INTRODUCTION
As we begin our Freedom Groups, we’ll spend the first 4 weeks
discussing Core Lies. In this section, we’ll discover how the lies we
believe about God, ourselves, other people, and things can hinder
our relationship with God, greatly affecting our walk in the Freedom
Christ has died for.

In this session, we’ll take a look at spiritual strongholds. These
patterns of wrong thinking form within our minds as we believe lies
Satan tells us about reality. As we live with these strongholds within
ourselves, the defenses and comforts we employ to defend them can
hurt our relationship with God and others. With God’s help, however,
we can overcome these strongholds in Jesus’ name!

THEME
Understanding spiritual strongholds and their destructive nature
within our lives helps us to recognize them within ourselves and
others, then seek God’s help in demolishing them.

OUTCOMES
- To understand the definition of a spiritual stronghold.
- To understand how spiritual strongholds are formed.
- To recognize the symptoms of a spiritual stronghold in both
ourselves and others.
- To understand God’s role and our role in removing spiritual
strongholds from our lives.

OPENING THOUGHT
There’s a popular phrase out there, “It’s not what you know, it’s what
you know that ain’t so.” Have you ever thought something was true
that later turned out to be false? How did you feel when someone
else tried to correct you? How did you respond to their attempt to
tell you the truth?

POST VIDEO QUESTIONS
- Read through the list of events below. What are some potential
lies the person involved could believe about God, themselves, other
people, or things in response to this event?
- A mother finds out her son is misbehaving at school.
- A pastor sees huge spikes in attendance in his church last quarter.
- A young woman is passed over for a promotion at work.
- An investor suffers serious financial losses in a recession.
- A teenager receives praise after winning a football game.
POST VIDEO QUESTIONS

ANATOMY OF A STRONGHOLD

- Look over the list of defenses and comforts listed in this section.
Have you noticed yourself using one of these defenses in the past?
What was happening in that situation? How did you feel during
that time? How did others react to you when you employed this
defense?

- Have you ever noticed someone being defensive towards you?
How did you react? What did you think in the midst of this situation?
- For many people, it’s difficult to admit they believe something that
is untrue. Why do you think people struggle to confess they may
have believed a lie?

ACTIVATION
Spend some time with the group and ask each person in silent
prayer and reflection to ask God the following:
- Where have I been employing defenses against You or someone
else in my life? Have I been seeking comfort in something other
than you?
- What was happening at the time? What was I trying to accomplish
with the defense or comfort?
- What is the lie beneath that defense or comfort?
- What event led me to believe that lie?
As God reveals the lie you have believed, and the event that
caused you to believe it, confess that you have agreed with the lies
and then ask the Lord:

- What is the truth about that lie? What is the truth about the event
that led to me believing it?

Write the truth the Lord has revealed to you about that lie. The Lord
may reveal His Truth to you through Scripture, give you a word
or vision from the Holy Spirit, or speak to you through a Christian
brother or sister. However the Lord reveals this to you, it will always
agree with His Word.

PRAYER
Father, I confess that I have believed a lie - that I have allowed
something else to be my source of truth. Help me to be completely
dependent on You to understand the world around me. Thank You
for revealing the truth about the lies I have believed. I renounce
the lie I have believed and receive the truth You have spoken over
me. Lord, I repent of trying to defend myself and look to You as my
defender and my comforter. You are my refuge and my strength.
Help me to take every thought captive and bring it directly to you. In
Jesus’ name. Amen.