Message #16 (of 20) from the PrayerPower radio series
"Praying for Protection"

by Kaye Johns

The Apostle Paul tells us: "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds" [2 Corinthians 10:4].

"Stronghold" carries the meaning of a fortress, and in the next verse, Paul uses the analogy to refer to negative influence on our thinking. He writes, "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 Cor. 10:5]. Paul has said the battle is a spiritual battle, so it must be against evil spirits who maintain these strongholds to keep us from the victorious life.

How does this happen in a Christian’s life? Paul explains in Ephesians 4: strongholds begin when we "give place to the devil" [Eph. 4:27] through sin. The passage, beginning with verse 26, reads: "...do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer.... Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth.... And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.... Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking be put away from you..." [Eph. 4:26-31 NKJV, italics added]. Recurring sins like these give place to Satan.

How, then, are we to pray against the devil’s strongholds? We ask the Holy Spirit to take captive every thought we or others have to make it obedient to Christ. We ask for sensitivity to sin and the willingness to confess and repent in His strength.

Pray with me now -- Father, when we have a besetting sin, it may be our fault for allowing a stronghold. Forgive us, and give us victory in Christ’s name. Amen.

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