Bible passage:
God as our stronghold, that shall not be broken: Psalm 27: 1-3 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. Psalm 18:1,2 I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. Nahum 1:7 The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. Psalm 9:9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
Recognizing the devil's strongholds: 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
Using our weapon against strongholds: Ephesians 6:10,11,12,18 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.... praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saint. Matthew 18:18, 19 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. Proverbs 21:22 A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust. Joshua 6:20 So the people [Israel] shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city [Jericho], every man straight before him, and they captured the city.
This is WAR! In wars, there are only two goals - (i) Being safe in one's stronghold, (ii) Defeating the enemy's stronghold.
We can think of David and how he was running to strongholds when Saul was chasing him, and think of when he was hiding in Keilah, he got to know from God that the people would surrender him to Saul. But, maybe that's too far off. The ongoing war in Ukraine would help us understand better. When the war started and there was bombing all around, I feared for the life of my friend who was studying in the town where there was intense bombing. The only consolation was that she was in a safe bunk. One doesn't survive bombs by running or by wearing a bulletproof vest. The only way to survive is to find shelter in a stronghold. How much more do we need God as a stronghold in this spiritual warfare?
As much as we run to God for our stronghold, let's remember that we are fighting a battle when the war is already won. As a soldier of the winning kingdom, let's not just play defense. Let's go on the offensive. Our stronghold is not a physical place where we hide. Our stronghold is God who is with us when we go to the battlefield. God has also given us an armor to wear. Though the armor mostly contains defensive equipment, it has two weapons of offense. The first one is the sword, with which we fight arm's length battles. The second one is prayer. I like how Derek Prince termed prayer as God's intercontinental ballistic missile. For we fight against the dark forces that are in the heavenlies through prayer. When Christians agree with God and with each other over an issue, obey His word regarding that, and are willing to encircle that stronghold, any Jericho will fall never to rise again.
There are so many strongholds in our nation in which the devil holds captive many of our friends and relatives. Shall we together in one voice, pray and intercede, even plead for God to break those strongholds?
Prayer points:
Pray that God breaks the strongholds of idol worship in our country. We don't want to remain as 2.3% of our country. May God give us breakthroughs in evangelism by breaking this stronghold.
Pray against the stronghold of witchcraft. Demonic presence is prevalent in places where there is witchcraft.
Pray that God breaks the stronghold of caste discrimination. God created humans all humans equally in His image. Let's pray against the vices of the varna system which may be a distorted understanding of people as the body of Christ.
Pray against the stronghold of corruption. How much of blood is shed directly and indirectly through this evil practice!
Pray against every thought or philosophy that is against Christ. The root word of yoga means 'yoke' or 'to unite'. It is the means of uniting with the universal consciousness. The belief is that karma, jnana, bhakti, raja (work, knowledge, devotion, discipline) (without Christ) can unite us with God. May they hear Christ's words of taking His yoke upon them and learning from Him.
God loves His children. When anyone who calls on His name, is killed because of faith, He said, 'vengeance is mine'. The land has seen the blood of so many missionaries and God's children who were violently killed. May we pray that the stronghold of the devil due to that will be broken in Jesus' name.
If you can, try memorizing 2 Corinthians 10:3-6.
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