How to fight the devil.

I used to think a prodigal son was someone who went out into the world to lead a sinful life. But that is not the only path to the pigsty. About six years ago I was in the pigsty alongside the prodigal son, and not because I ran off to engage in lustful activities. I got there by being overly busy and complacent in my relationship with God. The prodigal son’s motivation was self-pleasure and he deliberately walked away from his father. My catalyst was busyness and fatigue and I slowly lost my way from home.

I was far from God, and my spirit was weak. This was a perfect opportunity for the devil to whisper in my ear. He asked me, “Are you sure you’re saved? You can run back to God, but will He accept you? What if God doesn’t take you back?”

You can imagine the fear and anxiety that plagued me. As I tried to understand the status of my salvation, my faith moved from my heart to my mind. This was a problem; our logical minds can’t determine our salvation because faith is supernatural. It can’t be proved or disproved. By questioning my salvation, I engaged with the devil. I gave him my ear and therefore permission to speak into my life.

Rather than quarrel with the devil about my salvation (or any other subject), I needed to disengage my mind and deflect his comments with my faith. He can’t argue against, or reason with faith—it’s unreasonable. Romans 1:17 says the just shall live by faith. It doesn’t say to live by logic or reason. To gain the strength we need to live by faith, we have to build ourselves up by praying in the Holy Spirit more, as Jude 1:20 says.

Also, by questioning my salvation, I proved that I had more confidence in God’s rejection of me than I had of His acceptance. Before I could receive God’s acceptance, I first had to receive His love.

Don’t misunderstand me. I knew in my mind that God loved me, but I hadn’t accepted His love into my heart. That’s a big difference. My heart fought against God’s love because it thought He was unsafe. I had been hurt a lot in the past, and I assumed God was like everyone else. I thought if I accepted God’s love, I’d become vulnerable to Him. It seemed wise to keep Him at arm’s length. But by doing so I hadn’t received His love. That was the last thing I wanted. But I didn’t know how to accept God’s love, rather than merely acknowledge it. That would come in time—as I allowed God to repeatedly put me in His refining fire.

In contrast, I needed to acknowledge the devil, but not accept anything from him. When Satan came to Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus acknowledged him. Jesus didn’t accept or submit to what Satan said, and He didn’t debate or get into a conversation with him. Jesus’s only response was “It is written,” followed by the Word of God (Matt. 4:1-10). That was His only communication with Satan.

We can use this same technique to subdue the devil. Rather than talk with the devil, we need to be like Jesus and speak to the devil with “It is written” followed by the appropriate scripture. Just because our mind hears and acknowledges the devil’s accusations, we don’t have to accept them into our heart.

To refute the devil’s lies and strengthen our faith it’s helpful to proclaim to God and to ourselves what we believe and accept as truth. For example: I accept that God loves me the way I am. I accept that my salvation is real. I choose to believe what is in my heart and not what I hear in my head. I choose to believe what God says about me, not what I think or feel, or what the devil says.

This can be done to help with any area of your life that causes fear, anxiety, or worry.

To God be the glory!

Denise