What's Got a Hold On You? (eBook)

Chapter 1

Gods’ Principles for Tearing Down Strongholds

Has this ever happened to you? You went to a church service and the preacher gave a real good message. The conviction of the Holy Spirit came on you about some vise in your life that had been coming between you and your relationship with God. Or perhaps an evangelist gave an altar call and you went forward to the altar to “Surrender it All” to God. Or, you went forward and got prayed for by the pastor for freedom from that problem that you just couldn’t seem to give up or be free from? Have you ever been anointed with oil by the pastor or preacher to get free from that thing which just keeps dogging you? Have you ever gone to a revival and been slain in the Spirit, and had some spirit that had kept you bound for years cast out? Has a man or woman of God ever prophesied over you that you were freed from that thing which had you bound? Have any of these things ever happened to you? Did you go home praising God and thanking Him because you had been set free. But, the next day you woke up you found yourself in exactly the same condition you were in before you stepped out in faith? Have any of these things ever happened to you? If they have, did you stop and ask God what happened? Perhaps you said something like this; “I thought I was free from this thing, what’s the deal?” HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED TO YOU?

I must be perfectly honest with you. I cannot count the times I have found myself in similar situations. And just like you my personal results were about the same. I think it would be safe to say that almost everyone has had things in their lives they want to be free from at one time or another. Some people want to be free from cigarettes, some want freedom from alcohol. Others need to be set free from an addiction to drugs or pornography or some other stronghold.

I didn’t write this book to compile a list of things you shouldn’t do. However, these things I mentioned are prime examples of the kind of strongholds that can enslave you. There will be some folks who read this book and say a person is set free from these things the moment they accept Christ as their Savior. But in reality there are untold numbers of born again, Spirit filled, Children of the Living God who are enslaved to one thing or another even after they are saved. And no matter how hard they have tried, or how many times they got prayed for or anointed with oil or “Gave it to God”, they simply are unable to get free.

WHY? That question had plagued me for years. Namely, because I couldn’t get free myself. I got anointed with oil, I got prayed for, and I got slain in the Spirit. I got all those things, time and time again. And yet, I still wasn’t free. And I asked the question, WHY?

In 2 Corinthians 6: 14-18, we are told that righteousness has no fellowship with unrighteousness, and that light has no communion with darkness. And, “We are the temple of the living God”. Verse 17 commands us to come out from among them, and be separate, and touch not the unclean thing. This is wonderful advice from the apostle Paul, but how do we do it? Christ tells us that if we thought it in our minds that we committed the act.

Matthew 5:28 But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Herein lays the crux of our problem. The Bible tells us to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. We need to trust in God. But how do we do these things if you’re addicted to cigarettes or alcohol or drugs? Unless God supernaturally removes the desire for these things from you, the lust for them still remains in your heart, and therefore you have already committed the act.

If you are still lusting after that thing, then, you are still enslaved to whatever you are lusting for! It doesn’t matter how much self-control you’re able to put forth. Regardless of how long you have resisted the temptation to give in to that stronghold, if you still think after that thing, and lust for it, you’re still in bondage to it.

Psalm 37:4-5 Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Several years ago I was talking with a man and he shared something that God had done in his life. He told me that he had been addicted to Marijuana for years. After he had gotten saved he had tried time and again to quit without success. The urge was just too strong and each time he attempted to quit it ended in failure. No matter how hard he tried to put it down, the desire for it was stronger that his will and he was never able to overcome his temptation.

Then one day God did something supernatural in his life. God took the desire for Marijuana from him. He told me, “One day I was smoking Marijuana just like I had done for the past 20 years, and the next day I just didn’t want it”. He went on to say, “And not only that, I don’t even have a desire for it anymore!”

Now that was a miracle! He readily admitted that he had tried and tried to overcome this stronghold in his life, but he had never had the strength to do it. For this man to stop smoking Marijuana with the snap of a finger (so to speak) was nothing less than a miracle.

As this man shared what God had done for him, I found myself thinking, “Now that’s the way it’s suppose to be”. Not only did God give him victory over his addiction, but he no longer had that deep down desire and lust that had been torturing his mind. God had literally caused Psalm 37:4 to come into existence in this mans’ heart. God supernaturally changed this mans’ innermost desire which was, his lusting for Marijuana. God removed those desires that were in this mans’ heart that didn’t line up with the desires that God had planned and purposed for this man. And, God simultaneously replaced those old desires in this mans’ heart with a new set of desires. The desires that this man now had were Gods’ desires. God had given this man the desires of His heart.

In my spirit, I saw it clearly for the first time. The only way to have true victory over these things was for God to supernaturally change the desires of our heart. We want that old desire, the lust for that thing that has us enslaved, to go, and a new desire to be there in its place. You see, my desire was not just to be able to give up these things that enslaved me but my true desire was to not have that lust in my heart. My desire was to have Gods’ desire in my heart. This may not sound very profound, but listen, IF THE DESIRE FOR CIGARETTES OR ANY THING ELSE ISN’T THERE, YOU CAN JUST WALK AWAY FROM THAT BONDAGE FOREVER. A PERSON CAN WALK AWAY FROM ANY BONDAGE IF THEY NO LONGER HAVE A DESIRE FOR THAT THING IN THEIR HEART.

But, if you try to walk away from that thing that enslaved you and every time you get around it you start wanting it back, or you are always thinking and dwelling on it because you still want it, YOU ARE NOT FREE. You’re still in bondage and Jesus said that you already did it!

Principle # 1 the only Way to be truly free from anything that you are enslaved to is to allow God to “Give you the desires (The desires that are Gods’ desires for US) of your heart”

Begin to pray that God will change the desires that are in your heart. Pray that the desires that God has for you will become manifest in your heart, and that those desires, those lusts that are in your heart that don’t agree with the fathers desires, will become as pharaohs’ horse and riders. They will be drowned in the sea. Amen

Lets get back to this man we have been talking about. He had been saved for several years before God “Touched Him”. This stronghold had controlled him before he was saved, and it still had him in bondage after all that time. If you have a stronghold in your life, you can either do what this man did, which was nothing or you can begin to take back what the devil has stolen. Now, when I say this man did nothing, that isn’t quite accurate. He had tried many times to put down this stronghold. He never succeeded because he couldn’t get away from that desire that was in his heart.

Please understand dear friend, desires are placed in our hearts supernaturally. It takes the power of the supernatural to put a desire in your heart and it takes the power of the supernatural to change and remove them.

The apostle Paul was constantly being tormented by a group of people who wanted to destroy him and his ministry. Paul called them “A thorn in his flesh”. Paul even asked God to remove them. God’s reply was, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” How can God’s strength be perfected through weakness? By admitting our weaknesses and allowing God to change our desires away from those weaknesses. God’s strength is perfected and made manifest in us when we let go of our control and allow Him to begin working in our lives to remove those thorns. God was telling Paul to stop waiting for that big miracle to happen, but to begin to take spiritual authority over his thorn. There are times when we must, “Work out our own salvation with fear and trembling”. That was what God was telling Paul. Let me paraphrase what God said. “Come on Paul, my grace is sufficient to remove that thorn. Stop trying to conquer it in your own strength, and allow my grace to do the work”.

I told you about this man and his...