Strongholds and Soul Wounds

If we go back to the Book of Genesis, we can see God’s original intention and plan for mankind through Adam and Eve.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the Earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the Earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:26–27 ESV)

...and the Lord God formed man, of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7 NKJV)

There are a couple of important items to note in these two accounts of the creation of mankind.

1. God made man in the image of Himself, the Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). We were designed to look and be just like Him (spirit, soul, and body).

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23 AKJV)

2. God gave His breath of Life (His Spirit breath) and man became a living being. It wasn’t until man received the breath of God, His Spirit, that he lived.

God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24 AKJV)

We have been created like God. We have three parts that must all work together. God is often referred to as Light in other scriptures:

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5 AKJV)

You are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. (1 Thessalonians 5:5 AKJV)

God is Light, there was no darkness (sin) in Him. Adam and Eve only saw what the Light revealed. They had no knowledge or acquaintance with sin (darkness) until they ate the forbidden fruit.

And the LORD God called to Adam, and said to him, “Where are you?”

And he said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded you that you should not eat?” (Genesis 3:9-11 AKJV)

When darkness entered the first people through sin, their souls were now able to be affected by that which is sin. Their souls were vulnerable to darkness and they had a choice, to walk in Light or the darkness.

For you were sometimes darkness, but now are you light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (Ephesians 5:8 AKJV)

Their first instinct was to cover up and hide from God. We do the same thing; wanting to cover the sin and darkness in our lives and hide our true state from God and those around us. Why? Because being uncovered makes us feel insecure and vulnerable to attack. We look for ‘fig leaves’ to cover ourselves with.

At this stage, Adam and Eve were still in His garden, a protected place of abundance. When God came looking for them, they hid from Him, knowing He would see what had taken place. Because of their disobedience, eating from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, God banished them from His immediate presence resulting in them being cut off from their source of Life; God. Their spirits were cut off from His life-giving breath, or Spirit, which caused them to become starved of love because the Breath of God is love.

He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 John 4:8 NKJV)

God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them (1 John 4:16 NKJV)

With their spirits cut off from God, their soul and body were starved of love and they eventually died. God told them that death was the consequence of their disobedience and as a result, they would die within a day. A day can be as a thousand years in God’s eyes. Adam was 930 years old when he died. They died within 1000 years.

But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (2 Peter 3:8 NKJV)

The longer we have existed in this fallen state the more decay and destruction are produced resulting in the reduction of man’s lifespan which is approximately only 100 years. This is a far cry from the age of those who lived to be close to 1,000 years old.

Outside the Garden of Eden, mankind now had to make their way, living by the strength of their own hand and their own cunning and ideas. They were now a living soul in a body, cut off from their eternal life supply (love), so they began looking to each other to meet that hunger for love and to consume their lusts on one another.

We feel a hunger and a void that needs to be filled with “something more.” That hunger for “something more” is a built-in desire to know God and to be connected to Him. Unfortunately, we often look for human love (soul mate), entertainment, or physical items to fill this void when in actuality, there is only one that will satisfy us: Jesus.

The effect of the constant contamination upon the bodies and souls of mankind has not only reduced our lifespan, but it has also given the enemy access to us. When we experience shock or trauma, this can cause something we call “soul wounds” which allow the enemy to come in and create a “stronghold” for sin in our lives. Through these strongholds, the enemy acts upon our mind, will, and emotions to push us away from God and into sin.

Soul Wounds and Strongholds

Reproach has broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. (Psalms 69:20 AKJV)

Our souls can receive wounds from trauma in this world. Have you ever heard people say the phrase, “beside myself with fear” or “out of my mind with worry?” These are things that actually happen in the realm of the soul.

Imagine your life is like a bus carrying you along in life: A trauma or shock hits the bus and the door flies open, a part of you gets broken off and falls out of the door into the eternal realm: this is the realm that people who astral travel enter into. A demonic spirit is often lurking, looking for an opportunity to enter your life. It can be waiting right at that point to jump in the bus before the door closes and carries on with the journey. From this point forward in your life, the demonic spirits will begin pushing you into sin.

There is now a part of you trapped on the outside of your soul. The piece or part of you that fell off or was pushed out is now stuck in the eternal realm at that time and in that place, unable to get back in the bus that has moved on, it continually exists in the trauma of that event. I believe this is what Paul was writing about when he addressed fellow Israelites in Rome.

Now if I do what I do not desire to do, it is no longer I doing it [it is not myself that acts], but the sin [principle] which dwells within me [fixed and operating in my soul]. So I find it to be a law (rule of action of my being) that when I want to do what is right and good, evil is ever present with me and I am subject to its insistent demands. (Romans 7:20-21 AMPC)

Paul said it was “sin” working within him causing him to do what he did not want to do. When you encounter a circumstance that triggers the same emotions as the original trauma, then you may respond with the logic, emotions, and sin that took place back at the original age of that trauma and react a wrong way which is sin.

Have you ever been in a situation and you respond like a teenager or a child? You know you shouldn’t be angry, upset, emotional, or whatever you are feeling, but you just can’t help it. The excess emotion or total lack of emotion is the key to knowing it is a soul wound issue.

The effect of this can be most easily seen in children who have been traumatized through rape or molestation. Often, they will speak in the same childlike voice that they had when the trauma occurred because that piece of their soul is still stuck in that moment in time. In other cases of trauma, the victim may find themselves unable to keep from exhibiting childlike reactions to certain situations. It can also be the cause of many mysterious hard-to-locate body aches and pains in which there is no known explanation. Doctors call these types of aches and pains psychosomatic.

• Psycho: relating to the soul or mind.

• Somatic: relating to the body.

There can be parts of the trauma stored in the body and when the trauma gets healed not only the soul, but the body gets healed as the stronghold of the enemy is destroyed so that we are freed from the continued pressure to commit that sin again.

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. (Romans 6:17-18 AMPC)

Our obedience to God flows from our heart or soul. The enemy often uses our heart, the emotions present at the time of trauma, to manipulate us or enslave us to that sin. This condition is what some refer to as strongholds. It is a demonic spirit that has become attached to that wounded place. Every time we respond to the urging of that demonic spirit, its influence over us grows, building up a strong place to operate from.

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. (2 Corinthians 10:3-4 ESV)

These strongholds are in the spirit realm where the enemy resides. Once the soul is healed, then the stronghold can be broken. You will now be able to choose to be righteous and walk in God’s ways.

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled. (2 Corinthians 10:5-6 ESV)

You may be tempted, but you will be able to choose the right path. This is what it means to be free of sin: the enemy can no longer pressure you into it beyond your ability to resist!

The only way to heal a soul wound/broken heart, is through Jesus.

But do you for me, O GOD the Lord, for your name's sake: because your mercy is good, deliver you me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. (Psalms 109:21-22 AKJV)

When our heart is wounded we have our Lord that can heal us. That is part of the description used for Jesus throughout the Word of God:

The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised… (Luke 4:18 AKJV)

“Broken-hearted” is two Greek words: syntribō (sün-tre'-bo), meaning shattered to shivers, like slivered glass, and Kardia (kär-de'-ä), which is often translated heart but also means “the soul or mind, as it is the fountain and seat of the thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, endeavors,” according to Strong’s Concordance.

Jesus Brings us New Life

As discussed, until we are born again, our spirit is disconnected from God and has no life flow. Once we are born again, our spirit comes to life as we are reconnected to the Father. It’s important to grasp that because we are a three-part being: spirit, soul, and body. Our body exists in time, but our soul and spirit exist in the eternal realm. Both God and Jesus exist in the eternal realm unbound by the constraints of time:

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms… (Deuteronomy 33:27 AKJV)

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever. (Hebrews 13:8 AKJV)

Jesus is able to go back into the past traumatic events in our lives and open up an area of damage in our souls. We can invite Jesus our healer to come into that situation and that particular time in our lives and rescue us from the horror, fear, terror, fright, shock... or whatever the damage to our souls is and to retrieve that part of our soul that has become trapped in the trauma.

Jesus is the only true answer to a soul wound. To understand why, we must know a little bit about time and eternity:

• Our life is on a timeline: we always proceed in the same direction, going forward to the next moment in time.

• God resides in eternity and connects with every point in the timeline continually.

  • He is watching you journey through life: He sees your life - past, present, and all possible futures depending upon the decisions you make today.

  • He is the Alpha and the Omega; He knows all the possible ends at the beginning.

Jesus, like God, exists throughout all time. He will come at your invitation through prayer, and you can, with the leading of the Holy Spirit, go back to the trauma that is lodged in your innermost parts. He will rescue you, put you back in your body, heal you, remove the trauma, retrieve you from that place, and put you back into the core “You” here today. The end result is that the soul becomes healed and the enemy's ability to push you into sinful actions is removed.

Once our soul is healed, we can then confess, repent, and plead the blood over any wrong actions we did as a result of the wounded soul. This removes the place we gave the enemy in our lives and breaks the demonic stronghold. That strong desire to continue in sin will no longer be able to control you!

Let not sin therefore rule as king in your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies, to make you yield to its cravings and be subject to its lusts and evil passions. Do not continue offering or yielding your bodily members [and faculties] to sin as instruments (tools) of wickedness. But offer and yield yourselves to God as though you have been raised from the dead to [perpetual] life, and your bodily members [and faculties] to God, presenting them as implements of righteousness. (Romans 6:12-13 AMPC)

Through our Lord, the Healer of the brokenhearted, we can be free from the overwhelming desire to sin and choose righteousness. Once we are free of the sin, our bodies can be healed as well as our mind, will, and emotions.

Types of Soul Wounds

There are three basic situations where the soul can be wounded:

1. Our own sin which leads to a traumatic event

2. An attack that is often a result of an existing generational curse

3. The effects of sin or the environment at birth

Let’s look at each of these before addressing how to connect with the Lord to heal soul wounds.

1. Our Own Sin

Following the prompting of a demonic spirit may cause us to sin which leads to many soul wounds, but we must be willing to address the sin that led to the soul wound to be fully healed. Sometimes when we commit a sin it is at the prompting of a spirit. When we continue to obey that spirit’s prompting, it gains more power over us.

Do you not know that if you continually surrender yourselves to anyone to do his will, you are the slaves of him whom you obey, whether that be to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness (right doing and right standing with God)? (Romans 6:16 AMPC)

We cannot continue sinning and expect the Lord to bring us healing and freedom. One of the necessary steps to receive healing and remain healed is a willingness to learn and follow God’s ways to avoid sin.

God is light, and sin is connected to darkness which will flow into the soul where the mind, will, and emotions may become damaged to a greater or lesser degree. Like a virus in a computer, this can greatly affect the operation of our central processing unit, our soul:

• You may be unable to stop sinning, though in your mind and heart you wish to stop that behavior

• You may know that you should want to stop sinning, yet we cannot even get to the point of desiring to stop.

A damaged soul may be the cause of either of these states of being. The depth of sin involved will determine:

• How damaged the soul becomes.

• If a spirit was imparted which pushes you into sin.

• How long the healing process may be without assistance from the Lord.

Part of the soul-healing process would be to confess the sin that led to the wounds that occurred because of that sin. Even though we were wounded, we must be ready to fully confess our wrongdoing that perhaps even began the whole episode. This doesn’t mean we are at fault, or the attacker was justified. It merely means we are taking responsibility for any part we had in the matter of the soul wound.

2. Attacks that Wound Us

When we receive a soul wound without sin opening the door to the attack, that is often a sign that it is a result of a generational curse (See Identifying the Enemy). Before we reach an age of accountability, somewhere between eleven to twelve years of age, we do not fully know the difference between right and wrong. Sins committed before this age are not held against us, therefore when an attack comes upon a child under the age of accountability we know it is due to the rights of the enemy due to generational sin. We should confess for the ancestors when we are removing the strongholds of the enemy that began before the age of accountability.

Other soul wounds upon kids happen to us all because we live in a fallen world and none are perfect. Even well-meaning parents can unintentionally cause a soul wound to their children. It doesn’t mean you were a bad parent, only that you were not perfect.

The age a soul wound took place will also be a determining factor in its effect on our lives. The enemy knows that if he can traumatize a small child whose language skills and understanding have not yet been fully formed, then he can do more damage because they can’t express what has taken place, but they just “know” as they get older that something isn’t right.

There are many types of attacks that cause trauma and soul wounds, including sexual assault, abuse, and neglect. The enemy will use that wounded place in our souls to push us into sin, increasing his influence upon us every time we act in agreement with the urging of the spirits that came in with the trauma.

3. Wounds at Birth

And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, “Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus answered, “Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” (John 9:1-3 AKJV)

The question by the disciples and Jesus’ response shows us two things about issues that appear at the birth of a child:

1. They may be due to sin

2. They could be so the works of God can be manifested through them

When traits appear at birth, not all physical problems are due to sin. Some things are a result of the degradation of the human DNA from sin. Scientists can now trace how many generations have passed between two different samples of DNA by comparing the gaps: additional gaps appear in each generation. These may account for physical problems that occur at birth.

There are also environmental factors to consider when looking for a cause of something that occurs at birth. Only God knows if the cause is a generational sin or something else. Our wonderful Heavenly Father has not abandoned us, He has sent the answer.

Identifying a Soul Wound

We can identify soul wounds by seeing the results of the strongholds of the enemy. Do you:

• react in a wrong way to events in your life

  • become over emotional

    • lash out in anger

      • you can’t help getting angry over small matters

      • throw or hit things when you are mad

    • cry uncontrollably

      • if your spouse doesn’t respond the way you want; you break down in tears.

      • a friend says something; you take it personally

    • feel overwhelmed by despair

      • have suicidal thoughts

      • cry for no reason

    • suffer from anxiety

      • there is no reason you can pinpoint for anxiety

      • you are afraid of “normal” things

      • have night terrors or sleep paralysis

  • have no emotion

    • have a hard time connecting to others in friendship

    • replace “lust” for love

• continue sinning despite a desire to stop

  • know it is wrong but still want to sin

Soul wounds and/or enemy strongholds may contribute to all of these conditions. The wounds must be healed and the stronghold broken before true freedom can come.

Steps to Receive Healing

The Holy Spirit will reveal soul wounds as you are ready to deal with them. It may take more than one prayer session to get to the root issue and be fully healed. It is like pulling up weeds. Sometimes you must clear off a bit of the soil built up to get at the root and pull it free.

We may think we know what needs to be healed but my experience is that it’s not always what we think and often we end up being led in a totally different direction, but we know that no matter what is revealed the Holy Spirit knows what He is doing, and we can trust Him. The usual steps to soul healing are as follows:

  1. Invite the Holy Spirit to lead you

• Give Him permission to bring you a memory or information.

  • If you are already aware of an inability to stop sinning, e.g.: sexual sin of some sort - ask the Holy Spirit to show you the first time it took place because that is where the door was opened.

• If an emotional response to a situation reveals a soul wound, ask the Holy Spirit:

  • to show you how old you feel and once you become aware of the age

  • to show you what happened at that age

• If you feel older than your actual age it will indicate that you have an opening to the grave through contact with a dead body

He that touches the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. (Numbers 19:11 AKJV)

• most likely having touched them (like kissing a dead person at a funeral), or sleeping in a bed where someone has died.

  • In that case you need to cut soul ties with them and whatever they died of - like a sickness. That will usually be all you need to do.

• If you feel younger than your actual age it will relate to a past trauma where part of you is stuck.

  • Expect to become aware of a particular memory or event, a picture, a word, a thought that won't go away, body pain or discomfort.

    • You may have one or more of these.

The memory that you recall will be ‘alive:’ the emotions and feelings will be as if it's happening right now. Focus on the memory and ask Jesus to come into that time and place with you. If you see nothing, it may indicate something happened while you were in the womb or it may be a generational curse for a particular sin which merely needs to have the basic steps applied to it: confess, repent, and plead the blood over your sins and the sins of the ancestors.

 2. Identify the Response to the Trauma

There are three basic responses to shock and trauma:

A. Stunned or frozen

B. Flight or Fleeing

C. Shattered

Each one of these can be identified and will require different steps to receive healing.

A. Stunned

When you are stunned by shock and trauma, you will look at the memory as if you are looking through your eyes at what is taking place. The memory is often alive with emotions: anger, fear, panic, hurt.

This is the easiest trauma to deal with. It is a simple soul healing with no additional steps.

B. Fleeing

Your soul can flee the trauma in two ways:

• Moving outside the body

  • You will see the memory from outside yourself like you are hovering in a corner of the room or watching it on a screen.

  • You must ask Jesus to forgive you for leaving your body. “Due to the shock and trauma that happened when I was ____________, I came out of my body without meaning to.

  • Ask Him to come and get you and put you back in your body at that moment in time

    • You may see Him come and do that.

  • He will also block anything bad from continuing to take place.

    • He will come between you and the attacker or block whatever is happening so it can no longer hurt you.

• Running or hiding within yourself.

  • You will see the memory from inside your own eyes.

  • The emotions may be muted or you may feel distant from the emotions.

  • You will need to confess for hiding and ask the Lord to bring you fully into that memory.

  • You may also need to remove any walls that were built up.

C. Shattered

In rare cases, you may see it from both of these perspectives. This is an indication that there is a shattered soul. You may need the steps from both moving outside your body and hiding within yourself.

At this point in the soul healing, you may feel all the feelings that took place during that event – shock, fright, terror, anger, fear, hatred, panic, hysteria, paralysis, etc. - which can be very scary and terrifying so ask Jesus to give you the courage to face what is happening and to come and rescue you. Look for Him to appear and you may see Him in the memory with you. He will never leave you to face it alone and His peace will surround you during this process.

Once you feel that you are in your body and now looking out of your eyes, thank Jesus and ask Him to help you identify the feelings involved in that moment. If the situation is very traumatic it can be helpful to have others pray with you to help you identify them. This serves two purposes:

1. It will help you identify when you have given in to a demonic spirit by responding to those feelings in a wrong way so that they can be included in your confession.

2. It will help validate your soul.

   1. Feelings are not bad, they are part of our soul.

   2. Jesus said, “Be angry and sin not.” (Ephesians 4:26)

      1. Anger is not a sin, but how we respond to it could be.

 3. Find the Spirit Involved

List any sins or spirits that are associated with what is happening in the memory: spirits of terror, fear, panic, hysteria, powerlessness, helplessness, etc. - whatever Holy Spirit shows you.

• Confess, repent, and plead the blood over these sins: include “every time I have responded to these feelings in agreement with a spirit that is not from God from that point forward in my life” in the confession.

• Did your ancestors also act this way? Did it occur before you were 11 years old?

  • If so, confess that your ancestors were also guilty of this sin, renounce the sin, and plead the blood of Jesus over it.

 4. Complete the Prayer

Address your Heavenly Father and do the following:

• If there is unforgiveness toward the person or people involved in traumatizing you, declare your forgiveness.

• Take the Sword of His Spirit and cut all soul ties and familiar spirits between you and them, and between you and the place where it occurred.

• Ask Jesus to now retrieve that part of you from the memory and put you back into your adult body here in the present today and watch as He does that.

 5. Test the healing

Think back to the memory.

• If it is still clear or there is still emotion attached to it, then something was missed.

  • It should only be a memory that is fuzzy, blurry, or vague and it will not feel like it's alive anymore.

• Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything you need to take care of.

  • It may be additional emotions or sins or even an earlier memory of where it began.

Once the memory has faded and without emotion, receive His peace to fill the empty space that’s now there because they have left and ask Him to seal the open doorways with His blood then leave it in His hands.

Freeing Your Mind

The Holy Spirit revealed that He could be blocked from helping us receive healing. It was a situation with my daughter that brought this to light:

For weeks my daughter had been seldom seen, which is totally unlike her. I told her about the freedom I had recently found. I asked, “Is it possible that something like this is the reason you’ve been in your room so much?”

“Something definitely feels off,” she shrugged.

When I asked the Holy Spirit to reveal what was causing her to hide in her room, she said, “All I get are glitching scenes with lines through them, I can’t make out what I’m seeing.” When I asked the Holy Spirit to clear it up, she got a headache.

My daughter has a keen gift of discernment. When exposed to defiled objects, it often manifests as a headache. This was a message from our Guide: a spirit was blocking her mind. Leaning on Him for wisdom, He revealed that my daughter had been turning to worldly entertainment and an active imagination (internal daydreams) as a coping mechanism for a situation she didn’t want to deal with. The actions were not sinful, but responding to the prompting of another spirit gave that spirit a place to operate in her mind.

Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey… (Romans 6:16 AKJV)

The action doesn’t have to be a sin. It could be something that is consuming your time or outside of God’s will for your life. If you give in to a demonic spirit over and over, then that spirit will gain influence over you. Participating in sin brings the negative spiritual influence up to another level because sin separates us from God:

…but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. (Isaiah 59:2 ESV)

Knowingly continuing to break the Ten Commandments will cause us to lose connection with God. Paul spoke about this to fellow Israelites:

For if we go on deliberately and willingly sinning after once acquiring the knowledge of the Truth, there is no longer any sacrifice left to atone for [our] sins [no further offering to which to look forward]. (Hebrews 10:26 AMPC)

They intended to make their yearly sacrifice for sins that would keep them in good relationship with God. This is not so. Intentional sin will separate us from God and keep us from hearing the Holy Spirit. Now we know that if we follow actions that are not even a sin, but prompted by another spirit, it may give a demon a way to hinder us. When we submit to a spirit, it begins to have power over us. The first stronghold is often in our thoughts and our mind. In my daughter’s case, to remove the blockage, she had to take several steps:

1. Confess that she had listened to another spirit by using worldly actions as comfort instead of seeking God to deal with it.

2. State that she has no desire to follow any spirit but Holy Spirit.

3. Confess that her ancestors were also guilty of this.

4. Repent (turn from) for listening to any other spirit and using these activities as comfort.

5. Ask the Holy Spirit to help her identify when a spirit is influencing her.

6. Plead the blood of Jesus over these sins.

7. Thank Jesus

8. Renounce the spirit.

9. Ask Jesus to cleanse her mind and soul with His blood.

These are the basic steps to removing a spiritual influence. If you have been knowingly committing a sin, such as living together outside of marriage, drugs, or getting drunk, you will need to follow the same steps to remove spiritual blockages.

When you are being influenced, it can be hard to spot. One of the jobs of the demons assigned to us is to keep us from being productive for the Kingdom of Heaven. Keeping this in mind will help you spot their influence as you look for patterns in your life. A few questions to ponder:

• Is there something that you “can’t do without?”

  • You need it to comfort you

    • food or a type of food, movies, working out

• Do you need something to get you started for the day?

  • coffee, energy drink or even hot tea

    • drinking these are not a sin - needing them to function is

• Do you need something to sleep at night?

  • wine, a beer, sleeping aids

    • a glass of wine or beer, an occasional sleeping aid is not a sin

    • if you need them for more than 3-4 days in a row, there may be a spirit influencing you

Are you “in hiding?”

• Is most of your free time focused on entertainment, especially when you are facing an unpleasant dilemma? 

  • you may be avoiding interaction with people or certain people, especially those you are close to

• Do you find it hard to worship or spend time with God?

  • it feels like a chore

These are only a few more common examples. If situations like these are recurring in your life, the enemy may be “pushing” or “nudging” you into them. Ask Holy Spirit to show you if these actions are in response to another spirit. Follow the steps above to remove the stronghold of the enemy. Once this is done, you are ready to have His help in healing a wounded soul.