June 13, 2025

“It’s demolition day!” 

Lucas picks up a sledgehammer and gestures for us to follow him down the narrow hallway. “You wouldn’t believe how much time it took to move all the furniture. I think everyone’s impatient to see the two small rooms become one big one.” 

Lucas is a friend of Ed’s who is helping renovate a building belonging to his church. Ed and I have come to pray with Lucas and the construction crew and to also get a peek at the progress of the renovations so far.

Lucas hands Ed and me protective glasses. “Stand back, it’s time to knock down this wall,” he says, rolling his shoulders a couple of times and taking the sledgehammer in hand.

Bam!!

I cover my ears as the sound of the sledgehammer hitting the wall echoes in the empty room. 

Bam!!

Lucas hits the same spot, but not even a hairline crack appears in the wall.

Bam!! Bam!!

The echoes of the last hit linger in the air. “That’s a pretty tough wall,” I say. Lucas laughs. “Yeah, these walls are thick. It looks like the sledgehammer isn’t doing much, doesn’t it? But if I keep hitting it…”

Bam! Bam! Bam!

A small crack appears. After a few hits, the small crack becomes larger, and finally, a whole section of the wall crumbles. Ed and I cheer Lucas on until the wall comes down. Ed says, “this reminds me of strongholds.” 

“What are strongholds?” asks Lucas

“This is how I summarize it,” Ed says, “It’s a mindset infused with hopelessness that causes us to accept as unchangeable situations that are contrary to the will of God. It’s when we use our human wisdom to rationalize our lack of faith in God.

“The book of James says:

“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” (James 1:6-8)

“That’s the effect a stronghold can have. A stronghold can be anything from believing that an unsaved relative can never come to Jesus, or that God can never help you become strong enough to overcome a sin, or even believing that your city and your nation can never change.

“Strongholds are sneaky, and it can take a lot of time to bring them down. They’re Satan’s foothold in our lives, and he does not like to relinquish territory. Often, when people realize they have a stronghold and they want to overcome it, they will start praying and reciting scripture and choosing to believe the opposite of what they’ve accepted for so long. This is the right thing to do, but at first, many people don’t see or feel any progress. In that moment, the stronghold looks as impenetrable as ever. That’s the point that many people are tempted to give up and continue to live with a lack of faith. But if we keep on “hammering away” at the stronghold with the truth, it will inevitably be destroyed! We just need to be persistent, like you were with that sledgehammer!” Ed says.

Lucas nods thoughtfully. “I think I know what you mean. I may have a stronghold or two to knock down.”

If you find yourself facing a stronghold today, be encouraged, because God has given us weapons in order to fight back:

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

This week, let’s practice “taking every thought captive” and declaring the truth over every situation, because before God’s truth, lies will inevitably come crashing down!

-Eutychus