Many battle addiction and strongholds in their lives from alcholism to pornography, and many others. They find they make promises time and time again to the Lord that this is the day they will shed this weakness and even plead with The Almighty to strengthen them to resist temptation. This cycle of addiction includes the promise to change, and in the end there is no fruit. The reason is that addiction is multi-faceted. There is a chemical aspect in the pain that activates pleasure centers like Dopamine, Serotonin, and other chemicals. There is that stress in your life raise cortisol and that makes you gravitate to this release and escape from the bad feelings. However, in addition to the biological and mental aspects of addiction, there is a spiritual one, the demonic. There is a such thing as generational sin, we have proven this with science that those from alcoholics have genes that predispose them to alcoholism, and I have seen in my life as people from lustful families battle lust. Why is this? Because family are not just passing down genetic dispositions to vices, they are passing down demonic strongholds.
Before I begin I want to express once more I am Spiritual Warfare Moderate, I am not in the extreme of the Devil is an allegorical and unreal threat, and I am not in the extreme of the devil made me do it and obsession with demonology. I agree with Chip Ingram, "Be prepared for spiritual warfare, do not be preoccupied with it, know how to do battle but do not look for a demon under every bush." (The Invisible War). Our eyes are to be fixed on Jesus not demons, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2). That said Jesus told us that we would caste out demons (Mark 16:17) and he tells us a secret to getting rid of subborn ones, the strongholds when he said, "But this kind of demon does not go out except by prayer and fasting." (Matthew 17:21).
There are certain demons that are stubborn, who have lurked in your family for ages, eons even, perhaps all the way back to the Adam and Eve! They stoke your addictions, they urge you with subtle justifications to give in and because you have disposition already to do so, it becomes ever so easy to do so. In order to give us an edge, we have to starve the flesh, which the stronghold demon manipulates, and this is fasting. Through fasting we allow ourselves to show dominance over the flesh through Jesus, and in prayer we have focus because the fasting gives us some confidence. Yes confidence is so key, it is something we tend to not talk about in the church, but without it you can let your relationship with the Lord grow lax and you stronghold tormentors to grow bolder.
Today is Ash Wednesday, and you my readers know I object to the ritual on the basis that is is not found in Scripture. The apostles never taught to have a somber season leading up to Easter. It is the invention of the false Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, it is the epitome of what the Apostle Paul attacks in the letter to the Colossians, "Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh." (Colossians 2:16-23).
What I think would be a better plan than to fast because of ritual not based on Scripture, is to fast based on Scripture. To as Jesus said fast and pray to remove these stubborn demons in your life. To seek The Lord's help in prayer on how to put an end to the behaviors that have consumed generation after generation. This is an opportunity to preform a real fast, not based on asceticism to merit favor from God, you already have God's favor! Rather to help you have confidence against the flesh, against the stronghold that has built itself up in your life and has claws in your family line. They say it takes 18 to 250 days to break a habit. The goal of the fast is to aid in your praying and to give you a wind in your sails to quit the addiction. It will not completely guarantee freedom, no that will require you doing warfare in making a choice each day, and to find some good habits to replace the bad ones. This is not a miracle spiritual diet, but it is based on what Jesus Our Lord God and Savior said to do in these cases. Why not try it? What do you have to lose? Why not tackle this from the biological, psychological, and spiritual sides?
I urge you instead of doing Lent to appear spiritual or follow doctrines from cults pretending to be churches, instead adopt the fast Jesus Christ our Lord instituted as a means to take on these kind of demons, "But this kind of demon won’t leave unless you have prayed and gone without food." (Matthew 17:21). Now I want you to be careful, you cannot fast too much or get malnutrition or even end up dead! You gotta be careful, so I recommend get your doctor involved on a fasting plan, and maybe give up on certain foods for certain days, or even do where you only fast a meal or two that day and pig out on the meal you eat that day. I do not want people to do wild fasting, Jesus fasted 40 Days because He is the Son of God and God Incarnate, we only human beings and God does not want you to harm your health! So do fasting sensibly and carefully, with your primary care doctor. Amen.
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