What can topple a government? A “strongman.” What is the strongman in America? I believe it begins with the original sin—pride. It was the motivating factor behind Satan’s move to overthrow God and it continues. If we remove that strongman, could it be the key to seeing this march of evil against America stopped?
Mark 3:27 (ESV) tells us, “But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.”
It’s time we plunder the strongman of pride and its minions that have been launched against our nation. This is a battle of the spirit, not the flesh, and we must fight as such.
“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete” (2 Cor 10:4-6, NASB).
In the spirit realm, pride is a strongman but we need to remember demonic spirits never work alone. Lesser spirits work in conjunction where a “strongman” has established dominion. But if we take out the lynchpin (pride), the lesser spirits will soon follow.
The root behind the battle against America can be seen from the beginning when Lucifer determined he was greater than God. He set in motion the first coup attempt to overthrow the heavenly kingdom.
“For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High'” (Isa. 14:13-14, NLT).
Once pride took root, we can see Satan was “infected,” which is what pride does. It then launched a spiritual “virus” of seven-stages, which ultimately leads to insanity and death. This progression can be seen repeatedly through the Bible as pride took hold. Consider King Saul vs. David, Mordecai vs. the Jews, Korah vs. Moses, Sanballat vs. Nehemiah, Herod vs. Jesus, the Pharisees vs. the apostles, etc. This is the true pandemic not only in our nation but across the globe—a spiritual pandemic—far more deadly than COVID. Each was intent on removing the object of their scorn as pride took hold and the other stages of the virus became their motivating force. It didn’t end well for any of them.
Sadly, even today, many are infected by this spiritual plague and don’t even realize it.
How can we cut it off? It starts with binding the strongman of pride.
Stage 1 of the virus is—Pride/Jealousy. Lucifer was beautiful and wise, which became his downfall.
“You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared” (Ezek. 28:13, ESV).
“The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God: “Because your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas,’ yet you are but a man, and no god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god— you are indeed wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you; by your wisdom and your understanding you have made wealth for yourself, and have gathered gold and silver into your treasuries; by your great wisdom in your trade you have increased your wealth, and your heart has become proud in your wealth—” (Ezek. 28:1-5).
Once pride has been embraced, it opens the door for the next two stages, which are the twins of offense followed by deception. They always work together. Satan’s offense came perhaps as Adam and Eve were elevated above the angels. Rather than celebrating God’s creation and working with them, Lucifer chose to sabotage their authority and claim it as his own.
In his pride/deception, he believes he was wiser, smarter and able to take over the kingdom of heaven. Once we as individuals allow pride to take root, offense and deception will always follow and the nature of deception is we don’t realize we are deceived.
Stages 4, 5, 6 & 7 of the virus will ultimately follow without repentance and divine intervention. One clear example of this progression is seen in the New Testament as the Jewish leaders, in their pride and jealousy, sought to remove first Jesus and then the disciples from a place of influence. It is important to recognize how the spirit of pride works closely with jealousy. They operate hand in hand.
It’s time that the church stepped up to take back what the devil stole and uproot the spirit of pride prevalent in our own lives and churches before we can take back what Satan has stolen in our nation.
Remember, Luke 11:21-22 (NASB1995) tells us, “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are undisturbed. But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder.”
Let’s bind the strongman so we can see America prosper and revival begin.
Prayer: Lord, we repent first individually for where we have allowed pride to enter our lives and have believed that we were better, smarter, more deserving, etc., than others. Where we have allowed offense to take root, we uproot it now and ask for forgiveness where we have held resentment in our hearts against others. Father, if deception is operating in our lives, we repent and ask that you would reveal it and remove it. Help us to see clearly so that we can walk in the light and align our hearts with what You are doing and not follow the path of pride and offense. We pray that also for our family, our church, our leaders and our nation. Lord, deliver us from this evil progression and help us to walk in truth so that America can be saved and fulfill her prophetic destiny. {eoa}
Karen Hardin is a literary agent and writer. She is the author of “Infected: How to Stop the Global Spread of Rage, Deception and Insanity” and “God’s Justice after Injustice.” Her work has been published in USA Today, Western Journal, World Net Daily, Intercessors for America, Charisma, CBN.com and more. She is also the co-founder of the city-by-city.org prayer movement to take back our cities and nation.
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