 it's time to break the cycle of sin it's time to break the cycle of shame it's time to break the cycle of heaviness it's time to break the cycle of confusion whatever is robbing you of that divine peace that is rightfully yours whatever is robbing you of joy in the holy spirit it's time for that thing to be broken off of once and for all and i truly believe that the word of god carries the power to destroy those strongholds in your life number one you have to receive the word now this may seem basic but it is the way you break a stronghold and stay free when you receive the word in your life you're allowing light to shine the more of the word that you receive the less powerful these strongholds will become number two meditate on the word once a stronghold is exposed it's easier to monitor your thoughts or control your thoughts now the scripture commands us several times how to think and what to think think on these things the scripture would not command us to do something that we're not capable of doing so when the scripture says think on these things it's telling you something that you're able to do so you have the power to take your thoughts captive to control them and to tear them down how do you do that with the word so when the enemy tells you you are alone ah the scripture says i'll never leave you nor forsake you when the scripture contradicts the lie that's when you begin to see freedom so i meditate on the word and meditation isn't just reading the word meditation is thinking about the word you know that when you think about the word it's like water rushing through your mind washing your mind how do you wash your mind with the word you run the word through it kind of like when you put your hands under the sink if you your hands are really dirty or maybe when you're cooking some of you who cook like with dough you you get the dough all over your hands what do you have to do you run it under water and the water the constant flow of the water is what removes the things from your hand in the same way it's the constant flow of the word that removes these lies from the mind you have to constantly be thinking on the word so you may say well i already tried that now wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute did you really because the scripture says thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind has stayed on thee the word of god works let god be true and every man a liar god's word works god's word works period so you have to wash your mind the problem comes when we wash our mind with the word and then go get it dirty again with our youtube searches and our instagram scrolling and our netflix viewings we wash our minds with the word and then we go listen to music that makes it all filthy again we wash our minds with the word and then we go obsessing about thoughts that are not biblical we wash our minds with the word and then we go off on these weird myths and doctrines because they're fascinating yet they cause more torment than they do freedom wash your mind with the word keep a steady flow of the word number three obey the word the word will only work for you when you start to obey it and that takes discipline that takes time there is no christian who is in the word daily who makes daily contact with god not just praise but who makes daily contact with god through prayer who lives a lifestyle of worship who lives a lifestyle of repentance and practices holiness there is no christian like that in bondage did you hear what i said there is no christian who makes daily practice of the word who makes daily contact with the lord through prayer who practices a lifestyle of worship who practices a lifestyle of repentance and who walks in holiness that christian is not in bondage that christian in bondage does not exist look in the new testament you didn't see a whole lot of that among the apostles or the church leaders look in the new testament you didn't see a whole lot of talk about how to overcome these things why because the christian life is a life of freedom if you're not walking in that freedom you're settling for less than what is the christian life now i know that may sound harsh but i don't mean it to be harsh i mean it to be encouraging because we tell ourselves already tried that and there again is a stronghold there's the lie you believe i already tried that and it doesn't work for me those are the lies that keep you bound right there well it worked for me for a little bit and then it stopped did it stop working or did you stop working it did it stop working or did you stop all bang did it stop working or did you fall back into your old habits how because you have to make the decisions daily to practice these spiritual disciplines you have to do it i can't lay hands on you and impart discipline see we want to hear oh it's a curse so you pray for me you break it yeah okay i'll pray for you you may experience the power of god you may be healed from the effects of the stronghold in that moment but if you don't address that mindset and that pattern of thinking you're just going to go back into it again number four prayer now prayer can break the effects of the stronghold this is so key so let's say i come under a stronghold of depression because of a lie i'm believing let's say i believe the lie that i'm worthless okay i believe that lie or i'm worthless or everybody hates me i believe that lie it produces feelings of heaviness in me and then that produces certain behaviors in my life now someone can pray for me and i can experience breakthrough from the heaviness i can experience breakthrough from that sensible i may feel this joy imparted something broke right that's a break that's deliverance that's the breaking of a bondage but if i don't address that stronghold and i don't allow the word to change my patterns of thinking and i don't allow god to work in my life through spiritual disciplines and practices what's gonna happen i'm gonna go right back into that pattern i'm gonna go right back to that place of suffering why because i didn't take the time to break that stronghold number five faithfulness you have to be faithful in doing these things you can't just do this for two weeks and then say well it didn't work for me i'm done no no it takes time to develop new ways of thinking it takes time for the word to wash it's a process that deliverance for believers is a process and that's how you break the stronghold and that's how you stay free practice the spiritual basics and you will avoid spiritual crisis practice the spiritual basics and you will avoid spiritual crisis thank you for watching encounter tv don't forget to subscribe and click the notification bell also help us spread the gospel of jesus christ in the power of the holy spirit make a one-time donation or become a monthly supporter by clicking on the donate link now