“The weapons we fight with . . . have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every high thing that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

This is the most quoted spiritual warfare passage in the Bible. It is not talking about regional demonic strongholds but about strongholds in our own thinking. The highest level of spiritual warfare is to change the way we think – to demolish the arguments of negative experience and negative feelings with God’s promises and our new creation identity (2 Peter 1:4; 2 Corinthians 5:17).

We are told we have supernatural weapons available to us to defeat these self-limiting and problem-causing thinking patterns. It does not say “weapon” but “weapons.” As we mature in our faith, we will identify and activate what God has provided for us to be victorious. Here are some of the weapons of warfare I have discovered.

• The word of God – “Take . . . the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). We fight and defeat lies with what we believe God has said to us. 
• Laughing at lies – “He who sits in the heavens laughs” (Psalms 2:4). The context of this is that God is laughing at what His enemies are saying and planning. When we can laugh at the lies creating our negative strongholds, we start to disempower them. 
• Forgiveness – “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34). Believing in God’s forgiveness for us is a major door to demolish lies of orphanhood and unworthiness. Also, our forgiveness for others brings a spiritual freedom to those we forgive. 
• Faith declarations – “God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did” (Romans 4:17). As we declare God’s truth over the seeming dead areas in us and around, we weaken the strongholds supporting the lack of life. 

There are more weapons, including experiencing God’s love and experiencing supernatural deliverance from an anointed person, but I want to spend the remaining time speaking about the powerful weapon of “thank you.”

In my devotional book Victorious Mindsets, I have fifty beliefs to intentionally speak and believe. One of the devotions is “I Am Thankful to God and People.” I speak there about my theory that “thank you” might be the most powerful words we speak. It is indeed one of the best weapons to demolish strongholds. Here are three reasons why I believe this: 

1. “Thank you” is a main way to take our thoughts captive – “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” It is the key for staying in faith and out of worry. “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (Philippians 4:6-7). When we are tempted to worry, we can capture the negative thought through thanksgiving. “Thank you, Father, you are meeting this need. Thank you for moving in my loved one’s life. Thank you for healing my body.” 
2. “Thank you” is part of delighting in the Lord and seeing our desires fulfilled – “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart” Psalms 37:4). As we focus on what we have, rather than on what it seems we don’t have,, we take the first step into a radical delighting that will cause us to experience our deepest desires. Thanksgiving is a cause and is an evidence of soul prosperity. “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 2).
3. “Thank you” gets us unstuck and moving forward into new seasons and dimensions of life – “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good” (Psalms 100:4-5). We enter His gates with thanksgiving. A gate represents a new dimension or season of life. We can get out of any season where we feel stuck though a dramatic increase in our “thank yous” to God and people. 



“Thank you” is a weapon with divine power to demolish strongholds of lack, hopelessness, and fear. Let’s pull down negative strongholds in us and others through using this weapon like never before.