Break Mental Strongholds: How to Win the Battle for Your Mind
The most stressful things in life usually are not what actually happens to us, but the stories we make up in our minds about what we fear will happen.
You may have heard the story of the elderly man on his deathbed who said, “I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”
The truth is, anxiety, depression, and suicide often begin with thoughts that we believe. I want to emphasize the fact that in order for thoughts to stimulate a strong negative or positive emotion, we must believe our thoughts. Or can I say have faith in them? In fact, fear is actually faith in the wrong kingdom!
A thought itself, no matter how crazy or outrageous it might be, has little effect on our well-being when it is quickly regarded as ridiculous. For example, suppose a little boy came up to me and said, “I’m going to beat you up!” His taunting causes me no anxiety because I don’t believe he can hurt me. On the other hand, if some tough-looking gangster threatens my life, I will likely panic since I believe he can harm me. In other words, living in peace is largely a matter of faith.
Now, wait a minute before you throw this journal in the trash, yelling, “This idiot is trying to tell me that I don’t trust God! He’s accusing me of putting my faith in the devil!” Nothing could be further from the truth! I received Jesus at 18 years old and had a radical conversion. Jesus has been the central theme of my life since my salvation. Yet I have had two nervous breakdowns in the last 50 years. The second one occurred 16 years ago, and I determined when I got well that I would never have another one. I did take medication for about a year during my second breakdown, and now I have been totally off anxiety and depression medication for more than 13 years. I have a very high-stress job. I oversee 850 staff, 3,600 students, and 10,000 people in our congregation, with an $80 million budget. I also have 4 children, 12 grandchildren, and my beautiful wife of 49 years, who has Parkinson’s disease. Yet I live a life of peace. I’m not saying I live a life of blissful glory. I don’t. Nor am I claiming that I never have a tough day. I certainly do. But I can honestly tell you that I have learned how to live a life of peace.
Points to Ponder
Nehemiah was a man sent by God to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem, which were in ruins. The task was so daunting that he could easily have lived stressed-out, but instead, he made a decision to listen to God rather than his enemies. Interestingly, Nehemiah’s name means comforter; his life is thus a parable of the Holy Spirit’s work in us.
Nehemiah had two archenemies, Tobiah and Sanballat, who taunted him through the entire project. They represent the devil’s devious devices in our lives. Yet the overarching moral of this incredible story is that Nehemiah did in 52 days what Israel had failed do to for 72 years, by simply listening to God instead of his accusers! Nehemiah’s story is filled with heavenly strategies for earthly victories. Like Nehemiah, when we start rebuilding the walls of our lives, the enemy resists us. The opposition can feel so strong at times that we might wonder if we’re doing something wrong. But the truth is, most of the time the enemy’s resistance is a sign that we are actually doing something right! So don’t give up; press in.
Scriptural Meditation
Nehemiah 6:10-13
“When I entered the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was confined at home, he said, ‘Let’s meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let’s close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you, and they are coming to kill you at night.’ But I said, ‘Should a man like me flee? And who is there like me who would go into the temple to save his own life? I will not go in.’ Then I realized that God certainly had not sent him, but he uttered his prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. He was hired for this reason, that I would become frightened and act accordingly and sin.”
Insight
It was only after Nehemiah reminded himself of who he was in God that he had insight into the fact that God wasn’t the one who sent the prophetic warning to him, but rather, his enemies were behind it. They were trying to get him to sin by stopping the work God had assigned him to accomplish. Fear clouds our vision, but confidence in who we are in Jesus clears the smoke and leads to victory.
Activation
Storming the Gates
“Enter His gates with thanksgiving…” (Psalm 100:4).
Find a piece of paper and write down two things you are thankful for.
Truth Infusion
“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
Write down something here that the Lord tells you about how He feels about you. Trust that He will tell you something new every day because His love for you is endless.
Meditate
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night…” (Joshua 1:8).
Think about something that you feared that never happened, and then reread Philippians 4:8-9 (which we looked at closely on Days 2 and 13). Instead of being fearful, how could you have shifted your mindset from fear to faith? Or to put it another way, instead of focusing on your fear or anxiety, what could you have meditated on that is true, honorable, right, pure, etc.?
Live It
“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves” (James 1:22).
List two practical ways that you plan proactively to replace your fear with faith this week.
The Battlefield of the Mind
Whenever we are inspired by the Holy Spirit to advance into new territory, we often discover that the territory we’re trying to take is currently inhabited by evil spirits. Consequently, we find ourselves in fierce spiritual battles. In fact, I have found that there is no Promised Land that isn’t inhabited by demonic giants! Like Joshua, whom God commissioned to drive the giants out of the Israelites’ Promised Land, we are also anointed and called to con- front and conquer the demonic spirits that are squatting in our field of dreams.
Yet many believers are oblivious to the fact that the resistance they are facing in life is often actually a spiritual war—a war they can fight and win. Instead of pressing for- ward in faith to obtain their divine inheritance in difficult circumstances, they withdraw or retreat in fear, losing ground in the battle.
Demonic warfare most often begins in our minds, as evil spirits give us their thoughts and then accuse us of having them. The Bible describes these thoughts as “flaming arrows” (see Ephesians 6:16). Because these flaming arrows are not just our own bad ideas, but originate with evil spirits, they are compelling—meaning they come with an unction or passion to actually act on them, even though they are opposed to who we are and Whose we are. When we believe the devil’s accusation that these thoughts are our own, we lose confidence in our identity in Christ and end up eating at the pig trough of shame and guilt. Ultimately, we digress into emotions like depression, anxiety, self-hatred, and suicide.
The devil also attempts to hack our imagination and/ or pervert our memory, which can be incredibly stressful, especially if we are ignorant of his schemes. He tries to plant horrible pictures or visions in some people’s minds, which can be deeply disturbing if they can’t identify the source as the evil one. Other people experience demonic warfare in the form of awful “feelings,” false impulses through which the enemy attacks their souls.
No matter how warfare affects you personally, however, keep in mind that these attacks are symptoms of the enemy’s wicked plot to kill and destroy our very lives. Once you are no longer ignorant of his schemes, the battle will turn in your favor!
Points to Ponder
The apostle Paul reminds us that these epic battles raging against our minds are not “human nature.” We are war- ring against demonic forces of evil, not against flesh and blood. He echoed this truth in the book of Ephesians: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). A vitally important key to winning these battles involves simply recognizing that these thoughts are not our own. We must reject all ownership of them.
Scriptural Meditation
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NASB 1995)
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our war- fare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ….”
Insight
Paul told us that the enemy attacks us with thoughts, speculations, and lofty things. He describes our dealings with these as “the destruction of fortresses,” not just as a mat- ter of changing what we’re thinking. This suggests that although these thoughts, speculations, and lofty things are intangible in this earthly realm, they are tangible in the spiritual realm. They are demonically inspired realities that the enemy seeks our cooperation in fulfilling. Entertaining and agreeing with these thoughts builds them into fortresses brick by brick, until they are evil castles of destructive ideas imprisoning our souls. Then we long for a Prince of Peace to rescue us from the clutches of our wicked captor. He can and He will, as we begin “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”
Activation
Storming the Gates
“Enter His gates with thanksgiving…” (Psalm 100:4).
Write down two things you are thankful for.
Truth Infusion
“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
Write down something that the Lord tells you about how He feels about you. Trust that He will tell you something new every day because His love for you is endless.
Meditate
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night…” (Joshua 1:8).
Have you ever had a thought that you realized was not your own? What did you do with it?
Live It
“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves” (James 1:22).
Today, continue taking inventory of your thoughts. If a negative thought pops up, ask the Lord if this is your own thought or a thought from a demonic spirit. If it’s from the demonic realm, stop and take a moment to take it captive, reject ownership of it, and then send it away.
