The Battle for the Mind
The key to victory in your constant battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil is to maintain control of your mind. But your mind may be filled with tempting thoughts of past sins, with painful regrets for them, with resentments for past wrongs, or with confusing doubts. And after becoming a Christian, you may begin to have thoughts so repulsive that they would not have been attractive to you even before your conversion. But whether these varied thoughts appeal to you or appall you, many of them will be energized by Satan. Therefore, to control your own mind, you must resist the devil.
Because Satan can put thoughts into our hearts [as he did with Judas (John 13:2), Ananias (Acts 5:3), and Peter (Matt. 16:22-23)], many of these evil thoughts do not even start from us. Instead, they are injected into our minds by the devil. This is most obvious for those wicked thoughts that do not really appeal to us but only horrify us that we could even think such a thing. This satanic harassment is not really intended to tempt us to do the repulsive deed, but rather to disable us as Christian witnesses by causing us to doubt our salvation, our fitness for Christian work, or our sanity.
Remember that having evil thoughts, even incessantly recurring evil thoughts, is not in itself sin. Sin in thought depends on your attitude toward the evil thoughts: Do you receive them willingly or unwillingly? If you have willingly enjoyed evil thoughts, of course, you must confess them as sin. But if they are really unwelcome—if persistent—visitors, confession of them as sin won’t help and will hurt because it involves accepting Satan’s lies—that the thoughts are yours and that they are sins. Instead, the devil’s lies, too, must be resisted just like any other temptation.
Even when the evil thoughts are your own, the Tempter may energize them. That’s part of his job! So whether the evil thoughts start from you or not, you still need to obey the Scripture that says, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). The question is, How do I resist the devil? The short answer is, Follow the example of Christ in the Temptation. This booklet presents an effective, biblical method for doing just that.
Steps to resisting the devil
Step 1. Prepare for battle
Before the command “Resist the devil” and the promise “he will flee from you,” comes the condition: “Submit yourselves therefore to God” (James 4:7). This means that you must believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and that God raised him from the dead. In addition, you must confess Jesus as your Lord (Romans 10:9) and be living in obedience to him by confessing and forsaking the sins the Holy Spirit brings to your mind (1 John 1:9, Isaiah 55:7).
You can further prepare for battle by memorizing the Scriptures cited in this booklet and those you choose to strengthen yourself in areas of weakness or of Satan’s fiercest attacks. Then, you will be ready to answer Satan as Jesus did, “It is written . . .”
Step 2. Discern the devil’s attack
Before you can resist the devil, you must recognize his attacks:
A. A thought that suddenly enters your mind out of nowhere with energy but with no connection to previous thoughts is a typical form of satanically injected thought.
B. A vicious circle of depressing thoughts that replays past hurts, past failures, personal conflicts, or anxieties about the future is another common form of satanic attack on your mind.
C. Since Satan is the Tempter (Matthew 4:3 ff.), you can expect his demons to be there in any temptation. (As a merely finite creature, Satan usually attacks us ordinary believers with his demons rather than in person.)
D. Since Satan is the Accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10b), you should expect him to be behind any accusation, whether against yourself or against others such as your pastor. He will accuse you for sins already confessed or depress you with a general sense of guilt and condemnation. This, too, you must resist by faith in the cleansing power of the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 12:11, Rom. 8: 1 ff.).
E. Since Satan is the Deceiver, be alert for his lies (especially the lie that the evil thoughts he injects into your mind are sins), for his false doctrines, and for his demons' impersonations of the Father, of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit.
In sum, suddenly injected wicked thoughts and an energized round of disturbing or depressing thoughts are typical forms of Satan’s attacks on our minds. Temptations, accusations, lies, deceiving spirits impersonating God or an angel, and evil thoughts, including blasphemous, shocking or repulsive thoughts, are typical contents of these attacks.
If you have been unaware that Satan is the source of these insidious thoughts, you may be distressed by this truth and even want to deny it. But instead of feeling overwhelmed, rejoice! To be attacked by the devil, you must be doing something right. And Jesus says to you, “‘Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand’” (Isaiah 41:10; see Matt. 28:20b).
Step 3. Resist the devil as Jesus did
Jesus dismissed Satan and ended the wilderness temptation with Scripture: “‘Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve”’” (Matt. 4:10). To show your submission to Christ and the source of your authority over Satan, you can preface this rebuke with, “In the name of Jesus.”
Thus, whenever you are attacked you can say or whisper, “In the name of Jesus, ‘“Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”’” You don’t need to shout. And you don’t need to repeat until Satan brings another temptation, accusation, lie, or evil thought. Matthew 4:10 is an all-purpose rebuke to the devil. You can also memorize Scriptures chosen to meet the devil’s favorite attacks on you. But if you are caught off guard, you can keep it simple. Just say: “In the name of Jesus, Satan, get out!”
Step 4. Pray
Ask God to strengthen you if you feel that need and then take the offensive by praying for the salvation of a lost person or for the spread of the gospel by a pastor, leader, or missionary you know. Demons can be devilishly persistent, but your counterattack with prayer may discourage many attacks.
Summary: How to resist the devil
1. Prepare by submitting yourself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, by repenting of your sins at the Spirit’s prompting, and by memorizing selected verses or blocks of Scripture.
2. Discern that you are under Satan’s attack whenever evil thoughts suddenly enter your mind or a vicious circle of distressing thoughts fills your mind. The same is true whenever evil thoughts tempt, accuse, condemn, or distress you.
3. Resist: Just as Jesus did, you can say, “ ‘Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.”’”
4. Pray for yourself or someone else. Then pray for the spread of the gospel by a specific ministry or to a needy place. By taking the offensive in prayer when attacked, you distress the Enemy and may reduce the frequency of his attacks.
Scripture: The Sword of the Spirit
Memorize Matthew 4:10 and be ready to speak or whisper it into the air whenever you discern that you are under spiritual attack. You are wielding the sword of the Spirit under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. Build yourself up in faith and in confidence in the authority of the name of Jesus by reading and memorizing Scriptures such as James 4:6-12; Luke 10:17-22; Ephesians 1:18-23 & 2:6, 6:10-20; and Revelation 12:7-17.
Recognize and Remember
You can recognize Satan’s attacks by their form and by their content. Typical forms include 1. the evil or deceptive thought that suddenly appears fully formed with no relation to your own train of thought and 2. the vicious circle of distressing thoughts. Typical contents include lies, temptations, accusations, resentments, anxieties, and harassing thoughts.
Finally, remember that we beat the devil not by having the right formula, but by having a right relationship with God and Christ (John 17:3). Through our gracious relationship with God the Father, we exercise Christ’s authority in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thus, you resist the devil by the authority of the name of Jesus—who is God—from your position as a believer under his authority in a local church. To apply the authority of the name of Jesus you could just say, “In the name of Jesus, Satan, get out.” But following Christ’s example by memorizing Scriptures chosen in advance to meet Satan’s attacks demonstrates your submission to Christ’s authority, brings to bear the power of God’s word, and strengthens your faith to resist the devil and see him flee.
Bibliography for
Advanced Spiritual Warfare
Bailey, Keith M., Strange Gods: Responding to the Rise of Spirit Worship in America. Camp Hill, PA, Christian Publications, Inc. 1998.
Lewis, C. S., The Screwtape Letters. San Francisco, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1942, 1996.
Murphy, Edward F., The Handbook for Spiritual Warfare. Nashville, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1992.
Penn-Lewis, Jessie, with Evan Roberts, War on the Saints, Ninth Edition (unabridged). New York, Thomas E. Lowe, Ltd., 1988.
“Our policy, for the moment, is to conceal ourselves....We are really faced with a cruel dilemma. When the humans disbelieve in our existence...we make no magicians. On the other hand, when they believe in us, we cannot make them materialists and skeptics. At least, not yet. . . . If once we can produce our perfect work-the Materialist Magician . . . then the end of the war will be in sight.”-Screwtape, The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis
David Haddon wrote the InterVarsity Press booklet on Transcendental Meditation and the chapter on TM in Misguiding Lights? published by Beacon Hill Press. He co-authored, with former TM teacher Vail Hamilton Carruth, TM Wants You! published by Baker Book House. He has also written for magazines including Christianity Today, SCP Newsletter, and National Review.
© 1992, © 2003 by David Haddon. If it is used without modification to advance the kingdom of God and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and given away free, this article may be reproduced in any form without written permission from David Haddon, 2800 Yuba St., Redding, CA 96001.All Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version of the Bible.
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If you are interested in "Basic Tactics of Spiritual Warfare," I suggest you view it on the blog since the e-mail version you just received is unformatted and therefore rather unintelligible.--David
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