Altars Part 3

The Lord began Teaching me on the topic of altars in 2024. I had just come out of a long meeting where I endured a barrage of false accusations and slander. I came out shaken. The Lord Said (and I'm altering this a bit to keep details confidential) "You [all] just worshipped demons for the past hour." I was stunned, and incredulously said "What was I doing!?! I was getting attacked! " And The Lord Said "You were worshipping the demon of fear." He Said it very flatly, very matter-of-fact. And my heart sank. He was Right. He's always Right.

I repented. This was the beginning of The Lord Talking to me about altars, on and off, over the next 2 years.

So, what if we realize we have unholy altars? What if we realize we have erected sin strongholds in thought and / or deed? How do we tear them down? We must get to the root, which is our heart. Our actions, speech, and thoughts come from our heart.

• Proverbs 4:23 (NKJV) 23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.

• Mark 7:20-23 (ESV) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

• Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

Altars Part 2 talked about the deception that's involved in temptation. When we sin, we are believing some degree of deception. Sometimes multiple layers of deception. For example, in that meeting where Lord Revealed that I had worshipped the demon of fear ... in time, The Lord Revealed the root to me:

• I should have left that meeting. I did not. I stayed and listened to that, even though I did not have to.

• I stayed because it mimicked a pattern from childhood, where I was unable to leave such situations (verbal abuse) because I was a child.

• I was ruled by the spirit of fear in that meeting, versus God's Spirit of Truth. Fear, because I was too fearful to exit, even subconsciously. To the point I did not even realize God Wanted me to exit. I was rattled, but I did not register it as fear.

• The Truth is that I did not have to stay and listen to that go on and on. The Truth is I am an adult and was Free to leave at any point, and leave the rest to God (any potential repercussions for exiting). I was not consciously thinking I could not leave, but in my heart I was "thinking" that. I believed a deception in my heart on some level, that I "had" to stay in there as my best option. Maybe even there was a deception that I was "trapped." Just like I had been trapped in childhood when similar events took place. That it's better to just wait it out, as I had to do in childhood, when defending myself just escalated abuse. Again, I did not hear nor seek the Voice of The Lord, whether He Wanted me to leave or not... which is unusual for me. Clearly I had a blind spot in this.

• This was an altar, because this was a meeting that had happened multiple times. It had become a pattern. And, in reality, I willingly engaged in it. Even though at the time it didn't really feel like that. Basically, I had agreed with the deception during the first meeting, then that deception was on autopilot for the subsequent meetings.

So the enemy had established a trauma wound in my childhood and he was quite skillfully exploiting that wound in my adulthood. It's diabolical. When The Lord Exposed this scheme, I was indignant. Honestly, I was momentarily offended at myself for falling for it. But I was perturbed at the devious audacity of the enemy, and his exploitive commitment to the "long-game" in keeping that trauma affecting me in adulthood. Long after I had physically left the environment where the trauma first took root. Make the wound, then pour salt in it over and over for the rest of my life. Praise The Lord for Exposing these wicked schemes!

• 1 John 3:8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

• Ephesians 5:11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

So that's how I had worshipped at the altar of fear. Some other spirits that were involved: secrecy, helplessness, shame, confusion. So, how did I break down that altar? Short answer: I refused further meeting requests. I prayed identifying the spirits and confessing my agreement, forgave the humans, broke my agreement with those spirits, and realigned myself to God. I continue to engage with The Lord as He Teaches me proper boundaries and how to stand firm in them. Jerusalem does have walls, after all. As will the New Jerusalem when the New Heaven comes to the New Earth.

Here's a common altar I see: sexual immorality stronghold (altar of pornography, or lust, or fornication, etc). When they start stepping it back, discerning "why do I do this?"; they might feel lonely, rejected, isolated. When they go deeper, to look at potential roots related to trauma, including in childhood ... they may have been the victim of sexual abuse, bullying, early exposure to pornography, rejection, social isolation, instability, comparison / criticism, etc, etc. The shame they felt around that trauma may even be linking them to the shame they feel when they worship at that altar; for example.

Trauma sounds like a dramatic event, but it could be a wound from a certain break-up, even. Also, it may not be abuse; it could be no-fault, like a house fire. The wound is what needs to be exposed, how it got there IS relevant ... but the wound is what has followed you. The wound is the deception you believed that is still following you.

Does every sin stronghold have a root of trauma? No. But a lot do, especially when it's been around enough to be an altar. Because that's where deception can so readily take root, in a wound. Or the root of deception could stem from faulty teaching in Sunday school when you were a child. Or even decent teaching that just landed wrong in your spirit (but if that's the case, ask The Lord WHY it landed wrong in your spirit.) And I'll warn you: the enemy will attempt to obfuscate the root. Because he wants to stop you at "behavior management." Behavior management has a place in this, for sure. If a person has an altar of pornography and the pattern is they worship at that altar after the family goes to bed, it's prudent to start going to bed earlier, stay off the phone at night, etc. But that doesn't address the heart issue. That doesn't expose the root deception and exchange it for Truth.

How do we tear down unholy altars?

1. Identify the altar.

2. In prayer, inviting The Holy Spirit to Reveal to you, discern any patterns around the sin stronghold. Discern feelings involved before you worship at the altar, during, and after. Ask The Lord to Reveal any connections to trauma, events in childhood, or past experiences. Pray for The Holy Spirit to Reveal the deception that took root.

3. Confess the altar in prayer. (The Lord also may have you confess to a particular brother / sister / leader, or your spouse. Be Led by The Lord.) Confess your agreement with the spirits involved in that sin altar. By naming the spirits by their function, you are also confessing the parts of your "old man" / flesh that the spirits appealed to. By naming the spirits by their function, you are exposing the works of the enemy.

4. Break your agreement with those spirits. Which is essentially rebuking them.

5. Forgive any human agents involved in any trauma, etc. Release them to The Lord and Bless them in prayer.

6. Accept The Lord's Forgiveness. Verbally accept The Lord's Forgiveness. Thank Him for Exposing the schemes of the enemy. Thank Him that you are clothed in Christ's Righteousness.

7. Confess your realignment with God in this area. Choose a Scripture that matches the sin altar; by matches, I mean that counteracts. For an altar of fear, the Scriptures are going to be "do not fear," "be strong and courageous," "I have not given you a spirit of fear," for example. In prayer say "Lord, I align with You, and You Say ... [say Scripture]."

8. Stand firm. The enemy will attempt to re-establish that altar. You may be bombarded with a new level of temptation. This is a test. Determine to pass it ... The Holy Spirit will be necessary. Take every thought captive using the technique in Altars 2. Do not let the deception take root again. Declare The Truth as often as needed. Implement any behavior modifications as The Lord Leads you.

9. Establish Godly Altars. Scripture reading. Prayer. Watching sermons. Bible studies. Church membership. Church events. Fellowship. Praise. Thanksgiving. Seeking The Lord's Presence. Testifying. Repentance. Forgiveness. Worship. Service. Hospitality. Generosity. From your heart, not from a checklist.

This list is not exhaustive. It's not the only way to deal with an altar. But it's a nice template to get you started.

In Jesus's Name,

Christy Hale

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