All it Takes is One Lie

Alright, let’s talk about how dangerous just one single lie can be.

Because here’s the truth: A stronghold doesn’t always start as a massive, obvious deception. Sometimes, it’s just a whisper. A single thought that slides into your mind, sits there, and slowly begins to dictate how you live.

And if just one lie can hold you captive… imagine what happens when you believe multiple lies.

Let me tell you a story that illustrates this perfectly. It’s a story from John Osteen’s book Pulling Down Strongholds—and it stuck with me because it shows just how powerful a single false belief can be.

Mary Givens was a devoted believer. She loved God. She served in church. She knew the Scriptures. But after years of faithfully walking with the Lord, she became terribly sick.

And when I say sick, I mean completely incapacitated. She lost her ability to walk, lost control over her body, and suffered violent attacks in her mind. She was in and out of hospitals and institutions for years, and eventually, the doctors sent her home with no hope of recovery. They told her family, there’s nothing more we can do.

She lay in a dark room, unable to feed herself, unable to move, unable to even recognize the people she loved.

And what was keeping her there?

Was it the sickness itself?

No.

It was a single lie.

At some point, the enemy had whispered to her: “This is God’s will. He’s the one who put this sickness on you. You have to suffer for Him.”

And she believed it.

That one thought became her prison. That was the stronghold.

She didn’t fight back because she thought it was from God. And as long as she held onto that lie, the sickness had a legal right to stay. She had unknowingly agreed with the enemy.

One day, her brother, John Osteen, came to see her. He was shocked at what he saw.

And when someone told him, “God did this to her,” he snapped.

He shouted, “DON’T TELL ME GOD DID THIS TO MY SISTER!”

In that moment, something happened inside Mary.

For the first time, she questioned the thought that had kept her bound for years.

She thought, “Wait… what if this isn’t from God?”

That tiny crack in the lie was all it took.

The stronghold started to break.

And the moment she rejected the thought—the moment she pulled down that stronghold—she was healed.

Within minutes, she was walking. Running. Praising God.

The sickness that had held her captive for years vanished.

Because the real battle had never been about her body.
It was in her mind.

This story is powerful because it shows how one single lie can keep you locked in suffering.

And if one false belief can do that… imagine how much damage multiple strongholds can do.

This is why people keep going for deliverance but never stay free.

They get prayer. They experience breakthrough. But then they go home… and the same thoughts are still running their life.

And as long as the lie remains, the enemy still has access.

This is why 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 tells us:

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

• Strongholds start in the mind.
• They are built through wrong thoughts.
• They must be torn down by truth.

You don’t need another deliverance session. You need to demolish the lie.

Because the real battleground is not in some spooky demonic realm—it’s in your mind.

What is the lie that’s keeping you in bondage?

What’s the thought you’ve agreed with that’s stopping you from stepping into the freedom and power God has for you?

It’s time to pull it down.

Right now.

Because the second you reject it—the second you take it captive and replace it with truth—the enemy loses his grip.

And you step into the freedom that Jesus already paid for.

Reference: Osteen, John. Pulling Down Strongholds. Tulsa: Harrison House, 1983.