The Ruining of Strongholds

You have broken down all his hedges; You have brought his strongholds to ruin. Psalm 89:40 NKJV

We hear a lot about strongholds today. We see evidences of them in addictions and perversions. Each one of us is aware of those things that have a vice grip hold on our mind and a death grip on our life. They consume our thoughts and reek havoc on our actions. They stand in competition with God for control of us. They are the mindsets that we carry with us and yet long to be free of. Today’s verse is our victory cry!

I have often forgotten that it is God who brings a stronghold to ruin. Educating myself about the stronghold and attempting to demolish it myself is not the answer. I have warn myself out in the past trying to gain the victory in certain areas. I thought that if I could just get enough answers I could figure out why it was a stronghold for me and I would be free. I can’t tell you the number of times I THOUGHT I had victory in an area only to fall in defeat. Frustration and failure seemed to mark my path continually. I figured there was either something I wasn’t seeing or something I wasn’t doing right and that is why I wasn’t experiencing a true release from the stronghold. I included warfare prayers in hopes of gaining freedom from the grip! I sought godly advice and read any book I could get my hands on in hopes that someone would give me the missing puzzle piece and set me free.

When it was all said and done, while I had stored up many helpful truths my mind was not free. The mindsets remained in tact and the belief grew that change would never come in this life. I had embraced a lie and began to live with resignation. That is when God used something in the Psalms to wake me up! I saw the number of times David would cry out for deliverance and decided to make that my prayer. For an entire day I simply asked God to deliver me from my mindsets in a particular area of my life. I asked Him to release me from the thoughts that had completely consumed my every waking moment. I literally handed it all to Him.

With a heart of gratitude I have spent the last few days thanking Him for the freedom that is finally mine in this particular area. I could tell deliverance had come because I was no longer battling the thoughts and new thoughts were able to enter my mind. I was not having to work at renewing my mind….He had done that for me. The cobwebs of confusion are gone, the sense of hopelessness is gone, the inner turmoil is gone. My view of God has been enlarged and my faith in His ability to set free has been strengthened. I now enter another day of precious liberation!

Father, I give You the praise and the credit for bringing my stronghold to ruin. You have shown me what true deliverance is like. With all that is in me, I thank You! Amen.