Strongholds: What They Are and How to Pull Them Down

By Ed Silvoso

Strongholds are incorrect thinking patterns that form when we listen to--and believe--the lies of the enemy. When we get trapped in these patterns, they drive us into hopelessness and despair. Here bestselling author Ed Silvoso gives you a simple process and biblical truths to help renew your mind, break the power of strongholds, and live victoriously.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
• Release date: Aug 21, 2018
• ISBN: 9781493413423

Ed Silvoso

Dr. Ed Silvoso (www.edsilvoso.com) is the founder and president of Harvest Evangelism Inc., and also of the Transform Our World Network (www.transformourworld.org), which is composed of thousands of pulpit and marketplace influencers across the globe. He is widely recognized as a visionary strategist and solid Bible teacher who specializes in nation and marketplace transformation. Dr. Silvoso has been trained both in theology and business, and his work experience includes banking, hospital administration, financial services and church ministry. As a strategic thinker with a passion to equip ordinary people to do extraordinary things, he has spent his lifetime mining life-giving biblical principles for transformation and linking them to practical application for Christians so that they will see transformation impact their lives, families, spheres of influence and, ultimately, their cities and nations. Dr. Silvoso's bestselling books on the topic of transformation have become groundbreaking classics. His DVD series Transformation in the Marketplace with Ed Silvoso provides tangible validation of the transformation principles at work by documenting prototypes now being developed on every continent. Dr. Silvoso and his wife, Ruth, have four married daughters and twelve grandchildren. For more details on his life and ministry, see the Wikipedia article "Ed Silvoso" at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Silvoso. You can contact him at [e-mail].

Book preview

© 2016, 2018 by Ed Silvoso

Adapted from the book That None Should Perish by Ed Silvoso

Published by Chosen Books

11400 Hampshire Avenue South

Bloomington, Minnesota 55438

www.chosenbooks.com

Chosen Books is a division of

Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan

www.bakerpublishinggroup.com

Ebook edition created 2018

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

ISBN 978-1-4934-1342-3

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible®, copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations identified NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Preface

Introduction

The Cruelest Slavery Is Ignorance

Satan’s Arsenal

Strongholds—The Secret Weapon

Five Characteristics of Spiritual Strongholds

Biblical Insights Needed

Personal Application

An Empowering Vision

Important and Vital Aftercare

About the Author

Preface

In order to disciple all the nations and take the Gospel to every creature, the Church is called to engage the forces of evil. The battleground is the heavenly places. This is where the battle for our cities is won or lost. Spiritual strongholds are Satan’s secret weapon in waging that battle. It is through the surreptitious use of strongholds that Satan controls the behavior of many believers and, as a result, the behavior of a sector of the Church. These strongholds must be identified and destroyed in order for Christians to become victorious and for the Church to regain control of the heavenlies.

I describe strongholds as Satan’s secret weapon because they enable him to control the behavior of Christians by driving them into hopelessness as to their destiny. This forces them to live in a prisoner-of-war (POW) camp while awaiting the triumphal arrival of their Commander in Chief, instead of taking over the camp to turn it into a Marine base from which to liberate other camps. Like the people of Israel in ancient Egypt, Christians are more and mightier than all the evil forces under Satan’s command. Satan knows that greater is He who is in you [us] than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). The problem is that many believers don’t know it, because, like Pharaoh, Satan knows how to deal wisely with them, or else they will . . . fight . . . and depart from the land [of captivity] (Exodus 1:9–10).

I present the scriptural truths in this booklet in a systematic way that is easy to understand. They are truths that will set you free by renewing your mind and positioning you to receive the power to become an overcomer. Read on, because you will soon taste victory in areas where you had given up hope before!

Introduction

Is it possible for someone to be blind and not know it? To be miserably poor and believe otherwise? To think, in all honesty, that he or she is dressed and to walk around naked? Yes, it is entirely possible. It happens every day. In

Reviews for Strongholds

[Shely Valley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father " wow this Scripture opened my eyes. We are called to overcome the battle so we may sit with Him in heaven. If we give up we won't make it !!

[Oluyemisi Vese · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Short but powerful reading. Attacks the very root of negative strongholds and gives clear direction on overcoming it. Thank you so much for this book.

[Christopher Lewis Kozoriz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"A spiritual stronghold is a mindset impregnated with hopelessness that causes us to accept as unchangeable situations that we know are contrary to the will of God.
When Christians find themselves powerless to change a situation that they clearly know goes against the will of God, they must suspect the presence of a spiritual stronghold." (Ed Silvoso, "Strongholds")

The above quote is the author's definition of spiritual strongholds. He teaches we are enslaved to these strongholds because of ignorance and ignorance is the cruelest of slavery. He teaches there are five characteristics of spiritual strongholds:

1. Strongholds are located in the mind;

2. Strongholds are often made up of good thoughts and intentions;

3. Strongholds often develop in the shadow of our strengths;

4. Strongholds are often activated by painful trauma and detonated by crisis; and

5. Strongholds create a double mind that results in spiritual and emotional instability.

He goes into much detail explaining each of these characteristics and then explains how we can pull down and destroy these strongholds by fighting and using the mighty weapons that God has given us (See 2 Corinthians 10:3-6). He says, "According to 2 Corinthians 10:5, strongholds much be destroyed. They are not to be remodeled. They are not to be repainted or covered with wallpaper. They are to be destroyed." He then gives 5 steps to doing this using the biblical insights from James 4:7-10:

1. "Submit...to God" (James 4:7);

2. "Resist the devil" (James 4:7);

3. "Draw near to God" (James 4:8);

4. "And He [God] will draw near to you" (James 4:8);

5. Deal with both the outward manifestation and the root cause.

He takes you through a journey through each of these steps and gives practical insights, including determining by the Word of God what God's will is for the situation you find yourself in.

If you want a starter book on the topic of spiritual strongholds, then this book is a good book to begin with!

[Clems Aigbe · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An eye opener, really awesome and powerful. God bless Ed.