Title: Spiritual strongholds in America

Original CoS Document (slug): pwt-spiritual-strongholds-in-america

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Created: 2020-10-28 19:29:21

Updated: 2020-11-05 09:08:04

Published: 2020-11-02 03:00:00

Converted: 2025-04-14T21:07:23.235137356

Although many of us are praying fervently for the upcoming election, anyone with spiritual discernment can recognize that the problems in our nation are larger than can be addressed through political means, let alone a single election.

There are powerful spiritual forces at work that are behind the conflicts, and even the best election results will not solve them. 

Fortunately we are not helpless in the face of spiritual warfare, as the Apostle Paul asserts.

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

    —2 Corinthians 10:4-5

One of the greatest weapons of warfare God makes available to us is intercession. Through prayer we can do battle on behalf of our nation against strongholds and strategies of the enemy.

Here are some of the specific strongholds that I believe need the attention of prayer warriors.

Spirit of Jezebel 

Jezebel was a wicked queen in the Old Testament who led the people of Israel into idolatry. Many historians believe she was a high priestess of the goddess Asherah.

Aspects of today's culture that reflect a spirit of Jezebel include:

• idolatry, especially redefining God on our own human terms; narcissism, materialism
• witchcraft and sorcery, which have been on the increase in America for several decades
• sexual immorality, an integral part of pagan religious practices
• abortion, which is morally equivalent to the sacrifice of children to false gods as practiced by the pagan religions in the time of Jezebel
• radical feminism, opposing male leadership, devaluing masculinity, and creating an emasculated culture
• rejection of godly heritage, as the Israelites did under Jezebel's influence
• silencing the voice of the prophets, which we see today through political correctness, intimidation, and suppressed speech.

I encourage you to read Jezebel's War with America by Dr. Michael Brown.

Neo-gnostic Sexuality 

Gnosticsm was an ancient heresy that the early Christian teachers actively opposed. One characteristic was its concept of a dual aspect of human nature, with the spirit seen as good and the body evil. This was in contrast to the Hebrew understanding of the unity of the human being as an “embodied spirit.”

Gnosticism often led to sexual immorality, and twenty-first century neo-gnosticism can be seen in sexual deviations that disconnect sexuality and sexual behavior from the inner person, such as:

• promiscuity and the pick-up culture
• homosexuality - which disconnects the design of the human body from its sexual function
• transgenderism - which disconnects biological sex with inner “gender”
• abortion - also reflects gnostic thought because it separates the physical life of the child in the womb from its value as a person created in the image of God

Another book of interest is Love Thy Body by Nancy Pearcey.

Lawlessness 

We are seeing an increase in lawlessness that shows up as follows:

• rejection of the Ten Commandments
• rejection of the authority of the Bible more generally
• rejection of the idea of natural law and a created order
• distorting the meaning of the US Constitution through corrupt decisions of the Supreme Court
• public violence that is tolerated by civil authorities
• undermining the authority of the police

Deception and Manipulation

The political world has always been characterized by deception, but today we see it increasingly in:

• journalism
• education
• public discourse - censured and coerced speech
• manipulation of language - this was common during the French Revolution and under Soviet-style Marxism, and it was satirized by George Orwell in 1984. It has become common in American society under the influence of postmodernism.

Strategy Against Black Americans 

This existed in the earliest days of our country and continues today.

• slavery
• Jim Crow laws
• eugenics - common in the early 20th century
• abortion - targeting black children more than whites or other races
• destruction of the black family
• violence
• Critical Race Theory - supposedly aimed at overcoming racial oppression but in fact has the effect of creating resentment, anger, division, and a victimization mindset.

Anti-supernaturalism

America was founded with Christian ideals but was also influenced by Enlightenment rationalism which denies the supernatural. This continues today in the forms of:

• naturalism
• Marxist materialism
• Darwinism
• cessationism - the belief that Holy Spirit does not operate in the same level of fullness that he did during the period when the Bible was written

Spirit of Amnesia 

In Scripture we are regularly instructed to remember our godly heritage and the great acts of God in the past. Today we see an tendency to forget:

• lack of education in history and civics
• rewriting of history
• redefining the Constitution
• denigration of our national heritage
• rejecting the covenants of the early settlers - Cape Henry, Plymouth
• lack of theological education
• trendiness - especially in church life and worship