Spiritual Warfare--Tearing Down the Strongholds

The majority of mental strongholds started with, or will begin with, some form of hurt or trauma. A person in a weaken state becomes easy prey for strongholds. The plan of Satan is to separate you...separate you from yourself and to separate you from God. He will use a hurt or a trauma to have you brokenhearted and to become fleshly, leading you into a place of separation.
Our strongholds are erected by our wounded souls trying to protect us...to keep pain and rejection out of our lives.

Hurt, pain and trauma broke our hearts.

We then began to indulge in sinful thinking.

We took part in sinful behavior.

We then defended our sinful thoughts and sinful living.

A stronghold is what our mind will use to defend sinful thinking against any opposition. We will use the hurts and traumas of our lives as reasons to defend the sinful life we live and the sinful way we think. The devil, ready any time of course, rushes in to reinforce our bitterness, jealousy, resentment, rejection, self-pity, ect. The devil knows exactly what hurt or trauma it will require to allow a stronghold to take hold. He knows what to do that will lead us to fortify those strongholds and to build new ones. Of course, his demons are drawn to strongholds and we must tear down and destroy any stronghold at once. We can not allow it to become stronger and stronger.

Christians don't set out to build strongholds, they build them piece by piece. The devil's armour is constructed of sinful reactions that we have chosen to indulge in.

Unforgiveness

Resentment

Judgement

Anger with sin

Hatred

Self-hatred

Violence

Elimination

Aggression

Murder

Fear

Pride

Witchcraft

It is now that a stronghold has been built, with bitterness lodged, rooted and protected in our minds. In Ephesians we are told to rid ourselves of "all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander...". Our greatest weapons are the Word, prayer and repenting before God. We must pray scriptures to tear down the strongholds rooted in our minds, praying that God will reveal each of them to us. We must declare the Word of God, waging war against the devil and his strongholds. It is our choice to live with Godly responses to hurt, pain and trauma. We must purify our hearts and our minds, from all sinful thinking and sinful lifestyles. "Resist the devil and he will flee from you".