Know Your Enemy

The devil is a deceiver, a liar, and a cheater. He seeks to ruin families, friendships, and individual souls. He seeks to steal, destroy, and kill. He wants you to be fearful, anxious, and depressed. He can really get in your head and input thoughts that will disrupt your peace and sanity if you let them. He is cunning and evil in his approach. Honestly, people of faith are a target for the enemy, so we need to “be sober and vigilant” because our “opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

Being sober and vigilant and combatting the enemy has been a challenge for me at times because it’s so easy for me to stay in a negative or bad place, but I want to share with you a few things that have worked for me in my battles against a very deep darkness. First of all, it’s important for you to have a consistent relationship with the unconditionally loving God in order to defeat the darkness that the devil tries to inject into your life. Pray honestly and passionately to God. Pray frequently and experiment with different kinds of prayer. Just like any relationship, it takes work. Continuously water the seed of faith that was planted so it will grow to bear fruit.

As you form and grow into a deeper relationship with God and pray to Him, it’s also important to listen to what He is saying to you. Hear His voice because He speaks truth. God speaks a lot through scripture, but He also speaks through others and most importantly He speaks directly to your heart. For example, God knows He can reach me through music, readings, friends, and family. Be careful though because the enemy knows how to reach you in these ways too. 

It’s also important to fix your eyes on Jesus and His perfect love and to focus on what is pure and lovely. Turn your panic into prayer, your stress into surrender, and your tension into trust. In the spirit of the heaviness, put on the garment of praise (ref. Isaiah 61:3). In other words, be grateful and praise God for the good in your life. Make the choice to take action against the devil in these ways and know that God is with you. If you partner with your Heavenly Father, the devil doesn’t stand a chance.