“I got saved when I was 19 and I have been a Christian for 10 years. I’ve have been in active leadership roles such as leading adult small group Bible studies, being a youth leader, organizing and leading mission trips, and planning large group meetings for a college ministry.
My daily devotional life has been strong and consistent during most of my Christian life. I attended seminary for a year to obtain a certificate of ministry to better prepare myself for the mission field I hope to embark upon at some stage of my life. The Lord has become my best friend and I want to please Him with every aspect of my life.
That’s why it was so troubling when I seemed to keep stumbling in the same patterns of immoral behavior over and over again. It just grieved my heart terribly, because I knew my thoughts and actions were grieving the Holy Spirit. But I could not seem to overcome this issue. For me personally, that issue was being emotionally and physically attracted to other women.
I was very good at luring them into my web and getting them entangled in emotional dependency and lustful desires. They were very responsive to me, even though they may have been involved in perfectly healthy marriages. As this issue continued to linger, I realized there was a spiritual presence in my life that I had welcomed at some point in my life. I finally began to recognize the seriousness of this ongoing spiritual battle in my life, and no longer could I take a back seat and just let it continue.
I had to take an aggressive stand against the enemy and let him know that he was no longer welcome in my life and my relationships. The counseling that I received was intensive and very effective. The thorough exploration of experiences that I had as a child and that continued through my adult years was very revealing
I realized that I had innocently participated or been exposed to several things in my life that opened the door for those spiritual strongholds to come in and take root. I had to confess and renounce each of those activities one by one in order to effectively utilize the authority that I had been given in Jesus Christ. Certain strongholds such as pride and fornication I knew were present, but other strongholds that I never knew about such as seduction and fear of authority became apparent.
Just by uncovering the mystery of these hidden strongholds in my life and breaking agreement with them truly brought a new sense of freedom in my spiritual life. I was much more equipped to fight the spiritual battle, because I understood the opposition much better. The Word of God is the only weapon that I have, but I can learn to use it more effectively now that I know how and where to direct my prayer and study. I have consistently prayed the daily prayer that is suggested by Dr. Ibbitson, and it has helped me to be much more strategic and authoritative in my prayer life.
I know that I have come to a new level of freedom in my walk with the Lord, but I also know that I can’t just sit back and ride the wave. I have to continually take up the armor of God and fight the good fight of faith. I just feel much more equipped to do it now that I’m disassociated from the spiritual presences that were so deeply ingrained in my life. I praise Jesus Christ for the deliverance He has brought about in my life..“
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