Winning the Battles In Your Mind (Interview with Kathy DeGraw)

Kathy DeGraw is a powerful minister of the Word and a prophetic voice to our world.  She is passionate about seeing believers get freedom from the things that hold them back.  I sat down with her to interview her about her new book, Mind Battles.

Pastor Mike: Kathy, people are struggling so much.  They are hungry for freedom.  What revelation do you have for them from God?

Kathy: Well, first of all, no matter how long you’ve been in bondage, Jesus is the bondage breaker.  For me, it was 40 years in fear!  And I tell you, Holy Ghost came in, broke off those chains and shackles, and helped me to renew my mind.

People have battles, whether it’s with sexual immorality, depression, or rejection.  The one commonality is it’s all a mind battle.  And it’s time that we get free, but also stay free.

Pastor Mike: I’ve talked to many people, and they’ve said prayers and read scriptures,  but they’re not free.  Why are people not getting free?  What is holding them back? 

Kathy:  First, I think we have to get into the secret place. I spent two years of my life prostrate on the carpet getting to know the greatest team of three, Father God, Jesus, His Son, and Holy Spirit.  I allowed them to be my deliverer and to show me that revelation.

We have to get into the intimate place so we can get that revelation. But also, when we lookat the gospels, Jesus cast demons out.  And I think a lot of people aren’t getting that freedom because they aren’t casting it out. And then, when we do cast it out, our mind ruminates and loops.  It goes into that same old negative thinking patterns. 

Our brain is neuroplastic.  It’s ever-changing.  And so we have to go into that change in mentality to change our thinking. So, it’s not just about casting a demon out, but it’s about renewing our brains.  

Pastor Mike: I used to think our minds stayed the same. I didn’t know that the neurons in the cells of your brain can stretch and grow. They also can shrink and atrophy. Just like somebody can work out their physical body and you can see their body transform, you actually can physically transform your mind as well.  And so, for somebody that has received deliverance but still feels the same as before, are you saying they need to go through a process of physically transforming the brain?  And if that’s true, how do you even do that?

Kathy: 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says, “Take every thought captive.”  But when we study that out in the original language, it means, does the thought that enters our mind obey the Messiah and align with the Word of God?

That means any thought that does not align, like vain imaginations, and false scenarios.  Our mind runs rampant.  The Lord gave us creativity in our minds, but we distort it. We overanalyze and over-process.  What we have to do is capture the thoughts, and reel those thoughts in.  

I think what happens is a lot of people think they’re in demonic bondage still when it’s their own flesh, their thoughts, that they have to take control of.

I was in that old behavior pattern. My fear started as a generational curse. I was brainwashed to fear.  I was told, “Don’t drive on the snow.” Well, I live in Michigan. I’m going to have to drive on the snow.  So even as a 40-year-old adult, I was hearing that in my mind, “Don’t drive on the snow.”  And I had to remind myself that I trust God.  “Thank you, Lord, that your angels guard and protect me. I’m gonna go out now because I go in the strength of the Lord.”  I had to renew.

But you know what? Sometimes it’s easier to cast a demon out than it is to renew our minds.

Pastor Mike: You’re right because deliverance can be instantaneous, but renewing your mind is a process. And processes are hard for people.  But I want to point out something that Kathy did that you may have missed.  She was talking to herself.  And I know that in our society, we think about talking to ourselves as crazy, but I would say this. Sometimes the way you get into your right mind, the mind of Christ, is by encouraging yourself.  And what she was doing was making declarations and saying out loud, “I’m guarded by God, I’m gonna be okay.”  Why?  Because sometimes you need a verbal truth to break an internal lie. 

I want to talk about your book because it instantly helped me when I began reading it.  What I love about “Mind Battles” is how you have exercises in each chapter, so it’s super practical. What are some things that are in the book that people can look forward to?

Kathy:   We put helpful charts and graphs in every chapter. But I felt like the Holy Ghost wrote this. Several times He had me stop mid-chapter and write, “Come on, guys, let’s do it now. Let’s not even wait till the end of the chapter to do the repentance, renunciation, and declaration prayers.  

The book looks at root causes, legal rights, why we think that way, and how words have been spoken to us have become us.  It helps us to evaluate, root it out, and change our thinking.  We have to learn how it happened, why it happened, and what the root of it is to pull and destroy that legal right out and transform our minds.  I think it’s more like a deliverance manual than it is a book.

Pastor Mike:  The mind is so powerful.  And I think many people are living in self-imposed torment, and we’re always looking at what could possibly happen. Some of us were raised in families where our parents prophesied doom and gloom and always told us how things weren’t going to work out.  And they primed your brain to think the bottom could drop out at any minute and that everything is gonna go wrong.  Then we make the mistake of actually collaborating with the demonic, and we come into agreement with those thoughts. And what started as just a thought now is an open doorway for the spirit of infirmity that comes knocking.

So many times people wonder, is this thing that is attacking and tormenting me a demon?  Or did it start as a thought?  

Kathy: And that’s what’s so very important for people to know, because they’re always like, “Let’s cast it out. It’s not out yet.”  But what if I told you you’ve already been set free, and what you truly need is a mind transformation?  And how do we obtain that freedom?

Well, first of all, we have to make sure that we break the generational curse because a lot of these challenges are generational. Of course, repentance, renunciation, and forgiveness. But also casting those demons out. Cast out that demon of anxiety. Cast out that demon of fear. Cast out, you know, those demons that are holding you back from the fullness and the fruitfulness of God.  Jesus says, “I come to give you life and give it abundantly.” And every day that we are not abundantly living, a part of us is dying.  So we have to cast those demons out.

Call them out for what they are.  

But after that, we have to take back that ground. Whether our parents spoke those words into us, whether we co-labored or enabled that strong man, that worry, that stress, by not pressing through to our breakthrough. We have to cast out that mind-binding demon.

But then also, we have to reel in each thought like a fishing pole.  You know, we get a little bit of pain and we think, “Oh, I’m gonna have a heart attack.” Or we get a headache and think it’s a migraine. Or we’ve been bound in rejection for 25 years and we don’t think we can get free.

We have to make sure that we’re not getting addicted to the ministry of deliverance, and we have to get addicted to Jesus and know that He conquered it all so that we don’t have to manifest it. And then as we get to know the Holy Spirit, and yield to Him, our minds will be renewed.

Sometimes you have to talk to yourself.  Write some proclamations, prophesy that you have a sound mind, that you think right thoughts, that no weapon formed against you will prosper.  Read the book of Psalms out loud.  If you renew your mind, you’re going to get freedom.  Your mind is going to feel so good, you’re not going to know who you are anymore!

Pastor Mike: There is a powerful anointing on you.  As we conclude our time together, would you pray for our readers?

Kathy: Heavenly Father, we just thank you right now.  And in the name of Jesus, we release supernatural deliverance upon minds. In the name of Jesus, I take authority over every spirit of heaviness and depression. Every mental blockage, I command you to go!  In the name of Jesus Christ, I disintegrate you with the fire of God. I command you to burn up in Jesus’ name. I command every demon of fear to get out.  Loose your hold on them.  In the name of Jesus Christ, we burn up every legal right. In the name of Yeshua Messiah, I thank you and praise you, God that these people are fearfully and wonderfully made. That they’re the head and not the tail.

That they are above and not beneath, and that no weapon formed against them will prosper, no sickness or plague will come near their dwelling. I thank you that you have given them a spirit of love and power. Not intimidation, not fear. I command every demon of worry, stress, and anxiety to evacuate in the name of Jesus Christ. I command every mind-binding demon that is tormenting you, out right now.  Loose your hold and let them go, in the name of Jesus Christ.

Every place in your flesh where you have felt victimized, defeated, disappointed, and worthless, like you couldn’t press through to your breakthrough, I command that fleshly thinking to leave.

I call forth a mind renewal, a mental transformation. I decree that you have the mind of Christ and that you hold every thought captive to the word of God.  Every thought that does not align, you dismiss it and throw it out in the name of Jesus.

Holy Spirit, I ask for your conviction upon our friends right now.  Convict them of stinking thinking, of wrong thinking, and have them focus on positive scriptures and positive declarations.

I speak and I decree a hunger for God’s word as you’ve never had before. A transformation in your heart, a transformation in your mind, a supernatural deliverance and breaker anointing to break every stronghold. I demand that you come in alignment with the Holy Spirit, with the word of God. And I say, no weapon formed against you will prosper in Jesus’ name.

We decree it, we declare it. Hallelujah.  Amen.  

Pastor Mike: Amen. Kathy, thank you so much for spending this time with us today.

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