Is Deliverance Enough? Why Strongholds Must Be Pulled Down for Lasting Freedom

So much of the time when we talk about deliverance, we put most of the emphasis on getting the demons out.

I’d like to shift the focus to another component of deliverance that is equally important—the pulling down of strongholds.

In the Bible, two different types of strongholds are mentioned. The first, in Psalms, talks about God as our spiritual stronghold and refuge. The second, in 2 Corinthians 10, talks about our weapons of warfare being mighty to demolish strongholds. For our purposes, we are discussing the strongholds mentioned in the latter verses.

One great example of a physical stronghold is found in the Old Testament in the story of Jericho. I believe this is a type and shadow of a New Testament reality. The city of Jericho was closed in, surrounded with a huge wall. Israel could not penetrate the city gates naturally. They could not penetrate those city walls by fighting naturally. They needed supernatural help from God to enter that city. Jericho was one of the first cities Israel encountered in their Promised Land—and walls will be what you first encounter on your way to possessing your promise of freedom as well.

The biblical account in Joshua 6 tells us God’s instructions were for them to walk around the city one time for six days, while the priests blew rams’ horns and the people remained silent. Then on the seventh day they were to walk around the stronghold seven times, then give a shout when the priest blew the rams’ horns. As they obeyed the commands of the Lord through shouting and through the power of God, they watched as the walls of this stronghold came crumbling down!

Then they were able to enter and capture that territory for God. This is how breaking down strongholds works—through obedience to God’s Word and commands. Just like Jericho, the pulling down of strongholds is hard work and involves a lot of steps. Literally!

Many of us have built Jerichos in our minds that we need to conquer if we want to possess our promised land! In fact, I would go so far to say that you will never be able to fully possess your promised land and live the abundant Christian life Jesus has for you, without first pulling down the Jerichos in your life. These strong-holds live within our promised land. They are inside you and me, and we conquer them with the power of Christ Jesus!

In the context of 2 Corinthians 10, pulling down strongholds refers to demolishing walls of resistance in the mind, particularly how the rebellious Corinthians were thinking about Paul and the nature of his apostolic ministry. Paul, here, is not dealing with Christians demolishing strongholds or walled fortresses in their city. Paul is talking about demolishing strongholds or fortresses in the minds of the Corinthian believers. These strongholds were walls of resistance to the great apostolic ministry of the apostle Paul.

Let’s look at the definition of stronghold to help our understanding. In the original Greek, this word stronghold is ochyroma and means “a physical fortress or castle.” This could be illustrated as fortified walls to keep others out; as a fortified prison constructed deep inside a fortress intended to prevent a hostage or a prisoner from escaping. A stronghold could be described as a place of arrest, captivity, confinement, detention, imprisonment or incarceration. So, a stronghold of the mind is a fortress of lies built in your mind and emotions; it’s a place of arrest and captivity, confinement, captivity, imprisonment, and incarceration in your thinking that prevents you from experiencing all that God has planned for your life.

It’s essentially a Jericho inside your promised land, and you can’t move forward, conquer, or possess what Christ has promised you until you first bring down Jericho! You cannot bring down this Jericho with your human strength and weapons. You must rely on the weapons that are mighty in God for the pulling down of strong-holds as described in 2 Corinthians 10:4. Paul did not use human weapons to bring down strongholds in the minds of Corinthians. He said those carnal weapons are useless. Or in other words, using cowboy logic—you can’t bring a knife to a gun fight and expect to win. Amen! This is a spiritual battle requiring spiritual weapons!

Another example of a physical stronghold in the Old Testament is the city of Jerusalem. Before David conquered Jerusalem and made it into his stronghold, Israel was occupied by the Jebusites. The Jebusites were the sworn enemy of Israel. They were among the people groups God instructed the Israelites to remove from the land. But when the Israelites came into their Promised Land, they were unable to drive the Jebusites out because they lived inside the walled city of Jerusalem, which was a fortress. In fact, the Jebusites were so confident that no one could enter their city, they mockingly said the weakest citizens were all that was needed to keep David out! If you read the story where David was going in to conquer Jerusalem, the Jebusites told him the blind and the lame would keep him out of the city! They thought their city was so fortified and secure that no one, not even David the anointed of God, could enter. David eventually conquers the stronghold of Jerusalem by cutting off their water supply. (See 2 Samuel 5:6-10 NIV.)

When David conquered the stronghold, he made it the dwelling place of God, and the capital of Israel. He made it the glorious Israel we all know and love today, but not before he conquered the stronghold!

Destroying Dominations

I truly believe many of us have these walled Jerichos and Jerusalems in our lives. These areas should belong to God but are being dominated by the “Jebusites” in our mind. Maybe some are dominated by loneliness, anger, or bitterness. Maybe some are dominated by lust, self-hatred, or forms of abuse. Whatever these dominations may be for you, God has called you to take this territory for His Kingdom!

Please hear me once again: demons and strongholds are not the same! Demons need an access point, an entry point, a doorway, a means to get in. That entry point gives satan and his demons a legal right to be there. But they can’t stay unless we give them a place to stay.

Let me paint you an example for better understanding: If I come to your house, typically, I would enter through the front door that you would open to me. I would then come in to visit you. You might invite me to sit down, or you might even invite me to stay for dinner. After a while, you would open the door, and I would leave. Rarely would you give me a place to stay in your home.

But if I became a welcomed or frequent guest, you might provide a place for me to stay such as a couch or a guest bedroom. If we became very comfortable with each other and didn’t want to spend time apart, you might even make me a permanent room in your home for longer stays, or you might ask me to move in. If so, you’ve provided me a place of protection and shelter. You’ve given me a foothold in your home and life.

The Bible says in Ephesians 4:27 (NKJV) to not “give place to the devil.” Or do not give the devil a foothold or access point. The word place in Greek refers to a specific marked-off geographical location. It carries the idea of a territory, a province, a region, a zone or geographical position. An entry point or a legal right is how the demon gets in, but the stronghold is how the demon stays.

So, you can cast out the demon. But if you don’t deal with the strongholds that keep the demon in, you will still be tormented and harassed. In fact, a stronghold left intact can lead to allowing the demons to return. We know what the Bible says about when they return—they come and bring friends with them! (See Matthew 12:43-45.)

Strongholds are not demons so you can’t cast them out!

You built strongholds with wrong thinking, so you must tear them down!

Let’s talk more about entry points for demons.

Some common entry points for demons to harass or torment a believer:

• Generational roots or curses from past generations; in other words, we can inherit demons

• Personal involvement with the occult

• An unwanted pregnancy

• Growing up in a broken home

• Experiencing sexual, verbal, emotional, or physical abuse

• Unforgiveness

• Having or participating in an abortion can open the door to the spirit of murder

• Practicing illicit sexual encounters

• Consuming pornography

• Stealing

• Lying

• Taking drugs

• Religious legalism

Any habitual or willful sin can open the entry door for demonic activity in the life of a believer.

But understand that the front door or back door of a house is not the same thing as a guest room.

When you open your life to a demonic influence through sin, that’s only how the demons get in. In Paul’s warning in Ephesians 4, he says do not give place to the devil. Meaning deal with the reason there was an open door, so the demon has no reason to stay. What is that foothold or the place that Paul was talking about? It’s called a stronghold.

Again, sin is how the demon enters. It’s a legal access point. But a stronghold gives them a guest room to stay in. An entry point gives permission. A stronghold gives protection. Entry points are based on sinful actions and behaviors. Strongholds are based on wrong belief systems.

Here’s another example: an act of fornication can open the door to a demon. Enjoying and engaging in repeated lustful behavior allows the demon to stay. But lust-filled thoughts—undisciplined and unclean thought patterns which are justified—become the stronghold that gives protection to the spirit. An act of sin opened the door.

The spirit of lust gave it a place. Justified behavior gave it protection.

An entry or a legal right can be rooted through generational lines and come through the sins of others in our family line. Again, this would be called a generational root or curse.

Many demons we deal with did not come in our lifetime, they came in the lifetime of our ancestors. So yes, that means demons can get transferred! And friend, you must remember: what doesn’t get transformed in one generation gets transferred to the next! Your children and grandchildren’s freedom could literally depend on your personal deliverance journey!

Strongholds are not passed down by your ancestors. You develop strongholds yourself. Strongholds are built within each generation separately. They are developed, processed, and constructed separately within each person.

You might inherit a demon of rejection, but the strong-hold of a rejection mindset and belief system is built through self-talk, beliefs, and inner oaths you’ve made. These are developed thoughts, opinions, arguments, and logic based on your individual circumstances. They are typically built up over time and based on our individual traumas, abuses, and sinful behaviors.

An entry point, open door, or legal right can be closed instantly by casting out the demon in Jesus’ name! But the breaking down of the stronghold (the tearing down of wrong thinking and replacing with truth-filled thoughts) takes time.

I can close and lock my front door, instantly removing access to an unwanted guest. But if I need to demolish a room in my house for renovation, that will take time. It won’t happen overnight. I grew up in the construction industry and pulling down strongholds is very much like a construction project. You must tear out and demolish the old, rotted building material before you can replace it with new.

It’s much like Israel entering the Promised Land. They crossed the Jordon River supernaturally and quickly, but it took time for them to conquer Jericho. There was a whole lot of walking involved in taking down that stronghold! It took consistency according to God’s plan even when it didn’t seem logical. They were required to obey. It required their patience. It also took endurance and perseverance. So too it will take time to heal our wounded soul. We must heal layer by layer by layer! We must tear down all the lies of the enemy. All the wrong thinking. All the inner oaths and vows.

It takes time to destroy all the demonic logic in our minds. It’s not going to happen instantly! There is no magic prayer you can pray. There’s no brother or sister wonderful who can lay their hands on you and cause it to immediately change. It is a process of renewing by washing our minds daily with the water of the Word! The process of sanctification in our mind takes time. We didn’t acquire all that wrong thinking in a moment, and chances are, we won’t change it in a moment. Our Western culture of fast-food, fast-fix, drive-through immediate gratification gets frustrated because the microwave isn’t fast enough! We must shed this wrong mentality so we can obtain the real, lasting inner healing needed for strongholds to be pulled down.

In the grand scheme of things, though the children of Israel had been in bondage for many years, they fled Egypt quickly because their freedom came through the blood of the Lamb! Pow! Done! Pharaoh had enough and said get out! And they were gone! Kicked out!

But have you ever wondered why the children of Isreal had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years? Because even though they were freed from bondage quickly, the slavery mentality had been engrained in their thinking for years, and it literally took years to tear down that mindset. In fact, most of them died in the wilderness because they could not break free of the mental strongholds acquired in Egyptian bondage. It was easier for them to see them-selves as slaves than to grasp their God-given right to possess the Promised Land!

Strongholds are hard to break. For most of us, it’s easy to deal with getting rid of a demon. You confront the demon, the demon squeals or screams a little bit, you cast it out in Jesus’ name, and it’s gone! And if it’s not out, you know it’s not out! You feel it! You sense it, you can see it. When it is gone, you have a sense of freedom, you have a sense that you are lighter, and you know it’s gone, praise God!

But the strongholds in our thinking, man, those can be tough! They are not easy to break, and many need to be pulled down layer by layer.

Open doors give demons access.

Strongholds give demons a place, a cover, or protection. Open doors come primarily through our behaviors.

Strongholds come from our belief system. Open doors can be closed instantly.

Strongholds take time, patience, and perseverance.