We often think of spiritual warfare as powerful prayers, authoritative declarations, or encounters with the demonic through deliverance. That is part of the equation, but building proactive walls of defense is a better strategy, in the same way as keeping burglars away from your property with great security measures is far superior to a confrontation with a stranger in your home in the middle of the night.
Scripture often calls on us to guard our hearts and minds because those are most often the entry points of the enemy. The most comprehensive statement about this may be found in Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi:
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Phil. 4:4-9, emphasis added).
One of the most common and yet undetected strategies of the enemy is to create dissatisfaction in our hearts and minds. In some ways, that was his first ploy recorded in scripture. Satan spoke to Eve and said, “Did God really say ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’” (Gen. 3:1)? With these words he slyly implied that God was stingy…that he was the kind of God who would withhold good things from his children. Eve went on to say that they could eat from any tree in the garden except one – the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan countered by implying that the forbidden tree was actually the best tree in the garden and the only one that really mattered. Instead of being grateful for the abundance God had provided, Eve suddenly focused on the one thing God had withheld. Suddenly, she thought that all her happiness and significance was to be found in the one tree that was out of her reach, even though the Tree of Life was always available.
In the same way, when God led the Hebrews out of Egypt after 400 years of slavery, they quickly stopped being thankful for their new found freedom and the miraculous deliverance God had provided. They quickly stopped being grateful for the land God had promised them that was actually only a few days away and began to focus on their immediate desires. Within days they began to complain about their lack of meat, their lack of water on demand, and the “boring manna” they ate each day, and so forth. Through their complaints, they immediately cast God as a God who did not care about their needs, who only had catastrophe planned for their future, and who brought them out of slavery only to abandon them in the desert.
Once we begin to focus on “the one thing” we desire that God has yet to provide and forget about all the other blessings he has given us, we begin to see God though the eyes of Eve and the Israelites who questioned God’s goodness, his intentions, and his provision for his people. Through our own accusations, our trust begins to diminish and we come into agreement with the enemy. Unfortunately, this focus on what I don’t have rather than on what I do have is human nature and a tendency we must guard against. Madison Avenue preys on this idea that my happiness is always found in one more thing.
Intentional prayer with thanksgiving is the weapon against this universal scheme of Satan. As Thanksgiving approaches, we are reminded of this principal but would do well to practice it year-round. To rehearse all that God has done for me in the past, all that he is doing in the present, and his promises for my future is a form of worship and keeps my heart and mind fixed on him as good, as my provider, as my savior, and my deliverer…even when I might be facing extraordinary challenges.
Unfortunately, I keep running into people in counseling who have come to define love as someone giving them whatever they want, whenever they want it. No matter how much they have been given, the minute one desire is withheld, they declare they are not loved. They feel abandoned and betrayed at the first “no,” no matter how much has been given and how many needs have been met before. A good father says “no” or “not yet” to many desires of his young children as they grow and mature. Our Father has not lied about the pain that will inevitably come our way in a fallen world. These responses to our prayers and hardships that come are not evidence that he doesn’t love us, but his presence and his grace to face these hardships is the evidence of his love.
Satan loves to bait us with that attitude whenever God says “no” or “not now” to any request or any longing we have in our lives. The key to overcoming Satan in these situations is to have an unbreakable confidence in the nature of God that he is good, he is love, he hears our prayers, and he always is working in our best interest. The practice of thankfulness continually reinforces our faith in his character and the belief that he is good, even when a longing or a need seems to go unanswered for the moment.
If Eve had believed with rock solid certainty before her sin that God was a generous God who met her every need and protected her from things her flesh desired but that would destroy her in the end, she would not have taken and eaten. We need that same certainty before Satan whispers again that God is holding out on us and keeping from us some singular source of our happiness apart from him.
A journal with all the things we are thankful for in our past and in our present would be a great Thanksgiving project (singularly or as a family) that would be a helpful reminder when Satan comes to tempt our mind and our hearts. Adding to it daily through the year, would also be a strong testimony against his lies. The testimonies of thanks would be a great tradition to be read and added to each Thanksgiving.
The Bible is full of moments when monuments were created (piles of stone) as a reminder of what God had done for his people in a certain circumstance, traditions such as Passover and the other feast days, and the Lord’s Supper. These are all testimonies of the love and care of God for his people. Some personal reminders (testimonies) of God’s goodness to you, would also be a blessing and a powerful weapon when the devil comes calling.
