Maximize your Strengths

Romans 12:6-8

Significant woman of the day - Anne Frank

“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”
—  Lucille Ball

maximize- make as large or great as possible, make best use of 

Satan’s Strongholds

Adapted from the resource Battlefield of the Mind - by Joyce Meyer

A stronghold is an area where we’re stuck in bondage—any part of our lives in which Satan imprisons us. He does this by causing us to think a certain way—a way based on lies we’ve been told. As long as we believe the lies, we will stay imprisoned by those strongholds. To enjoy freedom, we have to learn to use God’s mighty weapons.

In my book Battlefield of the Mind, I told a story about Mary, who had been mistreated and brainwashed by her father so much that by the time she was a teen, she didn’t trust men. It’s no wonder that she and her husband faced constant conflict in their marriage. For years, the enemy had been lying to her, and she believed the lies.

Mary isn’t one isolated case. I also know a guy named Daniel, who’s very intelligent. In fact, his family used to tell him he was the smartest man in town. God had given him a strong mind, but Satan used that fact to imprison him. Until he met Jesus, Daniel believed he was smarter than and superior to everyone else. Because of his pride, it was easy for him to be deceived and think more highly of himself than he should. He became critical and judgmental of others who he felt weren’t as brilliant as he believed he was.

Patricia’s story was somewhat like Mary’s, except that her father constantly and specifically told her that she was no good, she was worthless and should marry the first man who would have her. That’s exactly what she did, and she lived a miserable life. She felt she was never good enough for anyone.

Mary, Daniel, and Patricia had been trapped in different prisons, but Satan was the jailkeeper for each of them. All three lived miserable lives until they learned what Paul meant by “the weapons of our warfare.” The Word of God is the weapon that set them free. That weapon became effective through preaching, teaching, books, audio messages, seminars, Bible study groups, and their own private studies. They also learned to use other spiritual weapons: praise, worship and prayer. They learned that when we genuinely praise God from our hearts, we defeat the enemy faster than any other battle plan.

They didn’t overcome every problem the first day—it was a slow process, but it was worth the wait. Patricia later said, “It took a lot of years for me to become imprisoned by the enemy’s lies, so why not give God plenty of time to work out His plan to set me free?” Our victory is not a one-time event—it’s a process.

“The more I realized how badly Satan played with my mind,” Daniel said, “the more I could stand against him. The truth of God’s Word made me free.”

Praise and prayer are great weapons that we can use to overcome the power of the evil one. Praise helps us keep our minds on God, His power, and the good things that are happening in our lives. It is proof that we believe He can and will help us.

Genuine prayer also reflects our relationship with God and shows that we depend on Him. We’re His children, and He’s our Father. When we pray, we open the door for God’s help. When we ask Him to free our minds and give us victory over Satan’s strongholds, He answers those prayers. In fact, He’s more eager to answer our prayers for help than we are to ask. When we pray in faith, tremendous power is made available to us (see James 5:16).

As we truly understand that we are God’s children, we’ll gain confidence to use the weapons He’s given us. The weapons are there; we just need instruction on how to use them and encouragement not to give up. We can win because God has provided all the spiritual weapons we need, and because Jesus has promised to always be with us (see Matthew 28:20). With His power on our side, we can’t lose!

Prayer Starter: Father, help me understand that this battle is spiritual, and teach me how to use the weapons You’ve given me to win against every attack of the enemy. In Jesus’ Name, amen.