Silas
Beloved of All
Your desire to see Jesus Christ bring a complete end to every work of the enemy is right and it reflects what Scripture teaches about His ultimate victory.
The Bible shows us that our real struggle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual powers. There is a constant conflict in the unseen realm between the Spirit of God and the adversary who seeks to control the minds and souls of people. We are often not aware of how real that conflict is, yet we feel its effects in our thoughts, emotions, and temptations. Many unsettled feelings and pressures we experience are the overflow of that warfare.
Scripture calls this enemy Satan, which means adversary, and also devil, which means slanderer and accuser. He is also called the serpent, the dragon, and the destroyer, and Jesus called him the prince of this world. After Adam yielded to him, authority over this world was handed to him, and for a time God has allowed him liberty to work. But he is not the opposite of God. God is eternal, self existent and all powerful. Satan is a created being with limited power who can only work within boundaries that God sets. Like with Job, God places limits on what he is allowed to do, and God promises that you will not be tempted beyond what you are able to bear.
That enemy works most often in the mind. His first question to Eve was, Hath God said, and he still whispers, Does God see, Does God know, Are you getting away with this. He deceives, he blinds minds to the truth of the gospel, and he holds people captive through lies. He is a master at even quoting Scripture out of context to mislead.
The decisive victory over him was won at the cross. There Jesus defeated the spiritual forces of darkness. Because of that, Satan is a defeated foe. When you stand in the spiritual realm, in the power of Christ's victory, and point to what Jesus accomplished on the cross, the enemy must give way. Our weapons for this warfare are not physical or carnal, they are spiritual, and God has provided them for us.
Scripture also teaches that the final and complete silencing of Satan is still future. When Jesus returns He will have Satan confined in the abyss for a thousand years, and afterwards Satan will be cast into the lake of fire which was prepared for him and his angels. Until then he still has activity, though always under God's sovereign restraint.
So we pray with both confidence in Christ's finished victory and patience for His final fulfillment. Through prayer we can bind the blinding and deceiving work of the enemy in a person's life, and what is bound on earth in prayer according to God's will is bound in heaven. We do not fight him by getting drawn into merely physical or emotional arguments, but by staying in the spiritual realm, using prayer and the truth of God's Word.
I will pray with you now toward that end.
Father, in the name of Jesus Christ we come to You and thank You that Jesus has defeated Satan and all his works at the cross. We ask that You would give protection and clarity of mind, and that You would expose and restrain every direct and indirect influence of the evil one, every lie, accusation and plan meant to deceive or destroy. Silence the voice of the accuser and guard this heart and mind in the truth of Your Word. Help to walk in the spiritual weapons You have provided, to stand in the victory of Jesus, and to trust Your sovereign limits over all temptation and attack. We look forward to the day when Satan will be finally and forever removed, and until then we ask for Your daily strength, peace and freedom in Christ. Amen.
The Bible shows us that our real struggle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual powers. There is a constant conflict in the unseen realm between the Spirit of God and the adversary who seeks to control the minds and souls of people. We are often not aware of how real that conflict is, yet we feel its effects in our thoughts, emotions, and temptations. Many unsettled feelings and pressures we experience are the overflow of that warfare.
Scripture calls this enemy Satan, which means adversary, and also devil, which means slanderer and accuser. He is also called the serpent, the dragon, and the destroyer, and Jesus called him the prince of this world. After Adam yielded to him, authority over this world was handed to him, and for a time God has allowed him liberty to work. But he is not the opposite of God. God is eternal, self existent and all powerful. Satan is a created being with limited power who can only work within boundaries that God sets. Like with Job, God places limits on what he is allowed to do, and God promises that you will not be tempted beyond what you are able to bear.
That enemy works most often in the mind. His first question to Eve was, Hath God said, and he still whispers, Does God see, Does God know, Are you getting away with this. He deceives, he blinds minds to the truth of the gospel, and he holds people captive through lies. He is a master at even quoting Scripture out of context to mislead.
The decisive victory over him was won at the cross. There Jesus defeated the spiritual forces of darkness. Because of that, Satan is a defeated foe. When you stand in the spiritual realm, in the power of Christ's victory, and point to what Jesus accomplished on the cross, the enemy must give way. Our weapons for this warfare are not physical or carnal, they are spiritual, and God has provided them for us.
Scripture also teaches that the final and complete silencing of Satan is still future. When Jesus returns He will have Satan confined in the abyss for a thousand years, and afterwards Satan will be cast into the lake of fire which was prepared for him and his angels. Until then he still has activity, though always under God's sovereign restraint.
So we pray with both confidence in Christ's finished victory and patience for His final fulfillment. Through prayer we can bind the blinding and deceiving work of the enemy in a person's life, and what is bound on earth in prayer according to God's will is bound in heaven. We do not fight him by getting drawn into merely physical or emotional arguments, but by staying in the spiritual realm, using prayer and the truth of God's Word.
I will pray with you now toward that end.
Father, in the name of Jesus Christ we come to You and thank You that Jesus has defeated Satan and all his works at the cross. We ask that You would give protection and clarity of mind, and that You would expose and restrain every direct and indirect influence of the evil one, every lie, accusation and plan meant to deceive or destroy. Silence the voice of the accuser and guard this heart and mind in the truth of Your Word. Help to walk in the spiritual weapons You have provided, to stand in the victory of Jesus, and to trust Your sovereign limits over all temptation and attack. We look forward to the day when Satan will be finally and forever removed, and until then we ask for Your daily strength, peace and freedom in Christ. Amen.
