Pulling Down Strongholds

“But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” James 1:14-15.

When we study scripture we start to understand which desires we should fight often. When I watch TV I want to look at a beautiful woman. If I do that in excess I will come to the crossroads where it will “give birth to sin.” Instead, I can pray to run from sin several times when I turn on a new program. Instead, I can find other activities to do. Instead, I can remember that something always dies if I allow my current habits to lead me back to porn.

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13.

With every article I write I determine not to mention the verses for quitting. But the above verse loses its power if we don't dig into scripture. These key verses are your way of escape.

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” Galatians 5:16-17.

We walk in the Spirit by often saying: “Lord, I praise You.” By saying, “Father, Your ways are best.” By asking: If His ways are best, what change is needed to follow His ways. By striving to believe that obedience leads to the great life that the Bible says it leads to.

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.” 2 Corinthians 10:4.

Scriptures about lust are mighty for pulling down strongholds. Prayer is mighty to prepare us for the temptation and scripture is mighty to pull it down.

“Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” Psalm 119:11.

When the writer (David) followed his own advice he was a great hero, pure and blessed. When he didn't... disaster.

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Ephesians 6:10-11.

We are all weak in one or two parts of the armor. Study this passage to see what part you need to pray about and then focus on making that part stronger.

 

Colossians 3:5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.”

What does put to death mean? #1 Turn instantly from sin. #2 Start working on replacing sinful thoughts with godly thoughts. #3 Strive to have continuous opposition to lust. #4 Learn to hate sin by always reminding yourself of the destruction and darkness it causes. #5 Study when and where lust attacks you. Then form a plan for your counterattack. #6 Fight lustful temptation immediately.

“12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

To change, print out an article like this one. Then use it to form a two-step process. Yes, we pray to turn instantly from sin, but then pray to put on some of the traits in verse twelve.

Consider praying: “Father, help me to turn from lust and help me to be kind.”

Consider praying: “Father, show me new ways to think and help me to be humble.”

Consider praying: “Father, help me to run from lust and help me to have compassion for others.”

Consider praying: “Father, help me to fight lust always and help me to be patient.”

Consider praying: “Father, help me to hate sin and help me to forgive.”

Consider praying: “Father, show me how to fight sin and fill me with Your love.”

What you do is 51% of quitting. What you stop doing is only 49%. Because, if you don't replace the bad stuff with good stuff... you will always have a vacuum (empty space) in your life that needs filling.

 

Your mind is a stronghold. It is either a stronghold for God or for satan. 50% of those reading grew up in churches that didn't teach praising the Lord. But most of the people in the Bible wrote about and practiced praising the Lord. Here is some truth. If your mind is a stronghold for satan, you need to start doing things that will change that, or things will not change. Consider praying:

“Father, help me to make it a habit to praise You 10 times or more per day.”

I consistently praise the Lord when good things happen. Everyone who knows me knows... good things happen to me a lot. Is that a coincidence, or does God like it when I praise Him?

I try to praise the Lord when bad things happen. I sometimes pray to God: “Father, I will really praise You if You help me with this.” Then I add: “I will also praise You if You choose to let me go through the problem with Your help.”

Second, prayer will start to change your mind from a stronghold for satan into a stronghold for God. In the January article, I gave 6 prayers. Consider copying them into your phone and setting an alarm for every 30 minutes. This system would encourage you to pray up to 30 prayers per day.

Even if you are at work you can quickly pray your “Go to” prayer, something quick like: “Father, teach me to turn from lust.”

God 100% knows, even if you only pray for 11 seconds if you were completely sincere. So pause reverently at work or school, and pray that short prayer.

Finally, be totally aware of who your mind is a stronghold for. I fight daily to make mine a stronghold for God.