How strongholds work
A stronghold is basically an incorrect thinking pattern that has been burned into our mind. For example, seeing God as a cruel, distant and un-loving taskmaster is a very common problem in the body of Christ. Another popular stronghold is where a person sees themself as guilty, dirty and worthless, when God’s Word tells them clearly that they are cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb, and have been forgiven and made new by the work Christ Jesus has done for them!
When a stronghold is present in our minds, what we think along those lines will be automatically filtered through that thinking pattern. Let’s take the common stronghold where a person sees God as a cruel distant taskmaster; when you see God as un-loving, you will, without even realizing it, automatically reject His love, saying to yourself, “It can’t be true!”… because your belief (which is based upon a stronghold) is not willing to accept something that it does not believe. In other words, if we see God as distant and un-loving, it will cause us to distrust His love even when it is right before our eyes!
Demon spirits can really take advantage of strongholds in our minds, so tearing them down can be vital to a person’s overall deliverance. There are some great teachings on this site concerning strongholds and how to go about tearing them down.