Bobby Chandler - Broken Heart
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Summary
In this sermon titled «Broken Heart» from the «Communicating with God» series, Bobby Chandler teaches that a broken heart from pain, loss, or rejection makes us most vulnerable to spiritual strongholds where Satan masquerades as a false comforter offering worldly relief. Drawing from Daniel 10, Romans 8, and especially 1 Kings 22 with King Ahab’s deception by lying spirits, he warns that the enemy exploits open wounds with lies disguised as comfort, but persistent prayer and obedience to God’s true voice through the Holy Spirit bring genuine healing and freedom. The key takeaway is that God’s unfailing love and power through prayer always overcome hell’s schemes, turning brokenness into testimony when we allow Him to heal our deepest wounds.
Opening Engagement and Series Introduction
How many of you were here last Sunday? Make some noise in the building! Man, I had a good time with you guys last Sunday. We started a brand-new series titled «Communicating with God, » and what this is going to be about is growing in how we speak to the Lord, okay? How to hear God’s voice, how to know when He’s trying to give you a warning in life, how to know when He’s trying to direct you toward a path. We’re going to talk about a lot of deep things throughout this series; it’s going to be really good.
We’ve been talking about prayer, and we’re going to continue with prayer today as well. But we’re also going to talk about visions, dreams, and the power of the Holy Spirit. How, through God, by listening to the Father, our lives can be completely changed. I believe a lot of you right now have been asking, «Pastor, how do I hear from God?» because you really need an answer. You really need to know how this situation is going to turn out. I know what it’s like sometimes to have life attack you over and over again, and you’re on the verge of losing your faith. But I’m going to encourage you this morning: do not give up hope, for the source of all hope comes from God. Everything good in your life right now, even though it may feel like life is attacking you, is still from a loving Father, and He’s guiding you along the way. You just need to grow in hearing His voice, and I believe that He will make it very clear to you.
Recap: Spiritual Warfare and Strongholds Over Cities
Last week, we talked about strongholds over cities and countries. So what does that mean? Ephesians chapter 6 tells us that this is not a physical war. A lot of times when you get angry at somebody, you want to punch them in the face, you want to talk badly about them, you want to do something physical. But you can’t fight a spiritual battle in a physical way; it will not work. I don’t care how big or strong you are; it’s not going to work. God has given us spiritual weapons to stand our ground and to believe, «Hey, there’s hope in this, and it’s going to be okay.» Last week, we talked about strongholds over cities, regions, and countries, and we discussed Daniel chapter 10, one of my favorite passages.
It’s so interesting to me because Daniel is fasting and praying for 21 days. He’s saying, «Lord, will You just answer my prayer? Will You just give me the answer that I desire?» Then the archangel Gabriel shows up out of nowhere and says, «You know what? I want to tell you: on the first day that you prayed, God heard your prayer. But what you don’t know is happening around you is that there is spiritual warfare taking place.» The enemy wants to take his demonic army and gain control over regions, cities, and even countries because the enemy, Satan, always wants control—whether it’s over the country, your life, or your heart. He wants to force you to do what he wants because he wants you to rebel against God. This is the spiritual battle we see in Daniel chapter 10 as he prays against the enemy.
But here’s good news for you today: no matter how big or bad the army of hell may look, the power of hell will never be able to overcome the power of prayer. Let me say that again: the power of hell will never be able to overcome the power of prayer. Every time you pray the will of God, angels go out to fight, and God’s will will be done. Here’s the good news: God’s love will always be shown through every situation, every hard time, and every good time. God’s love will be shown.
God’s Unfailing Love
Let me prove it to you. Romans chapter 8, verse 38, New Living Translation says: «I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons.» Some of you need to hear this today: neither the fears for today nor the worries about tomorrow. It doesn’t matter what you’re going through; it doesn’t matter what life looks like right now. The love of God will always shine through, but I love how it ends: «Not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.» God has already conquered the enemy, and you need to believe that. Because it’s hard, we come into this room on Sundays and say, «Yes, God is good, » but during the week, when you have one attack, that one person says something against you, it’s like, «Man, I don’t know if I can do this anymore. I don’t know if I can keep going.»
I’m telling you right now, it is spiritual warfare over your life, and God may use you to save the very same person you don’t even like. Why? Because that’s a testimony to His love. Why? Because His love will always shine, no matter the situation, no matter what it looks like. But last week, we talked about strongholds over cities, and today I want to talk about strongholds over your heart. The title of today’s message is «Broken Heart.»
Vulnerability of a Broken Heart
Now, why would I name the sermon «Broken Heart»? It’s because the easiest way for the enemy to attack your heart is when it’s broken. The easiest way for the enemy—he’s looking at your life, he’s looking at what you’re going through, he’s looking at the areas that you’re struggling in. We are in our most vulnerable state when we feel like our heart is broken, and that is the moment Satan wants to jump on in. Have you ever noticed that before? You’re going through something, and all of a sudden things start popping up. People start coming back into your life—temptations that you thought you got rid of a long time ago start coming back. Why? Because the enemy sees that you are vulnerable; he knows that you’re hurting right now.
The truth is we have grown up in a culture where we desire love so much; we actually worship the idea of fairy-tale love. We do. We worship it in the culture we’re in, and we are desiring this love. Then, when we receive love, sometimes it’s hard to understand why we go through difficult situations or why we have problems. I thought a fairy-tale love meant that everything was going to be perfect right after the wedding. But there’s a reason that Disney movies stop at the wedding. You never know what happens next. Prince Charming may have messed up on the toothbrush or something; he’s probably getting yelled at. You never know. There are problems, and the enemy is going to attack us, especially when our heart feels broken.
The Need for Love and Its Consequences
Something interesting caught my attention when I saw this article. It stated that studies have shown that babies who are deprived of comfort and love during the first six months of their lives can grow up to be psychologically damaged. I believe that some of us have experienced that in one way or another. Maybe you grew up in a family where you never heard the words, «I love you.» Maybe you grew up and you never heard the words, «I’m proud of you.» A lot of times, what that does—and you may be struggling with this today—it brings insecurities into your mind. You have these insecurities, and you’re constantly trying to prove to people that you’re somebody. You’re trying to prove to people that you’re worth being loved because maybe you grew up in a way where the only reason you ever heard «I love you» was because you proved it—whether through sports, academics, or anything else. You didn’t receive that.
What I’ve noticed as a pastor is that when people come up to me and say, «I want to get closer to the Father, but I don’t know how, » I realize that they’re taking the same insecurities they had with their earthly family and bringing them into the kingdom of heaven. They’re looking at God like, «You may not be everything I think You are because I’ve been failed before, or I’ve been hurt before, or I’ve had a broken heart within my family.» These are real struggles. The article also stated that for a lot of people, a significant key factor to their happiness depends on how they feel loved or cared for. That’s true.
Think about how we battle with this right now. When you have good days and bad days, and you have a really bad day, why? Because a lot of times, you feel attacked. You don’t feel hurt; you feel like you’re not worth something. You feel like you’re not valued for who you are. You have to prove all these things, and the enemy sees that. Because we live in a fallen world, everybody in this room is going to make a mistake. We’re all going to say something dumb; we’re going to do something we regret. I’m telling you right now, we live in a fallen world, and because of that, we deal with real people. We also know what it’s like to have heartache.
Let me ask you a question: how many of you have been tormented with a broken heart? I think all of us could raise our hands. If you’ve had any life experience, you know what that’s like. It could be in a relationship, it could be in a marriage, it could be with your friends, or it could even be because of a death. We’re trying to find something to bring peace, but we don’t really know how. Here’s a truth: let me flip this. The world tells you that everything else will give you love, but from a biblical perspective, the only real love that you need that will ever satisfy is the love of God.
God’s Design for Love
So what I’m telling you today is this: God designed you and me to want to give love and receive love because God wants a relationship with you. He could have created you as a mindless robot. He could have just created you to do whatever He said to do. But instead, He has given you free will—the choice to choose to love God, to even go through pain, because every painful situation is an opportunity to see God come through. It’s your testimony.
We’re not proud of some of the mistakes we’ve made in our lives, but many of us would say we’d never change it because of what God did. It’s at those moments when God changes your life that you’ve fallen in love with Him, and you’ve witnessed that. David talks about this. He says, «There is nothing in this world that can satisfy like the love of God.» There’s nothing. You can chase it all you want. You can put together a big bucket list and do whatever it is you have to do, but in the end, you’re still not going to be happy. You’re not going to be content.
Psalm chapter 63, verses 2 and 3: David said, «I have seen you in your sanctuary, God; I have gazed upon your power and your glory, and your unfailing love is better than life itself! How I praise your name!» Now, notice he describes it as unfailing love. God always comes through; He never fails you.
So, for anybody in this room right now, if you’ve been dealing with insecurities or if you didn’t grow up with the words «I love you» and it’s hard for you to trust people, here it is: God will not fail you like other people have, and He’s going to give you a purpose to keep moving, a calling. But again, we live in a fallen world. Satan has really twisted the concept of love. We have chased many things, and because of that, we all know that heartache is not easy. Like I said, it was cute when you were six and were passing and blocking notes in class. It may not be so cute at 36, blocking that creepy guy on Facebook who keeps messaging you about chilling in his parents’ basement. It’s not a good idea, alright? I don’t care how bad of a day you’re having; do not go. We’ll pray and lay hands over you today if we need to.
But here’s the truth: some of you are hurting from a broken heart right now because you never thought you would be where you are today. Maybe you never thought at this age you’d still be single. Maybe you never thought that you would have to go through a divorce. Maybe you never thought that you would have to witness a tragedy in your life and be widowed. «God, what do I do with that?» Maybe you never thought at this point in your life, you’d feel so alone. You thought you’d feel more accomplished. You thought you’d have more for yourself.
What I notice is that a lot of us start to reevaluate our lives, and it’s at those moments that we kind of have a crisis. We look up and say, «God, where are You? What are You doing? This was not part of the plan. This is not what I thought You had for me.» That’s the moment the enemy sees your broken heart and tries to deceive you to put a stronghold within your own heart. That is the moment.
Understanding Strongholds
So I want to reveal the true dangers: when your heart is broken, a stronghold can easily take place. So what is a stronghold? Last week, we talked a little bit about it, but the word itself is found around 50 times in the Bible. The stronghold’s definition is a fortress with difficult access—a fortress, a strong fortress with difficult access to get to. There’s no way you’re getting through it. It’s guarded; there’s nothing you can do about it. A lot of times, we think—and here’s what the enemy does—he likes to secretly place it upon our heart or our mind and bury it deep within so that you don’t even know it’s there, and it keeps causing these insecurities in your life.
I notice this too: a lot of us have open wounds in our hearts. You’ve been through something painful; maybe it’s a heartache, but that wound was never healed. A lot of people come to Christ, and they get saved, but they don’t keep communicating with God to see that wound heal. What happens is that wound is still left open, and that’s where the stronghold takes place. All of a sudden, now I’m moving past this, but I’m resentful. I’m trying to move past this; I forgive, but I’m angry with everybody else around me, or I’m dealing with bitterness in my life, and it’s just hard to get out. That’s what a stronghold is. Once it’s in there, it’s very difficult to get out.
A lot of people, when you have a stronghold, you notice that people don’t like to talk about it. «Well, that’s too painful; I don’t want to go there. I don’t want to remind myself of that situation. I don’t want to address that.» Why? Because you’re burying it deep within, and because of that, it will never get healed. It’s a stronghold, and the enemy knows that we are weak in certain areas, and he will place that in us.
But Paul talks about this. He says, «Listen, don’t be scared! The world may not know the secret, but God has revealed to you the truth.» The truth is this: the Holy Spirit of God lives inside of us, and through the power of prayer, by the authority that is in the name of Jesus, we can break strongholds. God Himself can pick it out of you because He knows exactly where Satan has placed it upon your heart, and God knows how to take it out. But it doesn’t mean that the process is going to be easy, and I think that’s where a lot of people are confused.
A lot of us pray, «God, I want healing, but please make it easy. I don’t want to cry. I don’t like crying. People never see me cry.» God is going to lead you somewhere where you’re going to cry because that’s how you’re going to heal. You’re going to have to address it and see it. 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 4 tells us this: we get to use God’s mighty weapons—not worldly weapons; they won’t work—but God’s mighty weapons to knock down the strongholds that the enemy has placed upon us—all the strongholds of human reasoning—and it will be able to destroy all false arguments.
Satan’s Lies and Masquerade
Let me simplify what this passage is saying: Satan wants to put lies in your head, and he wants you to be in agreement with them. He wants to put lies in your head; he wants you to believe his lies. The way he does this, because a lot of us—I feel like as Christians growing up in the church, a lot of us have said, «I’ll never do that; that would never be me.» But when you go through a heartache and a hard time, you know what Satan tries to do? He pretends to be your best friend. A lot of us don’t expect that. He pretends to be your best friend, and I’m telling you right now, the world will never be your friend. Why? Because we live in a fallen world. You can’t put your hope in this world because no matter how good you are, we all fail. Every one of us fails.
He will pretend to be your best friend. The Bible tells us clearly that Satan will even pretend to be an angel of light. 2 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 14—I’m going to read the New King James Version of this, but it says, «For Satan himself can transform into an angel of light.» Now, reading this and not knowing the power of God can seem kind of scary. Like, «You’re telling me Satan can really fool me like that? He can transform into an angel of light?» Then, how am I supposed to know the truth? How am I supposed to know, Pastor, that I’m hearing from God and I’m going the right direction if Satan is going to constantly attack me?
Here’s what I want to reveal to you today: when this phrase says «Satan himself transforms into an angel of light, » in the Greek, the word «transform» actually means «masquerades.» So what the Scripture is telling us is that Satan will masquerade; he will wear a mask and pretend that he is a good angel, pretend that he is your friend, pretend, listen, that he can bring comfort into your life.
I feel like that is the biggest temptation we face when our heart is broken. The world is constantly telling you, «If you go this route, that will give you the comfort you need.» If you do this, like everybody else, we can help numb the pain. «If you just do this, just live your life, just have fun! You’ve been through a lot; you deserve it.» What does that mean? A lot of worldly comfort coming into your life. Why would Satan disguise himself? Why would he masquerade as if he’s a comforter? Because he always copies God and twists it.
Again, Satan has no new tricks. Everything he does to attack you, he gets from God and tries to twist it. Who is God to us? Well, the Spirit of God is labeled as the Comforter. Do you know that the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, is labeled as the Comforter? One of my favorite passages in the Bible is when Jesus is talking to His disciples in John chapter 16, and He’s telling His disciples, «It is better that I go to be at the right hand of the Father because if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.»
Now, the term «Helper» can also mean the Comforter, the Advocate. The Holy Spirit will not come to you unless I fulfill this, right? That’s what we experience. People come into this room all the time and say, «I don’t know why I’m crying.» Welcome to church! «But I don’t know why! I don’t know why!» And many of us want to put up walls. We don’t want to pray—we don’t want to let people know what we’re going through. We don’t want to think about it because when we think about it, those walls start to break. I believe that when you come into this room, and you’re reminded of your purpose and who you are in Christ, the walls are broken and you feel a peace that is hard to understand right away because it doesn’t mean your situation is better, but you just know that God is with you.
This is the Holy Spirit; this is the Comforter. This is what Jesus was talking about in John chapter 16, verse 7, amplified version. He says, «But I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper, the Comforter, the Advocate will not come to you.» Now, listen to this; this is powerful: that in times of need, God will comfort us.
Why? 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 3: «All praise goes to God.» Okay? So all praise goes to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because God is our merciful God. Why? He is the source of comfort; He is the source of all comfort. God is the only source of peace and comfort in your life, no matter what you’re dealing with. The world will always scream at you, «No, it’s money! If you just have more money, you would have more peace and comfort!» Right? «If you just had a little bit of fame, you’d be better; people would know your name!» «If you did what you wanted to do, then you would have comfort.» We can take this many different ways. Sometimes it’s chasing after the world; it could be chasing after people; it could even be chasing after food—comfort food.
One of these things in our life, consuming everything else. But it’s hard for me to understand why we run and chase everything else but You, Lord. Why is it that many of us don’t see that Satan is pretending to be your best friend, and he’s guiding you down a very dangerous path? Why? Because he will masquerade as an angel of light.
Satan as a Fake Comforter
So what I want to do with all this information—how I want to apply this in your life today—is to look at how Satan will attack, but how the power of prayer will fight back. Okay? How Satan will attack, but how the power of prayer will fight back. Just like we talked about, point number one is this: I want to go more into this in detail, but Satan is a fake comforter. Point number one, I need you to understand this: Satan is a fake comforter.
Since the beginning of time, right out of the book of Genesis, Satan has always offered false security. Because that’s what he does! He will always tell you that if you do this, it will make you feel better, and there shouldn’t be any consequences. We’ve all fallen for that trap! That’s exactly what happened with Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter 3, verses 4 and 5. He said to them, «You won’t die! Forget what God said. You won’t die! But God knows that your eyes will be opened and you will be like Him as soon as you eat it! You can be just like God! You’re not going to die! There are not going to be any consequences!» What it is, is a false security. It’s a false hope of comfort.
What happens when we fall for the trap? Everything else around us is damaged, and we feel damaged, and we all hit a fall, but God is still there to lift us up.
The Story of King Ahab
If you have your Bibles today, I know I’ve shown you a lot of Scripture, but the majority of the rest of the sermon will be out of 1 Kings chapter 22. This is a good one—1 Kings chapter 22. I want to study this and talk about King Ahab.
Now, we have talked about King Ahab before. He was not a godly king; he was the king of Northern Israel, rebelling against God. He had tons of his own prophets. In fact, the Bible tells us that he had 400 prophets; pretty much these men—all 400 were yes men. Everything that he wanted, they would say «yes» to; they constantly agreed with him. So beware! Sometimes if there’s somebody in your life that you think is for you but keeps saying «yes» to everything, be careful.
I know it’s not easy to hear from good friends, so for somebody to doubt or to think a different way, here’s a real reality check. What’s about to take place is that King Ahab is about to go to war against Aram (modern-day Syria), and he’s trying to figure out, «Okay, can I win this battle or not? Are we going to be able to win this battle?» And so he suggests, «Why don’t you bring your prophets?» All 400 of them come, and he asks them the question: «Will I be able to see victory in this battle, or will we be defeated?» In 1 Kings 22, verse 6, they all replied, «Yes, go right ahead! The Lord will give you victory; don’t worry.»
It’s also very dangerous who is giving you guidance in life because there are a lot of people who believe they’re hearing from God, but they’re actually hearing from Satan. I’m going to show you today that this was actually a lying spirit. God knew all along what was going on. There was something spiritual happening here; there’s a spiritual warfare taking place. There are a lot of people that will come into your life and try to give you guidance and instructions, and you need to be careful who you’re going to.
You may be asking, «Well, how do I know? How do I know that someone is actually giving me godly wisdom instead of something that just benefits them?» I always say, «The Bible tells us, look at their fruit! Look at the fruit!» Because there are a lot of people that will come to you and be like, «You just need to pray about it, » and then go cuss somebody out right after! We’ve seen that. So look at their fruit! Examine if what they say from the Lord actually takes place and then believe it! Understand that these are mature people with godly wisdom that can direct you. But be careful because there are a lot of people Satan wants to influence in your life, and he’s going to use a lot of people to do that.
Here’s what’s so great about communicating with God: you will know the voice of the Father; you’ll recognize it. You will be able to look at somebody and say, «That’s not from the Lord. What you just said? I can pray for you right here, but that’s not from God.» All 400 of them tell him, «Why don’t you go ahead? You will have victory in this; everything will be okay!» King Ahab is probably walking around like, «Yeah, I’m the man! I got this! I’m not scared of anybody!»
But also, okay, so Israel is united in this with Judah, and he’s not united with King Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat is the king of Southern Judah, and what I love about Jehoshaphat is that he didn’t feel right about it. He noticed right away because he knows who his prophets serve, what gods they serve. It’s kind of funny to me; this whole story is funny.
The ocean comes up to King Ahab and goes, «Hey, Ahab, I know your boys—all 400 of them agreed—but do you have, like, one prophet from God? Just one of them?» Now imagine his face; he’s probably like, «What are you saying? You’ve got 400 right here!» He’s like, «No, no! Something doesn’t feel right in my gut! Do you just have, like, one prophet of the Lord here? Should we ask him the same question?» I think that’d be a good idea!
And the way King Ahab replies reminds me of me, and a lot of us do this in these situations. I see King Ahab; his body language is like, «Yeah, there’s one, but I don’t like talking to him.» Right? His name is Micaiah, and every time I go to Micaiah, I’m like, «Hey, man, this is going to be good, » and he never preaches good for me! He never talks good about me! He’s always going against me! He never says what I want to hear! So I don’t like him! I mean, he seriously says that. He says, «I hate him! I hate everything that he says because he always speaks from the Lord. He speaks the truth and I don’t want to hear the truth!»
You see how dangerous that is, though? See, that’s how the enemy wants to attack you when your heart is broken and you feel vulnerable because it’s just the flesh. We don’t want to hear the truth! A lot of times, we don’t want to hear the hard stuff. We don’t want to heal right away; we just want to do whatever we want to do and hear the things that we need to hear. Sometimes it’s hard to evaluate ourselves. Well, maybe we did. And God is trying to make that clear sometimes, but I’m telling you right here, he did not want to talk to Micaiah, but he gave in. He says, «Alright, since we’re in this together, I’m going to send a messenger to Micaiah, and we’ll see what he says. But I told you so! I’m telling you he’s not going to speak good!»
If you continue with the rest of the story, you see this: a messenger comes to Micaiah and influences him. He doesn’t just ask; he tries to persuade him. He’s literally telling, «Hey, Micaiah, the king has requested you to speak from the Lord, but I’m going to tell you: everybody else has been in agreement, so why don’t you get on his good side! Why don’t you just agree with what everybody else is saying, and that should be fine? Because we know that you don’t really like him anyway, so if something happens, something happens!»
Look at this! 1 Kings chapter 22, verse 13. Sorry, I have a little fun with this sometimes. It says, «Look, he says to them, all the prophets are promising victory for the king! Sure, that you agree with them and promise success!» Now what would you do? We read these stories, and we say to ourselves, «You know what? I’d stand up! I wouldn’t be scared!» But think about yourself in your workplace—not just your job at risk, but your life, your future—and this messenger is telling him, «Hey, I don’t know what you hear from the Lord, but I want you to agree with everybody else!» What are you going to do?
I love how Micaiah replies back and says in verse 14: «As surely as the Lord lives, I will say only what the Lord tells me to say, » meaning no matter the risk, what backlash I may receive, however opposition stands before me, I serve one King; I serve God, and I will always speak His word!
Let me tell you something powerful: God may not always tell you what you want to hear, but God will always tell you what you need to hear. That’s a hard one! Should I clap for that one? He may not always tell you what you want to hear, but He will tell you what you need to hear because that’s how you experience His love.
The Glove Illustration: Satan’s Deceptive Approach
To be honest with you, that’s true healing, and a lot of people run away from healing because it’s difficult in the beginning. They don’t see that on the other side, God is about to work a miracle. But at the same time, that’s when Satan puts on that mask and pretends to be your best friend.
I have a little illustration, and Trisha can bring up—I’m going to use the gloves for this series. This is kind of fun. Here’s what I see for us: a lot of us, because we just don’t know or we’re growing, we don’t realize how Satan attacks. So just like I said, a lot of us get ready for the physical fight. We think that when we’re doing right and we’re on the right track, when Satan shows up before us, we’re just ready to hit him!
Like, «I know everything that you’re going to bring! I know that you’re going to hit me. I know that you’re going to attack me!» In your head, you hear like the final countdown! You’re in the Word and you’re coming to church, and everything seems good; you’re ready to fight! You’re waiting for the first punch, but guess what? He puts his arm around you!
«What are you doing? I got the gloves on!» And where are your gloves? And he puts his arm around you and he says, «Hey, I understand! I understand what you’ve been through. A lot of people have been talking about you, so here’s my advice: do your own thing! Forget them! You don’t need them! You don’t need to show them love; they never showed you love! Every time you bent over backwards for them, they always did what they wanted to do! They didn’t care about your life or who you are! You’re not going to get any glory out of this, so why don’t you do your own thing? You don’t have to forgive them!»
What I see is that a lot of times, he puts his arm around you tight. He says, «You know what? You don’t even have to go to church! You don’t need to listen to that pastor. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about! Everybody in ministry is perfect, right? They’ve never been through troubles; they won’t understand.»
I’ve seen people ready for the fight—but because they’re not growing and communicating with the Lord and knowing the voice of the Father, they don’t know the difference. By the time it’s over, somehow their gloves are completely off—especially in marriages and relationships! It’s very easy to get into an argument and walk away. Satan says, «I can’t believe she said that! I can’t believe she said that! I thought she loved you! You can never let this go! Don’t ever give in to that again!»
Or he’s not there for you! He’s not giving you the life that he said you would! Why don’t you do your own thing? Just give up on it all! And before you know it, he sounds like your friend, and he’s bringing this false security into your life—this false comfort. But what he’s really trying to do is defeat every little bit of faith and hope that you have.
Because the wound is open, you don’t want to talk about it, so he has the legal right to put the stronghold right in. Here’s where it gets dangerous. Because I feel like we’ve all been there when we hear this and we’re like, «No, no!» And then we come into agreement with it. «You’re right! You’re right! I’m just going to do my own thing!» As soon as you come into agreement with the enemy, the gloves are off and that stronghold has been put in your heart. He’s clever; he does a lot of things that we wouldn’t expect.
We don’t see the fight like that, but that’s what Paul talks аbout: it’s a spiritual warfare. Don’t give up hope because you’ll see it! You’ll see what he tries to do. See, Satan will always appeal to your flesh, but God will appeal to your soul. Satan will always try to give you what your flesh desires, but God will appeal to what actually brings peace on the inside, and it’s miraculous! Every time, situations you never thought could be better will be better, but this is what we fight.
Micaiah’s Vision and Ahab’s Doom
I’m asking you today: in your heart, is there bitterness? Is there anger? Is there resentment that you’ve allowed? Because the wound has not been healed; it’s a fight! If we get back to the story in 1 Kings chapter 22, verse 17, it’s kind of funny because right before this, Micaiah says, «You know, he’s going to speak of the Lord.» He actually goes to King Ahab and he pretty much says what everybody else says. But I see it as sarcastic! He’s probably like, «Yeah, why don’t you go ahead and fight? You’ll win it! Go ahead!»
King Ahab notices the difference and looks at him and says, «You know what? Tell me the truth! I know you speak from God! Go ahead and tell me what you’ve got to say!» He goes, «Alright, you really want to hear it?» 1 Kings 22, verse 17: «I saw all of Israel scattered upon the mountains like sheep that have no shepherd.» And the Lord said, «They have no master!» In other words, you will lose! You will not win this battle!
Now, something crazy happens because now Micaiah is going to reveal to him what he heard from God that you can only receive through prayer and through a vision. He says, «Look, I saw the lying spirit! I saw it! Your 400 prophets are not hearing from God; they’re hearing from a lying spirit!» 1 Kings 22, verses 20-23: This is a vision that he had of the Kingdom of Heaven in the presence of God. And that’s what it says: and the Lord said, «Who can entice Ahab to go to battle?» Right? «Who can entice him to go and be killed because that’s exactly what’s going to happen?»
See, I need you to understand, though, Ahab has already rejected God; he’s rejected God, he’s rejected His grace, he’s rejected His word. And because of that, he will have to face judgment. In this passage, it says there were many suggestions, and finally, a spirit approached the Lord and said, «I can do it!» And this is a demonic spirit, and God says, «How will you do this?» The Lord asks; God already knows.
But the spirit replied, «I will go out and inspire all of Ahab’s prophets to speak lies—all your boys will hear from the enemy.» And in verse 23, Micaiah says, «So you see, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all your prophets, for the Lord has pronounced your doom.»
Now, reading this may seem strange; this one’s kind of a hard one. You may say, «I don’t really understand.» Again, Ahab has already rejected God, but this is actually a picture of grace. How? Okay, Ahab has rejected God; he doesn’t want to hear the word of the Lord, so God allowed the enemy to be a lying spirit upon his prophets.
But still, before King Ahab made that decision, Micaiah revealed it all! Think about it: he didn’t have to—he revealed to him right there, «All your prophets are lying; you will be destroyed! This is not good for you.» This is a last chance to repent; this is actually still the grace of God, but still, Ahab says, «You know what? I knew he would say this! You know, beat him! Take him out of my sight!» And he still did his own thing! Why? Because he did not want to hear the truth!
There was a stronghold over his heart, and he didn’t want to allow God to come in. He was best buddies with the enemy, and it led him to death! I’m telling you today, when you listen to the voice of the enemy and you can’t tell the difference, he is leading you not only to physical death but spiritual death, where you feel dead on the inside. No more hope, no more faith.
Jesus Breaks the Strongholds
But here is the good news! Jesus already knew the schemes of the enemy, and He’s already proclaimed how to set you free. In Luke chapter 4, verse 18, amplified version, Jesus said, «God has sent me to announce a release. God has sent me to pardon; God has sent me to forgive all the captives—all of you who feel like you’re in bondage to sin—all of you who feel like you’re in a stronghold from the enemy, as you’ve been listening to the enemy’s voice or you’ve been hurt or you’ve gone through something. He says this: you have been oppressed!» Right?
Meaning you’ve been bruised; it could also mean you’ve been crushed by a tragedy. Meaning Jesus is saying, «I know your heart’s been broken, so I’ve come for you, and I’m the only thing that can really give you peace! Until you see that, you will always desire everything else, and it will never satisfy like I can! I’ve come for you, and I will break!» Because only Jesus has the power to break the stronghold within your life. He says today, «I proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.» What is that? The year of salvation! Salvation has come to all that will accept the grace of God’s love!
That’s good! It’s good news!
Healing the Wound to Remove the Stronghold
Here’s my last point: Strongholds have legal ground until the wound is healed. Strongholds have legal ground until the wound is healed. Again, Micaiah had a chance, or Ahab had a chance to repent, and he didn’t. Micaiah told him, «This is going to be revealed; you’re going to go into your doom.»
He was killed! I realize this because a lot of us are like, «You know what, God? Why would You allow me to go through something like this? Why would You allow a tragedy? Why would You allow a broken heart?» Yes, we live in a fallen world, but I don’t get it! I’m Your servant! It’s hard!
But I realize this in my whole life: that a broken heart is one of the most vulnerable places to be for an attack by the enemy, but yet at the same time, a broken heart is one of the most vulnerable places to be to see God’s love and to witness this alive in a way that you never have before. I’m telling you, there is a lying comforter, but there’s also a real comforter who hears your prayers and hears your cries. The Spirit of God has more authority to heal than the gates of hell have the authority to torment, and that’s the beauty of the gospel!
He’s come to set you free! He’s come to bring you salvation! But it doesn’t just stop there; He wants you to continue to grow with Him, to love Him, and to receive His love—to focus on some wounds that are hard to deal with and to hear. But to realize that when you focus on that and you apply God’s Word to it, you start to see that healing and peace, and then you’re able to move on!
He came to save us! But I’m telling you, the enemy will always have legal ground. Why? Because, like I said before, you can cast the spirit out in the name of Jesus; demons have to flee! But they’ll try to come back, and if that door’s still open, they’ll come right back in. They think they have legal ground over your heart, over your life. Don’t allow it! You don’t have to! Be able to discern the voice of the Father!
I know what His Word says! I know when God is speaking to me, and my Father tells me to forgive even when it’s hard; my Father tells me not to give up hope even when everything seems hopeless; my Father says He will hold my hand even when others are cruel. And because of that, I will always have joy, and the gates of hell won’t be able to take it! That is proclaimed over your life, over who you are!
We will always keep hurting when we keep rejecting difficult words from God that have the power to heal.
Testimony of Healing
I want to end with this story. A few years back, there was a girl that entered into authentic ministry. She wasn’t yet saved. She was on the fence; she was just starting her walk with God, and she was beginning to know Him and love Him. At the same time, she had a lot of issues that she wasn’t opening up about. Part of that, we saw her in tears. She was actually going through demonic attacks; her family life was hard, her home life was difficult. It was really hard for her to see the love of God in everything that she had around her.
As we began to talk about what she was facing, we realized that there were deeper wounds, and it took her some time to open up because it was painful. But when she opened up, she admitted that when she was young, she was raped by a family member, and there was never any justice. She also felt like she wasn’t believed, and because of that, insecurities came into her heart—anger and resentment—and she carried it with her almost all of her life to this point.
She started facing these attacks and she just didn’t understand! But the moment that she was able to actually talk about it, I saw her anger start to slowly turn into peace from God. I saw what was a wall start to turn into tears of God’s goodness. She was able to address something that was really hard that she didn’t want to look at, but it gave God a chance to heal! I’m telling you today, she’s married with children, and those demonic attacks stopped a long time ago because that is the power of our God!