“Yes, thank you. I believe I will!” Often when the enemy passes us yet another round of temptation, we’re so distracted by the latest drama in our lives, we mindlessly agree. Like being offered a bag of potato chips while watching TV, not only do we say yes, we eat the whole bag. And then we do it again the next day. And the next. Until a potato becomes who we are, and the weight of that sin habit becomes our excuse to never get off that couch.
You see, when it comes to certain sins, we can be a bit mindless. It even seems like a good idea at the time. Chips go great with a movie, after all. It’s fun. I deserve it. I’ve had a hard day. It’s good to relax, have some fun. Who cares, anyway? I’m not hurting anyone. That’s what they’re there for: to be eaten. God made food taste good on purpose….
Sound familiar? Whether your sin is overeating, lust, addiction, anger, worry, judgment, pride, or anything else, if that has become who you are or what you’re known for, it may feel impossible to get up off that “couch.”
That’s what a stronghold is — a thought process or sin habit that has such a strong hold on you, it controls your responses, rather than the Spirit.
And you’ve probably noticed, too, that if you let the enemy have control in one area of your life, he takes over other areas, too, until you’ve forgotten what freedom looks like, and your life heads off in directions you never thought you’d go.
Your will just isn’t enough to get you out of this mess. You need Someone stronger.
Jesus is standing in front of you right now, saying, “This is not who you are. Take My hand. Come up here. I will bear that weight for you, if you let Me. Lean on Me, and I will pull you up. There is more to life than this. I want to show you who you were made to be. Come. Let Me set you free.“
Whatever you’re holding onto that is not Christ, lay it down. Now. And grab hold of the Truth who sets you free. (See the resources below with steps to freedom.*)
Lord, please set us free from our strongholds. With Your truth, topple the lies we’ve been clinging to that have excused our sin far too long. Draw us up onto Your shoulders to see that sin from Your perspective. Make us hate it so much, hate what it does to our relationship with You and to others, we never want to return to it again. Father, there are sins and wrong thought processes that have such a strong hold on us now, that we find ourselves reacting from out of that place of control, rather than letting You be the One in control of our lives. Please forgive us, Lord. Show us how to take Your hand and let You lift us up out of that sin habit, so we can begin a new habit: listening to Your voice, following Your lead, and doing all things in Your empowering, as one with You.
Mikaela Vincent and her husband are missionaries who live by faith, trusting in God to provide for their needs as they pray for and share Christ with the nations. If you would like to help their ministry through a donation, or by finding gifts for those you love at Mikaela’s online bookstore, click the buttons below:
*For steps to freedom from strongholds, see Dare to Be a Man of God, Dare to Be a Mighty Warrior and other deep Bible studies on overcoming the enemy in the battlefield of the mind at MoreThanAConquerorBooks.com.
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