By: Dr. John N. Chacha
. . . So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36
What are Spiritual Strongholds?
A spiritual stronghold is any area in your life over which the devil has control such as pride, lust, fear, worry, anxiety, gluttony, rebellion, or ignorance. Satan seeks to establish these strongholds in your life so that He can have control over you. These strongholds are normally established in your mind. He will use these strongholds, which are normally your weaknesses or bad habits, as his battleground to launch his fiery darts. He will use them to short-circuit God's anointing over your life to defeat you.
One of the most common strongholds that Satan has succeeded in using to bind and destroy many Christians is sexual lust. Many Christians have been overcome and desensitized by this demon of perversion. If you are one of those who are hopelessly seeking for victory, I have good news for you. You can have victory if you follow these seven steps.
1. Making Jesus the Lord over your life
The first and foremost step you should take is to make Jesus Lord over your personal life. You will never overcome the power of sin with your own strength. Outside Jesus, you are no match to Satan and his demons. It is Jesus who will set you free from the slave market of Satan. With Him as your Lord and Savior, you can face the enemy courageously and refuse to be his slave because in Christ you are a free person. The Bible says in John 8:36,"if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1,2)
2. Praying and Fasting
It is impossible to stand against the enemy if your life is not given to prayer. It is prayer that will generate God’s anointing over your life. Prayer and fasting will discipline your spirit, soul and body to be in tune with the Spirit of God. It is through this avenue that we can enter into the spiritual world and fight the powers of darkness.
God has given us the power and authority through Christ Jesus to do His work. Through prayer and fasting we are able to confront the enemy and stop his activities. (Isaiah 58:6; Matthew 18:18-19)
The Word of God gives us the authority to bind the works of the enemy. This involves restricting, constraining or forbidding him from operating. For example, you can say, “Devil, I constrain you from working in the life of “X” in the name of Jesus.” Or you can say, “You spirit of rebellion, fear, strife or rejection (or whatever it is), I bind you and forbid you from working in my life in the name of Jesus. I cover myself with the blood of Jesus and you are not going to have part in my life.”
The keys to binding and loosing are:
– You must be specific in your command. Don’t just say, “I bind you, demon or spirit, in the name of Jesus,” but specify what demon – identify each one.
– Be commanding; take authority; stand your ground.
– Believe; have faith that the spirits will obey you.
– After binding, command them to leave. Don’t bind and leave them in there, but tell them to go to dry places, or in the sea, or in space. Be specific, because you are dealing with cunning entities.
Learn to use the power and the authority that God has given you. Let your prayer be filled with words of life, power, authority, love, confidence, and strength. After binding Satan’s work, establish God’s works in its place – such as love, peace, obedience or health. These may take time before they can be fully expressed, so be patient. It is like planting seeds in a garden. It takes time before harvest comes.
The reason the Son of God was made manifest (visible) was to undo (destroy, loosen and dissolve) the works the devil [has done]. John 3:8 (Amp.)
2. Reading and Meditating on the Word
Some people go back to their old habits or allow themselves to be under the control of demonic activities because of neglecting the Word of God. Being delivered from Satanic influence is one thing, but maintaining that freedom is another story. If your mind is not filled with God’s thoughts, the enemy will fill it with his.
The Word of God helps us to crowd out the world from our minds and also helps us build our faith, without which we cannot receive God’s blessings. In the natural realm a doctor can put a patient on a particular medication for a long period of time. If a patient doesn’t follow the doctor’s order, he may put his life in danger. For example, I knew a fellow who was an alcoholic. He was bound by the spirit of bondage, which used alcohol to chain him to the ground. The doctor told him not to drink anymore or he would die, but he disobeyed the doctor’s orders and soon was dead. Likewise in the spiritual, there are people who have to stay in the Word to keep the enemy away from them. This is important, especially for people who have previously been involved with satanic activities and have been under the influence of satanic powers. The Word will keep their minds renewed and their spirits strong in the Lord.
3. Living a Clean Life
All Christians are equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit to fight and conquer the power of sin. Sin brings impurities in one’s life, which can easily make an opening for the spirit of bondage, perversity, or unclean spirits. There is no substitute for purity. God demands this from every believer. Purity allows the anointing of the Holy Spirit to flow without hindrance in one’s life. There are many times we pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to be manifested in our lives but with no results. One reason is that our lives have to be cleansed before we can contain the power of the Holy Spirit. God’s desire is to use clean vessels and Satan’s desire is to defile clean vessels so that he can use them – or at least stop God from using them.
In the ministry of deliverance I have come to realize that unless one’s life is kept clean after being delivered from Satanic bondage, the enemy is going to come back in no time. (Matthew 12:43-45)
I know of a man who was demon-possessed for several years. He had several demons living in him. He walked naked in the streets, eating from garbage piles. There was no hope of his ever becoming normal again, but he was prayed for and all the demons were driven out of him. He was set free, and his life changed dramatically. However, he was given a warning not to indulge himself with the lusts of the flesh, to abstain from strong drinks, to read the Word and to stay away from the enemy’s territories. All these he obeyed for a while, but one day he decided to go back to drinking. He was warned again, but he didn’t heed the warning. The demons came back and this time were worse than before.
I would like to make one point before I move on: there are times in our lives when prayers or Bible studies are of no use. When we harbor sin or go against God’s will, unless we repent and make things right we are wasting our time trying to pray. Sin opens the door of defeat, and it can even open a door to sickness or destruction. Unless it is repented it will continue to hold you on the ground.
4. Covering by the blood of Jesus
The blood of Jesus is powerful because it is divine blood. All of our blood runs from the first man, Adam, but Jesus’ blood was not from Adam. He was not conceived by man but by the power of the Holy Spirit. His blood wasn’t contaminated by human sin. It was holy and full of life power. This is why it was able to cleanse our sins away. Satan is scared of it because it is holy blood. He cannot stand its power. It is this blood that purifies us from every impurity of this world. This blood is so pure, so holy, that neither Satan nor his demons can dare touch it!
. . . And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death. Revelation 12:10-11 (NASB)
What is the word of our testimony?
• That we have been purchased by the blood of Jesus (Acts 20:28)
• That we have been washed by the blood of Jesus (I John 1:7)
• That we have peace with God through the blood of Jesus (Col. 1:20)
• That we have been justified by the blood of Jesus (Rom. 5:8-9)
• That we have been sanctified through the blood of Jesus (Heb. 13:12)
• That we have fellowship with God through the blood of Jesus (Eph. 2:13)
• That we enter the presence of God through the blood of Jesus (Heb. 10:19-22)
• That we have been redeemed through the blood of Jesus (Eph. 1:7)
And the testimony goes on and on. Every believer should learn to make this confession, because it is a reality.
5. Praising and worshipping
Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.
Hebrews 13:15 (NASB)
Praise leads us into triumph against the powers of Satan. It creates the atmosphere of joy, victory, and power and, above all, it brings the presence of God into our midst. For example, when Paul and Silas were in prison after being beaten, they did not sit down and mourn, but instead they praised and worshipped God. The result? Read on in Acts 16:25-26.
Praise and worship will help energize your spirit to the point that you can declare yourself free from Satan. Read another fantastic story about praise and worship in II Chronicles 20:1-30. (Also read Psalm 149).
6. Praying in the Holy Spirit
If you have received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, I encourage you to appropriate all the benefits that come with it. One of them is praying in tongues. It is called praying in the Spirit. Do not let Satan rob you of this gift. This is a dynamite power. It is a demon-buster!
Praying in tongues will energize your spirit, and this will enable you to discern and confront the kingdom of darkness. Praying in the Spirit brings confusion in Satan’s kingdom and spoils his schemes against us.
And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
Romans 8:26 (NASB)
Some sincere Christians have never experienced this wonderful gift. Others are afraid of it because of some misrepresentation by some immature Christians. If you don’t have this gift, please do not feel left out. You can still experience the depths of God though in a different way. However, I do encourage you to seek and be open-minded. Get all the power God has for your life.
7. Taking authority
Note that all demonic entities are wicked and immoral. However, we don’t need to be afraid of them. Jesus has given us the power and authority over them. We have complete authority and victory over every satanic or demonic entity. Jesus overcame them for us. He conquered every power, authority, principality and ruler for us. He stripped Satan and his demons of their authority.
Always keep in mind that Satan is a created being just like you and me. He may seem strong, but he is no stronger than a grasshopper before the Lord. He is no match. His powers are limited in every aspect. For example, he couldn’t touch Job in any way until God gave him permission. Job had a hedge of protection around him and Satan couldn’t go through it. When you are protected by the power of God, you have no reason to fear Satan. (Read Job 1:11-19, Psalm 124:5-8, and I Peter 5:8.)
DELIVERANCE MINISTRY
The main purpose of the ministry of deliverance is:
– To free people from strongholds so that their spiritual walk can be fruitful.
– To free them from past traumatic experiences that hinder their present Christian walk. These experiences may be generating fear, hatred, grudges, insecurities, and jealousy. These have to be dealt with before one can freely walk with Christ.
– To set the captives free from demonic oppression and influence
AFTER DELIVERANCE
Deliverance does not necessarily bring victory or transformation over your life. All it does is get rid of the enemy from your life. There must be a thorough cleaning done. This is done by allowing Christ to enter into your life and take over. It is He who brings victory and transformation. To experience this transformation and victory you must:
1. Confess your sins. Renounce them all and ask Christ to cleanse you by His precious blood, to cover and protect you from evil
2. Forgive those who have hurt you or wounded you in any way. Let this forgiveness be genuine. Forgiveness will release joy and freedom in your life. According to God’s Word we have to forgive others in order to fully experience the joy of God’s forgiveness.
3. Ask those you have wronged to forgive you. Some people may never forgive you but that will not be your problem any longer. Just love and pray for them so that God will touch their lives.
4. Renounce all the works of Satan in which you were involved. For example, if you were involved in occultic practices, denounce them and destroy everything that has anything to do with them.
5. Read the Word of God daily and have a consistent prayer life.
6. Find yourself a good Christian church.
For more on this topic – Please read these books by Dr. John N. Chacha: Spiritual Warfare, Prayer Power, You are Destined to Win, Demolishing Spiritual Strongholds.