How You Can Break Demonic Strongholds Permanently

If you're tired of the emotional and the mental struggle, I wanna talk to you. It may seem that no matter how much you try, you can't seem to break free. So I wanna show you from Scripture how to identify and then permanently break strongholds or ungodly, unbiblical patterns of thought. You're gonna break these once and for all. And then I wanna pray over you. But the Lord himself would set you free. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed. The cycle is going to break. God did not create you to live in spiritual bondage. God did not create you to struggle with demonic attack. God did not create you to lack joy and peace and love and clarity. All of these are yours in Christ, and it's time to claim them. The Word of God has the answer to your problem. Maybe the devil has convinced you that your struggle is so unique, that your problem is so complex, that what works for others just isn't going to work for you. That's a lie of the enemy. So we're gonna go deep into the word today. So make sure you watch this in its entirety so that you don't miss any truth. And I promise you, as you apply the truth, you will be free. John 8:36 says this, so if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. 2 Corinthians 3:17 declares, for the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So let's first take a look at what a stronghold is. A stronghold is a thought pattern. It's a kind of reasoning or attitude or a perspective through which you see all things. And believe it or not, Most of the things that Christians struggle with is due to a stronghold. Often they blame it on a demon, and it is partially a demonic attack. Often they'll think it has to do with the people around them. And sure, there is such a thing as ungodly influence, but ultimately, when it comes to the life of the believer, that victory is usually blocked. That victory is usually diminished Not necessarily through exterior forces, but through an internal way of thinking. As a man thinks, so is he. So in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, we read this: We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. Now, just so you have some context here as to what Paul is talking about here, he's defending his apostolic authority. There were some pretenders who were very jealous of what Paul had with the Corinthians, and they were trying to usurp that spiritual authority. And so Paul is responding now, and though that is the context, he points out, a very powerful spiritual principle, namely that the way we think can be like unto a stronghold. He says, our weapons are not carnal. What does this mean? Well, this means that our battle isn't fought through physical means. You can't punch the darkness, just like you can't punch a lie. You can't physically grab deception and toss it away from your mind. If it were that simple, Well, things would be a lot easier. So you don't beat the darkness by yelling at it. You don't defeat demons just by physical means or displays of strength. No, our weapons are not carnal. They're not used in the context of human effort. Rather, our weapons are spiritual. Our weapons are not of the flesh. Our weapons are not found in our own strength. And maybe this could be why you're finding yourself in that cycle again and again, because you're trying to do it by your own willpower. Then Paul writes, mighty through God. That means effective for the cause of God. To the pulling down of strongholds. Now I love the phrase here because the pulling down of strongholds being described in the original language is the total removal of the obstacle. Not one thing on top of the other. So if the stronghold is like a wall, then when that stronghold is removed in this sense, then not even one brick will be upon another. Complete and utter obliteration of the stronghold, the pulling down, the absolute removal of strongholds. Casting down imaginations. What are those imaginations? These are reasonings. Mindsets, deceptive paradigms, attitudes, ways of thinking, tearing those things down. And this is where you wage your war, because we get stuck in certain frames of mind that ultimately produce bondage in our lives. Every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, that is the truth about God or knowing God. Bringing into captivity every thought. Once that stronghold is taken, You can now bring into captivity those thoughts. And this is what believers must practice doing, is taking those thoughts and subjecting them to the authority of God's Word. Not every thought that you think is true. Not everything that you feel strongly about is true. In fact, not everything you think and feel about yourself is true. We have to filter our thoughts through the Word, taking them captive. Now, a lie is anything that contradicts the truth, but that lie doesn't become deception until we choose to believe that lie. The enemy is going to be very subtle with his lies. The enemy is going to be very tricky. The enemy's not just going to blatantly tell you something that you know is false. He's going to make his lies believable. And so if we don't know the truth, then when the enemy lies to us, we have nothing to compare that lie with, and therefore we fall prey to deception. So at first the enemy lies to you, but only once you've accepted the lie, Does that lie become deception? So we can be lied to, but not necessarily deceived. Now, this is how this works. Let's take, for example, the stronghold of fear. Now, there are many different roots of fear that we can dissect here, but let's start with a simple lie. That simple lie being that God intends to harm you. Now, You may not believe that outright. If I asked you, do you believe that God wants to harm you? You'd say, no, absolutely not. That's too blatant. But if I said that you being blessed is selfish, well, that might be more believable. Or if I said that you're supposed to give of yourself until you're tired and exhausted and you have nothing left to give, Work yourself to exhaustion to prove your love for God. That sounds right, doesn't it? At least to some. That's a little more subtle, but ultimately the root lie is that God wants to harm you, or God wants you to suffer, or God wants you to be miserable. And that's where fear comes from. That harm is coming, punishment is coming, everything's gonna go wrong. The worst case scenario is going to happen. That, That is the lie that produces fear. Now, again, the enemy's not gonna be blatant with those lies. He's gonna be very subtle. He's gonna tell you these lies in ways that you will accept. But once you believe that lie, it becomes a part of your thinking. And now everything about your life is filtered through the lens of that lie. Now watch this. The lies become deception because a lie, once it's believed, becomes deception. Lie becomes deception. Deception becomes a certain way of feeling and thinking. That lie becomes the lens through which you feel and think. All your thoughts get filtered through that lie. All your emotions get filtered through that lie. And that way of feeling and thinking becomes an action. You begin to act according to that lie. You begin to act according to those thoughts and feelings, which are based on that deception, which is based on a lie. And then watch this now, then you get caught up in these cycles where it becomes a part of your life. It becomes habitual. Now, most Christians, and this is why many are not free, most Christians, will try to address the results of the deception, but they never confront the lie that caused it in the first place. Rather than going at the root, they only look at the results. They don't get to the very core of why it is they're thinking and acting that way in the first place. And so you can, if you want, continue to address the results of it, the depression, the anxiety, the confusion, the lust, the condemnation, the shame, the lack of peace, all of that, you can address all of those symptoms, which is fine. But if you don't deal with the root, that's just gonna come to the surface again. And so many Christians want to address right away, well, why am I acting this way? Why am I feeling this way? And they wanna address those symptoms themselves, not the source, which is the deception. And so those thought patterns are really effective when the enemy can cause them to be established in our lives. So how do you identify those? I'm gonna give you some insightful information here. John 8:31-32, Jesus said to the people who believed in him, you are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. So there's freedom in the truth. And if the truth sets you free, then that means, hear me now, if you are still in bondage, there's a truth you've not yet learned. If you're still in bondage, then there's a truth you've not allowed yourself to believe. Maybe you know in your mind, God has forgiven you. Maybe intellectually, you kinda have it here. You hold it just at the front of the mind. That's a fact that you know, but it's not a truth that you've absorbed. And so you still deal with shame and condemnation regarding your past because you know it in your mind, but you haven't truly embraced that truth. You'll know the truth and the truth will set you free. For every type of bondage in your life that exists, there's a lie that you're believing. And for every lie that you believe, there's a truth that can break the power of that lie. So the best way to deal with darkness is not to scream, not to yell, not to do incantation or what we call scripted prayers. No, the best way to get rid of the darkness is simply to turn on the light. So how do you turn on the light? How do you deal with deception? Through truth. Number 1, we know the truth by God's Word. This is key. Psalm 119:105, your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. 2 Timothy 3:16, all scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. I'm just being honest with you. There are many times I get messages from Christians desperate to be free. And my heart breaks for them because Some people get so caught up in the distractions that we call solutions that they never really get to the core, which is simply the Word of God. They think it's a curse. They think it's a demon. They think it's something in their family bloodline. They blame it on a person next to them. They blame it on some situation that maybe they found themselves in. It's all exterior. And I'm not saying that the enemy doesn't attack us. Of course he does. I'm simply saying, that 99% of the issues that you're dealing with, even the ones that seem impossible to overcome, 99% of those issues are gonna be solved if you simply establish a pattern of receiving the Word of God. Think about someone who goes in for a medical checkup. If you say, oh, I'm just not feeling myself, I feel off, I feel tired, I'm achy, I'm exhausted, I'm just not what I once was. Well, any medical professional who knows what they're doing is going to go with the baselines first. What do I mean by that? They're not gonna jump right to the most extreme cases of maybe, oh, well, you might have an illness that's going to kill you, or maybe you injured yourself. No, the first thing they're going to ask you is, how's your sleep? How's your diet? Are you exercising? Are you drinking plenty of water? Why? Because if people will simply do those basics, it actually helps them to avoid a majority of the problems that are there concerning their health. Now, there are some exceptions where maybe there is a deadly disease or an injury or some genetic disorder, something like that. But for the most part, if you're taking care of yourself with the basics, you're not gonna be feeling those ailments or those pains or those problems. It's the same thing with spiritual health. People wanna jump right to the most extreme cases, when in fact, if they simply had the Word of God in their life, they would be taking in the Word, and they would take the Word, and they would say, the Word of God says this, the lie says that. The Word of God says this, I feel that. The Word of God says this, others told me that. Therefore, I'm gonna believe the Word, and I'm gonna reject the lie. I'm gonna reject what my feelings tell me. You can't rely on your feelings, they're up and down, it just depends upon so many factors, it's ridiculous if we try to base our lives off of feelings. And so you reject everything else, let God be true and every man a liar. Number 2, we know the truth by the Holy Spirit. John 14:26 says, but when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative, that is the Holy Spirit, he will teach you everything, And will remind you of everything I have told you. So the Holy Spirit teaches you the truth. John 16:13, when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own, but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. So the Holy Spirit guides you in truth. So you know the truth by God's word. You know the truth by the Holy Spirit living in you. And number 3, you know the truth Through sound teachers. Ephesians 4:11-12 says, now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church, the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. Titus 1:9 says, he must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. So if you're taking in the Word, if you're walking with the Spirit, and if you are surrounding yourself with sound teachers, you're gonna begin to see now lies revealing themselves. Now I'm gonna show you how to finally defeat those lies once and for all. But first, if you're enjoying this teaching, it's blessing you and you're saying, wow, this is really helping me. And I think other Christians need to hear this. This is a truth that Christians need to know. Then make sure to leave a like on this video. And also don't forget, if you wanna continue to receive my teachings on spiritual warfare, then make sure that you subscribe to this channel and don't forget to click the notification bell when you subscribe to my channel so that you can get notices of when we put out new teachings. Okay, how to break free. So we've already established what a stronghold is. It's that thought pattern, how it works. I've shown you how to identify these things in your life. So what do you do now once you identify the lie? Because it's not so simple, or I should say, it's not just as easy as, oh, there's the lie, I reject it, and now its power is broken over me, because sometimes we really have to work at it. For example, the enemy will use your emotions to endorse his lie. So if you struggle with believing that you're abandoned and alone and rejected, then when you're tired, when you're maybe a little exhausted, the enemy will take advantage of that physical and emotional state to make you feel that you're actually alone. He uses your physical state, he uses your emotional state, and sometimes your mental state to try to endorse his lies and make them more believable. So here's a working definition for you. I'm gonna tell you what spiritual warfare is. It's very simple. Spiritual warfare is the fight to believe God's truth over the enemy's lies. Now here's an exercise I want you to do. I want you to, knowing what you know of Scripture, Think about a lie that the enemy tells you often. Right now, think about this. And now that you've exposed the lie with the truth, I want you to write down in the comment section what the lie is and how the truth contradicts that lie. Now, just by you writing that, you might actually help someone else who's reading the comments in the comment section. So let God use you. And then write it down, this way it sticks to your memory more easily. The lie that the enemy tells you, and then I want you to write down the truth of Scripture that contradicts that lie. And when you see it plainly written out like that, it's a little bit jarring, and it actually helps to more— helps you to more easily identify that lie. So let's take a look at how to break it. Ephesians 6. A final word, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. Stop there just for a second. Number one, we see that we are commanded to put on God's armor, which means that we at least bear some responsibility for equipping ourselves. You put on God's armor. So that's a command. Secondly, we see that if we do this, we'll be able to stand against all the strategies of the devil. Think about that. There's not one strategy that is not covered in terms of the armor. So if you put on the armor of God, none of the enemy's strategies will work. This is speaking to the totality of the victory that you will have if you simply wear the armor of God. So it's important that we put it on because once it's on, the devil has no recourse. The devil has nothing that he can use that will be even somewhat effective if you put the armor on. Verse 12, for we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. This is key here. And after the battle, you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth. What is the belt of truth? Biblically speaking, it is simply truth itself. And you equip yourself with truth, as I mentioned in the previous point, through knowing the Word, fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and surrounding yourself with people who rightly divide the Word. Put on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. Now, Paul, when writing to the Ephesians, possibly could have been referring to Israeli or Roman armor. In fact, it's very likely that he was. In that case, the belt holds in place the body armor. Therefore, truth is what fastens righteousness to you. If you're battling in the area of holiness, If you lack righteousness in your life, then that means the body armor of righteousness is lacking because you're not holding it to yourself with truth. Truth fastens righteousness. Truth empowers righteousness. If you lack righteousness, you lack truth because deception is the beginning of unrighteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the good news so that you will be fully prepared. So what are the shoes? That's the truth of the gospel. So here we see truth. Verse 16, in addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. The shield of faith, faith in what? Faith in truth. Put on salvation as your helmet and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The helmet of salvation is the mindset that comes with salvation. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion, stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. So we're seeing now a common theme, truth. Truth is how you win against these strongholds. But wait a minute, it can't be just as simple as knowing a fact. It can't be just as simple as identifying a lie and contradicting that lie with the truth. No, there's gonna be a battle there. There's gonna be a push and pull. And this is where I really wanna get into the detail of this, because this is where most Christians struggle. Because what I just gave you was revelation, but you might be wondering, okay, what about application? How exactly does that look? How do I apply it? Well, let's take some strongholds and show you how to work this, okay? Let's take the stronghold of legalism, which is religious thinking or a works-based mentality. Now, a works-based mentality is going to be based on the lie that works are required for acceptance. And so what does this produce in you? Heaviness, no joy, exhaustion, this tedious spiritual approach to life where, Everything is complicated now. Okay? So there's legalism. Now, how might one get free from this? Okay, they know the truth, they have the truth, and they're doing their best to contradict those lies. This is where the battle is. You're gonna notice that as you're doing your best to believe the truth, that there is this constant bombardment in your mind. I think you know what I'm talking about. And this also applies to things like depression, fear, lust, confusion, guilt and shame, torment. possibly go over some of these right now. So the word comes, now you have that truth to hold onto, and those lies are coming to your mind. So as it goes with legalism, it might be something as simple as I have to work to be accepted by God. And so what's gonna happen now is I'm gonna go to pray. And as I'm praying, I'm gonna be thinking, okay, I need to pray so that I can get into the presence of God. Well, wait a minute. I'm already praying from the position of the lie, as if I'm not already accepted. Or I'm gonna go and I'm gonna read the Word. I'm gonna say, okay, I'm gonna read the Word and maybe God will speak to me. Well, he is speaking to me if I'm reading the Word. And so I might fight that in my own mind and say to myself, well, I don't wanna compromise, so I need to put my best foot forward. Now that might sound true, and it's true, you shouldn't compromise. But in this context, it would be a very subtle, deceptive tactic trying to get me to think according to the lie again. So the sword of the Spirit, which is the truth, the shield of faith, which is my belief in the truth, the lie is launched at my mind. And so what I'm gonna do when that lie comes my way, a thought enters my mind, a belief enters my mind, an attitude comes upon me, I raise up the shield of faith to block that lie. And then I say, I reject that lie. And in my mind, focus on the truth. That's where you're gonna notice this tension now. You're gonna actually feel this in your mind. Part of you is gonna wanna focus on the truth. And the other part of you is gonna continually be pulled back into that thought pattern. It's the same with anxiety. Now I'm gonna step on some toes here, but if you have anxiety, you deal with the stronghold of anxiety, let me show you how kind of this works too. And I know, 'cause I battled with this heavily, where a fearful thought would come into my mind. I used to get panic attacks because I had health anxiety. So specifically as it had to do with my heart, I thought my physical heart was out of shape or for some reason defective. That was just something I got into my head one day. So anytime there was a little flutter of the heart, or anytime I maybe went up a flight of stairs and breathing became just a little bit more labored, I would think, okay, I'm having a heart attack. And so what would happen is I would tell myself, something's wrong. And then the truth would pull back, no, that's just your anxiety again. And then I would pull back again, but what if this time something actually is wrong? And then the truth would pull back, well, it's gonna be just like last time. Where nothing ended up being wrong. And then, because I got a little bit worked up, my heart rate would elevate because of this battle in my mind. And now, not only am I battling the lie, but I'm battling the physical response to the lie. So the heart's racing now, and I think, there it is, that's the heart attack right there. And I would have to continually pull back and forth. And here was one of the breakthrough thoughts for me when it came to anxiety. I had to accept that I was in control of my thoughts. It may not feel like that, especially if you deal with what you would call intrusive thoughts. You may feel like it's completely out of your control. I have, I can't do anything about this. That is another lie that you're believing. You're believing the lie that you can't control it. Or you might say, well, this stronghold's different. It's a little more complicated than your average stronghold. So I need a curse broken, or maybe there was something in my generations, to which I would respond, how many years have you been breaking that curse? And does it take the Holy Spirit that long to break demonic power? Or are you allowing for patterns of the flesh to dictate the way you think, And then blaming it on some curse that can't be upon you as a born-again believer. We need to correct our way of thinking and align our thinking with the Word of God. So yes, it is that simple to break a stronghold, to identify the lie, to choose to believe the truth, and to fight off those thoughts with the shield of faith. You are reprogramming your mind. And at first, it's gonna be difficult. At first, you have to train yourself. to begin to think according to the Word of God. I'm not saying it's just a matter of positive thinking and all your problems go away. I'm saying that you have to learn to change the habits of your thought life. And as you change the habits of your thought life, the bondage begins to break. The lie begins to lose its power. And little by little, you start to inch forward and gain more and more victory, but you have to stay faithful to it. You have to believe that the truth will win. No, it's not more complicated than that. And if you keep believing that, you're gonna stay stuck. No, it's not found in some script or special oil or special prayer or certain type of deliverance. You just need to obey God's word and start thinking according to God's word in the long term. It's just as simple as that. And so we as believers have to take these truths. This is the battle right here. Remember, you put on the armor, And you're gonna be able to stand against all the strategies of the devil. That's what the Bible says. Every strategy he has can be defeated with the armor, and the armor is based on truth. So stop letting the enemy lie to you. So don't believe the lie that says, I've already tried that. Don't believe the lie that says, well, that doesn't work for me, or maybe it'll work for others. Believe the truth. That whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Father, I pray even now that you would cause your people to walk in victory. Teach them to walk in truth. And Holy Spirit, I pray you would be their constant reminder, helping them to take captive these thoughts that cause deception, that produce bondage. Lord, teach them to be faithful to your word. That they might receive truth, that they might receive light that dispels darkness. We break the power of the enemy over their lives in the mighty name of Jesus. Every bondage be broken now. And Father, let the light of the Holy Spirit shine brightly in their minds and hearts. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. I want you to say it because you believe it. Say a big amen. Amen. Amen. Well, it's my prayer that this message was a blessing to you and that you found freedom through the truth of the word of God. And now I'm asking for your help. Help me reach others who are also struggling. Listen, there are believers all around the world who are dealing with depression, anxiety, shame, and guilt from their past. They're dealing with torment of the mind, lack of peace, lack of clarity, and in many cases, They're facing these struggles for years. These become cycles, bondages in their lives, and I want to see them go free. So will you help me reach more people with the truth of the word of God? I'm asking you right now to do your part and to pay it forward so that others might hear the gospel. You heard this message because of our generous donors and supporters who help fund the production of this teaching and other teachings like this. You can join our cause right now by going to davidhernandezministries.com/partner. Sign up today for a monthly gift, and that monthly gift is going to help us continue to grow as a ministry. You can also give a single gift by going to davidhernandezministries.com/donate. The scripture teaches that we are to honor the word and we are to sow where we grow. In other words, where we receive truth from, where we receive the word of God from, we are to sow back into that. As we receive spiritually, we respond by giving generously. So this ministry is growing. I need your help. We're growing rapidly, and we need to be able to keep up with the growth. I don't want to say no to any open door. So join our cause today. One more time, davidhernandezministries.com/partner to become a monthly ministry supporter, /donate to give a single gift. Help us win the soul of this generation. Help us reach more people with the Word of God. Now, if you enjoyed this message, you're gonna love this teaching titled, Right Before God Uses You, the Devil Will Try These Attacks.