where the grace of God is not available to back us up, then we end up being so unproductive even though we are doing the right things.
5. Fear
When we think of our inability to control the next second, minute or hours of our lives, we become so afraid to even face life sometimes. But as believers we have God and His presence with us to remind us of the fact that we have the one who knows and is in perfect control of all things. Let our fears and anxieties not limit or restrict us from taking those steps in faith to achieve God’s plans for us.
How can we Overcome the strongholds of the mind?
It is true that we can hardly control the thoughts that keep popping in our minds but can very much as well control how we relate to them. When we have come to the knowledge of Christ, we understand much better the authority and power we have to control all things even our thought patterns.
1. The Word of God
We can start by ignoring and resisting the negative thoughts that pop up in our minds with the Word of God. When we do this, we will soon notice that they no longer have a bearing on us. For every negative stronghold, there is a powerful way to counteract it with the truth from God’s Word, because the Word of God is truth, it will reveal the lies that lie behind those evil thoughts planted by the devil. In 2 Corinthians 10:1 we are reminded of the potency of the Word of God; “for the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world, on the contrary they have divine power to demolish strongholds”.
2. Praise
Praise is another powerful weapon used to suppress negative strongholds. The influence and power of praise cannot be overemphasized. God inhabits the praise of His people. When we offer praise unto God we invoke His presence and nature in us, hence all strongholds in our minds shall be overcome since they cannot withstand the presence of God. Our praise moves God to help us with our challenges, and help us to win the battles we fight in our minds.
3. Affirmations
Positive affirmations inspired by the Word, experiences of heroes in the Bible, and the testimonies of other believers will help us overcome strongholds. Our identity in Christ will help us remember that the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe (Proverbs 18:10-13).
4. Acknowledgment of Our Limitations and Total Surrender to the Helper (the Holy Spirit).
The Holy Spirit is on earth today as our Helper, Comforter, Teacher, Friend etc. The Holy Spirit is available to guide all believers in Jesus Christ, all we have to do is to recognize Him and accept His help. We do this my acknowledging our limitations and our inability to overcome the strongholds of the mind by our own strength. When we do this, we are willingly surrendering our wills to the Holy Spirit to help us because without His help it would be impossible for us to overcome the stronghold of the mind which is usually characterized by sinful thoughts.
Dear friend, if you have suffered or are suffering from any negative stronghold, join me say this prayer in faith.
“Dear God you are a refuge and shelter for all who trust in you, we humbly ask that you help us overcome all the negative thoughts that try to control our minds most times. By the power in the name of Jesus Christ, we take them captive and ask that we be set free from their grip. Amen