Session 1A: A Seven-Step Strategy
For the Destruction of Sin-based Strongholds
1. Pray and ask God to help you uncover the past.
A. Do a personal and family inventory to uncover any cultic or occult activity or any involvement in false religions.
(1) Neil Anderson’s book, The Bondage Breaker, is an excellent place to
start and includes a personal inventory to help you.
(2) Stop any current involvement IMMEDIATELY, get rid of any
paraphernalia, (music, pictures, tarot cards, ouija boards, 8 balls, astrological charts, crystals, good luck charms, etc.) and renounce your involvement forever.
(3) You may need some help from mature Christians if you have been
involved in this area.
B. You may not immediately remember when you first committed the sin that
is now plaguing you. However, Jesus was there and He remembers. Pray and ask God to help you remember the time when the sin first entered your life. 1. We regain the ground in steps, one at a time, the way it was given over. God will be faithful to remind you of every sin, every offense, if you ask Him. 2. It is important not to stop until we get back to the first time a sin was committed, the place where the ground was first surrendered. It may take some time and you may need some help from a mature Christian. 3. Be on the watch to recognize the difference between God’s conviction and Satan’s condemnation (a) God convicts in specifics: “On such and such a day I sinned when I ____ .” (b) Satan whispers in condemning and hopeless generalizations: “I am a terrible person.” “I am always ______.”
2. Confess sin as sin; call it what the Bible calls it: unforgiveness, bitterness, greed,
immorality, disobedience, pornography, adultery, fornication, abortion, etc. is SIN not a “mistake” or a “wrong choice.” James 3: 14-15. “But if you have bitter
jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. Overcoming Strongholds Page 1 Gloria Cotten Taped 11/5/07 for Declaring His Answer Ministry
A. All counseling problems must ultimately be related to sin and its consequences:
your own sin or the sin of others against you.
(1) The only permanent solution for a sin-based stronghold is to identify the sin,
repent and be cleansed.
(2) There can be no permanent healing until the sin is dealt with.
B. With a lie-based stronghold, which we will discuss in Session 3, the bondage
may have been introduced through the sin of someone else committed against
you, but with a sin-based stronghold, the root sin must be repented of before
the stronghold will fall.
3. Receive forgiveness and cleansing by the blood of Jesus according to I John 1:9. If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
A. This is something we do by faith, not by emotion. Many times people do
experience tremendous relief emotionally when they receive God’s
forgiveness and cleansing, but even if you feel nothing God has forgiven you
and cleansed you.
B. We know God has done this because God never lies and He has promised to
do it. We must choose to believe Him and trust that He is faithful.
C. We will learn later, when we discuss lie-based strongholds, that frequently
when a person finds it difficult to feel forgiven by God, there is a lie that is
hindering them. We will discuss then the process of getting to the root of the
lie.
4. Forgive all who have offended you.
A. John 20:23. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them;
if you retain the sins of any they have been retained.
B. Matthew 6: 12, 14-15. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven
our debtors. For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
C. Matthew 18: 18. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have
been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
5. Take back the ground you surrendered to Satan in the past.
A. Your repentance and God’s forgiveness and cleansing removes from Satan the right to keep his holdings in your soul. B. Revoke your past consent out loud. Satan cannot read your mind so you
must do this out loud. C. Reclaim the ground out loud. Take it out from under the dominion of Satan
Overcoming Strongholds Page 2
Gloria Cotten
Taped 11/5/07 for Declaring His Answer Ministry
and surrender it to God, putting it under the blood of Jesus, under the
dominion of God.
D. This is always a difficult step. It defeats our pride and openly acknowledges
God’s authority in our lives.
6. Command Satan and his demons to leave in the Name of Jesus.
A. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you the names of specific spirits that need to be cast out. B. Apply the blood of Jesus to their stronghold, tear it down by faith and demand that they leave. C. This must be done out loud since Satan and his demons cannot read your
mind.
7. Apply Psalm 23:3. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.
A. Ask God to restore your soul:
(1) to bring healing to the places in your life that have been wounded
because of this stronghold
(2) to set you free from old habits of behavior that came out of sin.
B. Ask God to lead you into righteous paths: to teach you new, godly patterns
of behavior to replace the old ones that came out of sin. Purpose to
cooperate with God as He does this by setting up a plan for working out your
salvation in the area of the old stronghold.
(1) Stay away from sources of temptation as much as possible, at least
for a season: avoid people and places that lure you into sin.
(2) Locate scriptures that deal with the sin and memorize them. Choose
both those that identify the rewards of obedience to Christ and those
that warn of the consequences of sin.
(3) Make yourself accountable to someone you trust who also has time to
devote to your restoration.
(4) Be especially wary of what goes into your mind: TV programs, books,
magazines, music, movies, etc. Avoid those things that distract you
from communion with Christ.
(5) If involvement with cults, false religions or the occult has been a
problem, destroy anything in your possession connected with them.
Overcoming Strongholds Page 3
Gloria Cotten
Taped 11/5/07 for Declaring His Answer Ministry