 If you're struggling with anxiety and depression, or if you know someone who's struggling with anxiety and depression, this message is for you. You're gonna watch this message, and if you're struggling in these areas, I believe, God is going to bring to your life permanent freedom. Permanent freedom. It's time to break the cycles of struggle. It's time to stop going through the same thing again and again and again. If you've gone from event to event, from deliverance to deliverance to deliverance to deliverance, if you've got caught in the cycle of seeking freedom, I wanna show you from the word how to experience permanent freedom, and I wanna show you how to minister that permanent freedom to someone else. Now, as we go through the word, you're gonna understand yourself better. You're gonna understand why you struggle with these things, and you're gonna understand why these struggles keep repeating in your life. Now, I know that in this day and age, we want quick answers, and probably you turned on this video, and you're thinking, just give me the keys so I can go and apply them, and I will give you those keys from the word of God, but I challenge you to really allow yourself to receive this entire word. Why? Because I wanna lay a foundation first, and it's only in the foundation of the word that we can be established to walk in permanent freedom. That mindset of constantly needing the quick fix is exactly why, or at least in part exactly why, you continue to find yourself trapped in these struggles again and again. I'm gonna show you why you get stuck. I'm gonna show you also the difference between battling the flesh and battling a demonic power, because those are two different battles that are to be addressed in two different ways, and then we're gonna show you from the word of God how to live in victory, and I wanna encourage you because the word of God does have the answers for you. I know maybe you've heard these truths before, and maybe you've tried them before, but this time is gonna be different. This time, there's gonna be liberty, and I want you to know that. I want you to believe that by faith. I want you to get your hopes up. I want you to get your expectations up, because if you apply what the word of God says, you will be free, for whom the sun sets free is free indeed, that freedom can come to you, and you may have to listen to this a few times over and over again to really understand these truths that you might apply them in your life, and I know these truths work because I myself used to battle heavily, intensely with both anxiety and depression. Some people have severe anxiety, some people struggle with severe depression, and some people struggle with both, or maybe you don't struggle with those things, but you wanna know how to minister to others. Okay, let's get right into it. I used to struggle with both anxiety and depression, and it was severe. I'm talking just a heaviness, an apathy toward life, this very dark cloud hovering over me, this turmoil in the emotions, even to the point of the emotions just being completely turned off, to where you kinda just feel detached from everything, just moving through life with cynicism and that apathy, and not really finding joy in anything. I know what it is to battle with fear that's so intense that it brings about physical reactions. I myself struggled with severe panic attacks. I think I was having a panic attack a day for almost two years, and it was a very intense battle. I felt alone, I felt hopeless, I felt like nobody else understood what I was going through. I went to the conferences, I had hands laid on me, I applied the spiritual warfare techniques, I did the fasting, I did it all. And still it seemed like there was nothing breaking, there was nothing happening for me, and I came to this point of frustration where I said, Lord, you're gonna have to do this, or I'm not gonna make it. You're gonna have to do this, or I'm just gonna quit, because even believers struggle with these things. Even Christians find themselves stuck in these places. Now, having said that, let me make this very clear to you, and this is gonna sound harsh, but I don't mean it to come across that way. This is both a harsh statement and an encouraging statement. Sometimes the truth will upset you before it sets you free. So here's the harsh truth that's also doubling as an encouragement. Here's the truth that will come off as harsh at first, but then liberating once you've embraced it. If you are walking in bondage, you are not living the Christian life. I wanna say that again. Again, I know it sounds harsh, and I'm not trying to criticize you or anything like that, or discourage you, but this truth needs to be accepted and embraced first. If you are in bondage, then you are not living the Christian life. The Christian life is a life of victory. The Christian life is a life of authority. The Christian life is a life of freedom. God did not intend for you to struggle with depression for the rest of your life. God did not intend for you to struggle with anxiety and fear for the rest of your life. Yes, you may have anxiety at times, and you may have depression at times, and these may be ongoing challenges, but what I mean when I say that God did not intend for you to struggle with things for the rest of your life is simply this, you can have anxiety and depression, but depression and anxiety do not have to have you, and that's a very different place to live because I think that sometimes we imagine that the Christian life is just one life of struggle and we've almost been programmed to think this way. Like going in for deliverance from a bondage like this is like stopping in for gasoline on your road trip. This should not be a fixture in your life. This should not be something that's permanent. This should be something that God delivers you from. Yes, Christians need deliverance. Yes, Christians need to be delivered from strongholds, but as I'll show you in a moment, this is very different than some of the things that we imagine that they are. So Christians need deliverance from strongholds, and I'll show you what the difference is between Christians needing deliverance and the unbeliever needing deliverance. We'll touch on that a little bit, but it's important to first embrace this reality that the Christian life is a life of liberty, a life of victory. You're not meant to go from struggle to struggle to struggle. You're meant to go from glory to glory to glory. And if you believe that, if you believe that you're going to be free, if you believe that this time it's going to work, if you're tired of battling this over and over again, if you're tired of wondering why God seems to be setting other people free, but not you, if you're tired of waking up every morning with that heaviness on you, if you're tired of facing the day with a constant fear and anxiety and paranoia and intrusive thoughts, if you're ready to be free and you believe you can be free, then I want you to write it in the comments section right now. I want you to write that you're going to be free. However you want to word it, and whether you're watching live or on the replay, make this your faith-filled public declaration of victory that you will be free, that this bondage will be broken, that this cycle will cease, that you won't be trapped in this repetition of defeat anymore. It's your time. Enough is enough. It's time to allow that boldness of the Holy Spirit to rise in you. It's time for you to allow your faith to be stirred because God is going to set you free. Even as I'm talking now, I can sense a strong anointing. Now, after I teach, we're going to pray over you and God's going to break that. Many of you will feel God's power on this broadcast, even watching the replay. Many of you will feel God's power moving through you, but no matter what you feel, I want you to know by faith that it's time. It's time to be free. So I know you're ready. Let's begin by looking to the word of God. In Romans chapter six, verse 12, the Bible says this, let not sin therefore rain in your mortal body that ye should obey it in the lust thereof. Now, fear and depression are not necessarily sins unto themselves, though sin can cause anxiety, sin can cause depression. Depression and anxiety in and of themselves are not necessarily always rooted in sin. Though they are technically overall always rooted in the fallen nature brought about by sin, they themselves are not necessarily always directly, directly key word related to sin. But what this scripture is talking about is the authority that sin has in the body. The authority that sin has in our lives really, because if we allow sin to have authority in our bodies that authority extends to the rest of our lives. Now, your mind, your emotions, your actions were trained under the old sin nature. For example, we all use digital devices, you are watching me on a digital device, whether that be a tablet, a laptop, a phone, whatever it may be, your digital device has physical components to it. It has a screen, it has a battery, it has all sorts of different components that make up what it is. Those physical components cannot work without the software, the operating system that allows the object itself to function. Now, when there is an issue with your device, your electronic device, if it's not functioning properly, the company that created the device will put out an update to the software. And because the software is upgraded, the hardware can now function properly. The same in a way is true of us. We have physical properties, we exist in a physical world, we have emotions, we have a mind, though those aren't physical, those are programmed by your spiritual software. Some of us, though we have a new software in Christ, Adam 2.0 as I like to call it, though we have a new software in Christ, some of us still have little viruses, little bits left over from a former way of thinking. So sin has trained you to operate in a certain way. So again, even though anxiety and depression are not necessarily always directly related to sin, they come about as a result of a fallen nature and an old pattern of thinking. Now, when I met Jesus, I was freed from demonic bondage but not from the flesh. And my flesh had already been trained to think according to a certain pattern. So sin was the old software that trained my body, that trained my emotions, that trained my mindset. And then I upgrade to the new software. My software work is working better now. My software is upgraded, but sometimes I still allow the patterns from the old software to run the way I think, to run the way I feel, to run the way I act. This is the nature of anxiety and depression. And this is why some people get stuck. This is why some people just cannot be free. This is why people have to go from deliverance to deliverance, from conference to conference, from fasting to fasting, because they don't understand that there are actually two dynamics at work when it comes to these strongholds in your life. You are struggling against two things. You are struggling against Satan, and you are struggling against self. Now, this is why some get stuck in cycles of constantly needing deliverance. They don't understand both components. Some know how to overcome self, the flesh, the discipline, but they haven't learned how to fight against Satan's deception. And some know how to overcome Satan and the deception, but they haven't learned how to overcome self through discipline. Sometimes you need discipline, sometimes you need deliverance. Now, I may have said those the same way, but you get what I'm saying. Overcome self, but not Satan, or overcome Satan, but not self. You need to learn to come against both self and Satan. You come against Satan through means of the truth of the word of God, and you come against self through discipline. Now, when you get saved, let's go to the basics now, and you may have to relearn some things. And let me tell you this, if you find yourself stuck, then it's time to change your theology. It's time to change the software. So most of my viewers know and understand, and if you're a new viewer, welcome, and this may be some new information, and I want to say this with grace and humility, because I myself used to get stuck in these old patterns of thinking. Remember this, Christians cannot be demon-possessed. Now that's a well-established biblical truth. That is about as solid of a truth as, we're saved by grace through faith, or the gifts of the Holy Spirit, or the idea of reconciliation with God through the cross. That's about as solid as a biblical truth as you can get. I mean, it is just conclusive, okay? So Christians cannot be possessed by demons, but you can still be attacked by demonic powers. So this is the difference in deliverance for an unbeliever and a believer. Unbelievers need to be delivered from demon possession, from curses, from the power of sin, from even some of the similar things that maybe you battled in your past. So unbelievers need deliverance from actual demonic possession, actual demonic attachments, actual curses. Those things are very real, but they apply to the unbeliever. The believer needs deliverance from strongholds and sometimes addictions. Now addictions is a different topic, and I have some teaching materials on that, you can check out on the channel. But for the most part, that's a simplified way of putting this. Unbelievers need deliverance from demonic possession and curses and demonization. Believers need deliverance from strongholds and mindsets and in some cases addictions. Now, some have misunderstood my teachings that when I say that Christians don't need exorcism, they hear me saying Christians don't need deliverance, but that's not what I'm teaching. What I'm teaching is that you have to fight your enemy in an effective way. So when you come to Christ, you are delivered from demonic power. The scripture makes this clear in Ephesians that we've been taken from the kingdom of darkness under that authority, under that ownership, and now placed under the authority and ownership of Christ. And then we are fighting still against the enemy. We're fighting against deception. We're fighting against principalities and powers and rulers and so forth. So when you understand this distinction, you understand how to fight these battles. Some believers get stuck here. This is why Christians get stuck because they're fighting against the enemy as if they're an unbeliever rather than fighting against the enemy from the place of authority and victory that God gave them. There's an old illustration about how they trained elephants to not escape. And this was a technique that they used in the traveling circuses that would go from town to town. When the elephants were young and small and weaker, they would tie a rope around the elephant's leg and tie it to a post. Now that elephant, when it was young and weaker, couldn't break that rope and couldn't break from that post. But when it got older and stronger and bigger, it was able to break through from that bondage. It was able to escape, but it chose not to because it still thought itself weak. So it's not that the elephant couldn't walk away from the bondage. It's that it wouldn't because it was operating under an old mindset. And this is how the enemy traps some of us. Now, to be clear, the enemy can still attack believers. And this is what develops these strongholds such as anxiety and depression. Here's how it works. The enemy will lie to you. The enemy will speak something deceptive to you. And when he speaks something deceptive to you, if you believe that lie, now what happens is you begin to live under the power of that belief. And in living under the power of that belief, you begin to feel and act according to that belief. That's how a stronghold works. But for the Christian, it's not as if a demon literally has its claws dug into their shoulder or that there's some voodoo type hex that's hovering over them. Rather what it is, is it's a mindset that brings about heavy emotions and ungodly thought patterns that produce feelings and behaviors that actually become the bondage. So it's a very different way that the enemy attacks these two individuals. Unbelievers, again, they're open game. They can be, the enemy can do whatever he wants with unbelievers. That's scary. That's terrifying. Which is a good reason, one of the many reasons to give your life to Christ if you haven't already. But as believers, we now walk from a place of victory. Enemy is defeated. I'm not possessed by a devil. I'm possessed by God. No demon dwells in me. Only the Holy Spirit dwells in me. This is basic biblical truth. Now, from this place, we ask ourselves, okay, then what's going on? What am I struggling with here? Why then do Christians need deliverance? Christians need deliverance because they need to be set free from these strongholds. But remember, we're battling two different foes, self and Satan. Self, Galatians 5, 17th to 18 says this. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the spirit wants. And the spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other. So you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. So there's that fight. The flesh fights against the spirit. Whatever the spirit wants, the flesh desires in the opposite direction. And this is why there's that tug of war in your life where your desire's seen to pull you one way and then the spirit seems to pull you the other way. So that's the battle against self. Then there's the battle against Satan. Ephesians chapter six verses 10 to 12 says this, a final word, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world and against evil spirits in heavenly places. Okay, so we see two different battles, the battle against the flesh and the battle against demonic powers. Now I'm gonna explain this one more time because I want to be perfectly clear because what happens is sometimes if we look through a religious mindset and we get stuck in a religious way of seeing things, we can become defensive. And in becoming defensive, we begin to argue for our limitations. There's a saying that goes, if you argue for your limitations, you get to keep them. I'll put it this way, if you argue for your bondage, you'll get to keep it. So this idea of spiritual warfare for the Christian has to be understood at its core if you're going to be victorious in it. So again, let's recap. Christians and unbelievers both need deliverance. Unbelievers need deliverance from demonic possession, from curses and hexes and oppression and demonization and things such as this. Believers need deliverance from strongholds and mindsets and as I said, in some cases, addictions. I'll say briefly on addictions that addictions are formed by the choices that you make. You decide to make certain choices and that brings about a physical response to the choices that you made in response to deception which was founded upon a stronghold. So that's again, when we talk about addiction, that's a different topic, we can address it, but addiction is not the same in every case as possession, at least in the case of the believer. So in understanding these different ways that the unbeliever addresses spiritual warfare and the believer addresses spiritual warfare, we can be victorious. See, maybe the reason you're stuck is because you keep trying to fight for your victory as a believer from the position and mindset of the unbeliever. And this is why people go in cycle after cycle and they have to go in for their regular tuneups, their regular deliverance, you know, once a week, once a month, well, I need it again, all the demons came back in, I gotta go back in. That type of mentality is what leads to a long-term battle with these things. And so it's exactly that mindset that is the root of the longevity of the problem. See, the enemy wants to convince you that he can own you. That is one of the greatest lies of the enemy that a Christian can be possessed, why? Because if he can get you to believe that, he can keep you distracted on fighting and he can keep you from fighting the battle where it actually counts, which I'm gonna show you how to do that in just a moment. So let's look at what a stronghold is, the nature of a stronghold, because I think in looking at the nature of a stronghold, we can start to see how we can be free. And again, I know we want quick answers, but I challenge you to receive all this teaching because if you can receive this and reset the mind, reset the mind, you're gonna be free and then you're gonna say, I can't believe how free I actually am and I can't believe that I'm staying free. Guys, I've seen thousands upon thousands of believers find freedom from depression and anxiety through these biblical truths and the spiritual warfare approach I'm about to give to you, thousands. And they all have similar stories. They say, oh, I tried again and again, I tried all different things and then I tried it God's way. And that's my encouragement to you, try it God's way and you're gonna be so free, so liberated, not walking around with that heaviness, not walking around in the patterns and the cycles, but you're gonna finally see that firm foundation and you're gonna stand with your feet planted, you're gonna go, I didn't realize it was possible to live with this much stability. I'm telling you, some people have told me that, that they didn't think it was possible to live with that much stability and joy and peace. This will work, but you just have to apply it. So let's look at 2nd Corinthians chapter 10, a very famous portion of scripture. 2nd Corinthians chapter 10, verses four through five, this gives us the definition of what a stronghold is, a spiritual stronghold. Now watch this, we use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. Now, the context of these verses is very clear if you read the rest of 2nd Corinthians and the previous chapters. Paul in this portion of scripture is defending his apostolic authority. There are those who are coming against Paul the apostle, they're accusing him of being weak, they're accusing him of not being legitimate, they're saying, oh, Paul, don't take him seriously, he's not a true apostle. And there were some wannabe apostles that were jealous of Paul's influence. And because they were jealous of Paul's influence, they started to attack Paul. Now, this is Paul's way of addressing their rebellious and slanderous deceptions. But in principle, the overall takeaway is a spiritual roadmap to dealing with deception and finding freedom in our mindset. So again, in context, Paul is basically coming against the deception that these wannabe apostles are establishing in the minds of the believers in the church of Corinth. But Paul now is saying, here's how you get rid of that deception. Here's how you get rid of those strongholds. And this is the only time the scripture mentions strongholds in the New Testament in the spiritual sense. And here we see the definition. Strongholds are deceptive mindsets. They're ideas, they're patterns of thinking. They're ways of going about our reasoning. And we pick up these patterns from all different places. We pick them up from the world. We pick them up from false doctrines. We pick them up from our culture, from the way we were raised, from the people that we know and meet from our own emotions, from our own experiences. We pick up all sorts of mindsets that start to develop in us. And then those mindsets become patterns and those patterns become so familiar, so difficult to break, that the Bible describes those as strongholds. Like something rooted on a deep foundation that you have trouble getting rid of. Let's break these verses down. Paul says, our weapons are not carnal. Meaning this battle is not fought by physical means, nor by human effort. Human effort cannot tear down strongholds. They are mighty through God, meaning they are effective for the cause of Christ. So he's gonna give you these weapons and these weapons are effective weapons. God does not give to us cheap weapons. I really sent someone needs to hear this. God does not give to believers cheap weapons. God will not give you a weapon that works in some cases. God will not give you a weapon that works on some demons. God will not give you a weapon that works in some seasons. No, the weapon that God gives you is a sort of the spirit and that weapon works in every case, in every season against every demonic foe. It's the word of God. The word of God is authority and power. And God gives you these weapons and they are effective. Now, what are they effective unto? Watch, this is one of my favorite portions of the verse. Watch this. They're effective to the pooling down of strongholds. Right here in the Greek, the implication is the utter destruction of and total removal of a barrier or obstacle. Think about this. So in the Greek, the picture that's being painted so to speak is imagine a brick wall. Brick stacked upon brick, stacked upon brick. Now imagine that that wall is a bondage in your life like depression or anxiety. The pooling down of strongholds, this pooling down, that phrase, that terminology is describing a complete and total removal of to where when you're crossing over the wall you don't even have to lift your foot to step over a single brick. Not one brick upon the other. That's what this verse implies in the original language. Pooling down means that it would be not one brick upon the other. So if you have a brick wall, every single brick would be removed to where not one brick would be stacked upon the other. That's how effectively God can remove a stronghold from your life. That's how effectively God can transform a thought pattern in your life. That's how effectively God can remove depression and anxiety, not one brick upon the other. We'll get into the mental health aspect of concerning these areas in a moment because there are spiritual elements, there are emotional elements and then there are mental elements of course. Against everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. So anything that keeps you from knowing the truth about God or anything that keeps you from knowing God himself. That's what the verse means here. So the truth about knowing God himself, the truth about knowing his nature, his power, his word, whatever keeps you from knowing truth about God and whatever keeps you from knowing God himself, these things are what are called strongholds. They warp your perception and here's what breaks my heart. In my experience, the many believers I've talked to, they almost argue to keep their bondage. They argue to keep themselves enslaved spiritually. And really the reason that is is because they've allowed their minds to be rooted in things that seem biblically correct but ultimately are not biblically consistent. I mean you talk about Christians who want to believe that they can have, think about it. I've never seen so many Christians who wanted to be demon possessed. I mean really think about that. Who want to be demon possessed. Like no, no, I can have the, and they'll argue for that? They'll fight for that as if it's some holy truth that needs to be embraced. But think about it, why would the enemy keep them there? It's because that's the center of the bondage. That's the center of the distraction. Now I'm not just talking about the difference between a Christian's deliverance and an unbeliever's deliverance. We're gonna get more into detail on anxiety and depression. But as I touch on these things, I have to because there are some Christians who can't find the freedom because they're being held back by religious doctrines that keep them bound. And that prevents true holy thought patterns from developing. And I know this because like I taught before I used to believe just that. And so yes, Christians battle demonic powers. Yes, Christians can be deceived by demonic powers. Yes, Christians can even be tormented in the mind by demonic powers. So don't hear what I'm not saying. But that ownership, that total control over you, that demonization, that curse. You cannot curse what God has blessed. You cannot own what God has called his own. And so when we start to see the difference here there's true freedom that develops. And so I've seen Christians argue for their own deception. Why? Because it's a stronghold in the mind. And this is a very dangerous place to be because we hold on to these religious things that prevent us from experiencing fear. So maybe that's not you, that's okay. But I have to address this because there are some who are stuck in anxiety and depression because of slightly off biblical doctrines that ultimately cause them to repeat that cycle again and again. They don't even know that they're arguing for their own bondage. The enemy is tricky indeed. The enemy is deceptive indeed. Now, a lie is anything that contradicts the truth. A lie once believed becomes deception. I wanna say that again. A lie is anything that contradicts the truth. A lie once believed becomes deception. You are not deceived until you believe the lie. See, if you know when the enemy is lying to you you're not deceived, you're just being attacked. But once you believe the lie of the enemy that becomes a bondage of deception. The deception then becomes a mindset through which other thoughts are processed. Now watch this, a lie if believed will lead to deception. Deception produces feelings. Those feelings produce actions. Those actions produce habits, those habits become cycles and then we get stuck. And then what we'll try to do is we'll try to change our habits or we'll try to change our feelings hoping that it addresses the problem when what we actually need to address is the mindset and get rid of the deception. Most believers try to address the habit itself. Well, I'm just not gonna, and really if you've had depression like me you know how ridiculous it is when someone tells you oh, just get over it. Oh, you'll be fine. Let me tell you something. That's one of the worst things you can say to someone who has depression or anxiety. I can't tell you how many times I went to someone with just such heaviness in my heart or fear stirring me to a panic attack and I would say, hey, I need you to help me and they'd go, well, I'm here. Or, well, you'll be fine. Oh, you'll be fine. They'll pat me on the back. Oh, you'll do just well. You know that doesn't do anything. Why? Because they're trying to address the feeling of it instead of working with you through it. And that really is the challenge because people kind of just are dismissive of your struggle. I don't know about you but I in that place of depression and anxiety felt very isolated and lonely because I felt like nobody was understanding the depth of that struggle. I felt like nobody understood exactly how deep the darkness was. And sometimes we're just so dismissive. We'll be, oh, get over it. Oh, just feel better. Oh, just go exercise or go on a nice day trip. Or, you know, we do these things and what happens is people become dismissive of it. Why? Because they're trying to just address the feeling or the action rather than addressing the mindset, the stronghold. Now, and I see a question here. I usually don't stop and read comments in the middle of the lesson but I think this is good. Becca Watson says, but what about the actual physical manifestation of anxiety like palpitations and dizziness? I'm gonna address that in a moment. Trust me, we're gonna get into that and it all is rooted in strongholds. I'll show you that in a moment. So watch this, here's the formula. Lies equal deception, deception equals feelings, feelings equal actions, actions equal cycles. A lie doesn't become deception until that lie is believed. If the lie is believed then and only then it becomes deception. Now, here's where it gets a little deeper here. The nature of deception, this is so terrifying. The nature of deception is that people who are deceived don't know they're deceived. What a thought. What a thought, when I first heard that I thought, what a thought that is? Well, I heard it from Jesus, look at this, Matthew 6.23. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is, whoa. If the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is. I didn't know how deep the darkness was for me. I'm just telling you my testimony. And it was only when I saw the truth from the word that I began to be set free. Now again, we're gonna get into those very specific truths. I know, I can already hear it in my head, come on, just give it to me, give me the truth. You have to understand these foundations. You have to understand these foundations. Otherwise, you're not gonna be establishing your freedom on the word. Don't establish your freedom on feelings or fleeting emotions or feeling good in the moment. Establish your freedom on the word. Now, if this is opening your eyes, if things are clicking for you, or you're hearing things that are making you go, hmm, that's kinda making me think right there. If this is helping to open your spiritual eyes, do me a favor and leave a like right now. I'm gonna talk about anxiety right now. Right after this, I'm gonna talk about anxiety, how to overcome it, then I'm gonna talk about depression and how to overcome it. And I'm gonna give you keys to living in that victory. But for now, if this is opening your spiritual eyes, if things are starting to click, if you're having an aha moment, then I want you to leave a like on this video right now whether you're watching live or on replay. I don't ask you that just so I can go, oh, well, look how many likes we got. I honestly don't even look at how many likes each video got all that often. But what I do see happening is that when people leave likes on these videos, it helps to spread the message around. So leave a like on the video if it's opening your spiritual eyes because your like will help others have their eyes open too because it will spread the video around. Okay, so talking about anxiety. Remember, remember this principle. Self and Satan, self and Satan. And we've got to know the distinction between how to battle both. Because what happens is if you are constantly thinking you're battling Satan and not self, then you're never gonna address the problem of self. If you only think that you're battling self and you don't deal with Satan, then you're never gonna address the spiritual aspect. There are two extremes of this. Some people think that there are no demons anywhere, wrong. Demons are real. Spiritual warfare is real. Deliverance is needed in the life of the believer. But then on the other hand, it's not the people who say demons are nowhere. It's the people who say demons are everywhere. So then the problem doesn't become demon possession or oppression, the problem becomes demon obsession. And that demon obsession actually brings about more heaviness because you just live in this paranoid state of constantly needing to maintain something that the Lord's already given to you. So there's two extremes we have to avoid here and we have to find the balance on the Bible. Don't fall into the extreme of demons are nowhere. And don't fall into the extreme of demons are everywhere because it's both self and Satan. Now I'm gonna show you a very popular verse here. It's second Timothy chapter five or chapter one versus five through seven, excuse me. Second Timothy chapter one versus five through seven. One of the most popular portions of scripture concerning fear. I remember your genuine faith for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid hands on you for God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity but of power, love and self discipline. Now in context, believe it or not, when Paul tells Timothy not to be afraid he's actually talking about using his spiritual gifts. He's encouraging him to not be afraid to use his spiritual gifts. For more on that, take a look at, I think it was last week's viral revival how to discover and activate your spiritual gifts. But Paul the apostle here is in principle addressing this spirit of fear. That fear has not come from God. Perhaps you have a fear of fulfilling the call of God in your life or not fulfilling it. You fear people. You fear tragedy or calamity or injury or sickness or death. Perhaps you fear loss. Perhaps you fear loneliness. The list goes on. But fear can produce a crippling effect in your life. Guys, I'm just gonna be very real and honest with you. There was a point in my life where I had to plan my day around my panic attacks. That's how bad it was for me. Now someone asked earlier about those physical manifestations, heart palpitations, the dizziness. For me it wasn't just heart palpitations. It was severe chest pains to where I thought I was having a heart attack. And it was dizziness and I remember one instance Jess and I, I think it was for one of our anniversaries. We decided to go out for breakfast and then a hike. We had this whole day planned and ended up spending it in an emergency room because I allowed myself to fall into an old pattern of a panic attack. I remember sitting at breakfast and looking back now I realized what had happened. I'll tell you what actually happened in a moment but I realized how panic just overtook me. So we're sitting there in this breakfast spot. Jess and I are enjoying a little bit of a long time there talking with one another, getting ready to go on a hike. And this is back when we lived in Long Beach, California. So there was lots of places to hike around there. And you know, I remember just feeling this numbness come over the left side of my body. Now if you struggle with anxiety then you know that when you begin to struggle with anxiety you start to diagnose yourself. Or you'll get one little symptom or one little headache or one little pain in the body. And you can just blow that way out of proportion. So here's what happened. I'm sitting there enjoying breakfast with my wife. And then suddenly I start to feel numbness come over the left side of my body. Freak me out. And then my heart started beating faster because I thought what is that numbness? When my heart started beating faster my chest began to hurt. When my chest began to hurt my body and muscles began to cramp because I was tensing up. So now I think I'm having a heart attack. I couldn't feel the left side of my face. Couldn't feel the my hand. My body was tingling. I was dizzy. My vision began to blur because I was hyperventilating. It was a very, very severe struggle. Of course we went to the ER. In the moment you're not thinking logically. I knew at the time I had panic attacks. I knew that it was repetitious for me. But in the moment all logic went out the window. So we go to the ER and I'm sitting there and I realize, oh my gosh, what am I doing here? I think I think it was like 20 minutes passed by. It subsided. I said, let's just go back. And by that time it was already kind of killed the mood so we just went home and hung out at the house. And so I remember that ruined the whole day but I remember this happened again and again and again and again. Now, looking back I realized what actually happened. What actually happened is we sat right under an air-conditioned event. And because we sat under an air-conditioned event the cold air was blowing on my left side so I lost some feeling in my face. And all from a cold air-conditioned event I had this whole panic attack and it ruined the whole day. That's the power of fear. Where fear will lead you to believe something. Watch this now, the stronghold. Fear leads you to believe something. Ah, there's the deception. And because I believed it, I'm having a heart attack, I'm dying, this is it for me. There was the deception. I believed it, then I began to feel it. And as I began to feel it, I began to behave as if. And because I was behaving as if, it destroyed the whole day. This is how some of us operate in our lives. We believe a lie, that lie produces a feeling. That feeling produces an action. That action produces a habit. That habit becomes your lifestyle and that lifestyle is either bondage or freedom. Remember I said, if you're living in bondage, you're not living the Christian life. That's not what God intended for you. It's not what God intended for me. And so this continues again and again. This is why on a side note that certain doctrines, especially in the area of spiritual warfare, can keep you stuck. Certain doctrines about spiritual warfare can keep you stuck. So if a Christian believes they can be demon possessed, what is that fear gonna do? They're gonna believe every stomach problem, every headache, every joint problem. Oh that's a demon. I was speaking with someone today who told me that's how they used to believe till they started receiving the teachings and now they're walking in this new level of freedom they never knew they could have. Where just a headache or a stomach ache or a problem in the joint, maybe you hit your elbow earlier, you forgot about it, now you feel it. Now that becomes a demon and guess what? That belief, oh there's a demon in my physical body, is gonna produce a feeling that there's a demon in your physical body and that's gonna cause you to behave as if and then live as if and then be in the bondage under because of that belief. That's how fear works. So if you fear the enemy in this way, you allow him that open door to deceive you into thinking that he owns you when he doesn't. And so this is why, and again, this is difficult to minister because in trying to help people to understand this sometimes it offends them. There's a saying and I hope I can get it right. That it's easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they've been fooled. It's easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they've been fooled. And again, this is why I have to come out this humbly and with love because it's a very delicate situation for some people. And these are beliefs that they receive like the belief that I'm gonna get sick and die or the belief that someone in my family is going to tragically be taken from this earth any minute and they hang on to these beliefs and they live as if that's true. I know people, I knew of people, myself included who couldn't drive on the freeway. Why? Because I was so certain I was gonna die in an auto accident that day. Now maybe one day that might, you may say, brother David, don't speak that into existence. I'm not speaking that, it's just the reality of life, guys. All of us are gonna die one day and just depends how. So maybe that is the way. But you know what, it doesn't matter because I've learned to just overcome the bondage of that fear. So here's how fear works, it's a cycle. The lie is you're unsafe. The feeling is stifled or paralyzed. The action is staying safe or stuck or sheltered. The result is no purpose, no risks, no acts of faith, you're stuck. This can be done with sickness. This can be done with ministry. This can be done with your spirituality. This can be done in all different areas of life. These cycles begin to repeat themselves and you become stuck in this bondage. Even the belief, here's another belief that can hold people back. Talking about these beliefs, guys. And I've seen the comments, the responses, some of you are really, if you can relate with this, let me know. Some of these beliefs, they get stuck in our heads and man, we're just stuck there. Some people believe that they'll never be free. Some people believe that they've actually tried this before. You ever hear that? Maybe you hear yourself saying that? When I talk about living according to the word, training your mind to think according to what you say. Already tried that. That in itself is a lie because to try it isn't to do it for a week or two or a day or two. To truly try to live according to the word of God becomes a lifestyle that progressively brings greater levels of freedom against the flesh as you begin to live and as you begin to walk that way. And so in this way, you stop yourself from making any progress at all because you say, well, I've already tried that and it didn't work for me and I'm just gonna keep going through the same cycles. And we go back to trying to get our quick fixes, right? We go back to trying to just, give me the one, two, three keys, come on and I wanna be done with it. Sometimes that is the case, but remember, it's self and Satan. So how do you deal with both? Well, on the Satanic realm, you've got to take authority over those demonic powers. You've got to rebuke the enemy. You've got to pray against his lies. You've got to use the word to fight him. You've got to say things like, I command you the name of Jesus to be silent. I rebuke those lies. That's the battle. But then once you've done the spiritual battle, how do you deal with self? I'm showing you how. See, let me just be real with you. It's much easier to defeat a demon than it is to defeat the flesh. That's a fact. Demonic powers, even in unbelievers, there was a gentleman here on one of our Thursday nights here in Austin. He came, he had a drug addiction. Even the way he came up was, I'll just tell the story. It was pretty cool. Even the way he got called up. Cause I didn't even intentionally call him up. There was a woman I was prophesying over and praying over. And as I'm praying over this woman, this heat just begins to, like waves of heat began to flow and in front of Reuben felt it. I started calling people up. I said, if you've never felt God's power physically manifested, get up here, come feel it. People were coming up and they could feel these waves of heat. This gentleman who was dealing with the drug addiction, we did not know he was dealing with the drug addiction, I said, I said, how many of you have never felt the power of God and you're skeptical of the power of God? His hand shot right up. So he comes up to the front. I said, okay, you're skeptical. He said, yeah, I said, never felt it for never. He says, I said, put your hand right here. And you should have seen his face. He said, I forgot the exact wording he used, but something to the effect of, don't quote me exactly, something to the effect of, wow, I can't believe this is real. Right? He said, this is just amazing. I can't believe what's happening. And then the power of God touches him. I said, what are you feeling? He says, I don't know, but I don't feel like I can stand up. And then he just hit the ground while he was talking. Remember that, Steve? Yeah. It was incredible. God set him free. He went to the bathroom and he said he threw up something black. He'd never thrown up anything like that. Something black came out of his body. Now, you don't need to throw up to be delivered. I've said that before. That's not the key to deliverance is stowing up. But sometimes people have a strong physical reaction to a spiritual reality. So he comes back and he looks like a totally different person delivered from that demonic power. And then I said, now that you got delivered, you need to get saved. So he got saved. So that's an example of an unbeliever getting delivered and then saved. And he got saved, gave his life to Christ. And then I began to minister to him. I said, my friend, now that you've been delivered, it's time to walk it out. Here's what the Holy Spirit led me to tell him. Your deliverance from demonic power was instant, but your deliverance from self will take a lifetime. And that's the way it works. Demonic powers aren't really, once you're walking with the Spirit, like if you're in the Word, you're in prayer, you're living in the presence of God as you should, what can they do to you? What authority do they have? So demonic powers, when you defeat them, it's an instant defeat. Now, the scripture teaches they do come back around, for the believer they don't come back around to possess, they come back around to deceive and establish a new stronghold. So that's the way they attack the believer. But that battle with demonic beings is pretty instantaneous. It's the battle with the flesh that gets drawn out. Now again, they come back, they attack, demons deceive the believer, and then the flesh responds to that deception. But that ownership, that grip of the demonic power, that's an instant deliverance. But oh boy, the flesh. So you wanna defeat anxiety. Okay, go on a fast, have someone lay hands on you, pray against that demonic strategy, not to be exercised, but to be set free from that deception. And then you move forward, and now it's time to start living and walking at the next level. Some people get stuck and they never mature in the faith and they get stuck just battling demons their whole lives rather than coming to the place where now they're taking care of the bigger problem, which is the flesh. And this is why they get stuck in cycles. Guys, I'm giving you keys to freedom here. I know this because again, this was something that the Lord did in my life. Of course it's in the word, that's the establishment of it, but this is something the Lord did in my life. I'm seeing right now, somebody said needed this message so much, wow, so good. Ever since I surrendered my life to Jesus, I never had to get on antidepressants again. That's another testimony. April says, training of the mind. Esther says, awesome message. Rebecca says, I want the power of God to overtake me. Yes, this is the truce of the word. So please, and I have to be clear about this because I've had people misunderstand me on this point many, many, many times before. So let me say it again, I'm gonna repeat this several times, okay? Because I'm not giving the enemy any room to misinterpret what I'm saying. Demons are real, demonic warfare is real, spiritual warfare is real. For the unbeliever, the problem is possession, oppression, curses, and demonization. For the believer, the problem is strongholds of the mind, mindsets, and sometimes addictions. Now, how we battle those two things is very important. Demonic beings can be defeated instantly, the flesh takes some time. Demonic beings can come back around to deceive but not to possess the believer. So that's a quick little breakdown of it. So you're not hearing what I'm not saying. So anxiety works in the same way. Now, remember I said that self and Satan are to blame. When it comes to mental illness, it's a very sensitive subject but I'm gonna be able to go there because the word of God gives us guidance. And remember, I'm not giving you anything just out of my own reasoning, it's the word. When it comes to mental illness, you gotta realize that even that terminology in the context of history, this study of mental illness is relatively new, relatively new compared to all of human history. We're looking at it differently now than we ever have. More of a sickness, some say, than a spirit. Now, demonic beings can be involved in mental illness. So is mental illness demonic or not? Let's break this down very simply by addressing it under two categories. First, let's address it under the category of the unbeliever. As it goes with the unbeliever, mental illness can come about as a result of demonic possession. That's a fact, we see it all the time. And it's described in scripture more importantly. But that doesn't mean that all mental illness caused in the unbeliever is a result of demonic possession. So demons can agitate a mental illness. They can work with a mental illness. They can even cause a mental illness. But not every case of mental illness is 100% demonic. There are some physical elements of it, so that person needs deliverance and healing. As it pertains to the believer, mental illness can be a natural occurring thing to trauma that you've experienced in life. I think it's so religious, my goodness. And I had to repent of this guys because forgive me, but I used to teach things like this. So I'm very adamant about correcting the record here. It's so religious to tell someone that they're not spiritual enough, they don't have enough faith because of some past trauma they went through. You guys, people who've experienced trauma, and I won't go into detail because I didn't tell you what topics we'd be going into. I don't wanna swipe your or surprise you with the topic you didn't think we're gonna be addressing. But I think you can fill in the blank. Some people have dealt with some very severe things that happened to them in very young ages. Some people have experienced abuse, all different kinds. Some people have witnessed abuse and witnessed even violence. Some people have had injuries and that trauma can produce patterns in the physical brain. This does not mean that there isn't a spiritual element to it. For example, I had a friend who Holy Ghost filled, spoke in tongues, all the fruit of the spirit, you name it, this person was a godly person. They still are. They got into an accident. I won't give the details to not give away who they are. They got into an accident and they suffered a severe brain injury. And as a result of that brain injury, they began to become tormented and very impatient and mean with people. Like they'd never been that way and suddenly it transformed because of the makeup of the brain, it transformed the way they behave. Now in that case, that person needed not deliverance from a demonic being but healing for their physical brain which they eventually received and they became more balanced as they used to be. God worked in them and it was a powerful testimony. But you see here, there is a difference between demonically influenced mental illness and naturally occurring mental illness. Think for example of depression. Let's take depression. If a parent loses a child and they fall into a short-term depression, I promise you that's not demonic. That's a natural response to a tragedy that occurred in their life. If someone loses a loved one and they fall into a depression, that's a natural response. Now, this is where it gets tricky. Demonic beings can then come in and begin to lie to that person, deceive that person, attack that person to where now that depression becomes prolonged and intensified. Demonic beings can use a situation to attack. So what is mental illness? Sometimes it's demonic, sometimes it's physical, sometimes it's naturally occurring and sometimes it's a combination of all three. And so in working with these different elements, you have to hit the anxiety and the depression at all the different points if you're gonna see victory because you may get delivered from some demonic harassment. Again, that's an attack that the enemy can use against the believer. That's not ownership, that's not possession, that's not demonization. That's them using deception to harass the mind. You can get delivered from that, but that's stronghold, that way of thinking, but then what? What happens if you still have a certain chemical makeup or a brain injury or something that caused it in the natural occurring world? Well, then you're gonna have to deal with those issues too. But how abusive it is to tell someone who's full of faith, who's gone through everything they need to go through, who's rebuked it and renounced and this and that to tell them, well, no, no, you still got a demon and then they're tormented constantly thinking, what am I doing wrong? And they get stuck there because they don't realize that, yes, you defeated the demon, but now it's time to defeat the flesh. So it's both self and Satan. And that is the battle. So you defeat the enemy through the truth of the word for the believer, spiritual warfare is simply the fight to believe God's truth over the enemy's lies, period. For the believer, we're not battling curses. We're not battling possession. They're not attaching themselves to us. Doesn't work that way. That's just not Bible. And it's also not something that I believe that's conducive to the fruits of the spirit and spiritual life. That's not what God intended for you. Are you battling demonic beings? Yes, but as a believer in a very different way, I'm battling them in the mind. I'm battling the deception they throw at me. Now that deception, again, can produce feelings that produce actions, that produce patterns, that produce what we would call a bondage, but it all comes back down to switching the mindset. Believers don't need to go through exorcisms. They need to receive prayer against harassment or against the lies of the enemy. Of course, deliverance in that sense from the stronghold. And then they need to retrain their thinking. So believers need deliverance from strongholds and strongholds are addressed through the reshaping of the patterns of the mind. But you wanna attack both. Okay. Now that we've addressed the cycle of anxiety, let's talk real briefly about depression. The same thing would apply to depression as does mental illness, as it does to mental illness. That idea that it can be both and or either or. It can be demonically influenced. It can be physical and it can be a combination of both. And as I said, you may have to rewatch this a few times. Just make sure you're not hearing what I'm, or you're not hearing what I'm not saying. That's very important. Hear what I'm actually saying. Mental illness versus demonic assault, we've covered that. Demons like to prolong and agitate certain battles that you'll have in the mind. Now Elijah the prophet experienced depression himself. He just finished calling down fire from heaven, proving that God was the one true God. Many people were turned from their wicked ways, proved God's way, had this great spiritual victory. Think about that. You call down fire from heaven. Whoa, what a wonderful thing. And then he goes into a depression. Watch this. First Kings chapter 19, verses three through nine. Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. There he is, he's alone, isolation. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. I have had enough, Lord, he said. Take my life for I'm no better than my ancestors who have already died. Then he laid down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, get up and eat. He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones. That sounds good right now. And a jar of hot water. So he ate and drank and laid down again. Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, get up and eat some more and the journey ahead will be too much for you. So he got up and ate and drank. The food he gave him was strength to travel for 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God. There he came to a cave where he spent the night. Here we see Elijah, the prophet begging to be killed. He was depressed. Lord, take my life. Now, what do we see here? Do we see Elijah? God's saying, Elijah, there's demons in you. I have to call them out. Elijah, you gotta start, let's go through a list of some things like, guys, that's religion. Religion that thinks that there's a man-made technique that you can apply to liberate people. People aren't liberated by technique or knowing the right prayers and knowing how to deal with certain specific demons and certain scenarios. Demons respond to spiritual authority periods. Either you have that authority, you're walking in that authority, or you are not. But religious approach produces only more religion and there's no power in that. There's no true power in that. So Elijah was just given rest and food. That was God's response to Elijah wanting to die. God's response to Elijah wanting to die was food and rest. What a revelation that is. The prophet was depressed. Did he go through a deliverance session? No. Did he have a demon cast out of him? No. Why? Because it was simply a mindset that needed to be transformed in a shift in his thinking. This is why sometimes when people lack sleep, and again, like I told you, it's a combination of things. The mind, the body, spiritual attack. It can be all of these things. This is why sometimes people create cycles of depression for themselves without realizing it. And they don't realize all they need is maybe just some rest. This is why people, as I was saying, will go from day to day, not sleep, night after night, because they're obsessing about the bondage itself. An obsession about the bondage keeps them awake. They lose more sleep and that just produces the psychomor. You would be amazed at how much peace you would have, how much more peace you would have if you simply obeyed the biblical principles of rest. Now I get good rest. I know you can't tell sometimes people say, Brother David, you look so tired, your eyes. Well, a couple of things. A, it's because my skin is really, we'll call it bright skin, it's really white skin. And B, it's genetic. It's dark circles under my eyes. I get plenty of rest. Like that's one of the things I've learned is I have to get my full rest. And I do almost every single night I rest. Why? Because I understand that if I'm tired, I'm vulnerable to deception. Because when the body's tired, the mind is tired. And when the mind is tired, it's not ready to fight back and the enemy could insert a lie there, I believe it. And then there it goes. Now I'm in this bondage. And this is why some people think, by the way, they're under witchcraft. Oh, I'm gonna expose the enemy right now. Oh, this is gonna be good. Thank you, Lord. And I say it's gonna be good not because it's my revelation, it's the Lord's. This is why some of you feel like you're under witchcraft. And this is why some people think their witchcraft works. Because watch this. Someone who is trying to put witchcraft on you is manipulative. And when they speak against you, for example, one of the forms of witchcraft is slander. This is gonna help some of you pastors right now. Some of you pastors and ministers. There's two types of attacks against a man of God or a woman of God. There's criticism and there's slander. Criticism is like, oh, I don't agree with your doctrine or I don't like the way you pray or I don't like your method of ministry. Okay, that's criticism that can be debated and worked but slander is a deceptive lie told against you. An attack against your character to make you look bad. That's a form of witchcraft where they have to make something up to attack you to try to frame or take a situation and try to frame it in a way that paints you in a bad light, that's witchcraft. And so people sometimes imagine that their witchcraft works because they see the heaviness on the person that's the victim of the slander. This is gonna expose the enemy right now I'm telling you. So someone speaks against you pastor, woman of God, man of God, evangelist, apostle, prophet, teacher, whoever you may be. Someone speaks against you, they slander you and now you're emotionally reacting to the slander that the person is putting out against you which produces heaviness and now they say, aha I got them under my witchcraft and you may feel man people are coming against me and I'm under witchcraft. No, you're allowing yourself to emotionally respond to the slander and thus the heaviness is being produced on you because you're actually believing that it's gonna affect your ministry. The Bible says no weapon formed against you shall prosper but it doesn't say that weapons won't be formed. The enemy will attack you and yes, your ship may take on some damage. People may believe the lies about you that may happen but though your ship may take on damage it will not sink and knowing that certainty actually brings liberty. So as a man or woman of God you don't even have to be a minister maybe someone's just slandering you in your everyday life and now that slander is coming against you and you're going man I'm under slander and witchcraft. Yes, but witchcraft against the believer is quite simply deception. So now you're going oh my goodness there's this heaviness on me there's this depression on me because I'm under slander and witchcraft but slander is the witchcraft and because they're slandering you it's producing this effect where people are coming against you that's bringing on this heaviness. You think you're going under you think you're gonna lose your ministry you think you're gonna lose your mind you think you're gonna lose everything you worked for why all because some person's slandering when you come to the realization that they're not fighting against you they're fighting against God when you come to the realization that yeah there may be some who turn against me but God is forming when you come to the realization that the attack isn't gonna work there's liberty and that burden is instantly lifted but some pastors and leaders go into a depression when they're under slander because they believe that the attacks are working that is the lie that produces the manipulation that is witchcraft. So you don't have to go say some hocus pocus prayer to break the hex just stop believing the lie just stop believing that it's gonna actually accomplish something just stop believing that they're actually gonna be able to take you down stop believing that and their power is completely broken. I know this because years ago that I mean even well even I can probably there's probably a new video about me every week or month but years ago I think this was back in oh my goodness I wanna say almost 12 years ago there was a woman who got online she started speaking against our ministry and she was from our same church group and man I just took it to my heart and I remember feeling such heaviness like a depression come on me cause I was like oh my goodness this is it everything I worked for is done now they attack me come to find out the only effect it really did have on me was my emotions that is witchcraft. So in that sense yeah they can use witchcraft or they can't put a curse or a hex or attach a demon on you some of you are just under the belief in their power and that belief in their power is itself what's putting you in that bondage this is how deceptive the enemy is so that depression may be caused by someone coming against you that depression may be caused by hopelessness for the future that depression may be caused by a lack of finance but really think about this because at its root it's a lie that's causing that depression so even if watch this now even if and I want to stop and read this comment here someone says my heart feels uneasy when I feel like somebody hates me see perfect example I love that the Lord's revealing see someone comes against you and it's the way you receive that that produces the sorrow in you and then you say oh my goodness I'm under witchcraft this person's coming against me that's the deception and that's what's so terrifying about it is that people don't know their deceit so anyway talking about depression now and how some people come under this heaviness they actually believe a lie even though there's something in their life that's rooted against it so I was talking about finance for example, for example let's say you're struggling in your finances and because of your financial struggle you have heaviness come on you you feel this darkness come over you oh man I'm under spiritual attack yes in a way you are but is that heaviness on you because of a demon that's attached itself to your shoulder or on your arm or wherever else people say demons attach themselves to you or is that heaviness coming on you because you're believing a lie that's producing a feeling that's producing actions that's producing a habit that's producing a lifestyle of heaviness now you may be struggling financially but that's not why you're depressed you're depressed because you're believing the lie that says you're never gonna come out of this you're depressed because you're believing the lie that says my family's going to starve you're depressed because you're believing the lie that says that you're stuck for good or that there's nothing you can do or that you're gonna lose the house or that you're gonna lose the job or that your kids aren't gonna have a bright future because you were struggling financially so yeah there may be a real struggle there yeah you may have a financial struggle but the financial struggle itself is not what's producing the depression it's the lies that you believe about the struggle that produce the depression namely as I just listed you believe all it's never gonna get better all my kids aren't gonna have a bright future all we're gonna starve those are the lies you believe and you obsess on those thoughts but what were to happen if you instead believe the truth yeah we're struggling but God's gonna provide yeah we're struggling but I have a hope in a future yeah we're struggling but I'm gonna set the future up for my kids yeah we're struggling but we're gonna God's gonna provide a meal this week what if instead you switch from believing the lies of the enemy to believing the truth then that depression is broken now again sometimes there are chemical things involved and sometimes there are brain injuries sometimes there are things that happen to you that were traumatic that cause it but the solution is always going to be how you train your mind to deal with it yes you're gonna have depressive thoughts yes you're gonna have anxious thoughts yes you're gonna have tragedy yes you're gonna have things that are scary you may get in a car accident not speaking that overuse and nobody claimed that I am but that happens that I know believers who've been in a okay well let's break it down even if the worst should happen to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord so really what is anxiety it's the fear of death why should I fear death well you only fear death if you don't believe the truth about death and the truth about death is when I die I live again and that is where the real breakthrough is not necessarily always in the change in circumstance but in change in mind so Psalm 42 11 says why am I discouraged why is my heart so sad I will put my hope in God I will praise him again my savior and my God what a wonderful truth this is he's talking to himself read that again look at this he says why am I discouraged why is my heart so sad I will put my hope in God I will praise him again my savior and my God some of us just have to get to this place and I'm gonna teach you some techniques right now on how to walk in this freedom but I believe this is for for someone who's gonna be completely set free if you're experiencing freedom right now and you're saying oh my goodness this is breaking some mindsets and I want you to let me know right now live or on replay let me know now there is demonic elements to this or there are demonic elements to this war but you have to know how demons can affect you and how the flesh affects you otherwise it's like if you have a broken arm you're not gonna ask for asthma medication if you have asthma you're not gonna ask for a cast for your arm you've gotta know how to apply the word to your life now I'm gonna break something down for you here this is a truth that I believe will begin to set you free we talked about the battle being in the mind but I wanna show you how to be free now I'm gonna give you the keys from the scripture but before I show you how to be free if you are new to the channel and you haven't subscribed yet I wanna encourage you to subscribe we do sermons and teachings on the holy spirit, prayer spiritual warfare, evangelism, supernatural topics and topics like the ones that I just mentioned and we do it in a way that's both spirit filled and biblically balanced that's what makes this ministry unique it has a biblical balance and it's spirit filled now I'm not saying no other ministry does that but that's one of the places we really emphasize we want to be spirit filled and biblically balanced we also show live streams of our events that we do around the world where you'll see the power of the holy ghost in action you'll see people healed, delivered, filled with the holy spirit with gifts imparted unto them and empowered so if you want the word and the spirit you want revelation and demonstration then subscribe to EncounterTV right now and make sure you click that notification bell so that you can receive alerts when we put out new content do that now whether you're watching live or on replay also don't forget to leave a like and a comment I'm gonna show you now how to walk in freedom now this works this works I'm gonna tie together all the threads I gave you lots of scriptures and again you can review this message and go through and take the different truths and maybe replay some things that maybe you were unsure of or didn't understand something and we'll get to a Q and A in a little bit but these truths work and we're gonna tie together all the threads of this message now these steps are very basic and you may say I've already tried that but to truly try this isn't to try it for a day or a week or a couple months to truly try this is to embrace this as a lifestyle indefinitely because if you do that you will see freedom from bondage you will see the freedom of the holy spirit begin to touch every aspect of your life you don't have to walk around with heaviness and fear you don't have to walk around with anxiety and depression you can be completely free now I'm gonna give you this basic tip and then I'll give you the biblical keys but this is something you're gonna apply to anxiety one of the things that helped me with my panic attacks I don't have them anymore thank God he set me free God delivered me from that stronghold one of the things that needs to be broken is this shrinking back in fear what I do now is I teach people this technique to overcome that sense of helplessness maybe that's something you feel you feel trapped when you're having a panic attack you feel trapped in your own body you feel like you need somewhere to escape like you want to jump out of your skin but you can't there's nowhere to escape when the struggle and the trouble is inward that's what's so frightening about a panic attack but one of the things I do is I teach people to scream at the storm or speak to the storm I visualize someone like in a boat the waves are rocking the boat the storm is raging the lightning is flashing the rain is pouring down and what some people do is they put the coat over their head and they hide and they say oh my goodness this is too scary for me what you have to learn to do is when you feel those symptoms begin to come on you I'm gonna give you a tip a very practical tip and then I'm gonna show you some biblical tips it's a practical tip when you feel that panic beginning to set in what you need to do is instead of trying to run from those sensations and feelings instead of trying to run from the symptoms of the attack I want you to take a deep breath relax your body don't tense up, don't start looking around don't allow your mind to freak out just relax, physically relax breathe and tell the enemy is this all you got? I feel my heart beating I feel some pain I feel a little dizzy I feel a little off I feel very squirmy is that all you have? is that really all you got? and you need to allow the boldness of the Holy Ghost to allow you to scream at that storm I rebuke you in the name of Jesus start worshiping start worshiping the Lord in the middle start thanking you God that you are victorious thank you God that I am free and just start to pray and speak in tongues and worship against the storm scream at the storm and in that moment don't try to run from it feel them and then ask yourself is this it? is this what I'm afraid of? is this all you got devil? and you'll see that over time that panic begins to lose its hold on you that panic begins to lose its effectiveness you're no longer afraid oh my goodness what if I have a panic attack in front of this person or that person what if I have a panic attack while I'm driving that's no longer an issue because you know what it is and it's not gonna take you out and this is the real power is coming down to the place where even if the enemy could kill me to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord that is true liberty now number one you have to receive the word this is so key because you cannot know how to defeat a lie until you know the truth now don't try to force your beliefs onto the scripture that leads to more bondage instead allow the scripture to form your beliefs allow the scripture to inform how you think if you are not taking in the word you're not going to experience true liberty and freedom if you're not taking in the word you're not going to experience the fullness of the Christian life you have to be taking in the word to such a degree that it becomes a party number one receive the word number two meditate on the word once a stronghold is exposed it's easier to monitor the thoughts on meditation I would say use what I call the Philippians filter Philippians four eight through nine says this and now your brothers and sisters one final thing fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me everything you heard from me and saw me doing then the God of peace will be with you then the God of peace will be with you when when I put into practice the word of God only when I put in the practice then I can have the peace only when I practice then can I have the peace so if a thought comes to your mind you can't control what thoughts come to your mind but you can control what thoughts stay in your mind so whether this is chemical whether this is mental whether this is emotional whether this is spiritual no matter the root of the issue the solution for the issue is the word now when I receive the word I must meditate on it meditate has become an ugly word unfortunately the world has taken it and if they tell you meditate people go don't meditate well the Bible tells you to meditate read Psalm one just as one example meditation is a part of the Christian life but meditation is about thinking about the word meditation is simply repetition in thought when I meditate on the word I repeat it if reading the word is eating the word then meditation is digestion it's when I allow all the nutrients to begin to feel my body it's when I allow all the various truths that I've learned in the word to permeate my being and become a part of who I am that's what meditation does so number one, receive the word number two, meditate on the word now that you understand how these things work you understand why this works because if you didn't understand how these bondages of depression and anxiety worked then you would be dismissive and say well I already tried positive thinking it's not positive thinking it's thinking according to the truth not just positive thinking, truthful thinking that will keep them in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on lead that's a promise from the word when you have your mind fixed on the Lord there's perfect peace so number one, receive the word number two, meditate on the word put it into action number three, obey the word do what it says the Bible says fear not choose to say you know what I'm gonna overcome this fear now I know what this is like because I used to get frustrated when people told me you just have to change your thought pattern I thought no there's gotta be another way there's gotta be some secret prayer I'm not praying there's gotta be some spiritual rope tied to my waist from generations ago to when I was six and seven and eight nine years old and I need to break and renounce there's gotta be some special breaker prayer to specifically address the specific demon that's been specifically assigned for me for the specific season of my life and cause this specific problem that's religion but no it's the word it's the word, it's the word, it's the word that's what breaks the power of deception and once the deception is broken your feelings will follow once the feelings follow your actions follow your habits change and your life is transformed and you're walking in victory now sometimes we do have trouble obeying the word because we don't know it why don't we know it because we don't read it read it, meditate on it then obey it do what it says obey it even when it costs you something and then you begin to see God bring victory number four is prayer when you pray you can rebuke demonic powers you can break the power of deception you can expose them you can break those bondages those strongholds pray for freedom and liberty and strength and prayer will strengthen you in those battles number five and this is the key faithfulness faithfulness is the key so not just receiving the word maybe you've done that not just obeying the word maybe you've done that not just meditating maybe you've done that not just prayer maybe you've done that but it's doing all of these things together consistently and then finally it's monitor your thoughts so the bible talks about pulling down strongholds the truth the truth pulls down the strongholds you've got to watch your thoughts see this is how tricky the enemy is even as I'm talking some of you are saying well I already tried that that's a lie that's a lie I know this because I told myself the same thing after you've rebuked the devil after you've been set free from demonic bondage then you have to deal with the problem of self and as you deal with the problem of self you have to attack that with the word and you have to choose choose your thoughts and sometimes thoughts come so quickly so violently that it seems like that's impossible but if the bible tells you to control your thoughts then it's possible to control your thoughts now maybe hard for you at first this may be difficult because you've developed this pattern over several years but it's time now to mature in the faith it's time now to grow spiritually stop chasing a feeling stop chasing an experience and start chasing after God and what his word says and the true the true the true the true power of the holy ghost he will set you free where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty so allow the spirit to reign in your thoughts and when he rules and reigns in your thoughts there's liberty in your thoughts I wanna pray for you now I'm gonna pray for the enemy one to be silenced he's gonna be silenced right now in the name of Jesus and I'm seeing many of you online with us God bless you joining us from all around the world I'm gonna pray that the enemy would silence be silenced that's something we have to come against that the demonic assaults the attack because demons do attack remember they do attack but they cannot own demons attack but they cannot own demons attack but they cannot own but they're still speaking we need to pray against that demonic attack and then we need to pray for the Lord to strengthen and establish you in the truth so Father in the name of Jesus I speak to every demonic power by authority of the holy spirit I speak to it now and I command it now be silent be silent in the name of Jesus now see what's happening here in some of you is that demon has been silenced but there's a leftover lie that now you're choosing to latch onto is oh well I still feel it or oh he's still there or no the holy spirit has absolute authority that demonic power has been taken care of it's done it's done it's done and the sooner you realize that the sooner you can start walking in that freedom now I pray Lord give them strength to walk according to your word to think according to your word that they might feel and live according to your word I thank you Father that you're lifting and breaking strongholds of anxiety and depression and I can sense the anointing real strong wow wow wow I can sense the anointing real strong right now there is power flowing here guys power is flowing I thank you Jesus thank you Jesus honor and I bless you Lord I honor and I bless your name I bless your name I bless your name that's the presence of the Lord see that peace you're feeling that's the presence of the Lord you don't need to beg you don't need to plead he's fighting for you there's no scripted prayer to pray there's no ritual to perform it's just the presence of the Holy Ghost he's touching you now he's liberating you now I thank you Lord for the anointing thank you Jesus touch them I pray by your Holy Spirit some of you are sensing peace some of you are sensing power some of you are sensing both this is the presence of the Holy Spirit I don't want to rush what's happening here that anointing is flowing breaking bondages right now I thank you Jesus thank you Lord I want you to begin pray out loud in your heaven language heavenly languages now we honor you Jesus we give you the glory wow I want you to say it because you believe it say amen I want to show you something else in scripture here it's found in Luke chapter 5 if you sense the Lord doing something in you just let me know right now this is a real strong anointing it's the Holy Spirit's anointing guys it's not mine it's his anointing and he's doing it he's doing it that some of you sense like burdens lifted off of you wow I'm seeing it now just the comments coming in people being touched by God's power what an amazing amazing night I'm telling you Luke chapter 5 don't turn the video off I want to show you something Luke chapter 5 it's a very famous story and this is what happened one day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God he noticed two empty boats at the water's edge for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets stepping into one of the boats Jesus asked Simon its owner to push it out into the water so he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there when he had finished speaking he said to Simon now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets to catch some fish master Simon replied we worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing but if you say so I'll let the nets down again and this time their nets were so full of fish that they began to tear a shout for help to their partners in the other boat and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking so here we see a story of the disciples out they had been fishing the night before they tried in their own strength to make a catch they tried in their own strength to provide for themselves and all night they exerted effort all night they applied their skill all night they struggled but they could not make a catch perhaps that's how you feel sometimes you're trying to get ahead in life you're trying to make things happen but it feels like you're doing everything you can but nothing is budging perhaps frustration comes about as a result of that well here's what the disciples were they needed that catch they were trying to catch it it was their livelihood, their business nothing happened until they allowed Jesus into their boat and Jesus began to teach from their boat here we see a picture of the disciples letting Jesus use their livelihood for his purpose in other words they used their business and said Lord we're going to give it to you to do what you need to do and because the disciples let Jesus into their boat their boat was blessed how do they let Jesus into their boat what did they do to receive that blessing they let Jesus teach from that boat what is the takeaway here the takeaway is simple when you use your livelihood when you use your resources when you use your finances to platform the message that Christ is declaring there's blessings on your boat I want you to say that in the comment section right now write those simple words blessings on my boat blessings on my boat maybe you're struggling maybe you're not maybe you're trying everything in your power to make something happen maybe your vision is way up here but the provision seems to be way down here bring blessings on your boat by allowing the Lord to use your resources give him access to what he is what he's given you give him access to your livelihood give him access to your finances some people they're broke and they're going to stay broke they're struggling and they're going to stay struggling because they haven't overcome the flesh and they haven't come to this place of generosity where the favor of God can flow through them this is something that's in the word this is something that I've learned and this is something that I've experienced this has been the experience in my life that when I become generous it opens the flow of God's favor if you want the flow of God's favor you need to be a generous giver there's a link there now you can't buy a miracle you can't buy a healing you can't buy deliverance and everybody ever tells you that run rather what you're doing is you're participating in a kingdom principle finances work for financial blessing but you cannot pay for a healing or pay for deliverance when you give you're showing the Lord Lord look at what I'm doing with the resources that you gave me somebody need to pray that prayer as you give right now you need to say Lord look at the look at what I'm doing with the resources you gave me you can trust me with your resources bring blessings on my boat let Jesus use your boat let them step on to that platform let them step on to your resources and when you do there'll be blessings on your boat so much so as we see with the disciples that they couldn't even contain it they had so much they couldn't contain it and they had to call others over to receive some of the catch so God can use you not just to be blessed but to be a blessing to others how would you like that that God blesses you so much financially there's this overflow in your life that you can start being a blessing to others I want to challenge you now whether you're watching live or on the replay I know sometimes because we're watching things online there's that disconnect we feel like just observers like we're not really a part of it but you are a part of this if you're watching what I'm saying right now you're a part of this God brought you here so I want to challenge you this is not a special amount these aren't special magic numbers they're not going to produce special effects I'm just going to challenge you with some numbers and see if the Holy Spirit leads you I'm challenging you now give a gift of twenty five dollars fifty dollars or a hundred dollars if everybody watching does one of those three maybe you can't do as much as twenty five maybe you can do more than a hundred the giving will range all over the place okay some people can give way more some people they're stuck financially right now they really don't have it don't feel guilty don't feel pressure this is just a challenge I'm throwing out okay help spur on generosity twenty five fifty or a hundred if everyone watching does that right now if everyone watching does one of those amounts I know that God will bring great resources to this ministry and it will help us to continue to go and grow strong so go right now to David Hernandez ministries.com slash expand here's where you're going to give slash expand you're going to give toward our building project you can give that slash donate if you want and if you're watching this years from now and our building project is done go to davidhernandezministries.com slash donate but for now in twenty what are we twenty twenty two in the year twenty twenty two you're watching this and if the building project is still happening then slash expand is the way to give but give to the work of God give to the ministry because God wants to use your resources resources to to win more souls this is God's project that's why there's favor on it look guys I'm going to go give you an update right now let me look on the the website I'm going to davidhernandezministries.com I'm going to look at the progress guys we are at one million nine hundred and fifteen thousand four hundred and forty four we are seventy percent of the way there this is going to happen and I believe favor is going to flow in all directions to this ministry through you to you and as you give is actually kind of cool when you give you can actually see when you refresh your screen you can see it update but whether you're watching on Facebook or whether you're watching on YouTube or whether you're watching through some other stream that we have going or an app or something make sure that your giving is led by the spirit these are just challenges I'm throwing out help maybe get you thinking in the right direction but do as you're led by the spirit and if you have nothing to give don't feel pressure or guilt just pray for the ministry and God will bless you this is the joy of giving not the reluctance or pressure or manipulation just hey I want to help the ministry and I want to be a blessing to others so as you give I pray God bring blessings on your boat I pray God bring blessings on your business I pray God expand you I pray this be a year of abundance God is a God of abundance and I believe that God is going to give you the resources you need to fulfill your vision God is going to give you the resources you need to live and an overflow of resources not so that you can consume it but so that you can be a blessing to others so participate in this biblical act of giving toward the work of God and now we're going to take some questions let's try to keep it geared toward the topic today we want to take questions but keep it geared toward the topic and Steve get on prep for the questions you got it and well what an amazing message throughout the stream you guys were commenting and you guys were talking about it so thank you so much for doing that this is a powerful message or was a powerful message I have a lot of questions already throughout the stream so don't worry guys and girls that have asked the questions before I have more written down but right now all you got to do is go ahead and leave a question in the comment section here on YouTube and I will try to get to as many as I possibly can today and like Diga said let's try to stay on topic today this was a big one this was a big message like I was reading earlier all of you really received from this message so we're going to go ahead and take a look here and we're going to kick things off with our friend here Darlene and Darlene asked this question earlier in the broadcast and this was the question here my flesh always gets in my way when I pray is there a reason I feel the flesh so hard when I seek the Lord out loud absolutely because the flesh can sing a worship song the flesh can dance during a worship service the flesh can even memorize scripture and perform charity work through ministry but the moment you begin to pray the flesh begins to squirm and the flesh begins to squirm when you pray because prayer is the death of the flesh you kill demonic power through the declaration of the truth of God's word and by the authority of the Holy Spirit but you destroy the flesh through the practice and the discipline of prayer prayer subjects the flesh prayer weakens the flesh for me I was antsy and agitated and distracted for four hours before I finally broke through now maybe you're not as in the flesh as I was so it might not take you that long but when you go to pray you'll notice that there's this certain period of time before you find that flow what I mean by that is let's say you go to pray for an hour and the first 20 minutes you're just kind of struggling distracted, tired, maybe antsy you're squirming because the flesh doesn't want to pray but then after the first 20 minutes you're in and then that last 40 minutes is like this flow in the spirit so the hour of prayer was 20 minutes of struggle 40 minutes of actual prayer so the stronger your flesh is the longer this period of time will be at the beginning of prayer before you find that flow so I was really really in the flesh because I had religious mindsets they were so dug deep in me that I needed a lot of work by the help of the Holy Spirit so it took me four hours but I remember in many of you know the story I prayed for four hours and then there was breakthrough in prayer and then there was a flow now the next time I went to go pray it wasn't four hours it was about an hour and a half of this struggle and then after several weeks that hour and a half reduced to about 40 minutes and then that 40 minutes reduced to about 20 now when I pray it's instant there's no transition there's no fighting period because I've learned how to identify what the flesh is doing and how to get past what the flesh is doing to find the surrender to the Holy Spirit and then he just takes me in kind of like an eagle the reason an eagle soars so powerfully is because it will flap its wings it will exert its energy all the way to a certain height and then it will just expand its wings and surrender to the wind and then the wind does the work that's what prayer is like there's this introduction period where you're flapping your wings so to speak you're fighting the flesh you're working through it and then there comes that breaking point almost like a dam that breaks and then the water comes through I like to refer to the flesh as a dam and sometimes because of our lack of prayer or lack of devotion to the Word or the way we've been living sometimes that dam is really strong and so it takes a while for the water to break through and other times you've been walking in the Spirit you've been doing as you should you've been devoted to the Word you've been praying you've been worshipping you've been nice to your spouse and to your kids and then that that wall is very thin so when you go to pray it's just boom this instant flow that comes on your life that's why your flesh fights but the way you overcome it is by capturing those thoughts and instead of believing the lie switching to the truth so approaching God from the place of confidence not begging to be heard by God but starting from the place of confidence and knowing that He already hears you not praying to connect with God but praying from connection with God not trying to get God to hear you but knowing that He already does that confidence, that faith, that boldness that's how you begin to pray Jesus said when you pray say our Father who art in heaven not God please hear me do you see me I'm begging you where's your presence and we're so obsessed with while am I feeling something and is God hearing me and God feels so distant and I didn't feel His presence forget all of that and just start from the place of faith confidence, knowing He's with me He loves me He hears me He favors me He adores me and so you start there you ignore the lies of the enemy by bringing forth the Word to silence those lies and then you discipline your mind to not be so distracted by the lies and the emotions and the responsibilities and all the things that come to your mind that I call inner chaos and you learn instead to focus on what the Word says and to worship place your eyes on Him everything fades into the background and as you do this you'll find that the flesh gets weaker and weaker and weaker over time and before you know it you'll be able to go in and out of intentional prayer without any distractions and you'll have a flow to your prayer life come on what a great answer and thank you again for that question this next question is coming from our friend Terry Terry wanted to know can your children and family be a type of stronghold? I've put them before the Lord in some ways like missing church for sports and vacations on church days and I felt guilty before is this something I should worry about? I wouldn't say it's something that you should worry about but it's something that's a reality it should be a point of intentionality on your part so it's one thing to be worried it's another thing to be intentional don't be worried but do be intentional because yes strongholds, mindset, thought patterns can affect people in your household and this is developed by things that you say so think about this in a way strongholds are contagious think about this if the enemy lies to me because remember that's how demons attack believers through deception primarily the enemy lies to me I hear that lie I believe that lie I start to feel according to that lie and then I start speaking and acting according to that lie now if I'm acting according to that lie and speaking according to that lie those around me will hear the lie as well and if they're not careful they begin to repeat the lies that you yourself are saying and not only do they repeat it but they start to believe it and therefore that stronghold that thought pattern becomes contagious so be intentional I would even go so far as saying maybe you should sit them down and say guys I need to apologize to you because I said an example that implied that church wasn't that important and I believe that that was wrong and I want to apologize and repent before you and parents should not be afraid to apologize to their children this is something that I know my parents did for me and I certainly will do for my daughter as she gets old enough to understand what an apology is but we have to be willing to own the mistake sit them down talk to them say listen I made a mistake this is how we live but that's not how we should have been this is how we prioritize but that's not how we should have prioritized and then reestablish the word and then begin to live it and then begin to speak it in your household now if they're not adults and they're living under your support and your supply they have to go to church that's the rule if they're living under your supply and your support under your house your house your rules you need to get those kids in church tell them if you're going to live in this house you're going to eat my food you're going to be supported by me you need to go to church now you can't force them to have a relationship with God but you can as a parent instill that discipline of church attendance so that's how I would address it don't be worried but do be intentional and then trust God to do the rest with the situation I want to give a quick shout out to everybody over on YouTube Super Chat thank you so much for your giving and your support okay this next question is going to come from our friend Jacob Jacob wants to know can unbelievers deal with spiritual strongholds even if they aren't saved? yes unbelievers can deal with it all it's kind of like this it's like there's a list of things that demonic beings can do to human beings demons can physically attack human beings demons can curse human beings demons can possess human beings demons can oppress and demonize demons can what was that one you just mentioned demons can deceive and cause strongholds right demons can cause addictions and sickness those are attacks and assaults and tools in their belt that they can use against human beings now once you get saved they can still attack you but their attacks become more limited and again this is where many people have misunderstood me because when I say Christians can't be demon possessed Christians sometimes hear Christians can't be attacked but that's not what I'm saying they can be attacked if I say Christians don't need exorcism some believers think I'm saying Christians don't need deliverance but no it's a subtle difference there so there is a list of things that they can do anything that a demon can do to a believer a demon can also do to an unbeliever but not everything that a demon can do to an unbeliever can it also do to a believer so there's a long list of demonic attacks that demons can use against human beings in general but the moment you get saved and filled with the Holy Spirit that list of attacks becomes very limited and so their options become fewer and fewer they can still attack you but they have fewer tools to use against the believer because you're no longer under their authority or ownership or power you're under the protection of the Holy Spirit come on this next question comes from our friend Heather W Heather wanted to know was the Prince of Persia a stronghold or more on the lines of an actual demon the Prince of Persia was a demon he was a Prince demon a stronghold is in what you're describing there so you there's a stronghold that is the thought and then there's the principality so you mentioned the Prince of Persia that's the book of Daniel it's important to recognize that terminology is key when I say stronghold I'm describing something that the Bible describes as a mindset so strongholds biblically speaking aren't regions strongholds aren't demons strongholds aren't strong demons strongholds are thought patterns mindsets that need to be torn down now a principality like we see in the book of Daniel or in Ephesians chapter 6 a principality is a region it's not a demonic being in fact a prince is the name of the demonic being that rules over the principality so what some believers call a principality is actually a prince so you'll notice that the demonic strategy for regions correlates with actual regions in the earth we know that because the Prince of Persia prevented the prayers of Daniel over that region now think about this that demonic being which was called that Prince of Persia was a power that correlated to the actual Prince of Persia so there was this correlation between the natural and the supernatural realm so then that region is known as the principality so we have to be rid of the terminology that can cause confusion a principality is not a strong demon a principality is a region and that region is ruled by a prince demon here's how it might work demons gain influence in the earth through human beings if a demon can get a human convince them to disobey God then through the disobedience of that human being the kingdom of darkness is established now demonic powers don't necessarily possess soil and trees though there have been instances reported where this is the case that can happen but that's not their priority their priority is to influence the people now if demonic beings gain enough influence in enough people in that region that region becomes a principality and established over those demonic beings that operate within that principality is a prince demon who is the powerful demon so let's recap on the terminology a stronghold is a mindset you see that in the scripture that I gave you in Corinthians and then a principality as described in Ephesians 6 is talking about a region we see in the book of Daniel that there was a prince over the region so the prince demon rules over the principality which is a region controlled by demonic power hey thank you for that question there this next question is going to come from our friend Rosie Rosie wanted to know can a demon take form of ghosts or ghosts entirely separate entities? I believe that ghosts are demonic beings and I believe that demonic beings can take on various different forms they're shifting shadows they're deceptive why wouldn't they be able to change their form? I believe this is true also of people who had encounter with alien beings and it's all deception guys it's all deception really like the alien belief system is just another false religion really what it is and these false religions are empowered by and held up by and endorsed by demonic beings so yes demonic beings can take on the form of ghosts and even alien beings and anything that really takes on form that's of the power of darkness is demonic in nature thank you again for that question this one comes from our friend Marcus Marcus wanted to know if possible can you touch more on generational curses I've always wondered if I have something like that in my life okay let's first identify and define what a curse is a curse is like a hex or an actual force or influence that comes over the believer so or that some believe come over the believer I'm gonna clarify that in a moment to be clear I do not believe that Christians can be cursed you cannot curse what God has blessed if God calls you blessed and someone else calls you cursed whose words do you think will win? so when it comes to these generational struggles which are real I don't identify these or I don't term these as curses because that's not in the scripture you might be referring to a curse that was mentioned in the Old Testament this we see for example occurring with the children of Israel where God would curse them or bless them based upon how they obeyed his word a couple of things to note first of all this is not a New Testament application to the life of the believer who is filled with the Holy Spirit this is in reference to God dealing with the nation and the establishment of that nation namely that if they obey his word he expands their territory allows them to keep their culture and their riches but if they disobey his word and they fall back into idolatry he curses them in that he removes them from their land strips them of their wealth strips them of their freedoms and places them under the bondage of another nation that curse was very specific in the Old Testament it wasn't some vague thing some weird unidentified force that was hovering over them it was an actual specific assigned punishment to them based upon how they disobeyed him so if you're going to use the Old Testament to bring forth this belief system in curses it just fails because the Old Testament is not talking about the curse in the sense of a hex on an individual it's talking about a nation so God would curse that nation in that he would pull them from their land strip them of their freedoms and their wealth and so forth and he would bless them with abundance if they obeyed him now the second thing to note about Old Testament curses is that it was God who placed the curse on them so if you're trying to break a curse that was put on someone by God in the name of Jesus then the kingdom of God is divided against itself so no, the Old Testament is not a good example of generational curses in fact the Bible does describe in several instances God's nature and there are prophets who declare you can look this up prophets who declare that God will not judge someone according to someone else's sin he clearly says it in the word that he will not deal with an individual based upon a previous generation sin or their father's sin or their grandparents sin but he's going to deal with them based solely upon how they respond to his word that's also in the Old Testament so if you're going to talk about generational curses from the Old Testament realize that any example given from the Old Testament just isn't going to apply so let's look at the New Testament are there any examples in the New Testament of Christians having to break off curses and you will not find a single one aha but wait a minute Brother David I know someone who dealt with a generational curse and after we prayed they were set free or I myself some people will tell me I myself had a generational curse so I know for sure they're real wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute we must learn to interpret our experiences through the word and not the word through our experiences what believers describe as a curse is actually a stronghold and it wasn't broken because they got rid of some hex it was broken because they came to believe the truth what's the truth that they're free so ironically the belief that you've been set free from some curse is just as effective as actually being set free from a curse but the curse was never there to begin with because God has blessed you so how do you explain then these patterns that begin to develop in the life of believers that are very similar to those who've gone before them so my grandfather was an alcoholic I'm an alcoholic my son's an alcoholic right that's what some people would say well these are generational choices and I think this has more to do with generations and genetics than it does with hexes and hocus pocus again curses can apply to the unbeliever that's a real thing but this is not something that the believer has to worry about you cannot curse what God has blessed this does not mean please do not hear what I'm not saying again this does not mean demons can't attack Christians nor does this mean that we should just be frivolous and treat demons with disrespect like oh I don't need to worry about you you're a punk you're a chump no that's not how you should approach it but rather you should approach it with humility with your confidence in the in the presence and the power of God not in your own ability so as far as generational curses go do I believe in generational choices and generational consequences? absolutely generational curses specifically apply to the believer as if some hexes upon them absolutely not nor does the scripture support that in fact the scripture speaks the opposite of that and again these are things that we hear and we'll say but I heard and I heard and I heard well what does the Bible say? don't believe me just because I'm saying it some might even say well Brother David you know that's just because you haven't had experience in this area or you don't specialize in spiritual warfare guys I've been casting out demons and breaking the power of the enemy by the power of the Holy Ghost not by my own power for almost 20 years I believe in deliverance I believe in that demonic power exist I believe that people need to be set free and I've also seen religious mindsets like this keep people trapped in cycles so now they're so obsessed with the generational curse that fear is produced and that fear produces the feeling of being cursed so it's a vicious cycle of believing your cursed walking in the the dejection and the the fear and the anxiety I mean my goodness if you believe your cursed that's going to produce paranoia in you that's going to produce this anxiety and you were going I'm cursed oh my goodness everything I do so now when you get a flat tire it's not just that you got a flat tire it's oh it's that curse right so it's now becoming a superstition it becomes a pattern of thinking and in order to be set free from this you must come to realize the truth and the truth is that God has blessed you and because God has blessed you hexes and curses cannot work against you look if you're living clean you're walking according to the word of God and you're in fellowship with him how is anything supposed to touch you and if you're not living clean you're not walking according to the word of God then you come under the power of deception and a stronghold which can feel like what some call a curse but it's not the same thing you don't break it through naming it specifically and having it broke you break it through getting right with God and living according to the truth of the word otherwise you're left with powerless religion and superstition and man's effort at being free and that isn't where the true power of the Holy Spirit lies I can tell you I've seen it again and again I've watched the Holy Spirit in action it's no problem for him I've seen thousands set free by the power of the Holy Ghost because it's his power it's not anything I do it's not because I know a special technique or like oh I the specialist identified where the curse came from no the power of the Holy Ghost can break every bondage simply by his power and presence and the believer yes is attacked but don't confuse stronghold for curse hmm wow come on and I hope and pray that that answers your question what a great question that was and great answer as well this question comes from our friend Noe Noe writes a multi-personality disorder or DID is this a stronghold or a demonic attack and how does one deal with it especially if she won't remember what happened well I would have to know more about the specific situation because remember these issues can be complex yes it can be demonic yes it can be mental yes it can be emotional yes it can be chemical yes it can be all of them yes it can be some of them these are very nuanced ways of dealing with it but the answer is always the same if it's a demonic power rebuke it you want to know how to know if it's demonic if you rebuke it and take authority over it and it doesn't break its power it can't be demonic because if it truly is demonic demons have to obey the authority of Christ in you and if it's not obeying it it's not a demon so this would rather be something in the lines of healing and healing and deliverance are there are major differences between the two I can do a hold I think I should probably at one point do a teaching on this because some people believe that if a Christian is sick that that means demonic influences in them in their physical body and that of course is not biblical but you know there are combinations of this and the answer is always going to be the same to deal with the flesh it's got to be believed in the word if it's chemical and physical having to do with the brain they need healing and if it's actually demonic then you can rebuke it now sometimes demons don't go out right away sometimes you need to pray and fast that's very clear in scripture so if you've prayed for them and the demon doesn't come out and then you fasted and prayed for them and the demon doesn't come out it cannot be demonic how could it be if the Bible says this one comes out through prayer and fasting and the others come out simply by the authority of Christ in you so you can at least be released from that religious oppressive thought pattern of thinking that you're just missing something or doing something wrong and because you just didn't get it again if that's how the freedom was brought about then that would be my by my by man's effort it's but it's not by man's effort deliverance from demonic power comes simply by the authority the Holy Ghost can you imagine really imagine this God the Father arms folded looking down over the balconies of heaven and saying to you well I would set you free but you didn't name the demon you didn't name the age the demon came in you didn't name what the demon specialty was you didn't name the type of demon that it was and you didn't name the attack that specifically works against this type of demon so I'm going to have to leave you there in bondage or I'm going to fill you with my Holy Spirit set you free set you on a path to a new beginning liberate you from sin but I'm going to deposit a demon in there leave him in there hidden until you can name him go to a special type of service to have him named then and only then will I set you free well well well really we can either believe that or we can believe with the Bible says my advice to you always side with the scripture hmm come on always side with the scripture okay this question comes from our friend Emily Laramore Emily wanted to know how would you help someone who was depressed based on their surroundings hmm that's a very good question you know sometimes environment can produce certain results I know people who've been working at a certain job they'll be working at a certain job and because of the environment around them depression is produced in them they're around people speaking down to them they're around sin and filth and negativity because of the environment and the moment they come out of it they're set free that's how strongholds work strongholds take root through deception and exterior forms of influence and so sometimes a change in atmosphere would help now the way I would minister to someone who's suffering with depression first of all I would pray and break the power of the enemy the power that comes through deception the power where the enemy feels like he has the right to come around and speak and harassment and mental torment by the way is one of the demonic attacks but if you really think about it harassment and torment also are a result of deception because it has to do with demon speaking here's a real good rule of thumb for the most part when a demon attacks a believer they're going to do so with their words and sometimes those words are tormenting thoughts which is why a person becomes tormented and that's a stronghold of torment but after you've gone through and taken care of the demonic element I would befriend them I know that sounds it doesn't sound super spiritual but I would befriend them I would sit with them and talk with them and go through the word with them and pray with them daily for strength and continue to minister to them the word until they found real breakthrough in that area and that I've seen work every single time that the person embraced that solution and I mean every single time and it takes a while sometimes of course but you know it's a work against the flesh and we're all growing in Christ we're all a work in progress but once you've dealt with the demon once you've I should say dominated the demon by the power of the Holy Ghost then it shifts to okay how can we deal now with the problems of the flesh so you deal with the demonic power by the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of the word once that's done then you work on the flesh remember it's both Satan and self you can't just fight Satan and expect to be free you can't just fight self and expect to be free you have to fight the satanic and the selfishness hey thank you for that question Emily this next question comes from our friend Eli Eli wanted to know could taking prescription meds turn into a stronghold I've known a few of my friends that went to get relieved for pain and ended up hooked it never started off wrong but it ended in them tied up in an addiction this is a great segue into actually what I kind of wanted to address earlier addiction you know addiction is a stronghold you say how can it be a stronghold well let's think about it someone believes a lie the lie being this pill or this drink or this drug is going to give me what I need or this drink or this drug is going to replace what only God can do in my life so the lie is that they're believing that's going to satisfy them now I'm not speaking against using medication because in some sense when you take medication as prescribed by a doctor like say for a sickness you know pain killers and so forth you're working with the will of God which is healing so why would I fight the will of God I'm not going to Jesus even said it's the sick who need a doctor and in that analogy he endorsed the medical profession not all aspects of the medical profession yes there are many corrupt people in the medical profession but for the most part the scripture doesn't speak against medical use Paul told Timothy a little wine for the stomach say why because Timothy had a stomach problem so Paul was talking to Timothy about using medicine for his stomach problem but at the same time people develop addictions because of mindsets they develop addictions because of beliefs they're running from painful thoughts they're running from a painful past or something they don't want to face and because of that they start to take medication this is not every case so please don't hear what I'm not saying not every case is like this this is an example of how an addiction can form and so they begin to take these things and then as a result of their actions that medicine that that drug begins to produce a physiological response think about this what caused the physical response it wasn't a demon it was the pill they took what caused them to take that pill a choice they made what caused them to make that choice a feeling they had what caused them to have that feeling a deception they believed so that deceptive thought made them fill a certain way that feeling produced the action the choice to take a certain drug and then that drug found its way in as a stronghold so it's not a demon you're casting out it's a sickness and so you pray against the sickness they don't need an exorcism they need a healing so you pray against the physical components you come against that addiction you break it in the name now if they're an unbeliever okay different story that demon can attach to the addiction but in the case of the believer it's a physiological response to a choice that they made it is an actual substance that's doing something to their physical body and we know that the devil can't attach himself to the physical body because the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit so if the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit then a demon can't have the physical body and you always hear this right well the devil can't attach himself to your body and he can't attach himself to your spirit all but he can't attach himself to your soul well first of all we never see soul possession anywhere in the Bible we only see the possession of physical bodies because that's what demonic beings crave they're going after the physical body now if the enemy were able to possess your soul he has control over your free will which not even God himself will take over so why would God give the devil control over your free will when he himself leaves it alone so these same people who say well and I know because I was one of them guys I'm guilty here and I'm not speaking against anyone so don't even try to start that drama I'm not speaking against anyone I'm speaking against the former mindset I had I would say well it's not in the body or the spirit because the scripture is clear on that all but the soul see how kind of manipulative that is and then I would say things like well you know the demon dwells in the soul I used to say that and I didn't even see the inconsistency here I am saying on one hand well he can't be in the body but he can be in the soul and then on the other side of my mouth I was saying well addiction is the demon possessing the body hypocrisy inconsistency how do you get inconsistencies when you don't establish your truth based on what the scripture actually says so I thought that the body was one component where the Holy Spirit couldn't have and now all of a sudden we're going to say all addictions are demonic in nature maybe for the unbeliever before the believer it is a physical reality that's come about as a result of a choice that they made that choice they made as a result of a feeling that feeling a result of deception hey thank you for that great question by the way so this next question is going to come from our friend light of the world one to two writes can you intercede for a family member if you believe they have a strong hold on them even if they aren't saved absolutely you can you could you can intercede for anyone for anything as long as the scripture promises it so if the scripture promises freedom then of course you can pray for that family if they're not saved I mean think about the fact that they're not saved they're under a very strong deception they don't believe Jesus is Lord and that's a stronghold that needs to be broken so yes by the preaching of the word by prayer and by loving them can you of course come against these demonic strongholds even in the life of the unbeliever and let me do away with another myth while we're at it there's this idea that says that we shouldn't cast demons out of unbelievers because that demon may come back seven times worse well then who are we supposed to cast devils out of because Christians can't be demon possessed we know them that that's just a biblical fact and so who do we cast it out of well the unbeliever of course see people use us a very popular portion of scripture they'll say something like when an unclean spirit comes out of a man it goes through the desert seeking rest but finding none then it returns from its form to its former home and it finds the home empty swept clean and then it calls seven others worse than itself it returns and that person's state is seven times worse and because of that portion of scripture some people believe that we shouldn't cast devils out of unbelievers well let's think about this for a second let's break this down let's really apply the scripture here because I think sometimes we hear these explanation we go oh that sounds good and then we just accept it but let's really think about this biblically first of all if you believe that we shouldn't cast devils out of unbelievers first of all you're assuming they have another day to live the bible says we're not promised tomorrow that today is the day of salvation so why you wouldn't cast the devil out of an unbeliever that they might be saved is beyond me because you don't know they're going to live another day the second thing we have to consider is this strange idea well they could end up worse so let's leave them in their bondage how religious is that I can't cast devils out of you I'm going to leave you in your torment for my religion tells me so my doctrine tells me so and then finally think about the fact that we don't do that with salvation well doesn't the scripture say that it's better it's better to have never known the way than to know it and then move away from it or to fall away well should we then not witness to people for fear that they might become a cast away and therefore worse than before no way so just like we don't keep the gospel from unbelievers the gospel of salvation from unbelievers for fear that they might one day be a cast away in the same way we don't keep deliverance from unbelievers just because they may end up worse that's religious and it's actually a very poor interpretation of a scripture that comes nowhere near saying that so yes of course you can play you can pray against strongholds and attacks of the enemy in unbelievers this next question is coming from our friend Leia Leia writes question how do you deal with the desire to obey God but it leads into anxiety right now my mind is so confused with different types of scriptures that lead me to think differently well yes I mean the same thing happened with me like for example I would read the book of Romans and remember in the book of Romans where it talks about vessels of wrath I totally thought when I read that that I was a vessel of wrath destined for God's punishment that's what I thought I believed it with all my heart and it tormented me for like three months okay that was a poor interpretation of scripture that led to torment I didn't realize that that was talking about the fact that God used the Jewish people to provoke the Gentiles unto jealousy and brought salvation to the disobedience thus saving both Jew and Gentile I thought it meant David Hernandez is a vessel of wrath right okay so I read that and I was tormented so the best thing to do is come back to the basics you'll know that scriptures being forced when there's no explanatory scope what do I mean by that? explanatory scope is when you found the truth it kind of just clicks into place explanatory scope is the best answer like an answer is able to explain all the different things what I'm giving you has 100% explanatory scope there's nothing you could bring to me like I've heard all the arguments well I've known Christians who manifested or I've known Christians who had demons and then got you know they were exercising I'm not talking about deliverance from strongholds okay Christians can be attacked remember that but some people told me oh I knew a Christian who needed exorcism and the demon took over their body and was talking for them and I thought well wait a minute I thought that was one of the components that couldn't be affected but never mind that you know I've heard that I've heard oh well my brother or my sister I knew a pastor who who manifested all the or I myself had a demon and then I manifested the demon spoke to me and then I was set free right there are explanations for all of that and I've given them to people on this channel over and over and over again it just comes down to what do you want to believe like I said it's easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they've been fooled and in some sense some people derive their identity from these types of things Jesus said don't rejoice that the demons obey you but rejoice instead that your name is written in the book of life so some people they wrap their whole identity around the fact that they feel they know how to navigate spiritual warfare and that's very dangerous because we shouldn't wrap our identity in that and so I know this guys again I know this because this is the way I used to think and the Holy Spirit showed me his real way of doing the Holy Spirit showed me a powerful way the most powerful way of doing it so again don't even start with internet drama I'm gonna say this again don't you dare start with internet drama I am talking to the old me I am not addressing I don't attack preachers I don't attack others whatever they want to teach as long as they love Jesus brothers and sisters I love them all I'm only teaching what I see in the scripture and what I know from experience of having dealt with demons myself and having done both I used to do it one way and then I do it this way and I found the Bible's way much easier much better much more effective too and the effects are longer lasting so if you're struggling what to believe where just keep digging in keep reading the word I say keep listening to all of it and then compare and see which one is best on scripture listen to some of my I don't even know if you can find some of my older teaching I got rid of a lot of them online oh my goodness I used to I had to teach some strange things thank God he delivered me from strange teachings and I no longer do that okay guys I'm going to take let's do one more question Steve and then we're going to say good night okay so this last question is coming from our friend humble humble wanted to know I know this is off topic sort of but if you've backslidden as a believer would you need to get baptized again I mean that's a great question I mean this is going to be difficult to answer particularly because I'm not really big on on either side of the debate you know once saved always save can you lose your salvation yes or no honestly I don't think that matters I'll tell you why at the root of your question the assumption is that the ones saved always save debate matters so I'm not going to address your question directly I'm just going to leave you with this thought first of all you and I are not the judges thank God for that so why do we need to know who was really saved who lost their salvation or who whatever you however you want to word it the debate doesn't matter because in everyday application it's actually the same result I'll show it to you imagine that there's a man who goes to church he gets saved as we say he starts attending he cleans up his life gets rid of his alcohol abuse he starts to treat his family right becomes a man of integrity and character reads the word praise comes to all the services and prayer means right in our minds okay a Christian you can't really know for sure but in our minds he's a Christian right and then this same man ends up leaving the church and goes back into his old ways here's what's going to happen the people who believe once saved always saved are going to go ah see he was never saved in the first place and guess what they're going to have scriptures that support that and then the people on the other side are going to say oh my goodness he lost his salvation and guess what they're going to have scriptures that support that now both sides can't be right someone's wrong on this okay someone is wrong on this debate who it is doesn't really matter do you know why because they're both going to look at that same man and they're both going to agree on one thing that man needs Jesus so no matter what you believe by how they got there or where they were all you know and all you need to know is that if somebody needs Jesus it's your job to reach out to them well that's it for this edition of viral revival the Holy Spirit's live stream love you all until next time remember nothing is impossible with God