Strongholds of the mind

Negative thinking is a huge attraction for the realm of darkness. This can also be referred to as strongholds of the mind. The Bible tells us that our mind is in our soul and this is where strongholds are built. Our understanding of how strongholds work is crucial for us to be able to understand how they can be entry points for the demonic. According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary, a simple definition of the word stronghold is: 

1. An area where most people have the same beliefs, values, etc. An area dominated by a particular group.
2. A protected place where the members of a military group stay and can defend themselves against attacks.

We see in the first definition that strongholds are a way of thinking. A mentality. This could apply to individuals, groups, communities and even nations. A godly mentality is built in the mind when belief systems and thinking patterns align with the truth — which is the Word of God. This acts as a spiritual fortress where we find refuge and safety in the truth of God — against the deception of the enemy whenever he tries to attack our thoughts with lies (Psalm 18:2).

A demonic stronghold on the other hand is a thought pattern, ideal or belief system that the devil has been able to erect in our thinking, against the truth of God. This could occur through repeated negative thoughts, influences upon our senses and through the experiences we have.

Spiritual warfare in our minds

We see clearly in 2 Corinthians 10:3–5 that spiritual warfare for a Christian involves pulling down these demonic strongholds (negative thoughts) and bringing them into captivity:

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (NKJV).

This scripture speaks of engaging in a spiritual battle of the mind, which ties in with Merriam Webster’s second definition for stronghold, which is in fact a military term. Bill Johnson (American Christian evangelist, speaker and author and the senior leader of Bethel Church, a charismatic megachurch in Redding, California), explains this very concept, using the above passage, in a sermon called ‘The War in your Head’:

“In these verses, the Apostle Paul talks about pulling down strongholds. If you would picture a stronghold, like in biblical days, Old Testament Times — a walled city or perhaps a castle comes to mind. A big place where an army or a battalion can hide within this castle…and these castles, these walls of cities…are made of huge stones and the Bible talks about tearing down these strongholds. These stones…according to this passage are thought patterns that war against the knowledge of God — these are ideas and ideals that are in conflict with what God says…and the enemy actually inhabits these realms of thought.

A stronghold is where an army will rest so that they can go out from there and do exploits. So, it’s a resting place. So, the enemy hides safely in the thought life — not the ‘imagination’ in the sense that you’re imagining this, but the reality is — in the broken thoughts of people, inconsistent with the knowledge of God — it’s where the enemy is concealed and safe to hide. And from there he works to kill, steal and destroy.”

Therefore, demonic strongholds in the mind are spiritual fortresses erected by wrong thoughts, which become a fortified dwelling place where demonic forces can hide and operate in power against us. Thought patterns that are contrary to the truth of God however simple or extreme, attract the realm of darkness and give the demonic realm legal right to remain in our souls and cause death and destruction.

Even if the original experience or sin, which may have initiated the negative thoughts, was somebody else’s fault, if the thoughts become a way of thinking for us, then the enemy can build a stronghold to operate from within our soul.

Strongholds of rejection, emotional woundedness, bitterness or unforgiveness amongst other things, which cause us to be weakened in spirit, will attract demons as they take advantage of a weakened, vulnerable soul. Strongholds of fear or doubt are another legal way that demons can gain a foothold as demons abound in fear and unhealthy vulnerability. The demonic attracts the demonic. So, a stronghold in one area may then attract a demonic stronghold in another area, which in turn could open the door to sex demons even if the original stronghold does not have a root of sexual sin. Obviously, strongholds of sexual sin are a clear doorway to sex demons even when it may be someone else’s sexual sin against you at fault rather than your own. 

My own experience

I believe that someone else’s sexual sin against me was a fundamental part of the root cause of my own history of sexual immorality, because, as a child, four different men molested me. None of it was extreme and none of it lasted long at all, yet it resulted in me possessing less value for my body. It also added to my lack of self-worth, which originally stemmed from having a father who was so disappointed that I was not a boy that he failed to visit me for the first three days following my birth. Although I am convinced that my dad loved his family, he was nevertheless a troubled man, strict and unaffectionate (unless he was drunk). He simply did not know how to role model healthy intimacy or affirmation to us.

Consequently, I battled with a spirit of rejection growing up. I believed the lie that so many girls believe, that we simply are not valuable. And then there was all the generational junk I also grew up with. As a child in a Hindu family I was surrounded by idol worship. Idol worship opens the door to the occult because, in reality, you are worshipping demons. Although the idol itself does not have any power, the demon or principality attached to it in the spirit gains authority in your life and is able to release demonic spiritual activity, subsequently building demonic strongholds in your mind.

By the time I became a Christian around the age of thirteen, I already had countless ungodly strongholds of dysfunctional thinking and destructive belief systems erected in my soul. As a new believer, although I loved God and found so much peace in walking with Him, I lived a life of compromise. I never really understood the gospel, or that God loved me unconditionally. I found comfort in Christ, but I never understood that I was made in His image and my worth and value was found in Him. Invariably, I looked for my value elsewhere. Though I went to church, prayed and studied the Bible, I also smoked, bunked school, read adult books and regularly snuck out of my bedroom window at night to meet with friends…

This article is based on an extract from Bobbi’s book Sacred Sexuality.