Breaking the strongholds of the enemy

• By candidasullivan
• July 1, 2024
• No Comments

Sitting with the Lord, I asked, what will it take to accomplish this dream in my heart that gets me up at 4 a.m. most days and makes me cry? What do I need to do?

A part of me wanted Him to spell it out for me. I wanted Him to say, here’s what you need to do and how long it will take you to accomplish it. I wanted God to tell me that He guaranteed my dream to happen. But He didn’t.

All I heard was two words: total obedience.

Since then, I’ve thought about those two words and what it means to be totally obedient to God. Then, He brought to my remembrance things He told me to do that I ignored. I don’t mind being obedient when I want to, but I struggle when God asks me to do things outside of my comfort zone.

It’s not that I want to be disobedient. Sometimes, total obedience feels so complicated and uncomfortable that I struggle to do it. My flesh is so weak. At the first sign of discomfort, I retreat and look for an easier way. That’s when I wander around in the darkness, with my eyes closed, looking for the light.

The enemy uses many strongholds to control us. He works in our thoughts and emotions, and when he has us stressed and overwhelmed, he offers something to ease the pain. He creates chaos in our lives and then tries to get us to use his devices to numb the pain.

Emotional eating has been my drug of choice lately. If we eat any other time than when we are hungry, it is emotional. And when I use things other than prayer when I’m feeling emotional and want to overcome it, I give the enemy power over me.

God is the comfort I need and the One I should seek.

It makes me mad that I allow the enemy to do this.
It makes me sad that I don’t fight harder to overcome every obstacle he creates.
It makes me determined to do better and to ask God to break every stronghold from the enemy.

Today is day one. I’m determined to do better and become better. I want to bring my flesh under subjection to the Lord. I want to be totally obedient to Him, regardless of the pain and discomfort it causes me.

Yesterday, I asked God to help me. I have several things that I need to do. I don’t want the enemy to use anything to control me. Even though I’ve tried, I can’t do this in my strength. But in the strength of my Lord, I can do all things.