By imagining God’s thoughts, you already begin to cast down every imagination that exalts itself against God’s knowledge. Satanic warfare is when you use manipulation to achieve your goals. This will only lead to regret, defeat and demise. But spiritual warfare is backed up by God who dismantles the defenses in which people hide, which are strongholds. The strongholds in your life is a defensive attitude and behavior. It is when you hide behind fear instead of facing it with faith! When you expose those strongholds to the armory of God, then you demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God, which consist of evil imaginations. You take them captive and bring them to obedience to Christ. This is when you take authority and control of your mind by giving your mind thoughts to think, which are capped with the mind of Christ! Obedience to the LORD with a willing mind exposes rebellion, destroying its stronghold and then walking in a newfound freedom that can only come from Jesus Christ!

Zechariah 7:8-14 says, “8And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying, 9Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassion every man to his brother: 10And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. 11But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. 12Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts. 13Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts: 14But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.” 

Zechariah 8:16-17 says, “16These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates: 17And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.”

*The LORD hates an evil imagination, which demonstrates a heart of stone that impenetrable with the grace and mercy of God. It is one who refuses to hear the Word of the LORD, which came through leadership and prophets. Instead of our land being healed, it becomes desolate. Therefore, a righteous imagination will bring healing and sustenance to our land! 

Genesis 6:5 says, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination (H3336) of the thoughts (H4284) of his heart was only evil continually.”

One Hebrew word for imagination is “yetser” (H3336 – Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Definitions), which means, “a form; figuratively conception (that is, purpose):—frame, thing framed, imagination, mind, work.” So, an imagination is a conception, becoming intimate with whatever word we have believed, whether it is true or false. It is a framework. For example, we know by faith that the worlds were framed by the Word of God (Hebrews 11:3). Our words frame the world in which we live, and the framework is first envisioned out of the place of an imagination. You speak that imagination into existence, casting that vision for it to be carried out. That is where angels come to play because they “hearken to the Word of the LORD” (Psalm 103:20). What authority carries your word, and have you communicated your vision with such clarity that it brings reward, unity and is fulfilled? 

Another Hebrew word is “machashaba” or “machashebeth” (H4284 – Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Definitions), which means, “a contrivance, that is, (concretely) a texture, machine, or (abstractly) intention, plan (whether bad, a plot; or good, advice):—cunning (work), curious work, device (-sed), imagination, invented, means, purpose, thought.” So, in Genesis 6:5, the framework of their inventions was only evil continually. It would not stop without divine intervention, the flood of judgment. If our imaginations are spawned from evil things instead of good things, our fruit is only wickedness in the earth. Again, one of those meanings for imagination is “curious works”, which when it is used in that context signifies a spirit of witchcraft. “Rebellion is the sin of witchcraft” (1 Samuel 15:23). Rebellion brings a curse upon our imaginations. If we are walking contrary to the will of God in complete disobedience, God will never be seated in our process of thinking but our own ambition. Ambition attempts to remove God off His throne and be seated in His place. Ask Satan how that went for him?

Romans 1:21-23 says, “21Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.”

Romans 1:21-23 (TPT) says, “Throughout human history the fingerprints of God were upon them, yet they refused to honor him as God or even be thankful for his kindness. Instead, they entertained corrupt and foolish thoughts about what God was like. This left them with nothing but misguided hearts, steeped in moral darkness. 22 Although claiming to be super-intelligent, they were in fact shallow fools. 23 For only a fool would trade the unfading splendor of the immortal God to worship the fading image of other humans, idols made to look like people, animals, birds, and even creeping reptiles!” 

An evil imagination is rooted in entertaining corrupt and foolish thoughts about what God is like. The imaginative ability in which God has given you has become empty and wasted if you do not know Him. The Book of Revelation seems wild and incapable of learning until you tap into the mind of John on the Isle of Patmos. His encounter with God paved the way for kingdom revelation, as well as that of eternity. When you know God, you see Him for who He was, is and is to come!