How to Win the Battles in Your Mind – Breaking Strongholds
Did you know that the average person’s brain will process around 70,000 thoughts per day? How many of those thoughts do you reckon are negative ones? Ones that are unlikely to come true, or are created through fear/anxiety? About 80% of our thoughts are negative ones, and majority of our thoughts (95%!) are repetitive.
We are at war within ourselves each day. There is a spiritual battle going on in our minds. This is because the devil targets our mind. The battles in your mind are happening all the time with the amount of thoughts that enter in.
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” – 2 Corinthians 10: 3- 5
His weapon is to whisper lies about you that will fill up your mind. He wants you to think badly/negatively about yourself. He wants to keep you in that negative state of mind. The devil wants to distract you with those negative thoughts so that you will believe and obsess over them.
But do not give the devil even a second of your time. Do not entertain those negative thoughts and beliefs for even a moment. Cast down these imaginations. Cast out these negative thoughts in the name of Jesus.
Why Is There A Battle Taking Place In Our Minds?
The devil does everything he can to destroy God’s creation. And because we are created in the image of God, this is why he tells us lies about ourselves. The devil wants to keep us in a constant state of fear/anxiety.
The spirit of fear is not of God, it is from the devil, and it can cloud our judgment, and distract us from God’s plans and purpose for our lives.
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” – 2 Timothy 1:7
This is why we need to stay focused and actively fight against this daily war in our minds. We can overcome the battles in our mind. We can always rely on God to help us, even when we might feel so unsure or overwhelmed. When we are weak, He is strong. He can help you take down these strongholds that the devil has put in place in your life.
What is a Stronghold?
By definition, a stronghold is a type of fortress that is hard to break through or gain access into. The word stronghold is mentioned several times in the Bible, and in particular, Paul uses the word stronghold to refer to mindset (as seen in 2 Corinthians 10: 3-5).
When we understand the use of the word stronghold in the New Testament mentioned by Paul, we start to see that the devil has created these strongholds as obstacles in our walk with Christ. He doesn’t want us to succeed; he wants to tear us down. And what better way than to attack our minds.
From creating fear and anxiety to influencing us to sin, dangling our struggles right in front of us. Whether it be fornication, drinking, lying, covertousness, the list goes on, but redemption is nigh!
Jesus Christ died for our sins when He was nailed to the cross at Calvary. If you put your faith and trust in Him, and in Him alone and all that He has done for you, you will be saved. Your sins will be forgiven – they are washed away by the blood that Jesus shed on the cross.
This doesn’t mean that we will then live a sinless life. We are living in this world, still in the flesh and for many of us, will continue to struggle with certain sins that can tear us down or drag us away from the presence of the Lord. The devil knows this and will try to use our weaknesses to his advantage.
But this is why we need to take every thought captive! It all starts in the mind, and it can easily end there too. We can defeat the battles in our mind each day!
How to Take Every Thought Captive
Take every thought captive to God. Fill your mind with the word of God so that you will have no room for satan’s lies. Cast down those negative thoughts and beliefs about yourself. Do not entertain the devil’s lies in your mind. Stand strong in the Lord and stand firm in your convictions against continuing in a sin that you may be struggling with. God is with you, and He is for you. God wins. Therefore, we will win these battles in the mind!
8 Powerful Ways to Win the Battles in Your Mind
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Cast Down Imaginations
Cast out negative thoughts and beliefs from your mind in the name of Jesus! Do not entertain the devil, even for a second. We will have all kinds of thoughts running through our mind (with majority of them being repetitive ones), but once we have a better understanding of what is and isn’t from God, then we can do some deep cleaning in the mind and let those thoughts/imaginations go!
2. Question Those [Repetitive] Thoughts
A lot of our fears and worries will become repetitive, and most of them don’t even come true. But how do we challenge those thoughts? We need to question these negative thoughts that come into our mind. For example, if you are someone who is struggling with body image (like I have for such a long time), you need to think to yourself, is this how God wants me to feel and think about myself? God created me in His image. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. God sees me as a beautiful, wonderful creation that is important to Him.
We need to change the direction of the dialogue here. We need to question these negative and repetitive thoughts about ourselves, our body image, our lives, everything.
If we are not up to challenging these thoughts, and are ready to cast them out, then they are just going to end up finding a more permanent place to stay in our minds. Do it now, do it today!
3. Put On The Armor of God
When you are going through spiritual warfare, it is important to put on the armor of God. The armor of God is mentioned in Ephesians 6:10-18. It is a spiritual representation of Godly protection from head to toe that will help us endure throughout this daily warfare with the devil.
In Ephesians 6, God tells us to stand strong in the Lord and to put on this armor. Our battle is not against flesh and blood; it is against principalities, powers and rulers of darkness of this world. After all, the god of this world is satan.
Every day we have victory in Christ because of what He did for us when He died on the cross, was buried and rose again 3 days later. Jesus became the sacrificial Lamb, the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. He crushed the serpent’s head when He was nailed to the cross.
The devil will manipulate the truth of God, and thus lead you into a realm of deception, sin and disconnection from Our Creator (if you let him). Satan will constantly manipulate and attack/destroy God’s Word and His creations.
But know this: when you are getting spiritually attacked, know that you are a child of God. You belong to Jesus. Satan cannot harm you. Demons don’t have power over you. They might try to make you think that way, but it is actually the other way around. Demons tremble at the name of Jesus. When you call upon the name of Jesus, you can cast out demons in His name. Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the name above all names. Demons know that especially and must abide by that spiritual rule.
You will always have an advantage when you are in this daily battle with the devil and his demons. You have Christ on your side. So, do not be afraid – God is with you always. If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31).
4, Embrace the Fruits of the Spirit
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” – Galatians 5:22-23
The fruits of the spirit are mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23 and are a list of spiritual characteristics that one should embrace through the Holy Spirit. When we look at the list of these fruits mentioned in Galatians 5, we can understand that these are of God. Having these spiritual characteristics in our lives helps us to represent the body of Christ, with the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us, and keeps us living a Christ-centered life, with a strong, positive mindset.
Because when you are filled with fear and anxiety and lies from the devil, your mind is distracted from what is most important, which is God. His plan and Will for our lives is what matters the most, so we need to overcome these obstacles that the devil throws at us, and one of the best ways to do this is to embrace these spiritual fruits.
5. Create a Christ-centered Mindset
Because we are still living in the flesh, we are at constant war with our old selves, wanting to fall back into sin and live in the flesh alone, in this world. A lot of times, we get a lot of negative thoughts in our minds that can drag us down, and negatively influence us into sinning. The devil tries to mess with us in more ways that you can imagine. This is why there are these battles in your mind taking place.
One of the ways that he can get through to us, is putting those negative thoughts and beliefs in our heads, to try to twist us into living a life of sin, or falling back into our old ways, that Jesus saved us from.
The first time we read about the devil trying to mess with someone’s head is in the garden of Eden where the serpent whispered lies in Eve’s ears. He encourages her to eat of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, promising her lies such as her becoming a god, and that she will never die. When Eve falls into the trap of entertaining and following along with what the serpent told her, she eats the fruit, and then becomes absolutely mortified at what transpires thereafter.
We have to let Christ be the center for our thoughts/beliefs in our mind. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:16 that we have the mind of Christ. This means that we share the same perspectives and understandings of God’s plans and purpose for us. It also means that we share the same kind of compassion, obedience and need for prayer as Jesus.
The Mind of Christ is where:
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- Your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:5-8)
- Your wisdom comes from God (verse 7)
- You have received the spirit of God who teaches us by comparing spiritual things with spiritual (verses 12-13)
- You have the ability to spiritually judge all things (and have spiritual discernment) (verses 14-15)
Learn more about how to create a Christ-Centered mindset here.
6. Practice Breaking Strongholds Daily
This war is ongoing. It happens daily. The best time to start practicing breaking strongholds is now. Challenge each thought, cast it out in the name of Jesus and fill your mind with the Word of God. The more you understand about breaking strongholds in the mind, and actively wanting to create a better, more positive, Christ-like mindset, the more focused and disciplined you will be at winning the battles in your mind.
7. Memorize Scriptures
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” – Hebrews 4:12
Jesus used scripture to shut down the temptations from the devil when He was fasting in the desert for 40 days. We, too, can use scripture to destroy all negative thoughts and temptations from the devil. The Word of God is powerful. Let us fill up our minds with scripture and knowledge and wisdom from the Lord. Let us stay focused on what God has to say, not what the devil wants to whisper in our ears.
8. Practice Christian Affirmations
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:” – 1 Peter 2:9
“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well” – Psalm 139:14
Affirmations are positive words that you say out aloud about yourself, to encourage a shift in the mind from thinking negatively, to thinking positively about yourself. Christian affirmations are statements that Christians can and should read out aloud about who God says they are. These affirmations are based upon scripture.
For example, in Psalm 139:14 it says that, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made”. Saying that out aloud each day will help you to understand and believe that you ARE fearfully and wonderfully made by God. We are all made in the image of God. God created each and every one of us beautifully and uniquely too.
Reading affirmations each day will encourage us to think more positively about ourselves and to show more love and appreciation towards God our Creator.
Instead of focusing on the negatives about ourselves, or trying to create or entertain bad thoughts or feelings about us – whether it be about our appearance, personality, how we live our life, what kind of clothes we wear, or job we have, reading these Christian affirmations will shift the focus from these negative thoughts to more positive and Biblical ones that are in scripture.
You CAN Win The Battles In Your Mind
YES! You can definitely win the battles in your mind! All it takes is time, practice, determination, discipline and consistency. It is up to YOU to decide which thoughts you let in, and which ones you shut out. It is up to YOU to decide on which thoughts you will and won’t entertain.
This spiritual battle that we are in is on the daily when it comes to breaking strongholds in our minds. Never give up though. God is with you, He is for you, and He will help you!
Read over scriptures about who God says you are. Memorise and meditate on the Word of God each day. You can win this battle in the mind!
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